For online shop operators

The market for online stores will undergo a massive upheaval in 2025, driven by technological innovations such as the new Google AI search function (AI Overviews) and the growing dominance of large platforms such as Amazon and Temu.

This poses considerable challenges for retailers and smaller online stores, particularly in the areas of marketing, SEO and platform dependency.

Changes in the market and user behavior

With the introduction of Google AI Overviews in March 2025, the presentation of search results has changed fundamentally. Google is presenting AI-generated summaries for more and more search queries – especially for information-driven and complex searches – directly in the search results. These overviews provide users with quick, context-based answers, often including direct shopping integration, price information and product links.

This significantly reduces the click-through rate on classic organic search results: studies show that the click-through rate on the first organic result decreases by up to 30%, for individual websites even by up to 40% (sources 1 2).

The proportion of so-called zero-click searches, where users no longer click on external pages at all, continues to rise(source).

For online stores, this means that potential customers are increasingly receiving the most important information in Google searches and are less likely to go directly to the store page. Visibility in the search results often remains stable, but the actual clicks and therefore the traffic decrease noticeably (sources 3 4 ), both paid and organic. Google is also able to place products prominently directly in the search results, which further intensifies the competition for visibility and clicks(source).

Effects on SEO and marketing for online stores

SEO strategies must adapt to this new reality. Product descriptions and structured data (e.g. with Schema.org) will become even more important so that Google can optimally recognize the relevance and details of the products and present them in the AI overviews(source). The content must be precise, comprehensive and tailored to the user’s intention. At the same time, the focus is shifting from pure visibility to high-quality traffic: although fewer users are directed to the store page, they are often better informed and more willing to buy(source).

Marketing measures must be diversified. Dependence on Google as a source of traffic is becoming riskier, which is why alternative channels such as social media, email marketing or collaborations with influencers and other platforms are gaining in importance! In addition, optimizing the conversion rate in the store itself is becoming increasingly important, as every click is becoming more valuable.

Competition from platforms: Amazon, Temu & Co.

Individual online stores are increasingly competing with large marketplaces such as Amazon and Temu. These platforms benefit from enormous marketing budgets, a huge user base and strong integration into Google search results. Especially for transactional searches (e.g. “buy sneakers”), products from Amazon, Temu or Otto are often displayed directly in Google’s shopping integrations, which pushes individual stores further back(source).

It is becoming increasingly difficult for independent stores to hold their own against these platforms. Although the platforms offer reach, they also make retailers highly dependent: They control visibility, pricing and customer relationships. Fees have risen continuously in recent years. On Amazon, sales fees are usually between 7% and 15% of the sales price, depending on the category, plus storage, shipping and advertising costs. Temu and other Chinese platforms entice customers with low fees, but often demand high discounts and take over pricing, which further squeezes margins.

Many retailers report that they are becoming increasingly dependent on the platforms, while their own brands and stores are losing visibility. The platforms can change the conditions, increase fees or block retailers at any time – a considerable business risk.

Conclusion and outlook

The introduction of Google AI Overviews and the dominance of large marketplaces are intensifying competition and making it increasingly difficult for individual online stores to grow profitably. Organic click-through rates are falling, while the demands on SEO and content are increasing (sources 5 6).

At the same time, fees and dependencies on platforms such as Amazon and Temu are increasing. Online shop operators must therefore consistently adapt their marketing and SEO strategies, focus on high-quality, structured content and develop alternative sales channels in order to remain competitive in the long term.

Alternatives to traditional search, to the large platforms and the dependency on these, and possibly even to social networks, must therefore be created: Prices are also rising immensely there.

Development of prices for clicks (paid traffic):

Parallel to these changes in the organic area (but even before that, as the analysis below shows), the prices for paid clicks (e.g. Google Ads) have also changed noticeably.

Let me tell you a short story about Google Ads.

I will then prove that my personal experience shows a general tendency here using well-founded sources.

I have been using Google Ads in my job for more than 15 years now. When I started using it around 2007, it was a dream. Very manageable costs per click and usually at least one request per day. I have to say that I offered a service and not a physical product, and that was already very good with a manageable budget per day, at least compared to today.

Today, in 2025, I have 3 years behind me, in which I did Google Ads myself for the first year, and then, as the results have decreased a lot, I used a specialized company in the 2nd year.

The result was the same: virtually 0 inquiries. Mind you, the service we offered remained the same. I then switched agencies to an even more experienced one: The same result: virtually 0 inquiries.

3 different companies:

1. first us as DIY
2. then professional online marketing agency
3. then large online marketing agency

The same bad result everywhere!

Now we are talking about the common social media platforms and the first thing to do is to generate attention.

I would like to quote a report here(source) that clearly shows this trend.

You should know that!

The report is in German (for my foreign readers, but I have translated the quote here and if you want, you can probably have the source text translated relatively easily).
It’s all about the year-on-year comparison from 2023 to 2022:
Quote: “The price increases are also discussed at international conferences such as the Traffic & Conversion Summit in Las Vegas.

The data published there shows a dramatic increase in advertising prices compared to the previous year:

Meta (e.g. Facebook & Instagram)+89% year-on-year
Google Ads: +189% year-on-year
YouTube: +108% year on year
Amazon: +87% year on year
TikTok: +92% year-on-year
Snapchat: +64% year-on-year

This increase is even more pronounced in the USA than in the DACH/EU region. These figures make it clear that the cost of online advertising is rising in almost all major platforms and sectors. This poses a challenge for companies, but also requires new opportunities and strategies.

In light of this development, marketers should adjust their budgets and strategies accordingly in order to continue to run effective campaigns and maximize the return on their marketing investments. …

“(end of quote)

So let’s just take Meta. That’s a price increase of almost 90% in one year!

I mean, honestly, where is this going?

Sure, you have to adapt and a fee-based, external company certainly has an overview of algorithms and platform changes, but this company also costs money. And as described above in my brief experience report, this does not always bring the desired success.

What I honestly don’t like is that these platforms can change the conditions at any time, to the point that what you have built up over years may suddenly no longer work (as we have often seen with Google Ads).

Also, the budget that you spend on social media, for example, is always simply completely gone once you have reached a certain number of clicks.

It may sound a bit strange to even say that, but that’s how it is. Then you “simply” recharge and it starts all over again.

With the decline in organic visibility and falling click-through rates on traditional search results, competition for the remaining advertising space on all platforms is increasing – especially as Google continues to prioritize ads for commercial search queries and does not display AI overviews (sources: 7 8).

As a result, the cost per click (CPC) has risen continuously in recent years. Prices have increased significantly, particularly in highly competitive niches and for transactional search terms, as more and more companies are having to switch to paid traffic in order to secure visibility and reach.

Studies show that the CTR of search ads in the presence of an AI Overview has fallen from 21.27% to 9.87%(source). This means that advertisers have to invest more to achieve the same reach as before. At the same time, competition for the few advertising spaces that are still visible is intensifying, which is driving prices up further.

An outlook: It is to be expected that the prices for paid traffic will continue to rise in the coming years as long as organic visibility remains limited by AI overviews and more and more companies are forced to rely on paid reach.

Only those who consistently adapt their content to the new requirements, rely on structured data and AI readability and diversify their marketing strategy will be able to ensure visibility, reach and success in the future.

However, if spending on advertising per click is clearly increasing (see above) and organic search is no longer working as well as it used to, whether on Google or on social networks, then ideally something has to change for the online shop operator in terms of marketing, right?

Imagine now that you no longer had to pay any costs per click at all.

The less expansive way

Every click on your offer is free of charge and you do not have to pay any percentage fees per sale or monthly fees.

I do exactly that! That’s exactly what my project is for.

Your online shop will be continuously presented to new interested parties and if there is a lot of content and it makes sense, I will add filters, also by category, language and country.

Anyone can have new online shops from all areas, in all languages and countries displayed for them and with a click (free of charge for you and your offer) people land on your site.

The only contribution on your part is:
The advertising budget on other platforms (at least for many) for a single day !
or the costs for ½ h external SEO on your site:
39 € one-off. Once!

It is the attention you receive here. Forever.

Attention is followed by interest, the desire for more and then action.

No matter how many people click on your entry, be it
on the website of my project,
in the VR space,
in the PDF directory (ebook)
or in the newsletter.

It is and will remain free for you forever.

If my project becomes known, every registered project wins at the same time.
And it gets even better with the filter function.

Personally, I have also decided to make relatively little use of paid social media channels to publicize my project.

I would much rather pay anyone directly for publicizing my project, including you, if you want me to.

It’s referral marketing where everyone wins.

This is because almost 50 % of the € 39 for an entry is paid out to those involved in the announcement. So the money goes to people (of course you can also take part as a company)!

There are 4 levels:
Human 1 recommends it Human 2. (Level 1) Human 1 receives €10 commission for each sale
Human 2 recommends it Human 3. (Level 2) Human 2 receives €4 commission for each sale
Human 3 recommends it Human 4. (Level 3) Human 3 receives €2 commission for each sale
Human 4 recommends it Human 5 (Level 4) Human 4 receives €1 commission for each sale

You don’t have to buy it to recommend it.
You only have to register for the affiliate program, which is also free of charge.
Whenever someone orders across the 4 levels, you receive the commission mentioned above.

I would like to sum it up for you in a kind of summary (supplemented by a few points compared to the above).

I very much hope that everyone can understand it, because it really is, I don’t want to say THE truth, but at least a reality that comes very close to the truth:

Average click price (CPC) in Germany and USA

Evidence from the sources:

• Facebook CPC Germany: approx. 0.40 €(source)
• Facebook CPC USA: approx. 1.12 $(source)
• Instagram CPC is usually slightly higher than Facebook (source)
• Conversion rate Facebook/Instagram: 2-5 %(source)
• CPM in Germany: approx. 6-10 €(source)
• CPM in USA: approx. 20 $(source)

As described above, the trend in click prices is still rising sharply!

The above are only guidelines. I think I have named low prices in each case. Sometimes the click prices are significantly higher, sometimes a little lower.

The more specific the target group, the higher the CPC can be, as the competition for these users is higher.

What does that mean?

For a one-off budget of €39 (the cost of an entry here) you get:

In Germany (other European countries are probably similar): On Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Spotify: approx. 100 clicks (€39 divided by €0.4)

In the USA: On Facebook, Instagram and TikTok: approx. 36 clicks ($39 divided by $1.1)
On Spotify ideally: approx. 80 clicks (€39 divided by $0.5)

After that, when your budget on a platform has been used up, you are simply no longer visible to new people.
S
o the question is:

Do you think that with my project, where you are visible forever, you will get more than 100 clicks in total (if you are from the USA even only 40 – 80) for your project and is it sensible and desirable if all clicks are free for you forever afterwards?

Is it worth it for you to just give it a try at €39?

I will also pay you personally if you recommend my project to others!

I don’t want to pay Facebook, Instagram, Google or TikTok for this, but rather give the money to the people or small, medium or large companies that recommend me.
If this appeals to you, please see my affiliate program.

Let’s make this platform big. That helps every participant.

If you want to take part with your entry,

1. that refers to your project forever
2. Additionally possibly:
a.) is sent to many people in a categorized ebook
b.) appears in a modern VR space
3.) is sent to people in newsletters

Then do it here now: Book an entry

If you have any further questions about the project, please write to me.

Many thanks & best regards

Thomas