Google’s Search Dominance Slips
Empire Flippers
The #1 curated marketplace for buying and selling established, profitable websites and online businesses.
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Today’s trend of the week is “luxury goods”.
Despite rising inflation, the demand for luxury goods is alive and well in the US.
Between 2021 and 2024, there was a massive 86% rise in luxury good purchase intent among customers.
In the past year, 15% of Americans treated themselves to luxury items, a 9% increase from 2021. And more than 40% of those buyers spent over $1,000 on the luxury items they purchased.
Shoppers aged between 25-44 represent the largest group of luxury buyers, with shoes, accessories, and beauty products the most purchased categories among this age group.
The most common reason behind these luxury purchases? Consumers are looking for a treat yo' self moment, or a birthday present for themselves.
Today we have for you:
And:
Alright, let’s dive in.
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Google's Search Engine Dominance Is Under Threat
Google’s dominance over the search engine market may be slipping.
According to GS Statcounter data, Google's global market share has dropped to 86.99%, the lowest in over a decade. This represents a sharp 4% decline in just one month, the largest drop recorded.
In the US, Google's market share fell by nearly 10%, down to 77.52%.
Meanwhile, competitors like Microsoft Bing and Yahoo Search are on the rise, with Bing capturing a 13% market share in the US and Yahoo nearly tripling its global share to 3.06%.
Google is also facing stiff competition from social media platforms. Studies conducted by Google itself suggest that nearly 40% of Gen Z use TikTok and Instagram instead of Google.
Looking ahead, it seems ChatGPT might soon be making a play for a spot on Google’s list of search engine competitors.
While no official confirmation has been made, the discovery of SSL certificates for a new domain, "search. chatgpt. com," has sparked speculation about a forthcoming ChatGPT-powered search engine.
Google's near-monopoly could face a formidable competitor if ChatGPT enters the search arena. Unlike Google's Gemini chatbot, which has struggled to keep pace with advancements, ChatGPT's popularity has surged, setting the stage for a potential showdown.
While these market shifts are significant, Google's entrenched position means any shift in dominance won't happen overnight.
(It’s important to note that StatCounter is still finalizing its April figures, so these numbers are preliminary and subject to change.)
ECOMMERCE
Advertise Your Products on Google without Needing a Website
Listen up Amazon sellers.
Google has launched a new advertising program called Performance Max for Marketplaces, aimed specifically at eCommerce sellers.
This new program lets you advertise your products on Google without needing a website or a Google Merchant Center account.
All you need is your Google Ads account and an active seller account on a participating marketplace platform.
This could be a game-changer for Amazon sellers, representing a golden opportunity to tap into Google's massive advertising network, including Search, Shopping, YouTube, and Gmail.
Plus, with no need for a site or merchant center, it is also significantly cheaper than many Google Ads strategies.
Making use of Performance Max for Marketplaces means you can use your marketplace's product data in your ads (like images and descriptions), get detailed campaign reports in Google Ads, and leverage Google's AI to optimize your ads across different platforms.
To get started, just connect your Google Ads account to your marketplace account, set up your campaigns using your marketplace's product info, and let the marketplace track conversions for sales generated through your Google ads.
When customers click on your ads, they’ll be directed to your product page on the marketplace to purchase your products.
Performance Max for Marketplaces is currently still in beta, and only available on selected marketplaces, with Google working to add more platforms soon.
This program could have a substantial effect on the eCommerce industry, however, the success of Performance Max for Marketplaces will depend on how major players like Amazon and Walmart adopt it.
HIDDEN GEM
Listing #74542 - $611,748.00
Avg. Monthly Profit - $17,993.00
AMAZON FBA | BABY CARE, KITCHENWARE | 34X
Created in March 2021, the well-branded business is enrolled in the Amazon Brand Registry and boasts a trademarked and streamlined collection of 7 SKUs focused on baby-weaning products.
The business generates 99% of its revenue through Amazon FBA, with a small portion stemming from its Shopify site. The? Seller spends just 3-5 hours per week maintaining the business.?
We’re highlighting this business this week because of its following strengths:
领英推荐
NEWSLETTERS
The Newsletter Goldrush Has Arrived
The newsletter industry is booming.
According to The Tilt, newsletters and emails have become the most popular form of content, with 58% of creators publishing them in 2023.
Newsletter platform Beehiiv's active newsletters jumped from 7.5K to over 20K in 11 months, sending a whopping 1 billion emails monthly. They also recently raised $33 million in funding.
And they aren’t the only newsletter platform experiencing growth. Substack has grown from 34.8M visitors in August 2023 to 49.4M in January 2024. That's 14.6 million extra visitors in under 6 months!
Plus, the number of newsletters on LinkedIn’s platform has tripled to 450M from 150M in just a year.
Right now may well be the perfect time to start a newsletter business of your own, but how do you create a newsletter that stands out from the crowd?
The Tilt provided a few ideas:
Focus on subscriber feedback and data: Analyze which newsletters and topics resonate most with your audience by tracking open rates, click-throughs, and unsubscribe rates. Use analytics tools like Constant Contact and Mailchimp's industry reports for benchmarks but prioritize your own data's insights.
Personalize the experience: Offer subscribers options to customize their newsletter experience, such as frequency preferences (weekly, monthly), digest versions, or pausing subscriptions during busy periods. Tailoring content delivery enhances reader engagement.
Incorporate interactive elements: Consider adding games, quizzes, polls, or interactive content to make your newsletter more engaging. This strategy can increase reader retention and encourage regular interactions with your content, as seen with the success of games like Wordle.
And of course, when you've built a successful newsletter, we're here to help you sell it.
We’ve added the newsletter monetization to our free valuation tool so that successful newsletter creators can discover just how much their newsletter is worth.
READ ALL ABOUT IT!
How to use ChatGPT to optimize productivity: free guide
Boosting?monthly organic traffic from 37K to 210K: eCommerce case study
Amazon launches in South Africa: now 22 active marketplaces
eBay sellers gain mobile access to sales data: 3 years of sales data available
Amazon changes its new low inventory fee: transition period extended, and more
YOUTUBE
From Zero to $20M: 10 Key Strategies for Scaling Your Online Business
“By the end of this presentation, my goal is to help you have a better chance at making a million-dollar exit.”
It’s no small feat, but that’s what our Director of Marketing, Greg Elfrink, promised the audience at the SEO Mastery Summit in Saigon just a few weeks ago.
In his speech, Greg revealed key strategies to not only scale your online business but to also fortify it against algorithm updates and other issues plaguing the industry.
He revealed a roadmap that any online business owner can follow to take their business to the next level.
If you weren’t able to make it to Saigon to see Greg’s speech in person, you’re in luck because this video captures the highlights of his presentation.
Enjoy!
SEO
Apple's 'Intelligent Search' Could Change SEO Forever?
Apple may be about to disrupt SEO forever.
The tech giant is set to unveil a game-changing feature in Safari 18 called "Intelligent Search," which will summarize webpages in response to search queries, streamlining the browsing experience.
Apple is also rumored to introduce a "Web Eraser" feature, allowing users to permanently remove unwanted content like text, images, and ads from web pages.
For years, Apple has quietly collected website data through its Applebot, hinting at a potential search engine. However, rather than launching a traditional search engine, Apple seems poised to render traditional search engines obsolete.
Experts speculate that Apple aims to redefine how we search online, potentially challenging Google's dominance.
These changes could disrupt not just search engines but also the SEO and publishing industry. The impact will depend on Apple's implementation of AI web search summarization.
Another worrying feature is the “Web Eraser” functionality planned for Safari. Web Eraser removes unwanted content from web pages.
Things like advertising, videos, comments, suggested reading and maybe even popups could be permanently blocked. Once a user “erases” content from a webpage that content stays erased for the user on subsequent visits.
Will these new features be an SEO killer? Only time will tell.?
MEME OF THE WEEK
Been somewhere cool or seen a meme that made you chuckle?
Send us a DM on Instagram (@empireflippers) with your favorite meme or nomad shot and we'll include it in the next email!