Ecommerce Management Advisors
Ecommerce Management Advisors
ChatGPT referrals to publishers increased with the introduction of web search, but remain a minor share of overall traffic.
The European Commission is reportedly preparing to charge Google with not fully complying with the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
According to sources, Google’s recent tweaks to its search algorithms haven’t satisfied regulators’ requirements, prompting the EU to step up its scrutiny.
Under the DMA, tech companies are expected to offer a level playing field in the EU.
The probe on Google focuses on whether the company is pushing its services, such as Google Shopping, Flights, and Hotels, over competitors.
Regulators are concerned that by giving these in-house services a leg up, Google could be stifling competition.
Failure to adhere to the DMA rules could cost a company up to 10% of its global annual revenue, which shows how significant the potential penalties could be.
In response to regulatory pressure, Google has gradually changed its European search results.
These adjustments address complaints from price-comparison sites, airlines, hotels, and small retailers.
Google details the changes it’s made in response to the DMA in a blog post. Key changes include:
However, these measures have been criticized as not going far enough to level the playing field.
Google’s EMEA competition director, Oliver Bethell, has stated that the company is working toward a balanced solution with the Commission. However, he warned that further changes might negatively impact the search experience.
This investigation isn’t only targeting Google. The EU is casting a wide net over major tech companies, with similar DMA probes against companies like Apple and Meta.
These potential charges come amid ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Europe, adding another layer to the situation.
U.S. President Donald Trump has openly supported American tech giants, arguing that fines imposed by the EU are essentially a disguised tariff. This political pressure has raised concerns about how external influences might impact regulatory decisions.
The upcoming months will be crucial for Google and other tech companies under the EU’s scrutiny. Stay tuned as we monitor this evolving story and its implications for the SEO community.
Featured Image: Ivan Marc/Shutterstock
Hostinger announced a new service called Hostinger Horizons that allows anyone to build interactive online apps (like an AI-based website builder) without having to code or hire programmers. The new service allows users to turn their ideas into web applications by prompting an AI to create it.
In the early days of the Internet it seemed like people with backgrounds from Stanford University and Harvard Business School had access to the resources and connections necessary to turn ideas into functioning web apps. Over time, platforms like WordPress lowered the barrier to entry for starting and running online businesses, enabling virtually anyone to compete toe to toe with bigger brands. But there was still one last barrier and that was the ability to create web apps, the functionalities that power the biggest ideas on the Internet. Hostinger Horizons lowers that barrier, enabling anyone to turn their idea into a working app and putting entrepreneurial success within reach of anyone with a good idea. The significance of this cannot be overstated.
Hostinger Horizons is an AI-powered no-code platform created specifically for individuals and small businesses that enables them to create and publish interactive web applications without having to use third-party integrations or requiring programming knowledge.
The new platform works through an AI chat interface that creates what users are asking for while also showing a preview of the web app. A user basically prompts what they want, makes feature requests, tells it what to change and preview the results in real-time.
Hostinger Horizons speeds up the time it takes to create and deploy a functioning web app. Hosting and all other necessary services are integrated into the service, which simplifies creating web apps because there’s no need for third party services and APIs. Once an app is created an online a user can still return to it, edit and improve it in minutes. It promises to be a solution for fast prototyping without the technical and investment barriers that are typically associated with translating a good idea to deployment on the web.
The Hostinger announcement noted that simple web apps only takes minutes to create:
“Early access trials show that simple web apps, such as a personal calorie tracker, a language-learning card game, or a time management tool, can be built and published in minutes.”
The new service combines AI-powered chat, with real-time previews and the ability to instantly publish the app to the web.
Hostinger provides all the necessary elements to get the work done:
Giedrius Zakaitis, Hostinger Chief Product and Technology Officer, offered these insights:
“Web apps have turned ideas into million-dollar startups, but building one always required coding or hiring a developer. We believe it is time to change the game. Just like Hostinger AI Website Builder introduced a new kind of site-building experience, Hostinger Horizons will democratize web apps so that anyone can bring their unique and exciting ideas online…”
Hostinger Horizons is an AI-powered no-code platform that is specifically designed to enable individuals and small businesses to build and publish fully functional web apps with no coding experience or external integrations needed. Users can just prompt what they want through an AI chat interface with real-time previews. It even allows uploading screenshots and sketches.
Hostinger Horizons promises to dramatically simplify the process of turning an idea into a working business by bundling hosting, domain registration, and email services into one solution.
Four reasons that make this a breakthrough service:
What can you do with Hostinger Horizons? It seems like the right question to ask is what can’t you do with it. I asked Hostinger if the following applications of the technology was possible and they affirmed that the short answer is yes but that some of the ideas that I suggested may not be 100% straightforward to implement but that they were indeed possible to create.
Money makes the web run and I think applications that many would be interested in are ways to interactively engage users by enabling them to accomplish goals, capture leads, product comparison, improved shopping experiences and follow-up emails.
Since Hostinger Horizons handles hosting, domain registration, and email in a single platform, entrepreneurs and businesses can build these kinds of web pages by describing it to the AI chat interface, iteratively improving it and then publishing the finished project when it’s ready.
This could be useful to a restaurant, a law office, or a product review site, for example. Here are examples of the kinds of things I’d like to see it do.
Could be used to generate questionnaires and streamline the intake.
Read more:
Expanding your Google Ads campaigns to international markets sounds exciting – until you realize just how many settings can make or break your results.
If you assume that what works in your home country will work everywhere, think again. From currency mismatches to targeting mishaps, international PPC comes with a unique set of challenges.
To avoid costly mistakes, here are the key Google Ads settings you need to check before launching or optimizing an international campaign.
This may seem like a no-brainer, but many advertisers forget to refine location settings properly.
By default, Google Ads includes users who “show interest in” a location – meaning people outside your target country might see your ads.
What to do: Change your location targeting to “Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations” if you only want to reach users physically present in your chosen market. This helps avoid wasting spend on irrelevant clicks.
Your ad schedule may be perfectly optimized for your home market, but time zones shift everything when running internationally.
What’s peak conversion time in New York might be the middle of the night in Paris.
What to do: Set your ad schedule based on the local time zone of the targeted market, ensuring your ads run during business hours or when your audience is most active.
Another best practice is to keep your international PPC campaigns in their own ad account, which can be nested underneath an MCC account.
That way, you can set your time zone at the local time zone at the account level and not have to do complicated time zone conversions if they were to all be in the same ad account.
Trust me, a separate ad account will save you so much time in the long run!
Imagine checking your return on ad spend (ROAS) and thinking you’re crushing it, only to realize later that you’ve been calculating revenue in USD while spending in GBP. Ouch.
What to do: Make sure your Google Ads billing currency matches your reporting metrics. Also, confirm that your conversion values reflect the correct currency to avoid misleading performance insights.
This is another case in point for having a separate Google Ads account for international PPC campaigns, instead of housing every campaign under one ad account.
Google’s language targeting doesn’t translate your ads. It only determines who sees them based on their browser settings.
If you’re targeting users in Spain but only using English keywords, you’re missing a huge chunk of potential customers.
What to do: Set up separate campaigns for different languages within a region, using properly localized ad copy and keywords that match how people search.
Search behavior varies by country. A broad match keyword that works in the U.S. might trigger irrelevant searches in Germany. Even worse, direct translations of keywords can change meaning entirely.
What to do: Research local search behavior before deciding on match types. Use exact and phrase match strategically to control spend in new markets, and analyze search term reports frequently.
Have a solid negative keyword strategy in place at the start to mitigate any keyword match types going rogue.
Bidding strategies that work in one country might not translate well to another due to competition levels, cost-per-click (CPC) differences, and conversion rates.
For example, say you’re using a Target Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) bid strategy for your United States campaigns, and the CPA is set at $50.
It would be unwise to set that same CPA target on international PPC campaigns without knowing purchase behaviors in the region you’re targeting.
There may be less competition in those areas, so you may want to start with a lower CPA target to avoid overspending.
What to do: Start with manual or “Maximize Clicks” to understand market dynamics before switching to automated bidding.
If using Smart Bidding, give the algorithm time to learn and adjust based on local performance trends. Understanding your international markets is key when getting started with Smart Bidding.
For Google Shopping campaigns, simply adding a product feed to a new country isn’t enough.
Product titles, descriptions, and even pricing can impact how well your ads perform.
But localization goes beyond just translation – it’s about using the terminology and structure that aligns with how local shoppers search.
For example, a “sneaker” in the U.S. is a “trainer” in the UK, and European shoppers may prioritize brand and material in product titles more than U.S. shoppers do.
Additionally, some countries have strict rules on tax and shipping display, meaning incorrect settings could lead to product disapprovals.
What to do: Optimize product feeds for each country you plan to run ads in. Ensure titles use local terms, pricing is in the correct currency, and required attributes (such as tax settings) are properly configured.
Also, check product imagery. Some countries have cultural sensitivities that may affect what’s acceptable to showcase.
Different countries have unique regulations for digital advertising, from GDPR in the EU to stricter ad policies in regions like China. Violating these can not only get your ads disapproved but could also lead to legal trouble.
For example, the EU’s GDPR rules require explicit user consent for data collection, meaning that cookie-based remarketing might require additional compliance measures.
Meanwhile, certain industries, like finance or healthcare, have extra advertising restrictions in countries like Canada and Australia.
What to do: Familiarize yourself with country-specific regulations and ensure your ads, landing pages, and data collection methods comply.
Google may also restrict certain industries or ad types in specific markets. Google’s advertising policies page is a good place to start, but consulting a legal expert in your target market is even better.
Google Ads billing methods vary by country, and some regions have restrictions on payment types.
Not all credit cards or invoicing options available in the United States work in other countries.
This account setting is yet another reason why you should consider a separate Google Ads account per region that you plan to run ads in.
What to do: Before launching, check Google Ads’ payment options for each country and ensure your billing setup won’t disrupt your campaigns (if running international ads in the same account).
Your U.S. audience lists might not translate well internationally due to differences in customer behavior and market dynamics.
If you’re using imported lookalike audiences or U.S.-based remarketing lists, they may underperform because user intent differs significantly between markets.
For example, an in-market audience for “luxury watches” in the U.S. may skew toward younger professionals. Whereas in Japan, that same audience might lean more toward older, high-income shoppers.
What to do: Build new audience lists for each market rather than relying on U.S.-based data.
Use Google’s audience insights to refine targeting based on regional behavior and test performance before scaling.
A direct translation of your ad copy isn’t enough; cultural differences impact how messages resonate.
A phrase that works in one country could come across as awkward, or even offensive, elsewhere.
For instance, humor that performs well in U.S. ads may not have the same impact in Germany, where direct and factual messaging tends to work better.
Similarly, a “limited-time offer” urgency tactic in Japan could feel too aggressive, as consumers there often value trust and relationships over hard selling.
What to do: Localize your ad copy beyond just translation. Adapt messaging to fit local customs, humor, and expectations. Also, check that ad assets (like callouts or structured snippets) make sense in the market.
While this may not be a direct Google Ads setting, I felt it was worth including because competitive analysis is crucial when launching in new markets.
CPCs, conversion rates, and ad competition vary significantly by country. If you assume costs and performance will mirror your home market, you might be in for a surprise.
What to do: Use tools like Google Ads Auction Insights, industry benchmarks, and other competitor analysis tools to set realistic expectations for performance in each country.
Again, this isn’t a Google Ads setting to check, but because your ads have to go to some sort of landing page, this is another crucial check before launching your international PPC campaigns.
Sending international users to a generic English landing page (or worse, an untranslated one) is a surefire way to tank conversion rates.
Even if the international region you’re targeting is an English-speaking country, they still may use localized language or phrases different from the United States.
What to do: Ensure landing pages are fully localized with correct language, currency, cultural references, and legal disclaimers. Even small details like using “shopping cart” vs. “basket” can impact conversion rates.
Running Google Ads internationally is more than just expanding targeting. It requires a deep understanding of regional differences in search behavior, competition, and user expectations.
A small oversight in settings can drain budgets fast, so double-checking these key areas ensures your campaigns run smoothly.
With the right approach, international PPC campaigns can unlock massive growth potential.
Just make sure Google Ads isn’t working against you because of pre-applied settings that don’t align with your new market.
More Resources:
Featured Image: dee karen/Shutterstock
Google Shopping is a Google Ads product that allows advertisers to serve feed-based ads on the search engine results page (SERPs).
The auction for Shopping Ads works in a similar way to Google Text Ads, in the sense that the auction is query-based.
However, Google Shopping does not target keywords and uses the feed (and a few other factors) to determine when and where to serve ads.
Here’s an example of the Google Shopping results on a SERP:
Screenshot from search for [tiago lemos 1010 new balance], Google, January 2025Advertisers are set to ramp up their spending on U.S. retail media search ads, with a projected 23.4% year-over-year growth in 2028, pushing the total spend to $76.83 billion.
Google Shopping offers advertisers the freedom to serve:
Google Shopping allows advertisers to inform searchers about their products prior to clicking through – and when compared to standard text ads – has the potential to drive better-qualified traffic.
From multinational retailers to local bakeries, hundreds of thousands of brands use Google Shopping to get their products in front of searchers every day.
Many factors determine how online advertising performs, from key performance indicators (KPIs) to pricing, payment options, imagery, site speed, the social responsibility of a company, and more.
However, looking solely from an ad platform perspective at Google Shopping, the one factor that will determine success is data.
With these basics in place, from the moment you activate your campaigns, you’ll be gathering data and learning.
This learning is the backbone of shopping campaigns, providing Google (and the bidding algorithm) crucial data all the way down to an SKU level.
Over time, you’ll start to uncover a wealth of insights, such as:
This data feeds machine learning as Google understands how your products perform across hundreds of thousands of touchpoints.
This model fits most ecommerce brands with multiple stocks of each item to gather learnings overtime on what works and what doesn’t.
But if you’ve only got one of every product, how can you drive success on Google Shopping when once a product’s gone, it’s gone?
The scale of the business, vertical, market, etc., all play a role in determining the stock of each SKU.
Take a brand like eBay, a global online marketplace with both auction and “buy it now” functionality. They have thousands of items where the stock level is above one, and thousands where it is one of one.
There are thousands of auction houses, second-hand retailers, marketplaces, and more that have a similar setup, but on a smaller scale.
But for this post, we are focussing solely on one of one product.
This campaign type thrives on data, and this flows through every layer, from the bidding strategy down to individual SKU performance.
The feed is the heart of Google Shopping, and with the SKUs changing frequently (depending on the business), accruing data on which SKU performs the best/worst works differently as SKUs sell through and may not be in the feed again for weeks, months, or in some cases, ever again.
There are a number of considerations that need to be taken into account:
These are just a snapshot of the limitations, and there are more.
But that certainly doesn’t mean it’s a non-starter.
A different approach is needed, compared to Google Shopping, for a traditional e-commerce model. Above all, communication and planning will be the backbone for success as these campaigns most certainly don’t fall into “set and forget” paid search management.
Absolutely.
This will require a fresh perspective on how you report, optimize, and plan your media budget, but it’s certainly achievable.
Look at eBay. It spends >$150 million each year on Google Ads, with the majority being through Product Listing Ads (PLAs).
Here are a few approaches that are tried and tested:
Product-level reports are going to be useful for any ecommerce business. However, with products dropping in and out of stock frequently, a focus on categories (or bespoke groupings) is essential.
Say you’re a home furniture auction house with a large inventory. In the mass of data, you’ll need to find trends, and these trends sit within various categories, which are formed from aggregated product data over time.
This could be:
This data will feed into almost all strategies and tactics adopted in the account, from structuring to forecasting and setting bidding targets.
This reporting can be automated and then queried to provide each stakeholder with a different view of performance that all leads back to driving growth through Google Shopping:
Google is going to struggle to gain enough data to optimize at a product level.
Mirroring your reporting, you will need a view of performance at the category (or another grouping) level, as individual product performance isn’t going to feed into your campaigns as it would for a typical ecommerce store sat on the stock.
You’ll need to do the work analysing performance across multiple segments to build a picture of how each category performs to then set budgets and bidding targets and maintain the day-to-day tasks required to manage Google Shopping campaigns.
It is critical that your feed is optimized and you are ingesting as much supplemental data as possible (within reason).
This data will feed into your Google Shopping campaigns, and the time invested will pay for itself down the line.
Take the furniture store example. It can supplement its data with era, designer, etc. When new items are added, this additional data can help group products into segments with realistic targets and budgets vs. being dropped into a top-level category and leaning on product performance to determine what SKUs to serve.
Above all, there has to be ownership and a process for adding SKUs to the feed.
Although products will be moving in and out of your feed frequently, there will likely be cohorts of SKUs that will remain in the feed for a while, which you should keep an eye on as these may need removing/scaling back in line with efficiency.
A great deal of the work involved in navigating this business model and scaling Google Shopping happens outside of the ad accounts.
Advertisers need to interpret and share data across the wider business, and this process works both ways.
What are buyers in the company looking at bringing in and where would this sit with the Google Shopping strategy? Are there categories trending upwards that can be shared with the wider team to capitalize on?
Without stable product data, advertisers will need to think on their feet and get fully ingrained within the business, which in 2025 is essential – whatever the business model.
More Resources:
Featured Image: BestForBest/Shutterstock
Google Ads just rolled out an update to Responsive Search Ads (RSAs), and while it may not seem groundbreaking at first glance, it could have a noticeable impact on how advertisers optimize their campaigns.
This update focuses on how Google assembles ad assets, giving marketers more control over messaging while still leveraging AI-driven automation. If you’ve ever been frustrated with how Google randomly mixes and matches your headlines and descriptions, this change is worth paying attention to.
Here’s what’s changing, why it matters, and how it could impact PPC performance.
In the announcement from Google, there’s one main component of how RSAs are changing.
Before diving into the update, it’s important to note the change that Google implemented last year. In February 2024, Google updated Responsive Search Ads to be able to show only one headline if it was predicted to improve performance.
Now, they’re building off that update with these key aspects.
Previously, Google’s approach to Responsive Search Ads was all about maximum automation—headlines and descriptions were combined dynamically, sometimes in ways that didn’t make complete sense.
With this update, Google is adjusting its system to create more cohesive and logical ad combinations.
Starting now, up to two (2) headlines are eligible to serve in previously reserved spaces for sitelinks – if they’re predicted to improve performance.
Below is an example Google provided on what this change could look like:
Image credit: Google, February 2025If a user clicks on any of those allocated headlines, they’ll be directed to the ad’s final URL.
While the specifics of Google’s algorithm tweaks aren’t spelled out, the general goal is clear: ads should make more sense contextually.
Advertisers won’t have to worry as much about disjointed messaging or assets being strung together in ways that feel unnatural to users.
Google Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin took to LinkedIn to provide a clear, thought-out update regarding how asset pinning and combination reporting would be affected.
Per Marvin’s post, existing asset pinning will be respected. If headlines are pinned in positions 1 or 2, and if descriptions are pinned in position 1, those will still serve in those dedicated positions.
As for combination reporting, advertisers will still be able to see the most commonly served combination of headlines and descriptions. In this update, it will also show which headlines served as a sitelink.
The stats will be reported at the headline and not the sitelink level, per user feedback in initial testing.
This update isn’t just a behind-the-scenes tweak—it has real implications for how advertisers structure their ads and optimize ad performance. Here’s why:
More Consistent Messaging = Better Engagement. Disjointed or awkward ad combinations have long been an issue with RSAs. By improving how assets are paired, Google is helping advertisers deliver messages that feel more natural and cohesive, which could lead to higher click-through rates (CTR).
Stronger Brand Control. While RSAs are still dynamic, this update reduces the likelihood of brand messaging getting lost in automation. Advertisers can have more confidence that key value propositions and calls to action will appear in logical combinations.
Improved Performance Insights. With better visibility into how Google structures ad assets, advertisers can make more informed decisions about which headlines and descriptions to test, adjust, or remove. This leads to more efficient A/B testing and better data-driven optimizations over time.
Potential for Higher Quality Scores. If Google’s adjustments result in more relevant ad combinations, it could improve expected CTR, which is a major factor in Quality Score. Higher Quality Scores can lead to lower cost-per-click (CPC) and better ad placements.
Google’s update to Responsive Search Ads is a step toward more intelligent automation, helping advertisers maintain better messaging consistency while still benefiting from AI-driven optimizations.
While this won’t eliminate the need for careful asset planning, it does make RSAs a more reliable tool for brands that want to scale their search campaigns efficiently.
If RSAs have frustrated you in the past, now might be the time to revisit them.
With better asset pairing and improved visibility into ad assembly, this update could give advertisers a bit more control—without taking away the automation that makes RSAs so powerful.
It probably hasn’t been long since you last slipped into something stretchy. From yoga pants to socks, stretch fabrics are everywhere. And they’re only getting more popular: The global spandex market, valued at almost $8 billion in December 2024, is projected to grow between 2% and 8% every year over the next decade. That might be better news for your comfort than for the environment. Most stretch fabrics contain petroleum-based fibers that shed microplastics and take centuries to decompose. And even a small amount of plastic-based stretch fiber in a natural garment can render it nonrecyclable.
Alexis Peña and Lauren Blake, cofounders of Good Fibes, aim to tackle this problem with lab-grown elastics. Operating out of Tufts University and Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, they are using a class of materials called silk elastin-like proteins (SELPs) to create biodegradable textiles.
“True circularity has to start with raw materials,” says Peña. “We talk about circularity across many industries, but for textiles, we must address what we’re using at the source.”
Engineered from recombinant DNA, SELPs are copycat proteins inspired by silk and elastin that can be customized for qualities like tensile strength, dye affinity, and elasticity. Silk’s amino acid sequences—like glycine-alanine and glycine-serine—give fibers strength, while elastin’s molecular structure adds stretchiness. Combine these molecules like Lego blocks, and voilà!—at least theoretically, you have the ideal flexible fiber.
An early-stage startup, Good Fibes creates its elastics with proteins from E. coli, a common bacterium. The process involves transforming the proteins into a gel-like material, which can then be made into fibers through wet-spinning. These fibers are then processed into nonwoven textiles or threads and yarns to make woven fabrics.
Scaling, however, remains a challenge: To produce a single swatch of test fabric, Blake says, she needs at least one kilogram (approximately two pounds) of microbial material. The fibers must also be stretchy, durable, and resistant to moisture in all the right proportions. “We’re still solving these issues using various chemical additions,” she says. For that reason, she’s also experimenting with plant-based proteins like wheat gluten, which she says is available in larger quantities than bacteria.
Timothy McGee, a biomaterials expert at the research lab Speculative Technologies, says manufacturing is the biggest hurdle for biotextile startups. “Many labs and startups around the world successfully create recombinant proteins with amazing qualities, but they often struggle to turn those proteins into usable fibers,” he says.
One Japanese biomaterials company, Spiber, opened a commercial facility in 2022 to produce textiles from recombinant E. coli proteins using a fermentation process the company first developed in 2007. The following year—after 16 years of prototyping—The North Face, Goldwin, Nanamica, and Woolrich became the first mass-market brands to sell garments using Spiber’s protein-based textiles.
Good Fibes wants to do the same thing, but for stretchy fabrics. The company recently began experimenting with nonwoven versions of its textiles after Peña received a $200,000 US Department of Energy grant in 2024. The most popular nonwoven materials are those used in paperlike products, such as surgical masks and paper towels, but Peña envisions a softer, stretchier version that’s almost more like a lightweight felt. She used the grant to buy the company’s first 3D bioprinter, which arrived in January. With it, she’ll begin patterning nonwoven swatches.
If it’s successful, McGee predicts, a nonwoven stretch fabric could be a more scalable option than wovens. But he adds: “Nonwovens are not very structural, so they’re usually not very tough. The challenge [Good Fibes] will need to show is what level of strength and toughness—at what size and scale—can they produce, and at what cost?”
With additional funding, Peña and Blake plan to develop both woven and nonwoven textiles moving forward.
Meanwhile, they’ve already forged relationships with at least one major athletic apparel retailer eager to test their future fabric samples. “They’re like, ‘When you get a swatch, send it to us!’” Blake says, adding that she believes Good Fibes will be ready to commercialize in two years.
Until then, their fashion innovation will continue taking shape in the lab. As Blake puts it: “We’re thinking big by thinking small—down to the molecular level.”
Megan DeMatteo is a journalist based in New York City.
This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here.
Electricity demand rose by 4.3% in 2024 and will continue to grow at close to 4% annually through 2027, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency.
If that sounds familiar, it may be because there’s been a constant stream of headlines about energy demand recently, largely because of the influx of data centers—especially those needed to power the AI that’s spreading seemingly everywhere. These technologies are sucking up more power from the grid, but they’re just a small part of a much larger story.
What’s actually behind this demand growth is complicated. Much of the increase comes from China, India, and Southeast Asia. Air-conditioning, electric vehicles, and factories all play a role. And of course, we can’t entirely discount the data centers. Here are a few key things to know about global electricity in 2025, and where things are going next.
Between now and 2027, about 85% of electricity demand growth is expected to come from developing and emerging economies. China is an especially major force, having accounted for over half of global electricity demand growth last year.
The influence of even individual sectors in China is staggering. For example, in 2024, about 300 terawatt-hours’ worth of electricity was used just to produce solar modules, batteries, and electric vehicles. That’s as much electricity as Italy uses in a year. And this sector is growing quickly.
A boom in heavy industry, an increase in the number of air conditioners, and a robust electric-vehicle market are all adding to China’s power demand. India and Southeast Asia are also going to have above-average increases in demand, driven by economic growth and increased adoption of air conditioners.
And there’s a lot of growth yet to come, as 600 million people across Africa still don’t have access to reliable electricity.
According to another IEA projection published last year, data centers are expected to account for less than 10% of global electricity demand growth between now and 2030. That’s less than the expected growth due to other contributors like electric vehicles, air conditioners, and heavy industry.
However, data centers are a major storyline for advanced economies like the US and many countries in Europe. As a group, these nations have largely seen flat or declining electricity demand for the last 15 years, in part because of efficiency improvements. Data centers are reversing that trend.
Take the US, for example. The IEA report points to other research showing that the 10 states hosting the most data center growth saw a 10% increase in electricity demand between 2019 and 2023. Demand in the other 40 states declined by about 3% over the same period.
One caveat here is that nobody knows for sure what’s going to happen with data centers in the future, particularly those needed to run AI. Projections are all over the place, and small changes could drastically alter the amount of energy required for the technology. (See the DeepSeek drama.)
One bit I found interesting here is that China could see data centers emerge as yet another source of growing electricity demand in the future, with demand projected to double between now and 2027 (though, again, it’s all quite uncertain).
Growth in electricity demand can be seen as a good thing for our climate. Using a heat pump rather than a natural-gas heating system can help reduce emissions even as it increases electricity use. But as we add demand to the grid, it’s important to remember that in many places, it’s still largely reliant on fossil fuels.
The good news in all this is that there’s enough expansion in renewable and low-emissions electricity sources to cover the growth in demand. The rapid deployment of solar power alone contributes enough energy to cover half the demand growth expected through 2027. Nuclear power is also expected to see new heights soon, with recovery in France, restarts in Japan, and new reactors in China and India adding to a stronger global industry.
However, just adding renewables to meet electricity demand doesn’t automatically pull fossil fuels off the grid; existing coal and natural-gas plants are still chugging along all over the world. To make a dent in emissions, low-carbon sources need to grow fast enough not only to meet new demand, but to replace existing dirtier sources.
It isn’t inherently bad that the grid is growing. More people having air-conditioning and more factories making solar panels are all firmly in the “positive” column, I’d argue. But keeping up with this breakneck pace of demand growth is going to be a challenge—one that could have major effects on our ability to cut emissions.
Transmission equipment is key to getting more power to more people. Here’s why one developer won’t quit fighting to connect US grids, as reported by my colleague James Temple.
Virtual power plants could help meet growing electricity demand for EVs in China, as Zeyi Yang lays out in this story.
Power demand from data centers is rising, and so are emissions. They’re set to climb even higher, as James O’Donnell explains in this story from December.
Competition is stiff in China’s EV market, so some automakers are pivoting to humanoid robots. With profit margins dropping for electrified vehicles, financial necessity is driving creativity, as my new colleague Caiwei Chen explains in her latest story.
The Trump administration has frozen funds and set hiring restrictions, and that could leave the US vulnerable to wildfire. (ProPublica)
US tariffs on imported steel and aluminum are set to go into effect next month, and they could be a problem for key grid equipment. The metals are used in transformers, which are in short supply. (Heatmap)
A maker of alternative jet fuel will get access to a $1.44 billion loan it was promised earlier this year. The Trump administration is exploring canceling promised financing, but this loan went ahead after a local representative pressured the White House. (Canary Media)
A third-generation oil and gas worker has pivoted to focus on drilling for geothermal systems. This Q&A is a fascinating look at what it might look like for more workers to move from fossil fuels to renewables. (Inside Climate News)
The Trump administration is working to fast-track hundreds of fossil-fuel projects. The US Army Corps of Engineers is speeding up permits using an emergency designation. (New York Times)
Japan’s government is adopting new climate targets. The country aims to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by more than 70% from 2013 levels over the next 15 years and reach net zero by 2050. Expansion of renewables and nuclear power will be key in the plan. (Associated Press)
A funding freeze has caused a whole lot of confusion about the state of federal financing for EV chargers in the US. But there’s still progress on building chargers, both from government funds already committed and from the private sector. (Wired)
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is the latest target of the Trump administration’s cuts. NOAA provides weather forecasts, and private industry is reliant on the agency’s data. (Bloomberg)
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology.
Microsoft has announced that it’s made significant progress in its 20-year quest to make topological quantum bits, or qubits—a special approach to building quantum computers that could make them more stable and easier to scale up.
The company says it’s developed a chip containing eight of these qubits, and has also published a Nature paper that describes a fundamental validation of the system. It’s a different approach to competitors like Google and IBM. But, if it works, it could be a significant milestone on the path to unlocking quantum computers’ dramatic new abilities to discover new materials, among many other possible applications.
Many of the researchers MIT Technology Review spoke with would still like to see how this work plays out in scientific publications, but they were cautiously optimistic. Read the full story.
—Rachel Courtland
Electricity demand rose by 4.3% in 2024 and will continue to grow at close to 4% annually through 2027, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency.
There’s been a constant stream of headlines about energy demand recently, largely because of the influx of data centers—especially those needed to power AI. These technologies are sucking up more power from the grid, but they’re just a small part of a much larger story.
What’s actually behind this demand growth is complicated. Read our story to learn what’s going on.
—Casey Crownhart
This story is from The Spark, our weekly newsletter all about the tech that could help us combat climate change. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.
It probably hasn’t been long since you last slipped into something stretchy. From yoga pants to socks, stretch fabrics are everywhere. And they’re only getting more popular: The global spandex market, valued at almost $8 billion in December 2024, is projected to grow between 2% and 8% every year over the next decade.
That might be better news for your comfort than for the environment. Most stretch fabrics contain petroleum-based fibers that shed microplastics and take centuries to decompose. Alexis Peña and Lauren Blake, cofounders of Good Fibes, aim to tackle this problem with lab-grown elastics. Read the full story.
—Megan DeMatteo
This story is from the next edition of our print magazine, which is all about relationships. Subscribe now to read it and get a copy of the magazine when it lands on February 26!
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 DOGE has ‘god mode’ access to government systems
The risk of harm, abuse, or revenge is clear. But simple, brazen corruption is also a concern. (The Atlantic $)
+ Elon Musk is hunting for social security fraud. It’s not very common. (Business Insider $)
+ DOGE claimed it had saved $8 billion in one contract. It was, at most, $8 million. (NYT $)
+ Elon Musk, DOGE, and the Evil Housekeeper Problem. (MIT Technology Review)
2 The Trump administration is scrambling to rehire people working on bird flu
This exact pattern is being replicated across multiple agencies right now, and it’s straight from Musk’s playbook. (Gizmodo)
+ Trump just issued an executive order giving the President power over independent agencies. (Ars Technica)
3 DeepSeek is considering its first external funding round
It badly needs more chips and more servers to meet exploding demand. (The Information $)
+ Meanwhile, Alibaba is opening up its first data center in Mexico. (South China Morning Post $)
+ How a top Chinese AI model overcame US sanctions. (MIT Technology Review)
4 Electric truck maker Nikola has filed for bankruptcy protection
It was once (on paper) worth more than Ford. But then a fraud scandal hit, and now it’s run out of money. (Business Insider $)
+ The race to clean up heavy-duty trucks. (MIT Technology Review)
5 How a crypto scammer turned a small town against itself
Shan Hanes drained Elkhart in Kansas dry—and turned neighbor against neighbor in the process. (NYT $)
6 Google’s has unveiled a new AI ‘co-scientist’ tool
Researchers are excited, but it’s hard to say what its true impact will be. (New Scientist $)
+ A data bottleneck is holding AI science back, says new Nobel winner. (MIT Technology Review)
7 People are logging off
Eight years ago, social media became a battleground. This time, many don’t see much point in fighting online. (New Yorker $)
8 What America’s first generation chipmakers endured
They had to work in unsafe conditions—and never got answers about why their kids were born with birth defects. (The Verge)
9 Can you use ChatGPT to learn a new language?
Kind of, a bit? But not really. (Wired $)
+ Translators in Turkey are training the AI tools that will replace them. (Rest of World)
10 The latest TikTok trend? Using AI to time travel
And not just to disasters like Pompeii or the Titanic—you could just be an American teen in 1983. (Fast Company)
Quote of the day
“They destroyed everything here, and now we’re supposed to give up? How does that work?”
— Alla Kriuchkova, a resident of Bucha in Ukraine, where Russian soldiers slaughtered hundreds of people in March 2022, tells the New York Times how angry she is at President Trump for suggesting the war is Ukraine’s fault.
The big story
The $100 billion bet that a postindustrial US city can reinvent itself as a high-tech hub
July 2023
On a day in late April, a small drilling rig sits at the edge of the scrubby overgrown fields of Syracuse, New York, taking soil samples. It’s the first sign of construction on what could become the largest semiconductor manufacturing facility in the United States.
The CHIPS and Science Act was widely viewed by industry leaders and politicians as a way to secure supply chains, and make the United States competitive again in semiconductor chip manufacturing.
Now Syracuse is about to become an economic test of whether, over the next several decades, aggressive government policies—and the massive corporate investments they spur—can both boost the country’s manufacturing prowess and revitalize neglected parts of the country. Read the full story.
—David Rotman
We can still have nice things
A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)
+ Wilson Bentley found snowflakes so beautiful, he created a whole new way to photograph them.
+ You can’t really eliminate stress in life, but you can get better at managing it.
+ The best Quentin Tarantino movies, ranked.
+ You only need a few minutes and a kettlebell for a great full-body workout.
This week’s rundown of new products and services for ecommerce merchants includes updates on AI-powered agents, wholesale management, fraud prevention, marketplace advertising, influencers, and social commerce.
Got an ecommerce product release? Email releases@practicalecommerce.com.
Wholesale platform Joor launches matchmaking tool for brands and retailers. Joor, a wholesale management platform for the fashion sector, has introduced Joor Discover to streamline the matchmaking process between brands and retailers. According to Joor, by leveraging proprietary data and a network of authenticated retailers, the tool offers a more efficient and targeted approach to wholesale expansion. Joor Discover allows brands to search and filter through its retailer directory to identify potential partners.
Joor
Meta will show rival classified ad providers on Marketplace. Meta will allow rival classified ad service providers to post listings of their ads on Facebook Marketplace. Calling it the Facebook Marketplace Partner Program, Meta said the scheme is a response to a recent antitrust decision by the European Commission. Meta also said it tested the program in Germany, France, and the United States with eBay last month.
Trustfull launches AI-powered Domain Intelligence domain agents. Trustfull, a provider of identity intelligence for fraud prevention, has launched Domain Intelligence, a suite of AI agents designed to automate “know your business” checks and merchant verification with online due diligence. Domain Intelligence’s AI agents perform a website analysis and checks on social media, business platforms, and marketplaces to confirm active commercial operations. Additional insights include reviews, digital advertising activity, business photos, and data from online sources to verify the company’s legitimacy.
Hightouch raises $80 million for AI-powered marketing tools. Hightouch has raised $80 million for its platform to allow sales, marketing, and customer service teams to synchronize data warehouses and other locations, along with AI agents. Sapphire Ventures led the funding round with NVC, Amplify Ventures, ICONIQ Growth, Bain Capital Ventures, and Y Combinator. The funding will additionally advance Hightouch’s technology, business development, and hiring.
Hightouch
Sprout Social launches rebranded influencer marketing platform. Sprout Social, a social media management platform, has launched its rebranded influencer marketing portal, called Sprout Social Influencer Marketing, formerly Tagger Media. Influencer Marketing is designed to make discovering influencers and executing campaigns more efficient and intuitive. Sprout Social says Influencer Marketing equips brands with AI-powered insights and advanced analytics to help identify the right influencers, build authentic partnerships, and maximize campaign performance.
Commerce platform MarketLeap raises $8 million. MarketLeap, a platform to simplify and scale direct-to-consumer ecommerce, has announced an $8 million Series A funding round led by Smedvig Ventures, with participation from Expon Capital and Motier Ventures. MarketLeap offers customers a platform that uses AI-powered automation to navigate the complexities of marketplace operations and backend management. MarketLeap says the funding will facilitate more automation across multiple functions and enhance analytics capabilities.
Swap and Signifyd partner to empower brands with global commerce. Swap, an ecommerce tool that consolidates global operations, has announced a strategic partnership with Signifyd, a provider of fraud and abuse prevention. According to the companies, merchants can scale internationally by streamlining cross-border logistics and compliance through Swap and mitigating fraud risk through Signifyd. Signifyd’s AI-powered fraud detection protects checkout conversion by approving more legitimate transactions while blocking fraudulent ones.
Signifyd
Locafy introduces Localizer to boost local search visibility. Locafy, a provider of location-based digital marketing capabilities, has launched Localizer to help businesses improve their online visibility and rank higher in local search results. According to Locafy, Localizer distributes across more than 120 platforms, deploys optimized landing pages, optimizes Google Business Profiles, applies search optimization technology to boost local pack rankings, and produces content to target key search intent categories.
Wyrld lands €1 million for social commerce with content creators and influencers. Hamburg-based startup Wyrld has secured €1.0 million ($1.04 million) in pre-seed funding to launch a social commerce platform and blend traditional ecommerce with the creator economy. Wyrld says it offers content creators and brands a direct way to market and sell products while it handles logistics and customer support. Set to launch this year, Wyrld is being tested by influencers and select brands.
Gupshup launches AI Agents for businesses. Gupshup, a conversational AI platform, has launched its AI Agent Library, a suite of pre-built and customizable AI agents. Gupshup says its AI agents can handle inbound queries and outbound notifications, reminders, and alerts. The agents leverage large-language models to engage in natural language conversations with the user. The agents integrate with relevant backend tools, such as catalogs, CRMs, ticketing systems, and calendars.
Gupshup