Growing Ecommerce – The Retail Growth Podcast

Smarter Ecommerce
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Feed your growth mindset. Ecommerce is growing, and so are the challenges and opportunities for online retailers. In the Growing Ecommerce podcast, Mike Ryan and other smec experts are joined by industry leaders in ecommerce, digital marketing, and data science. By sharing business trends, practical solutions, and best practices, this podcast helps online retailers solve the challenges of tomorrow.

  1. -6 j

    A German Court Just Made Google Liable for Its AI | Plus: Temu & Shein Fall Off a Cliff

    A small regional court in Germany just handed down a ruling with global consequences: Google is liable for what its AI Overviews say. The "AI can make mistakes" disclaimer? Insufficient. Text generated by Gemini counts as Google’s own words — and Mike Ryan and Chris break down why this precedent could quickly spread from publishing to shopping, consumer protection, and the product recommendations AI assistants are already making every day. Then: a victory lap. Five weeks ago we called it — the EU’s July 1st de minimis change would break the business model of Temu, Shein & AliExpress in Europe. Now the data is in (and quoted by Reuters): Temu fell from 70%+ of advertisers facing daily competition down to just 23%. Shein dropped to 5%. We cover what the €3-per-item fee actually does, why one major German fashion retailer is overspending by 70% to grab the open market, and why UK retailers should brace for what comes next. In this episode: • The German libel ruling: why Google’s AI disclaimer didn’t protect it • "Those are your own words" — hallucinations as legal exposure • Why the precedent could spread to shopping, consumer protection & false advertising • The feed as deterministic anchor: why Google grounds its AI in merchant data • The €3 de minimis fee — and why it’s worse than a 10% tariff • smec’s data in Reuters: Temu 70% → 23%, Shein down to 5% of advertisers • The playbook: profitable CPCs are on tap — but maybe not for long • Shein’s IPO trouble, the shift to Europe & the warning for the UK, Canada & Australia About Smarter Ecommerce (smec): Smarter Ecommerce (smec) empowers e-commerce brands with AI-driven PPC automation that optimizes for profit and business outcomes while maintaining strategic control. The platform activates first-party data - profit margins, customer lifetime value, and key business metrics - to automate campaign optimization toward goals like profitability and efficient growth, while detailed campaign insights provide full transparency and enable PPC teams to focus on strategic oversight rather than manual execution. As a Google Premier Partner and three-time Microsoft Retail Partner of the Year, smec manages over €500 million in ad spend and drives €5B+ in annual e-commerce revenue for 350+ global retail clients including THG, Snipes, REWE, and Intersport. Make sure to follow smec - Smarter Ecommerce for more performance marketing insights: smec - Smarter Ecommerce: https://www.smarter-ecommerce.com LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/smarter-ecommerce-gmbh Newsletter: https://smarter-ecommerce.com/en/newsletter/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smarterecommerce/

    A German Court Just Made Google Liable for Its AI | Plus: Temu & Shein Fall Off a Cliff

  2. 14 juil.

    AI Max vs DSA, PMax vs Shopping, tROAS vs Max Conv. Value | Google Ads World Cup

    We turned Google Ads into a World Cup bracket. Three head-to-head rounds, two hosts, no referee — just the campaign types and bid strategies advertisers argue about most. In this episode of Growing Ecommerce, Mike Ryan and Chris go feature vs. feature: 🥊 Round 1: AI Max for Search vs. Dynamic Search Ads — is DSA's sunset delay (now pushed to early 2027) proof it still has a job to do, or is final URL expansion the reason AI Max wins the AI-search era? 🥊 Round 2: Performance Max vs. Standard Shopping — Standard Shopping is getting text customization, new AI-native ad formats, and its own DSA-style final URL expansion. Does that close the gap with PMax, or does PMax's built-in dynamic remarketing still make it the better fit for top sellers? 🥊 Round 3: Target ROAS vs. Maximize Conversion Value — is "maximize conversion value" just Google asking to be trusted with your budget, or is a demand-led bid strategy the more productive way to think about ROAS once you zoom out past the daily noise? No hedging, no both-sides-it — Mike and Chris each pick a side and defend it. About Smarter Ecommerce (smec): Smarter Ecommerce (smec) empowers e-commerce brands with AI-driven PPC automation that optimizes for profit and business outcomes while maintaining strategic control. The platform activates first-party data - profit margins, customer lifetime value, and key business metrics - to automate campaign optimization toward goals like profitability and efficient growth, while detailed campaign insights provide full transparency and enable PPC teams to focus on strategic oversight rather than manual execution. As a Google Premier Partner and three-time Microsoft Retail Partner of the Year, smec manages over €500 million in ad spend and drives €5B+ in annual e-commerce revenue for 350+ global retail clients including THG, Snipes, REWE, and Intersport. Make sure to follow smec - Smarter Ecommerce for more performance marketing insights: smec - Smarter Ecommerce: https://www.smarter-ecommerce.com LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/smarter-ecommerce-gmbh Newsletter: https://smarter-ecommerce.com/en/newsletter/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smarterecommerce/

    AI Max vs DSA, PMax vs Shopping, tROAS vs Max Conv. Value | Google Ads World Cup

  3. 7 juil.

    Google's Smart Bidding Change: Why Your ROAS Is About to Drop

    Starting August 17th, Google is quietly rewriting how Smart Bidding treats campaigns that are limited by budget — and if your account is currently over-delivering on Roas, this affects you directly. In this episode, Mike Ryan and Chris break down Google's upcoming change to budget-limited campaigns, why "over-delivering" Roas is being treated as money left on the table, and the carrot-and-stick logic behind Google's new Bid Target Adjustment tool. Whether you're comfortable with your current Roas buffer or actively trying to scale, this episode explains exactly what will shift under the hood — and what to do before the change hits. What you'll learn: What changes on August 17th for budget-limited campaignsWhy campaigns over-delivering Roas are Google's real targetThe two mechanical levers Google can pull to force Roas down (worse clicks vs. higher CPCs)Why smart bidding is structurally conservative — and why ~25% of campaigns always over-deliverThe new Bid Target Adjustment tool and what it's really nudging you towardHow this connects to Google's broader push (Demand Gen budget pacing, flight-based budgeting, Smart Bidding Exploration)The workaround: smarter product segmentation and campaign structureAbout Smarter Ecommerce (smec): Smarter Ecommerce (smec) empowers e-commerce brands with AI-driven PPC automation that optimizes for profit and business outcomes while maintaining strategic control. The platform activates first-party data - profit margins, customer lifetime value, and key business metrics - to automate campaign optimization toward goals like profitability and efficient growth, while detailed campaign insights provide full transparency and enable PPC teams to focus on strategic oversight rather than manual execution. As a Google Premier Partner and three-time Microsoft Retail Partner of the Year, smec manages over €500 million in ad spend and drives €5B+ in annual e-commerce revenue for 350+ global retail clients including THG, Snipes, REWE, and Intersport. Make sure to follow smec - Smarter Ecommerce for more performance marketing insights: smec - Smarter Ecommerce: https://www.smarter-ecommerce.com LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/smarter-ecommerce-gmbh Newsletter: https://smarter-ecommerce.com/en/newsletter/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smarterecommerce/

    Google's Smart Bidding Change: Why Your ROAS Is About to Drop

  4. 30 juin

    Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) Explained: What Every Ecommerce Brand Must Know

    AI is coming for your checkout — and the infrastructure behind it is called Universal Commerce Protocol.  In this episode, Mike Ryan breaks down exactly what UCP is, why Google and Shopify built it together, who's already on board, and what ecommerce brands actually need to do to prepare. Whether you're being pressured by an AI mandate at work, confused by wildly conflicting advice online, or just trying to understand what "agentic commerce" actually means for your business — this episode cuts through the noise. What you'll learn: 1. What UCP is (and what it's not — it's NOT an AI browsing your website)  2. Why OpenAI's competing standard (ACP) already lost  3. Who has endorsed UCP: Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Shopify, Walmart, Zalando and more 4. The core implementation steps — without boiling the ocean 5. New conversational feed attributes available globally right now  6. UCP analytics coming to Google Merchant Center Mike's key takeaway: Don't panic. Start with Google. Improve your feed. The rest will follow. About Smarter Ecommerce (smec): Smarter Ecommerce (smec) empowers e-commerce brands with AI-driven PPC automation that optimizes for profit and business outcomes while maintaining strategic control. The platform activates first-party data - profit margins, customer lifetime value, and key business metrics - to automate campaign optimization toward goals like profitability and efficient growth, while detailed campaign insights provide full transparency and enable PPC teams to focus on strategic oversight rather than manual execution. As a Google Premier Partner and three-time Microsoft Retail Partner of the Year, smec manages over €500 million in ad spend and drives €5B+ in annual e-commerce revenue for 350+ global retail clients including THG, Snipes, REWE, and Intersport. Make sure to follow smec - Smarter Ecommerce for more performance marketing insights: smec - Smarter Ecommerce: https://www.smarter-ecommerce.com LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/smarter-ecommerce-gmbh Newsletter: https://smarter-ecommerce.com/en/newsletter/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smarterecommerce/

    Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) Explained: What Every Ecommerce Brand Must Know

  5. 23 juin

    Google Goes a Box Too Far — Plus Why OpenAI’s $100B Ad Dream Doesn’t Add Up

    Google just announced the biggest change to search in its history — and not everyone is happy. At Google I/O, the search bar became a search box, signaling a full shift toward conversational, Gemini-powered search. The market is already reacting: DuckDuckGo rocketed from around position 400 to the top 100 in the app stores almost overnight, right around the May 20–21 launch. Mike Ryan and Chris unpack what a privacy-and-no-AI search wrapper suddenly surging tells us about consumer appetite — and why the relentless pace of change is exhausting retailers and experts alike. Then: fresh eMarketer data puts the AI advertising hype into much-needed context. AI ad spend in the US sits around $32B in 2026 (roughly a third of Google’s search spend), but ~80% of it is just AI-search-adjacent — ads above and below AI Overviews. The chatbot-driven slice everyone is panicking about? Tiny. We dig into why OpenAI’s $100B ad ambition looks unrealistic, what the 2030 projections actually say, and why the real takeaway for CMOs and CDOs is: prepare, but don’t abandon your bread and butter. The throughline: everything is changing, and everything is staying the same. With limited budget and talent, the retailers who win are the ones who resist FOMO, pick their battles, and keep investing in the core campaigns that still drive the business. In this episode: Why Google’s “bar to box” change is its biggest search shift ever — and what it implies about how Google wants you to searchDuckDuckGo’s surge from ~position 400 to top 100: a clear sign some consumers find the new box too muchWhy the pace of change may now be too fast even for Google itselfAI Max for Shopping vs. PMax — the strategic misalignment Google may not even seeWhy standard shopping is here to stay (and the comeback we called early)The new eMarketer data: ~$32B AI ad spend in 2026, ~80% of it AI-search-adjacentWhy OpenAI’s $100B ad goal and the 2030 chatbot-ad market projections don’t line upThe real CMO/CDO playbook: prepare efficiently, beat the FOMO, protect your bread and butter About Smarter Ecommerce (smec): Smarter Ecommerce (smec) empowers e-commerce brands with AI-driven PPC automation that optimizes for profit and business outcomes while maintaining strategic control. The platform activates first-party data - profit margins, customer lifetime value, and key business metrics - to automate campaign optimization toward goals like profitability and efficient growth, while detailed campaign insights provide full transparency and enable PPC teams to focus on strategic oversight rather than manual execution. As a Google Premier Partner and three-time Microsoft Retail Partner of the Year, smec manages over €500 million in ad spend and drives €5B+ in annual e-commerce revenue for 350+ global retail clients including THG, Snipes, REWE, and Intersport. Make sure to follow smec - Smarter Ecommerce for more performance marketing insights: smec - Smarter Ecommerce: https://www.smarter-ecommerce.com LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/smarter-ecommerce-gmbh Newsletter: https://smarter-ecommerce.com/en/newsletter/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smarterecommerce/

    Google Goes a Box Too Far — Plus Why OpenAI’s $100B Ad Dream Doesn’t Add Up

  6. 16 juin

    Google's AI Now Picks Which Product You Sell | Plus: ChatGPT Shopping Ads Arrive Too

    Google's new AI-powered Shopping ads can now decide which of your products wins the click — and it's optimizing for the user, not for your margin, your brand, or your strategy. This Gemini-built format writes its own product descriptions and may re-rank which product gets shown, beyond your bid. Mike Ryan and Chris dig into what that means for retailers who suddenly have less control over what gets pushed. Plus: ChatGPT is finally bringing Product Listing Ads (PLAs) to its results — a solid first step, or a Bing-style copycat play? The real story: "more relevant to the user" is not the same as "best for the retailer." As automated channels get more aggressive at matching products to searches, advertisers risk quietly losing control of which products actually get sold. In this episode: → What Google's AI-powered Shopping ads actually are — a new format inside AI Max for Shopping, not an umbrella term  → "Intelligent product identification": how Gemini may re-rank which product is shown, beyond the bid  → The retailer's blind spot — Google optimizes for click-through rate; you optimize for the business  → The coffee-machine problem: when the highest-converting product isn't the one you need to sell  → Why the best Google Ads outcome isn't always the best business outcome  → ChatGPT's PLAs: a solid, feed-based first step — or a Bing-style copycat play?  → What OpenAI's $100B ad ambition means for what comes next The throughline: AI executes, but only you know what your business needs to achieve. The retailers who win are the ones who keep translating business goals — margin, brand priority, profitability — into the channel, instead of letting the platform decide. 📌 Growing Ecommerce is brought to you by smec (Smarter Ecommerce). We help ecommerce brands move from platform-driven to business-driven PPC — combining AI-powered software with human expertise to optimize Google Shopping and Performance Max toward real business goals. 🔗 Learn more: https://www.smarter-ecommerce.com 🎧  Subscribe so you don't miss an episode — and if this was useful, a comment or a share genuinely helps. #GrowingEcommerce #ChatGPTShoppingAds #GoogleAds #ShoppingAds #PerformanceMax #PMax #PPC #Ecommerce #GoogleShopping #PaidSearch #RetailMedia #smec About Smarter Ecommerce (smec): Smarter Ecommerce (smec) empowers e-commerce brands with AI-driven PPC automation that optimizes for profit and business outcomes while maintaining strategic control. The platform activates first-party data - profit margins, customer lifetime value, and key business metrics - to automate campaign optimization toward goals like profitability and efficient growth, while detailed campaign insights provide full transparency and enable PPC teams to focus on strategic oversight rather than manual execution. As a Google Premier Partner and three-time Microsoft Retail Partner of the Year, smec manages over €500 million in ad spend and drives €5B+ in annual e-commerce revenue for 350+ global retail clients including THG, Snipes, REWE, and Intersport. Make sure to follow smec - Smarter Ecommerce for more performance marketing insights: smec - Smarter Ecommerce: https://www.smarter-ecommerce.com LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/smarter-ecommerce-gmbh Newsletter: https://smarter-ecommerce.com/en/newsletter/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smarterecommerce/

    Google's AI Now Picks Which Product You Sell | Plus: ChatGPT Shopping Ads Arrive Too

  7. 9 juin

    The EU Is Breaking Temu & Shein — Plus Google's Hidden AI Metric

    The EU is finally using its teeth on Chinese e-commerce — and the auction landscape is already shifting. Mike and Chris break down what falling CPCs in Europe mean for your accounts, why the July 1st customs change could matter more than any fine, and the playbook for grabbing market share before the window closes. Then: a major Google Marketing Live feature almost nobody is talking about. Google's new AI Performance Insights and the "Share of Voice" metric in Merchant Center finally show your product visibility inside AI Overviews, AI Mode, and Gemini — across both organic and paid. We cover what it does, where it lives, and the one big gap Google still leaves wide open. In this episode:  • Why the EU crackdown on Temu, Shein & AliExpress is a sign of what's coming  • Average CPCs dropped ~2.3% in May 2026 — and up to 5% in some categories  • The July 1st customs exemption change and what it does to Chinese sellers' margins  • The playbook: tROAS as a signal, AI Max search, demand-led growth & smart bidding exploration  • JoyBuy — the unregulated Chinese player to watch  • Google's new AI Performance Insights & Share of Voice metric in Merchant Center • The black box that still remains: campaign-level data Growing Ecommerce is brought to you by smec (Smarter Ecommerce). Learn more at smarterecommerce.com. 👉 Leave a review and drop a comment — we are curious what you guys think about this development. #ecommerce #GoogleAds #PerformanceMax #PPC #Temu #Shein #GoogleMarketingLive #AIsearch #MerchantCenter About Smarter Ecommerce (smec): Smarter Ecommerce (smec) empowers e-commerce brands with AI-driven PPC automation that optimizes for profit and business outcomes while maintaining strategic control. The platform activates first-party data - profit margins, customer lifetime value, and key business metrics - to automate campaign optimization toward goals like profitability and efficient growth, while detailed campaign insights provide full transparency and enable PPC teams to focus on strategic oversight rather than manual execution. As a Google Premier Partner and three-time Microsoft Retail Partner of the Year, smec manages over €500 million in ad spend and drives €5B+ in annual e-commerce revenue for 350+ global retail clients including THG, Snipes, REWE, and Intersport. Make sure to follow smec - Smarter Ecommerce for more performance marketing insights: smec - Smarter Ecommerce: https://www.smarter-ecommerce.com LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/smarter-ecommerce-gmbh Newsletter: https://smarter-ecommerce.com/en/newsletter/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smarterecommerce/

    The EU Is Breaking Temu & Shein — Plus Google's Hidden AI Metric

  8. 2 juin

    Meta Overtakes Google in Ad Spend & What It Means for Ecommerce │GML 2026 Recap

    Meta has overtaken Google in ad budgets - and for ecommerce advertisers, that changes everything. It means Google is on the offensive. It means the pressure to split your budget between platforms is about to intensify. And it means that if you're not set up correctly on Google's AI surfaces right now, you're already losing ground to competitors who are. In this episode of Growing Ecommerce, Mike Ryan (smec's Head of Ecommerce Insights) and Chris share firsthand takeaways from GML 2026 — both the San Francisco and Dublin events — with unfiltered takes on what actually matters for your campaigns. What we cover: → Google vs. Meta: The "War of the Titans" and why Google's messaging to advertisers is getting aggressive → AI Max for Shopping: Why standard shopping campaigns may have limited eligibility in AI surfaces → New AI-native ad formats: Conversational discovery ads, feed-based text ads, and why the line between shopping and search is collapsing → Ask Advisor: A great idea — but oversold to an irresponsible degree (Mike's take) → Universal Cart: Multi-retailer, cross-platform checkout — and Google's Amazon moment → What the shift to agentic commerce means for how you monetize clicks Cut through the hype. Know what to act on. 🔔 Subscribe for bi-weekly ecommerce PPC insights from smec — managing €680M+ in annual ad spend for 350+ global retail clients - for more content like this Learn more: https://smarter-ecommerce.com/en/newsletter/ About Smarter Ecommerce (smec): Smarter Ecommerce (smec) empowers e-commerce brands with AI-driven PPC automation that optimizes for profit and business outcomes while maintaining strategic control. The platform activates first-party data - profit margins, customer lifetime value, and key business metrics - to automate campaign optimization toward goals like profitability and efficient growth, while detailed campaign insights provide full transparency and enable PPC teams to focus on strategic oversight rather than manual execution. As a Google Premier Partner and three-time Microsoft Retail Partner of the Year, smec manages over €500 million in ad spend and drives €5B+ in annual e-commerce revenue for 350+ global retail clients including THG, Snipes, REWE, and Intersport. Make sure to follow smec - Smarter Ecommerce for more performance marketing insights: smec - Smarter Ecommerce: https://www.smarter-ecommerce.com LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/smarter-ecommerce-gmbh Newsletter: https://smarter-ecommerce.com/en/newsletter/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smarterecommerce/

    Meta Overtakes Google in Ad Spend & What It Means for Ecommerce │GML 2026 Recap
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À propos

Feed your growth mindset. Ecommerce is growing, and so are the challenges and opportunities for online retailers. In the Growing Ecommerce podcast, Mike Ryan and other smec experts are joined by industry leaders in ecommerce, digital marketing, and data science. By sharing business trends, practical solutions, and best practices, this podcast helps online retailers solve the challenges of tomorrow.

Informations

  • Création
    Smarter Ecommerce
  • Années d’activité
    2021 - 2026
  • Épisodes
    109
  • Classification
    Contenu explicite
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Growing Ecommerce – The Retail Growth Podcast
  • Site web de l’émission
    Growing Ecommerce – The Retail Growth Podcast

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