The EU is finally using its teeth on Chinese e-commerce — and the auction landscape is already shifting. Mike and Chris break down what falling CPCs in Europe mean for your accounts, why the July 1st customs change could matter more than any fine, and the playbook for grabbing market share before the window closes.
Then: a major Google Marketing Live feature almost nobody is talking about. Google's new AI Performance Insights and the "Share of Voice" metric in Merchant Center finally show your product visibility inside AI Overviews, AI Mode, and Gemini — across both organic and paid. We cover what it does, where it lives, and the one big gap Google still leaves wide open.
In this episode:
• Why the EU crackdown on Temu, Shein & AliExpress is a sign of what's coming
• Average CPCs dropped ~2.3% in May 2026 — and up to 5% in some categories
• The July 1st customs exemption change and what it does to Chinese sellers' margins
• The playbook: tROAS as a signal, AI Max search, demand-led growth & smart bidding exploration
• JoyBuy — the unregulated Chinese player to watch
• Google's new AI Performance Insights & Share of Voice metric in Merchant Center • The black box that still remains: campaign-level data
Growing Ecommerce is brought to you by smec (Smarter Ecommerce). Learn more at smarterecommerce.com.
👉 Leave a review and drop a comment — we are curious what you guys think about this development.
#ecommerce #GoogleAds #PerformanceMax #PPC #Temu #Shein #GoogleMarketingLive #AIsearch #MerchantCenter
About Smarter Ecommerce (smec):
Smarter Ecommerce (smec) empowers e-commerce brands with AI-driven PPC automation that optimizes for profit and business outcomes while maintaining strategic control.
The platform activates first-party data - profit margins, customer lifetime value, and key business metrics - to automate campaign optimization toward goals like profitability and efficient growth, while detailed campaign insights provide full transparency and enable PPC teams to focus on strategic oversight rather than manual execution.
As a Google Premier Partner and three-time Microsoft Retail Partner of the Year, smec manages over €500 million in ad spend and drives €5B+ in annual e-commerce revenue for 350+ global retail clients including THG, Snipes, REWE, and Intersport.
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