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In this newsletter, you’ll find:
🗽 New York’s cancel rule is live. here’s one flow, before and after
📊 Google Ads is changing what counts as a view
🏆 Ad of the day
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🗽 New York’s cancel rule is live. here’s one flow, before and after
Since October 1, subscriptions sold to New York City consumers must be as easy to cancel as they were to start. Cancellation has to work “through the same avenues as enrollment.”
Fines start at $525 and reach $3,500 for repeat violations, and each misleading statement or omission can count separately. Have counsel confirm the details for your business, but the operational changes are clear enough to start now.
Here’s a typical coffee subscription, fixed.
BEFORE: Signup
A shopper texts “BREW” to a short code and subscribes in two taps. Price and renewal terms sit in a linked page.
AFTER: Signup
Before asking for payment, the checkout states the price, how often it charges, the cancellation deadline and every way to cancel, in plain text on the same screen.
BEFORE: Cancellation
Log in, open account settings, find “Manage,” answer a survey, decline two offers, then confirm by email.
AFTER: Cancellation
Channel parity: customers who joined by text can cancel by text, such as replying “CANCEL BREW.” Keep that keyword separate from your marketing STOP so one doesn’t trigger the other.
One screen online: the cancel button sits on the subscription page. A pause or skip option can appear alongside it, in my judgment, as long as cancel stays equally visible and works in one click.
In-person signups: anyone who joined at a pop-up or store gets an online cancel option by web or email.
BEFORE: Renewal
The card is charged quietly every month.
AFTER: Renewal
The rule sets notice windows. Annual or longer terms need notice 15 to 45 days before the cancellation deadline. Price increases need 5 to 30 days’ notice. Charges after a free trial or gift of a month or more need 3 to 21 days’ notice.
Treat those notices as your best retention email. Lead with the date and the amount, then offer skip, swap and pause before the cancel link. Someone who wants a break picks pause because it’s easy, without being trapped.
Edge cases to settle
If you can’t reliably tell who lives in the city, apply one flow to everyone. Running two versions doubles the chance of a mistake.
If you sell gift subscriptions, check who receives the trial-end notice before the first charge.
List every way a customer can subscribe today, including text, quiz, checkout and in person. Then make sure each one has a matching way out.
📊 Google Ads is changing what counts as a view
Google is updating Demand Gen measurement, conversion reporting, lift testing and AI Max controls, giving advertisers more data while changing how some campaign results are counted.
The Breakdown:
Display Views Get Easier to Count - Demand Gen Display will count any rendered impression as a view, replacing Active View’s stricter standard. View-through conversions may rise without actual performance improving.
Conversion Paths Get More Detail - Google Ads Overview will include video impressions in eligible web conversion paths and group metrics by awareness, consideration and action. GA4-imported conversions are excluded.
Lift Testing Goes Self-Serve - Search and Performance Max advertisers can now run Conversion Lift tests without a Google representative, provided they have at least 1,000 observed conversions and a $5,000 campaign budget.
AI Max Gets More Transparent - New columns reveal targeting settings, while text customization previews up to 10 sample headlines and descriptions. Retailers can also share audiences with brands under domain restrictions.
These updates give advertisers more visibility into campaigns, but the new Demand Gen counting method could inflate reported view-through results. Comparing performance across periods will require extra care, and Conversion Lift offers a way to check whether ads actually generate additional conversions.
Together with Notion
The Hidden ROI of a Clean Workspace
Founders usually look for ROI in obvious places: ad spend, hiring, software costs, or sales performance. But one of the highest-leverage investments is often harder to see on a balance sheet: operational clarity.
When a company’s internal workspace is messy, the cost shows up through duplicate work, slower decisions, missed handoffs, lost context, and founder time spent chasing information. Even small improvements can create meaningful returns.
If a 10-person team saves just 20 minutes per person each day by reducing searching, re-asking, and rebuilding work, that adds up to more than 30 hours recovered every week.
For an early-stage company, that is nearly the equivalent of adding another full workweek of capacity without increasing headcount.
A clean workspace also reduces risk. Decisions are easier to audit, customer and contract details are easier to preserve, onboarding becomes more consistent, and AI becomes more useful because it has better structured knowledge to work with.
AI does not replace good systems. It compounds them. The more organized the workspace, the more value founders can unlock from automation, search, summaries, and knowledge management. Turn operational clarity into a competitive advantage.
Try Notion today and get up to 3 months free of Notion Business with Notion AI.
🏆 Ad of the Day
What Works:
Search Intent Hooks - The search-bar format mirrors real consumer questions, creating strong message-market fit while making the ad feel native to how people actively research healthier hydration habits.
Benefits Scan Instantly - “Zero Sugar” and “B+C Vitamins” sit in high-contrast blocks, reducing cognitive load and giving mobile viewers two fast, concrete reasons to choose the product.
Product Feels Refreshing - The bright raspberry drink, ice block and fruit cues make hydration feel cold, flavorful and desirable, while the pack remains clearly visible for strong branding recall.
Turn high-intent customer searches into the creative hook, then show the product as the visual answer. It connects existing demand directly to a clear solution.
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