Google rolled out major AI-powered shopping features starting in mid-2025, and they're reshaping how shoppers discover and purchase products. If you're running a product-based ecommerce business—whether you're selling direct to consumers or to other businesses—this isn't another tech trend you can ignore. The fundamental mechanics of product discovery and online commerce are changing. Here's what's happening and what it means for your business. What Google Launched Google's n

I'm reviewing Q1 budget proposals from marketing leaders right now, and I keep seeing the same pattern: they're still funding SEO like AI discovery isn't fundamentally changing how buyers find information. Here's what I'm seeing in the data: Organic traffic patterns are becoming less predictable for many businesses AI Overviews are appearing in search results Zero-click searches are increasing And the traffic drops your team is attributing to seasonality? I think many of thos

AI is a tool, not a strategy. It's a capability, not a business model. Sundar Pichai just told the BBC something every marketing agency should tattoo on their foreheads: AI models are still making mistakes, and businesses need to stop treating them like magic solutions. I've seen this movie before I was there for the dot-com bubble and the spectacular crash that followed. I actually bet my entire career in marketing on the idea that eventually—eventually—there would be a legi

Stop Calling It Performance When You're Just Keeping Busy As we close out 2025, I'm watching mid-market companies plan their 2026 marketing budgets, and I keep seeing the same pattern repeat itself year over year. Companies spend 12-18 months with a "full-service digital agency." Every month, the agency delivers impressive reports—website traffic up 140%, social media engagement through the roof, 50 blog posts published, a brand refresh launched, a new "content hub" built. Th

The Frankenstein Martech Stack Don't Waste It on the Same Martech Mistakes After years in this industry, I've watched mid-market companies flush millions down the toilet on martech that promised the moon and delivered...automated batch-and-blast emails. Sound familiar? New research from McKinsey just confirmed what I've been saying for the past decade. The martech emperor has no clothes. But, AI might actually give businesses a chance to get this right. Finally. Most Fortune

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sent an internal memo Monday declaring "code red" status Why? Because ChatGPT sucks right now and Google's eating their lunch. That's the headline you won't see in the tech press, but that's what's happening. Let me translate the corporate speak: Altman told employees that ChatGPT needs work on speed, reliability, personalization, and answering a wider range of questions. Those aren't advanced features. Those are baseline functionality. When your flagshi

AI and automation layered over broken processes just means you'll execute bad marketing faster Before you dive into AI automation and workflow orchestration, let's talk about reality. Most mid-market businesses haven't even nailed the basics yet. I see it every week—companies jumping straight to AI tools when their website still isn't converting, their marketing automation is a mess of abandoned workflows, and nobody can agree on what "qualified lead" even means. If your curr

How to Actually Measure AI Search Visibility When Your SEO Dashboard Stops Telling the Whole Story Earlier this week I wrote about where AI search is headed in 2026. I ended with this promise: "Next up: How to actually measure AI visibility when your SEO dashboard stops telling the whole story." Here's what's actually happening in most marketing departments right now: Traffic is down. Rankings look... okay-ish. Your SEO team is doing all the right things. But something feels

What the First Real AEO Benchmarks Tell Us Conductor just released the first comprehensive Answer Engine Optimization benchmarking study—13,770 domains across 10 industries, analyzing 3.3 billion sessions and over 100 million AI citations. And here's what the data is screaming at us: We're not preparing for a 2026 problem. We're already in it. Most brands just haven't looked at the numbers yet. Gartner predicts traditional search engine volume will drop 25% by 2026 due to AI

Why Your Google Ads Person Needs to Stop Acting Like It's 2015 Here's something I keep seeing with mid-market companies: you're paying someone to manage your Google Ads, but they're still using tactics from a decade ago. And when they try to run Performance Max campaigns? It's a disaster. Not because Performance Max doesn't work. It does, when handled correctly. But because they're bringing the wrong mindset to the table. Let me be clear upfront: Performance Max isn't always