Median Shopping impr. share

Competitive Landscape: Macro-Trend Analysis

The Auction Dictator vs. The Aggressive Challenger

• Amazon’s Baseline Dominance: Amazon dictates the Shopping auction, maintaining a commanding 30-40% impression share. Its Q4 2025 peak (>40%) highlights a strategy reliant on seasonal, high-intent conversion dominance.
• Temu’s Market Acquisition: Temu has firmly displaced legacy competitors to secure the #2 spot (20-25% share). This sustained volume indicates aggressive, heavily funded ad spend designed to “buy” market share amidst rising consumer price sensitivity.
• The Summer 2025 Vacuum: During Amazon’s deliberate, experimental pullback in mid-2025, Temu was the primary beneficiary, spiking to nearly 30% share. This proves Temu is positioned algorithmically and financially to instantly absorb available auction volume when the market leader retreats.

Legacy Stagnation vs. Low-Cost Stability

• eBay’s Flatline: Unlike Amazon’s dynamic bidding, eBay exhibits a remarkably flat trajectory (~18% share). This suggests a mature, highly constrained ROAS-target strategy rather than an aggressive growth posture.
• AliExpress’s Floor: AliExpress trails the pack (15-18% share), failing to capture significant momentum even during Amazon’s summer absence. They are consistently outbid by Temu in the cross-border, low-cost auction tier.

Strategic Synthesis

The Shopping auction is currently a two-tiered battleground. Amazon leverages historical authority and seasonal surges to maintain supremacy. Meanwhile, Temu is actively financing its market penetration, acting as the immediate pressure valve whenever Amazon yields. Legacy players like eBay and secondary challengers like AliExpress are relegated to the margins, surviving on strict efficiency targets rather than competing for incremental impression share.