Growing Ecommerce – The Retail Growth Podcast

Smarter Ecommerce
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Marketing
  • Updated Weekly

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

    5d ago

    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/

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

    Jun 16

    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/

    28 min
  3. The EU Is Breaking Temu & Shein — Plus Google's Hidden AI Metric

    Jun 9

    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/

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

    Jun 2

    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/

    35 min
  5. Google Just Added Text Ads to Shopping Campaigns — Is AI Max for Shopping a Win or a Trap?

    May 26

    Google Just Added Text Ads to Shopping Campaigns — Is AI Max for Shopping a Win or a Trap?

    Google just dropped a PMax special — and there's a lot to unpack. In this episode of Growing Ecommerce, Mike Ryan and Chris break down three major updates reshaping how ecommerce advertisers run Performance Max and Shopping campaigns in 2025: 1. Network exclusions for PMax: You can now opt out of Search Partner Network AND Google Display Network directly inside PMax. Years in the making, and a massive lever for both performance and brand safety. We walk through why it matters, when to use it, and how to check your own data first. 2. Shopping Performance View: A new level of product-level reporting coming to PMax and Demand Gen campaigns via the Google Ads API. See performance by brand, category, product type, and item ID — the same parity you get in standard Shopping. Huge for anyone who's tried and failed to understand feed performance inside Max. 3. AI Max for Shopping: The biggest one. Google is rolling out an optional AI layer for standard Shopping campaigns with three features: - Text customization: Google rewrites your product titles dynamically per query - Final URL expansion (FUE): Google picks landing pages from your site — including category pages - Optimal format selection: Text ads can now appear inside your Shopping campaigns We discuss what this means for advertisers who run standard Shopping for control, whether there's real redundancy with Search and PMax, the campaign overlap and CPC escalation risk, and why Mike thinks this is actually bigger than AI Max for Search. Standard Shopping: confirmed not dead. Google is investing in it. Growing Ecommerce is brought to you by smarter ecommerce (smec) — helping online retailers optimize paid search through AI-powered software and human PPC expertise. #PerformanceMax #PMax #GoogleShopping #AIMaxForShopping #GoogleAds #EcommerceMarketing #PPC #SearchPartnerNetwork #GoogleAdsUpdates #PaidSearch 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/

    34 min
  6. Don't Buy ChatGPT Ads Until You Watch This (Plus: The Google Cloud vs AWS Cage-Match)

    May 19

    Don't Buy ChatGPT Ads Until You Watch This (Plus: The Google Cloud vs AWS Cage-Match)

    In this episode of Growing Ecommerce, Mike Ryan and Chris Scharmueller dive into the much-anticipated updates to the OpenAI ads platform and break down Google's staggering Q1 earnings report. While OpenAI has finally transitioned their ad platform from a primitive Excel spreadsheet to a proper User Interface, their highly publicized shift to a CPC model is raising major red flags. We break down the math behind their highly constrained $3 to $5 max CPC range, revealing how it mathematically equates to the exact same astronomical $60 effective CPM they originally launched with. We discuss why advertisers should demand more transparency and control before shifting their performance budgets to ChatGPT. We also unpack Google’s unstoppable Q1 momentum. With a massive $110 billion in revenue and an 80% spike in earnings per share, Google is silencing the "death of Search" narrative. We explore their impressive 19% core Search growth, the staggering 63% surge in Google Cloud that is heavily outpacing AWS and Azure, and why Google's massive $180 billion CapEx guidance for 2026 solidifies their dominance in the AI arms race. Key Takeaways: • The OpenAI Ad Trap: Don't be fooled by OpenAI's new CPC bidding model. By forcing advertisers into a strict $3 to $5 CPC range, the platform is essentially maintaining its premium $60 effective CPM under a disguise. Advertisers should hold off on shifting performance budgets until real incrementality and transparency are proven. • Search is Still Thriving: Despite the ongoing narrative that AI will kill traditional search engines, Google's core Search product grew by 19% year-over-year. The search giant's core advertising flywheel remains the most reliable engine for ecommerce growth. • Google Cloud is Winning the AI War: Google Cloud (GCS) achieved a staggering 63% year-over-year growth, heavily outpacing Amazon AWS (28%) and Microsoft Azure (39%). Powered by deep Gemini integration and proprietary TPUs, Google’s vertical integration puts them in a unique position to dominate the next decade. Resources & Links: • Access all our webinars, reports, and playbooks in our Knowledge Hub: https://smarter-ecommerce.com/en/knowledge-hub/  • How is your industry stacking up in the market? Find out with smec’s Google Ads Benchmarks: https://smarter-ecommerce.com/en/smec-market-observer/ 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/

    29 min
  7. RIP DSA: What to expect from September's Sunset

    May 12

    RIP DSA: What to expect from September's Sunset

    In this episode of Growing E-commerce, Mike Ryan and Chris Scharmueller dive into the end of an era: Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) are officially dying. While Google's new AI Max for Search currently sits at a tiny 1.5-2% adoption rate, the mandatory migration of all DSA campaigns by September will trigger an instant hockey-stick growth curve. We explain exactly what you need to expect from this sunset, how the auto-migration handles broad match and URL expansion by default, and why advertisers need to start testing AI Max immediately before the Q4 holiday crunch. We also unpack the diverging automation strategies of the tech giants and the catastrophic drop in Meta Advantage+ adoption. After peaking at 40%, its cost share has nosedived to a concerning 20%. We discuss why this downward trend calls Mark Zuckerberg's "fully automated" vision into question. Plus, we explore the latest Meta Pixel updates and why Meta wants a feed-less future while Google doubles down on structured data. Key Takeaways: The AI Max Hockey Stick: Do not be fooled by the current low adoption rate of AI Max for Search. Once the legacy DSA campaigns (which currently hold about 15% cost share) are auto-migrated in September, AI Max will become a dominant and highly relevant campaign type overnight.Meta's Automation Problem: Advantage+ adoption is on a multi-quarter decline, dropping to just 20% cost share. Without substantial product improvements, Meta will struggle to achieve the fully automated, hands-off advertising ecosystem it envisioned.The Feed vs. Feed-less Divide: Meta is attempting to offload feed management by using AI to scrape landing page data directly via the Meta Pixel. Conversely, Google relies heavily on detailed data feeds to ground its AI and maintain quality control.Resources & Links: Access all our webinars, reports, and playbooks in our Knowledge Hub: https://smarter-ecommerce.com/en/knowledge-hub/How is your industry stacking up in the market? Find out with smec’s Google Ads Benchmarks: https://smarter-ecommerce.com/en/smec-market-observer/ 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/

    31 min
  8. How OpenAI Just Lost the Ecommerce War

    May 5

    How OpenAI Just Lost the Ecommerce War

    In this episode of Growing Ecommerce, Mike Ryan and Chris Scharmueller break down the latest shifts in the battle for AI dominance and the future of online shopping. We analyze the quiet death of OpenAI's Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP). With major tech giants—including ACP co-founder Stripe, as well as Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon—joining Google's Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) Tech Council, we explore what this consensus means for the future of e-commerce standards and why these companies chose to back Google's infrastructure over ChatGPT. We also look at where ChatGPT's outbound traffic is actually going. With 20% of its e-commerce referrals landing on Amazon—and roughly 30% of its overall referrals directing users right back to Google or YouTube—we question the long-term impact on user experience and whether OpenAI is just feeding the monopolies it is trying to disrupt. Plus, we cover Google's rollout of "AI mode" to Chrome users in the US, featuring a new side-by-side browsing experience, and discuss the looming threat of mass arbitration facing Google in the wake of its 2024 antitrust loss. Resources & Links: Access all our webinars, reports, and playbooks in our Knowledge Hub: https://smarter-ecommerce.com/en/knowledge-hub/How is your industry stacking up in the market? Find out with smec’s Google Ads Benchmarks: https://smarter-ecommerce.com/en/smec-market-observer/ 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/

    28 min
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About

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.

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