Channel99, the AI-powered B2B marketing platform, launched Paid Search Optimization this week, a tool designed to overhaul how business-to-business marketers handle their largest budget line item. Paid search often claims about 40% of B2B marketing spend, yet traditional metrics like clicks, impressions and cost-per-click dominate optimization efforts, treating all traffic equally regardless of its business value. The new capability shifts focus to account-level engagement, linking keywords and ad groups directly to ideal customer profiles, buying groups and named accounts.

This move comes amid rising CFO scrutiny on marketing returns, as AI chatbots erode organic search traffic and force heavier reliance on paid channels for intent capture. Channel99’s founder and CEO Chris Golec emphasized the need for actionable insights: “CFOs don’t want more dashboards—they want clarity and action. Understanding the cost to engage a target account changes the entire paid search conversation.” The platform now continuously analyzes performance to spot inefficiencies and recommend budget shifts.

From Clicks to Cost-Per-Account

Traditional paid search tools optimize for media efficiency, but Channel99 introduces CFO-friendly metrics like cost-to-engage target accounts. It scores and ranks keywords and ad groups based on their ability to drive pipeline influence and revenue, unifying data across Google, LinkedIn, YouTube and Meta. “Paid Search continues to be a major line item in B2B marketing budgets, but remains difficult to manage based on the quality of engagement, or the impact on the sales pipeline,” said Zak Prauer, a partner at Bain & Company. “Measuring and optimizing keywords or campaigns at the account or segment level will enable a far more holistic, full-funnel approach, and is long overdue.”

By integrating CRM data and proprietary account identification—free of cookies—the tool verifies ad delivery to high-value audiences, a first-of-its-kind B2B ad verification feature. This builds on Channel99’s core strength in solving attribution puzzles that have plagued marketers for years, as noted in coverage by PR Newswire.

Early reports highlight its potential to cut waste in the $100 billion B2B search market, where AI-driven tools like this integrate with Google and Microsoft campaigns for precise targeting. MarTech Series described it as redefining optimization by connecting performance to meaningful interactions with ideal customers.

Golec’s Proven Track Record

Chris Golec, who founded Demandbase and pioneered account-based marketing, launched Channel99 in 2022 with $5 million in seed funding from investors including Jackson Square Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners and Ridge Ventures. The company debuted with a free mobile app to benchmark website traffic quality across SEO, paid search, social, email and display, revealing that over 90% of B2B site visits often yield little pipeline value, according to Demand Gen Report.

Since then, Channel99 has expanded rapidly: In July 2024, it introduced digital channel scoring with a “smart pixel” for view-through attribution across platforms like LinkedIn and Google Display, as covered by MarTech. December 2025 brought Dynamic Audiences with one-click activation on top channels, leveraging AI recommendations to match audiences to outcomes and reduce inefficiencies, per Grit Daily News.

Paid Search Optimization extends this progression, available immediately to existing customers with free trials for new users via channel99.com. It demands clean CRM data, positioning it for data-mature mid-market and enterprise teams facing lengthening sales cycles.

Navigating Attribution Challenges

B2B marketers have long struggled with fragmented signals, where 75% of traffic appears as “direct” and legacy multi-touch attribution falls short on predictions. Channel99’s AI engine, trained by B2B experts, ingests signals from first-party sites, intent sources like G2 and LinkedIn, and CRM outcomes to provide a single truth source. Its verification pixel boosts site identification by over 3x, enabling precise measurements across vendors and campaigns.

The platform’s evolution reflects industry shifts: As third-party cookies fade, account-level identifiers and privacy-friendly tech like Channel99’s become essential. Recent integrations, including LinkedIn for view-through attribution, tie organic and paid efforts to pipeline, as detailed on the company’s site. This full-funnel visibility arms teams to defend budgets amid AI disruptions in search.

DestinationCRM noted the tool’s emphasis on ranking investments by revenue potential, allowing confident reallocations. On X, MarTech Series shared the launch, signaling early industry buzz.

Broader Market Pressures

AI chatbots are commoditizing awareness content, pushing B2B demand gen toward forums for consideration queries and amplifying paid search’s role, as observed by BuccoCapital Bloke on X. Channel99’s timing addresses this, with WebProNews reporting strong interest in its cross-platform capabilities amid eroding organic traffic.

For high-growth firms, the stakes are high: Tools like this promise pipeline acceleration and risk reduction by automating optimizations that once required manual labor. Golec’s prior success at Demandbase—scaling ABM into a staple—lends credibility, with backers like Bob Spinner of Jackson Square Ventures praising his category-defining potential.

As B2B budgets face finance alignment demands, Channel99 positions paid search as a predictable revenue driver, not a black box. Its AI closes the loop from keyword bids to closed-won deals, setting a new benchmark for accountability in enterprise marketing stacks.