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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.
81 Episodes
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In this episode, Mike Ryan and Christian Scharmueller dismantle a massive technical flaw in Performance Max: the "Clicked vs. Bought" discrepancy. In a keywordless world, product targeting is your main lever. But Mike reveals that Google places its bids based on the product a user clicks, while being completely blind to the product they actually buy. This means Google is often bidding on the wrong item, unaware that your user cross-shopped into a lower-margin alternative or a different brand ...
Is Google's new AI Max for Search the future, or is it a hidden trap? In this episode of Growing E-commerce, Mike Ryan and Chris dive into brand-new, independent test data on AI Max for Search and discuss the strategic role of Demand Gen and the future of Dynamic Search Ads (DSA). The analysis of over 250 e-commerce campaigns reveals significant concerns: AI Max delivers an average 35% lower Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) and a higher Cost Per Conversion (CPA) compared to traditional broad match c...
Q3 earnings are in, and the consolidation is real. Hosts Mike Ryan and Chris dive into the gravity-defying numbers, confirming that Google's core ad revenue is up a strong 12.6% year-over-year (YoY), and their massive Cloud backlog sits at $155 billion USD. Chris states that Google is not the "bee-headed chicken" but remains the dominant "American eagle". The focus then shifts to Amazon, which has truly become a services business (Cloud and Ads), with its retail component no longer the ...
This episode tackles the most urgent issues retail clients are facing right now: exploding costs and profound market uncertainty. Hosts Mike Ryan and Chris dive into the alarming trend of increasing CPCs (Cost Per Click), which are soaring at rates of up to 30% in key categories. Chris calls these increases a "fucking pain in the ass" and a potential "business destroyer," especially for businesses with paper-thin margins. They debate whether Google is responsible or if it's purely a market-le...
It's here! Ads are officially landing inside your AI search results, and Google’s not asking for permission. In this episode, Mike Ryan and Chris break down the massive global rollout of AI Overviews (AIO) and AI Mode (AIM). They reveal the experimental phase where ads will soon appear inside the AI content itself, and expose the most critical issue: advertisers currently have neither an opt-in nor an opt-out for these new properties. This means your existing ad budget is being automati...
This controversial episode is tackling the messy side of shopping! Hosts Mike Ryan and Christian Scharmueller dive straight into the news that Zalando is tightening its return policy, issuing warnings and even year-long bans for shoppers with "disproportionately high return volumes". With fashion return rates soaring (sometimes 30-70%!), they break down why retailers are finally getting serious about profitability and why relying solely on order value is a massive, costly mistake for yo...
In this solo episode, host Mike Ryan tackles the opaqueness of the digital advertising industry. He then reveals a previously confidential email from two senior Google executives. This internal communication confirms that Google’s “PMAXification” phase is over. While their old approach was to push Performance Max as the end-all solution, their new strategy is a broader, more complex one centered around a “holy trinity” of campaigns called the PowerPack. Mike breaks down the roles of the three...
Will Google's new AI strategy kill ecommerce as you know it? In this episode of Growing Ecommerce, Mike Ryan and Chris Scharmueller dissect the biggest news from DMEXCO 2025 in Cologne, Germany, and reveal their bold take on the future of paid search and online retail. Chris shares his on-the-ground insights from the conference, including his talk on a major stage in front of over 600 people. He and Mike dive deep into why Google Search is still an unstoppable "money printing machine" despite...
Welcome to Episode 10 of Growing ecommerce! Get ready to cut through the noise with your hosts Mike and Chris, as they tackle the real-world implications of three massive forces in the market. First, they take on Google's newest AI-powered ad product, A/I Max. While Google promises performance, Mike and Chris reveal how it can lead to chaotic bidding on competitor terms and the low-quality Search Partner Network. The hosts also discuss why an "old school" strategy called search query sculptin...
Welcome to Episode 9 of Growing Ecommerce! In a world buzzing with AI hype, we're cutting through the noise to ask the big question: Is this the next dot-com bubble, or a long-term, foundational shift for the future of business? Join hosts Mike and Chris as they debate the financial health of the tech giants driving the AI revolution and challenge the notion that AI has delivered on its promised productivity gains. They'll also reveal some mind-blowing data on Google Shopping's mysterious lac...
In this week’s show, Mike Ryan and Chris Scharmueller dive headfirst into the "PMAXification" of the advertising landscape, a term Mike coined to describe how platforms from Google to TikTok are rushing to automate your ad spend. But just as we thought the black box was here to stay, Google is making a surprising U-turn, opening up more control and data for advertisers. We'll break down if the other platforms, like TikTok with its mandatory GMV Max campaigns and Meta with its "AI-first,...
Is AI a wolf in sheep’s clothing for Google's empire? Mike Ryan and Christian Scharmueller are back to spill the tea on the biggest players in ecommerce! This week they're dissecting Google's "fortress" of a business and Meta's uncanny ability to sell us things we didn't even know we needed. Our hosts will also dive into the mysterious case of Amazon's Google Shopping Ads blackout and try to figure out if it was a secret negotiation tactic or just a costly mistake. Plus: Chris and...
Google is positioning AI at the center of its advertising ecosystem with substantial changes to search, shopping, and campaign management. The new "PowerPack" approach combines Performance Max, Demand Gen, and AI Max for search campaigns, though questions remain about how these components will work together without cannibalizing each other. • AI Overviews and AI Mode represent massive shifts in search, with Google generating answers directly and using "query fanning" to search multiple queri...
We broke the news: Temu hit the brakes – hard. In this episode, Mike and Chris dig into Why Temu suddenly killed all ads in the US, and what happened nextSigns that Temu's ad spend shifted to EuropeOpenAI’s move into ecommerce, joining Amazon, Perplexity, and Microsoft in the AI shopping raceDoes Google’s silence might signal hesitation or confidence?A debate: how profit vs growth is now the defining tension in retail strategyThis one’s all about who’s advancing, who’s retreating, and who’s h...
Google’s turning into an answer engine—so why does it feel like the internet’s disappearing beneath it? In this episode of Growing Ecommerce, Mike and Chris tackle the search shake-up and what it means for everyone from advertisers to publishers: • AI Overviews (AIO) could kill clicks — We break down how Google’s zero-click model is reshaping the internet and threatening entire business models. • Can Google hold its ground in the AI era? Or are leaner, AI-native rivals closing in? • Wha...
Who’s real anymore? In this episode of Growing Ecommerce, Mike and Chris break down the chaos unfolding across the digital advertising world: • Instagram is testing AI-generated user profiles — Are we entering a world of fake influencers, and what does it mean for ad targeting? • Zuckerberg pulls back on content moderation — We dive into the actual data behind Meta’s shift in strategy. • Google's ads are showing up next to harmful content — A CSAM scandal rocks Google's Display Network....
Digital ads in 2025 are anything but boring. In this episode, Mike and Chris unpack: Mark Zuckerberg’s eyebrow-raising claim that ads aren’t important (despite 98% of Meta’s revenue coming from ads)Amazon’s move to sell its ad tech to other retailers—friend or Trojan horse?Plus details from our comprehensive new PMax research: How Google’s Performance Max is finally shedding its “black box” label, with fresh data from 500+ accountsWhy your PMax campaigns need 30–60 conversions a month, no mat...
Big changes on Growing Ecommerce! Chris Scharmueller joins Mike Ryan for a fresh, unscripted take on the latest in online retail. In this episode: Amazon vs. Temu: What Amazon’s “Haul” launch says about their playbook and profit risksPerplexity AI: Can it challenge Google by fusing search and shopping?Nike’s DTC misstep: When cutting out retail partners backfiresMarketing strategy: Are you spending where influence occurs?All that and more, plus a hot take or two. Hit play. About smec (Smarter...
Discover the forces reshaping the ecommerce landscape leading into 2025 as host Mike Ryan guides us through a labyrinth of game-changing developments and strategic maneuvers. From the Department of Justice's legal challenges against Google to the emerging battleground between Amazon and Temu, Mike gives insight into how these seismic shifts might just redefine what we know about monopolies, market dynamics, and consumer engagement. Could the verdicts against Google have unintended consequence...
Can a new low-price, slow-shipping strategy from Amazon truly rival Temu's direct-from-China model? On this episode of Growing ecommerce, host Mike Ryan dissects some of the biggest headlines from Q2 including Amazon's attempt to fight back against Temu, and Netflix's advertising woes, which led to another VP dismissal just one day after earnings were reported. He also discusses how Pinterest's ad deal with Google is shaping up, changes to Meta's remarketing mix, first reactions to Prime Day,...
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