One weird trick ∞

“One weird trick” is one of the most effective bits of copy in the history of advertising — the apotheosis of clickbait. I wonder how timeless it will prove to be? Will it still generate freakishly good click-through rates in 2020? 2025? Maybe. It works because “one weird trick” is itself a weird trick! So meta…

I clearly remember the first time I saw a “one weird trick” ad. I thought, “Oooh, smart. Bet the CTR on that is dazzling.” It was, of course. This was back in the years when I was experimenting heavily with Google AdSense, as much because I was fascinated by the psychology experiment aspect of it as by the ka-ching factor..