In 2025, we welcomed PPC whizz Chris Scharmueller to the Growing Ecommerce family – doubling our firepower and freshening our take. Now, Mike Ryan and Chris dig into the real pain points and opportunities facing online retailers today.
They’re joined by industry leaders in ecommerce, digital marketing, and data science to share fresh trends, practical tactics, and cautionary tales. Ready to see what’s really working (and what’s overhyped)? Tune in to solve tomorrow’s challenges with insights you can put into action today.
Listen to our podcast on:
How the Top 1% Retailers Run Google Ads in 2026Ever wonder what the biggest e-commerce brands are discussing behind closed doors? We are opening up the vault. 🤫 In this episode of Growing Ecommerce, Mike Ryan and Chris Scharmueller give you a backstage pass to their recent strategy meetings with some of Europe's largest retailers. We are unpacking the exact playbooks, fears, and tactics dominating…
Temu Hits 71% Market Share – Should You Worry? Plus: Google's Coming for Your Landing PagesIs the "clash of the titans" coming for your profit margins, and is Google about to take away your website traffic? In this episode of Growing E-commerce, Mike Ryan and Chris Sharma tackle two massive, existential shifts threatening the traditional online retail playbook. First, we dive into the aggressive European…
Sam Altman SCREWS UP ChatGPT Shopping | Plus: Google Product Feed Deep DiveWhy did OpenAI quietly kill its shopping feature, and what does it mean for the future of Google Ads? 🚨 In this episode of Growing E-commerce, Mike Ryan and Chris Sharma tackle the reality of the "AI takeover" in paid search. Following Chris's exclusive executive Think Tank with 20 leading CMOs in London, we are cutting through…
The State of PPC 2026: Live from SMX Munich w/ Wijnard Meijer (TrueClicks) and Frederick Vallaeys (Optmyzr)If you want to know how your peers are actually handling the grind, the Google Ads updates, and the "AI takeover," this episode is a must-watch. We recorded a special edition of Growing Ecommerce live from SMX Munich! Host Mike Ryan is joined by Wijnand Meijer (Co-founder & CEO at TrueClicks)…
The end of Dynamic Search Ads is here! Insights from 200+ AI Max campaignsIn this episode of Growing E-commerce, Mike Ryan and Chris from Smarter Ecommerce (smec) tackle the massive news that DSA's time on Earth is limited. With DSA going the way of the dinosaurs, Google is pushing advertisers toward AI Max for Search. But is it actually a worthy replacement? To find out, Mike breaks down the findings…
The Expensive Problem with Google’s Search Partner Network (SPN): Insights from 1,500+ Campaigns🚨 Breaking Google Ads News: Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) will be going "the way of the dinosaurs." As confirmed by Google's Ginny Marvin, DSA's time is limited, paving the way for AI Max as the future-proof campaign standard. Is the Google Ads Search Partner Network draining your Performance Max budget? We…
Is ROAS Overrated? – Why the “Revenue Trap” Might Kill Your Google Ads ProfitIs ROAS a flawed metric for Google Ads? According to acclaimed ecommerce experts Mike Ryan and Christian Scharmüller, using Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) as your primary "North Star" metric creates a dangerous "Revenue Trap." Because ROAS measures revenue rather than actual margin, it creates an "air gap" that ignores the law…
PMax vs. Standard Shopping? – 3 Google Ads Myths BustedIn this episode of Growing eCommerce, Mike Ryan and Chris debunk three persistent myths that are still holding retailers back in 2026. While everyone is distracted by the hype of UCP and Agentic Commerce, many accounts are bleeding efficiency due to outdated structures like the "Heroes & Zombies" matrix and one-dimensional margin buckets. We break…