{"podcast":{"title":"The Free Toaster","slug":"the-free-toaster-7173245","podcast_index_feed_id":7173245,"rss_url":"https://feed.podbean.com/thefreetoaster/feed.xml","website_url":"https://thefreetoaster.podbean.com","image_url":"https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/20058005/The_Free_Toaster_Podcast_Logo_1_9g674.jpg","author":"thefreetoaster","episode_count":84,"summary":"The Free Toaster is your best resource at the intersection of marketing, lending, and fintech. We deliver news, data, and insights to help you acquire more customers.","last_synced_at":"2026-08-01T10:19:33.484383+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-free-toaster-7173245"},"episode":{"title":"E054 - Paid Search 101 (For Lenders) - With Ross Cohen, Former COO (Field Productivity) at New York Life","slug":"e054-paid-search-101-for-lenders-with-ross-cohen-former-coo-field-productivity-at-new-york-life","published_at":"2026-07-16T21:20:04+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-free-toaster-7173245/e054-paid-search-101-for-lenders-with-ross-cohen-former-coo-field-productivity-at-new-york-life","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-free-toaster-7173245","url":"https://thefreetoaster.podbean.com/e/e054-paid-search-101-for-lenders-with-ross-cohen-former-coo-field-productivity-at-new-york-life/","audio_url":"https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/gwfge9c5cv2hmyu9/AUDIO_Toaster_Paid_Search_101_LM_V1.mp3","summary":"Search is often just 10% of a lender's marketing mix — but Ross Cohen makes the case that it's the most powerful channel for experimentation and the best \"shock absorber\" when direct mail or affiliates come up short. Ross, an advisory partner at Arica Consulting with 20+ years running search across Capital One, New York Life, FrontPoint, and Greenlight, has evaluated search agencies from every angle — client, operator, founder, and agency owner. In this deep-dive with Carlos, he shares the exact questions a non-technical CMO can ask to separate the pros from the pretenders. We cover: Why quality score and the keyword vs. search term gap drive everything The branded/unbranded commingling trap that hides massive unbranded overspend Why optimizing to CPL instead of CPA is the single most common mistakes agencies make Reading the change log, auditing Google's auto-recommendations, and the marginal vs. average CAC test How to start from scratch: build an MVP account, one landing page, a few keywords This conversation is practical, in-the-weeds, and refreshingly honest. Find Ross at recohen.com or on LinkedIn ****** Come meet Carlos in San Francisco! The Affiliate Marketing Summit For Lenders & Publishers Sponsored by Experian, Engine by Gen, and Prism DataSan Francisco - September 23rd & 24th The Exploratorium 150-person, curated room Early bird tickets ($999) end August 1Learn more: events.thefreetoaster.com ***** Sign Up For Our Newsletter The Free Toaster Newsletter ships every Wednesday at www.thefreetoaster.com, curating the biggest stories at the intersection of consumer lending, marketing, and technology. ******Please Support Our Sponsors Bulldog Media Group:Bulldog Media Group is a leading performance marketing company that specializes in online customer acq…","meta_description":"Search is often just 10% of a lender's marketing mix — but Ross Cohen makes the case that it's the most powerful channel for experimentation and the best…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3882,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-free-toaster-7173245/episodes/e054-paid-search-101-for-lenders-with-ross-cohen-former-coo-field-productivity-at-new-york-life/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-free-toaster-7173245/e054-paid-search-101-for-lenders-with-ross-cohen-former-coo-field-productivity-at-new-york-life.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}