Meta Ads got 20% pricier: the 7 alternative platforms selling more for less
▶ Watch on YouTubeCosts +20%, CPA +38%, and March's algorithm wrecked accounts. Steve Chou shows 7 Meta alternatives: AppLovin, direct mail (16.47x ROAS), Google PMax, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Reddit (4.7x), and AI SEO/GEO.
Highlights
- Meta crisis: ad costs +20% this year, CPA +38%, March's algorithm changes wrecked accounts
- Direct mail (Post Pilot): 699 postcards, $482 invested, $7,947 return — 16.47x ROAS in 3 weeks
- Google PMax and TikTok Ads: buying intent and discovery — Performance Max converts better than Meta, TikTok finds the winners
- YouTube Shorts: ~$4 CPM, 200B daily views, and no e-commerce advertiser competition; Reddit: ROAS jumped from 2.3x to 4.7x
- AI SEO/GEO: optimizing so ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude recommend your brand when people ask AI for shopping help
Meta ads are more expensive and converting worse: costs up 20% this year, CPA +38%, and March's algorithm changes wrecked accounts that used to "print money." Steve Chou (MyWifeQuitHerJob), a 7-figure store owner with 19 years of paid media, shows 7 alternative platforms quietly delivering more for less.
1. AppLovin and 2. Direct mail (Post Pilot)
AppLovin is the mobile-games ad platform that captures 38% of screen time — but it needs a large catalog and budget for the algorithm to learn. Direct mail surprises: 699 postcards to customers inactive for 60+ days cost $482 and returned $7,947 (16.47x ROAS in 3 weeks), via Post Pilot integrated with Shopify.
3. Google Ads and 4. TikTok Ads
Google is where buying intent ends: Performance Max uses AI to optimize your product feed and typically converts better than Meta — and with AI Overviews rising, being in Google's AI results becomes mandatory. TikTok Ads follows the discovery model: post organic Shorts, find the winners, and put spend behind them.
5. YouTube Shorts and 6. Reddit Ads
YouTube Shorts has ~$4 CPM (same as TikTok), 200 billion daily views, and almost no e-commerce advertisers — less competition, cheaper inventory. Reddit overhauled its algorithm in September and average e-commerce ROAS jumped from 2.3x to 4.7x — it's the network where the community is already looking for what you sell.
7. AI SEO / GEO
The seventh alternative isn't paid media: it's optimizing your content so ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude recommend your products when people ask AI for shopping help. The tactic: map customer avatars, answer each one's real questions on category pages, and wrap them in fact schema — so AI models cite your brand as the source.
Why it matters
The video is a practical manual for traffic diversification at a time when Meta gets pricier. For any store that depends on ads, the lesson is clear: budget needs to move where conversion is — and the next frontier is appearing in AI assistant answers.