Growing Ecommerce – The Retail Growth Podcast

Smarter Ecommerce

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Marketing
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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.

1d ago

1 in 4 of Your Exact-Match Impressions Now Come From AI Max

Google's AI Max is now serving 1 in 4 of your exact-match ad impressions — and it's quietly reshaping Search and Performance Max campaigns. Chris and Mike deliver the AI Max deep-dive they promised last episode, breaking down exactly how that number gets generated and what it costs you in control. Picking up where Alphabet's Q2 earnings call left off, this episode unpacks Google chief business officer Philipp Schindler's claim that AI Max is "unlocking billions of net-new searches that weren't really monetizable before." The mechanics: when there isn't enough auction competition for a search term, Google either skips serving an ad or falls back to ad-rank thresholds — AI Max exists to monetize that gap by expanding matching beyond your exact and phrase match keywords, using what's effectively broad match under a new name (officially "search term matching"). The numbers back it up. Across AI Max campaigns, roughly 80% of the additional impressions come from exact match terms and 20% from phrase match — and once AI Max is activated in a campaign running mostly exact match, about 1 in 4 impressions against those exact-match keywords now originate from AI Max instead of the keywords you actually chose. Chris and Mike weigh the real trade-off here: advertisers who deliberately chose exact match for control are being nudged toward broad-match-style reach, though the ad-group-level opt-out is a meaningful safety valve. Revenue uplift is real per in-platform attribution — but it's driving volume, not necessarily matching Google's claimed efficiency. The second half tackles a related head-scratcher: click-through rates on Shopping and Max campaign types have climbed roughly 17-20% year-over-year for over a year — the opposite of what the "zero-click," AI-Overviews-kill-CTR narrative predicts. Chris and Mike test a mechanical hypothesis (impressions falling 10-12% YoY while clicks hold steady would produce this exact pattern) without claiming it's confirmed, and discuss why ecommerce commercial queries may be more shielded from the zero-click trend than informational, publisher-facing searches — for now. If you manage Google Ads campaigns and want to understand what AI Max is actually doing to your account's match types, this is the episode. Growing Ecommerce is brought to you by smec (Smarter Ecommerce). Learn more: https://www.smarter-ecommerce.com Try smec's free Market Observer benchmarking tool: https://smarter-ecommerce.com/en/smec-market-observer/ Catch last episode's Q2 earnings breakdown for context: https://youtu.be/yaSBRm-pEFo 👥 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/smarter-ecommerce-gmbh/ Mike Ryan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeryanretail/ Christian Scharmüller: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-scharm%C3%BCller/ 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/
Aug 4

Meta's Ad Costs Are Rising: What It Means for Your Budget

Meta, Google, and Amazon just posted Q2 2026 earnings — and the numbers reveal exactly where ad costs are headed next for advertisers. Plus: Shein's IPO filing shows what happens when ad dependency meets a broken profit model. Chris and Mike break down all four Q2 earnings calls that matter for anyone running paid search or social budgets right now. Meta's ad revenue jumped roughly 27% year-over-year, but almost none of that growth is coming from new users — it's coming from higher ad load and rising frequency on existing accounts, which is why per-unit ad costs are climbing even as impressions go up. CapEx grew 55% year-over-year and net income actually dropped 14%, which is part of why the stock got punished despite the growth headline. Google/Alphabet told a different story: search ad revenue is up 17% to over $60 billion, even as growth decelerated for the first time in years — still one of the strongest showings of any company this size. Cloud revenue is up 80%, and Google tied its ad growth directly to AI Max, which the company says is monetizing "billions" of net-new search terms that weren't served by ad inventory before. Chris and Mike table the "how does AI Max actually work" deep-dive for next week's episode — subscribe so you don't miss it. Amazon's ad business grew 26% to roughly $19.8 billion, led by sponsored products, with no signs of slowing. And Shein's newly filed IPO prospectus reveals a business that's almost entirely dependent on paid advertising — 95% of its 2025 marketing budget (around $6 billion) went to ads, growth has stalled since the U.S. de minimis exemption ended, and the company isn't hitting the "Rule of 40/50" profitability-plus-growth benchmark institutional investors look for. This is a market-earnings recap for PPC managers, in-house ecommerce marketers, and agencies who need to know what's actually driving ad costs and platform strategy this quarter — not just headline numbers. Growing Ecommerce is brought to you by Smarter Ecommerce (smec). Learn more: https://www.smarter-ecommerce.com Subscribe for the AI Max deep-dive next episode Follow us on LinkedIn #PPC #GoogleAds #Ecommerce #MetaAds #DigitalMarketing 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/
Jul 28

Google’s CSS "20% Discount" Myth, Busted | Plus: The Hidden CPC Tax of PMax + Shopping

Everyone selling in Europe has heard the pitch: use a third-party CSS and get a "20% discount" on your Google Shopping bids. Mike Ryan and Chris finally settle what that number actually means — and it’s not a discount at all. They break down the real math behind Google Shopping Europe’s mandatory margin, whether a multi-CSS strategy still makes sense in 2026 (spoiler: it doesn’t), and why the fear of "bidding against yourself" across multiple CSS partners is a myth Google has gone out of its way to debunk. Then: a lesson for every advertiser, EU or not. If bid is the only real differentiator between a PMax shopping ad and a Standard Shopping ad serving the identical product, what happens when you run both at once? Mike shares fresh CPC data across shopping-only, hybrid, and PMax-only accounts suggesting the answer is: your account gets hotter. Whether or not you technically "bid against yourself," running overlapping campaign types may be quietly inflating your CPCs — and Google’s new Channel Diagnostics report might be a tacit admission of exactly that. In this episode: • Myth #1: the "20% discount" claim — it’s purchasing power, not a discount • The real math: how Google Shopping Europe’s mandatory margin actually hits your bid • Do you still need a third-party CSS in 2026? (Yes — here’s why) • Myth #2: does a multi-CSS strategy still make sense, or is it a "last-mover penalty"? • Myth #3: are you bidding against yourself with multiple CSS partners? • The bigger lesson: what happens when bid is the only ad rank differentiator? • Fresh CPC data: shopping-only vs. hybrid vs. PMax-only accounts • Google’s new Channel Diagnostics report for PMax — a tacit admission? • The verdict: hybrid PMax + Shopping setups can work, but only with a real strategy Growing Ecommerce is brought to you by smec (Smarter Ecommerce). Learn more: https://www.smarter-ecommerce.com 👉 Running PMax and Shopping side by side? Tell us what you’re seeing in your CPCs — drop a comment. #GoogleAds #CSS #GoogleShopping #PerformanceMax #PPC #Ecommerce #GrowingEcommerce #SmarterEcommerce 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/
Jul 21

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/
Jul 14

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/
Jul 7

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/
Jun 30

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/
Jun 23

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/

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.

Creator

Smarter Ecommerce
Years Active

2021 - 2026
Episodes

112
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© 2026 Growing Ecommerce – The Retail Growth Podcast
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Growing Ecommerce – The Retail Growth Podcast