The 2026
ecommerce squeeze
A breakdown of what's actually driving rising CPCs
in 2026 — from Chinese marketplaces in your
auctions to AI Overviews quietly reshaping search.
Register now
Why your ads
cost more
while
being seen less
Paying more to be seen less? You're not imagining it. Across the ecommerce campaigns we track, CPCs are up while impressions are down — a double-squeeze rewriting the rules of Google Ads in 2026.
3 forces are driving it: macroeconomic pressure, Chinese marketplaces like Temu, AliExpress, JoyBuy and more entering your auctions, and Google's AI Overviews reshaping search. We've pulled the data on each.
It’s time to get clarity (and protect your margins)
Join smec’s Mike Ryan - Head of Ecommerce Insights -
as he breaks down the defining storylines of the year so far.
Got a question Mike should answer live? The session ends with an Q&A. Bring the questions you've been wrestling with — rising CPCs, marketplace pressure, AI Overviews, anything on your mind. The messier and more specific, the better.
So what's actually driving the squeeze? This session breaks down the macroeconomic and technological pressures reshaping the Google auction — backed by aggregated data from the smec Google Ads Benchmarks (€450M+ in annual ad spend), so you leave with the numbers to take back to your stakeholders.
To give you the strategic framework to adapt your Google Ads stack for the remainder of 2026, Mike will cover:
The CPC and impression squeeze: Why auction density is driving up costs even as search behavior shifts away from traditional placements.
The Marketplace invasion: What Google Auction Insights reveals about Temu, Joybuy, AliExpress & co — and what their growing presence actually means for your CPCs.
The AI variable: How conversational AI and AI Overviews are reshaping click-through rates, intent, and unit costs as users sideline the classic SERP.
Consumer sentiment & macro trends: How diminished purchasing power and persistent inflation are quietly shifting brand loyalty.
Strategic pivots: Data-backed recommendations to adapt your setup and protect margins when the low-hanging fruit of search disappears.
Got a question Mike should answer live? The session ends with an Q&A. Bring the questions you've been wrestling with — rising CPCs, marketplace pressure, AI Overviews, anything on your mind. The messier and more specific, the better.