gfinn-headshot
Greg

Greg Finn

Head of Performance & Innovation / Partner / Podcast Host

Greg + CN

Established 2010

Greg is the Head of Performance and Innovation for Cypress North's digital marketing team and one of the founders of our agency. In 2010, he and Matt Mombrea started Cypress North in Buffalo. Greg oversaw the opening of our second office in 2022, located in his hometown of Rochester.

As Head of Performance and Innovation, Greg co-manages our digital marketing department and works closely with our team to ensure all our clients achieve the best possible results. He is always looking for ways to test new digital marketing techniques and technology, and oversees all teaching and training efforts to ensure our agency stays ahead of the curve.

Greg is also a co-host of our weekly Marketing O'Clock podcast, where he and the team provide updates, insights, and hot takes on the latest SEO, PPC, and social media marketing news. In addition to weekly news shows, Greg hosts our Marketing O'Torial digital marketing tutorials and often co-hosts bonus Marketing O'Talk episodes that bring together panels of digital marketing experts.

With nearly two decades of experience, Greg is a known and trusted voice in the digital marketing community. He’s a contributor for Search Engine Land, a member of the Search Marketing Expo (SMX) programming team, and has been a featured speaker at some of the largest search engine conferences, including SMX, eSummit, and Pubcon. 

When he’s not working or staying updated on the latest trends, Greg enjoys watching his kids play sports and coaching their soccer team. He’s been named the runner-up “Greg of the Year” on Marketing O’Clock’s annual Clockscars Awards four years in a row. While the coveted award has evaded him for many years, Keanu Reeves has not. Greg once saw him at Gabriel's Gate tavern in Buffalo (and noted he was very tall.)

Follow along with Greg

Check out Marketing O'Clock

Expertise

  • Content Marketing
  • Organic Search
  • Paid Search
  • Social Media Marketing

Greg's Life At CN

Greg-isms

Greg

All conversions are not created equal.

Build on your own real estate.

The average position doesn't lie, like Shakira says.

Am I sharing my screen?

Check Out Some of Greg's Work

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“We join our clients' team in the truest sense. When giving recommendations & feedback, you'll hear 'we,' not 'I.'”

Greg Finn

Head of Performance & Innovation / Partner, Cypress North

Written By Greg

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Blog by: Greg Finn
1.21.2025
Agency Advice

Why Your Shopping Campaigns May Be Competing with Demand Gen & PMax on YouTube

Find out why your Google Shopping campaigns might show up on YouTube and how turning off the Search Partners Network can help improve targeting and performance.

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Blog by: Greg Finn
1.13.2025
Agency Advice

How to Navigate Potential Bugs and Changes in Google Ads

Learn how to deal with bugs and changes in Google Ads with these practical tips for staying proactive, verifying rumors, and preparing for potential solutions to keep your account performing.

googleads_generic
Blog by: Greg Finn
1.6.2025
Agency Advice

Google Ads Changes Double-Serving Policy: What To Watch Out For

A Google Ads policy change now allows multiple ads per query. Learn more about how this could impact branded search results and ad spending in 2025.

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Blog by: Greg Finn
12.20.2024
Search Engine Optimization

Let's Put a Stop to Google Page Annotations

Google's Page Annotations will direct some visitors away from sites and back to search. We’re calling for an end to this practice.

Building custom segments
Video by: Greg Finn
3.26.2024
Paid Search Marketing

How to Target Users by App in Google Ads Campaigns

Learn how to set up custom segments with app targeting. Our digital marketing tutorial covers how to get started, best practices, common mistakes, and more.

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Blog by: Greg Finn
2.1.2024
Paid Search Marketing

Google Ads Announces 3 Changes to Search Ad Creatives

Google Ads will be rolling out three changes this month to search ad creatives. We break down the three features, how to use them, and what marketers need to know.

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Blog by: Greg Finn
1.5.2024
Paid Search Marketing

Google Ads & Bidding Types: The Ultimate Source for Google Search Bidding

Learn about the different bid strategies you can use in Google, the pros and cons of each, and how to optimize them.

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Blog by: Greg Finn
7.31.2023
Paid Search Marketing

Should Google Ads Recommendations Guarantee Broad Match Success?

Google is being overly aggressive with recommendations for broad match. Here's what you should know.

SMX-Blog
Blog by: Greg Finn
5.31.2022
Company News

Cypress North Team at SMX Advanced 2022

May has flown by here at Cypress North, full of new hires, clients, opportunities and a lot of preparation. In June I will be moderating a handful of panels at what should be the biggest search-focused digital marketing conference of […]

google ads value tracking perameters
Blog by: Greg Finn
12.17.2021
Data Analysis

Why You Should Set Up Google Analytics 4 Today

Let's face it. GA4 isn't GR8. Google Analytics 4 is a work in progress to put it kindly. However, in these final weeks of 2021 you have an opportunity to get GA4 installed and tuned up, giving your future self […]

Google Ads broad match
Blog by: Greg Finn
9.24.2021
Paid Search Marketing

Sorry Google, There Are Benefits to Using Multiple Match Types when Using Broad Match with Smart Bidding

Over the years, advertisers have flocked to Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) due to the creativity, flexibility, reach, and targeting offered by the ad giant.  Google Ads was an empty canvas with unlimited opportunities. Over the years the platform has […]

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Blog by: Greg Finn
5.31.2021
Data Analysis

6 Google Ads Custom Columns to Help Uncover More Data

You may already know you can create custom columns in the Google Ads online interface. But, if you're anything like me, you may not always think about how you can leverage custom columns to surface essential Google Ads performance metrics, […]

google ads audience analysis
Blog by: Greg Finn
10.29.2020
Data Analysis

How To See Audience Performace Across Campaigns With Google Ads Reports

Google Ads makes it really easy to see performance at the campaign or ad group level, but analyzing audience performance across multiple Google Ads campaigns is easier said than done. You're left wondering.... What's working well? What's not? Combining like-minded […]

Google ads close variant keywords
Blog by: Greg Finn
6.8.2020
Paid Search Marketing

Is Google Ads Close Variant Matching Moving Further Apart?

Looking at search terms that we've seen here recently, there is absolutely no doubt about it. Close Variants aren't as close as they used to be. Is it a bug? Is it calculated? I'm not sure, but we've been fighting […]

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Blog by: Greg Finn
3.18.2020
Company News

How Agencies Can Succeed in Uncertain Times

On Friday's episode of Marketing O'Clock I tried to give some advice to agencies amidst these challenging times. In case you missed the show last week, you can see the clip & writeup below. Crisis strategies for company morale The […]

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Blog by: Greg Finn
2.25.2020
Content Marketing

Should You Hire A Digital Marketing Agency or Hire In-House: An Unbiased Breakdown

Many small businesses (SMBs) hit that point of growth where they know that they need digital marketing help. That is non-negotiable. But is it better to hire an in-house digital marketers or use an agency? This is an important conversation that we have fairly frequently, so we set out to make the ultimate list of pros and cons of hiring a digital marketing agency.

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Blog by: Greg Finn
2.3.2020
Company News

Jill Fecher Joins Our Growing Team

As we head further into 2020 here at Cypress North, a major focus is targeted growth. Not the traditional "just grow numbers for the sake of numbers" growth, but growth in how we serve our amazing clients. We are looking […]

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Blog by: Greg Finn
5.9.2019
Paid Search Marketing

Life Events & Detailed Demographics: Two Little Known Google Ads Audience Options

For a while, it seemed that nobody was ever going to catch up to Facebook from a targeting standpoint. Facebook's ability to pinpoint specific users based on their behavior, demographics, or interests is still unmatched, but with the seemingly constant […]

FB-Ad-Group-Optimization
Blog by: Greg Finn
3.12.2019
Social Media Marketing

Facebook Ads Budget Optimization: Everything You Need To Know

Facebook has major news for advertisers. Come September 2019, account managers will no longer be able to set budgets at the Ad Set level in Facebook Ads. Instead, Facebook's Campaign Budget Optimization will become the default setting for all campaigns, […]

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Blog by: Greg Finn
6.28.2018
Marketing O'Clock

AdWords gets a rebrand, a Search Console URL going to love & more! - Marketing O'Clock Ep. 24

Subscribe   Don't miss what happened in the digital marketing industry on this week of June 24th, 2018. Join Greg Finn and Jess Budde as they give you the rundown on some of the biggest news in the digital marketing […]

Teammates & Collaborators