Growing Ecommerce – The Retail Growth Podcast

Google AI Mode ads now show on nearly 30% of US commercial queries, and Google is testing exact and phrase match there. Here's what it means for your account. In this episode of Growing Ecommerce, Mike Ryan and Chris Scharmueller unpack two stories that complicate Google's AI search narrative. A new study found text ads on almost a third of commercial queries in AI Mode, and 70% of those showed multiple advertisers. But Google shares no performance data, and advertisers can't opt in or out. I...

Google is testing channel controls in Performance Max: sliders that let you tell PMax how much YouTube, Maps or Display matter to your business. It is the biggest change to PMax since PMax launched — and it is not a tick box. Unlike Demand Gen, where you opt a channel in or out, channel controls give you a slider per channel that adjusts how much the campaign prioritises conversions from that channel. A positive adjustment relaxes the CPA target for that channel. A negative one tightens it. M...

The FTC says Amazon put a bidder that does not exist into its ad auction — for seven years — so the CPCs you paid on Amazon Ads were never the price the auction produced. Mike Ryan and Chris Scharmüller break down the FTC's case against Amazon Ads: what Amazon is accused of doing to its own auction, what it cost advertisers, and why Amazon's defense is not a denial. Then the story Amazon would rather talk about — its demand-side platform plugging into ChatGPT ads, and what that does to...

Google's August 17 bidding update didn't move CPCs. It moved advertiser behaviour — and most of the market reacted to a change that never touched them. The update removed the conservative buffer that artificially lowered bids on campaigns limited by budget. Those campaigns had been quietly over-delivering efficiency for years by picking up cheap, high-value clicks. Google's position: performance now trends toward the target you actually set, over one to two conversion cycles. Mike Ryan pulled...

ChatGPT Ads are live in 31 European markets — but your account can't use tROAS, remarketing, demographics or an API yet. Here's what to actually expect. OpenAI announced on 18 August that ChatGPT Ads are rolling out across Europe, and advertiser demand is already enormous. Mike Ryan and Chris Scharmueller go through what advertisers really get on day one — and where the expectation gap is going to hurt. The headline: this is not a self-serve platform in Europe yet. Right now you need a certif...