What is Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP)?
Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) creates a standardized language for AI agents to execute frictionless transactions, forcing retailers to choose between losing brand control to…
How to run Google Shopping alongside Performance Max in 2026
Article last updated 2026-01-28, 10:48 a.m. While Performance Max drives volume, running Standard Shopping alongside it creates a powerful hybrid strategy that regains control over…
Manuel Baudisch Sticky4 ways to optimize Performance Max in 2026
Article updated 2026-01-15, 4:32pm. There are 4 ways to set up Performance Max, ranging from basic to advanced. The most effective strategy—often referred to as…
Irene Ehrengruber StickyHow do you use Multi-Dimensional Product Segmentation in PMax in 2026?
Article updated 2026-01-14, 04:15 pm. To build a Performance Max product segmentation strategy that combines brand, category, price range, performance tiers, and more, you must…
Manuel Baudisch Stickysmec Campaign Orchestrator: Price Competitiveness Insights & Advanced Price Filters Guide
Price Competitiveness Insights is a feature set within the smec Campaign Orchestrator designed for PPC Managers that benchmarks product pricing against market averages to optimize…
How item return rates are affecting your profit margins (And what to do about it)
Zalando's decision to ban high-return shoppers highlights a critical, margin-eating problem: high return rates are the #1 profit drain in ecommerce. This issue is often…
Smarter Ecommerce (smec) Named Finalist for Google Ads Impact Award 2025 in International Growth Category
Smarter Ecommerce (smec) proudly announces it has been named a Finalist for the Google Ads Impact Award 2025 in the highly competitive International Growth category.…
Beyond blue links: Navigating ad placements in Google’s AI Mode & AI Overviews
Back in May 2023, Google teased new AI-powered search features that will eventually open up a new horizon of fresh ad inventory. Fast-forward to today,…
A marketer’s guide to Google’s Power Pack: AI Max, PMax, Demand Gen
Google’s “AI Power Pack” marks a fundamental shift away from a single-campaign mindset to a comprehensive, full-funnel advertising strategy. This framework coordinates three specialized AI…
Manuel Baudisch StickyGoogle’s AI Mode: What changes for ecommerce ads in 2025
Google AI Mode is Google’s conversational search experience that can surface ads inside AI-generated answers. For ecommerce, eligibility leans on AI-powered campaign types (e.g., Performance…
Winning strategy for Black Friday 2025: Actionable PMax Reporting insights
Is it too early to talk about Christmas? Not if you want to win Q4. The gravity of Black Friday is so strong that it…
Amazon quit Google Shopping (and came back). Don’t let Temu win!
Listen closely. Hear that? It's the sound of silence of the Google Shopping auction without its loudest voice. In an unprecedented move, Amazon has gone…
AI Max for Search: Google’s new brain transplant for your campaigns
Rolling out globally in beta this month, one toggle away from turning ho-hum Search ads into an AI-powered conversion magnet. No migration, no drama —…
PMax Channel Reports are here! What Google isn’t showing you.
Google’s long-awaited Performance Max Channel Report is finally here! Well. Almost. Currently in beta and rolling out to a limited set of advertisers, this new…
TikTok shop is coming for your sales!
Can a saturated market handle this much competition? Germany's ecommerce market is getting even more intense — and this time, the pressure isn’t just from Google or…
Performance Max Q&A: Real answers to your biggest PMax headaches
It’s been three years of Performance Max. Three years of change, improvement, but also frustration. In our recent State of PMax webinar, paid search pros…
State of Performance Max 2025: Insights from 4,000+ campaigns
Believe it or not, it has been three years since Google started the wide-scale rollout of Performance Max campaigns. Time flies when you're having fun…
Mike Ryan StickyThe great reshuffle: Demand Gen absorbing Display campaigns
If you feel like Google Ads is in a bit of an identity crisis, that's because it is. First, Performance Max swallowed Smart Shopping and…
The winning formula for high-performing PMax campaigns
In our PMax mistakes article we talked about the two biggest mistakes you can make in setting up your Performance Max campaigns. But how do…
The #1 mistake in your PMax campaign setup!
Super Bowl season is here. And just like in football, a solid game plan makes all the difference. If you step onto the field with…
