This Week in M&A Issue #195

Lauren Buchanan July 28, 2025

TWIMA #195

Helloooo!

Today’s trend of the week is “Summerween”.  🎃

Summerween, the viral summer twist on Halloween, is back with a vengeance.

Google searches for “Summerween” more than doubled this July compared to last year, with TikTok flooded with jack-o’-melons, pineapple lanterns, and ghost-shaped cheeseburgers. While the trend began with a 2012 Gravity Falls episode, it didn’t hit mainstream celebration status until social media caught fire in 2024.

For eCommerce sellers, it’s a great opportunity to start the Halloween sales cycle early. You don’t need to launch a whole new product line; much of your existing Halloween inventory can simply be marketed for Summerween.

Content creators can also find new ways to engage their audiences with Summerween DIYs, recipes, decorating ideas, and party planning content. Use these TikTok videos as inspiration.

Digital product sellers can also get in on the action by offering themed printables, party invites, and games.

Today we have for you:

  • Google’s latest Core Update was bigger than it looked
  • Prime Day 2025 breaks records despite slow start

And:

  • Tariffs fail to push Amazon sellers toward global expansion
  • Proactive support strategies for Amazon sellers
  • New WordPress tools let you add AI without rebuilding your site

Alright, let’s dive in.

Google

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Image Source: Giphy (Social Nomads)

Search Rankings See Major Shifts After Google’s June Update

Google’s June 2025 Core Update, which ran from June 30 to July 17, is now seen by analysts as one of the biggest in recent years. Although the rollout appeared calm at first, data from platforms like Semrush and Similarweb revealed high volatility in search rankings across industries and countries.

One striking insight: over 16% of URLs now appearing in Google’s top 10 results weren’t even in the top 20 before the update. That’s the highest shift in rankings since 2021. AI Overviews also became more prominent, showing up in 20% of search queries by the end of the rollout, up from 10% before the update.

SEO expert Glenn Gabe noted that some sites hit hard by Google’s 2023 Helpful Content Update (HCU) saw their first signs of recovery. However, many others experienced major ranking drops, especially in sectors like health and retail.

Two new technologies may explain the update’s broader impact. First, MUVERA, a new algorithm designed to improve how Google retrieves content. Announced on June 25, it allows Google to be far more precise when selecting which pages to consider for ranking. Instead of pulling in a wide range of possible matches, MUVERA retrieves significantly fewer, but more relevant, pages. This new system is not only faster but also uses far less memory, making it ideal for large-scale search operations.

Second, Google also introduced its Graph Foundation Model, a breakthrough in how the search engine understands relationships between different entities on the web, like users, links, and pages. Unlike older graph-based AI models, GFM can adapt to new or unseen data structures, improving predictions and classifications across a variety of tasks. GFM has already shown major improvements in spam detection and prediction tasks inside Google.

While Google hasn’t confirmed these systems were active during the update, their timing suggests they played a role.

Google’s ranking systems are becoming more advanced and AI-driven. Instead of sweeping visible changes, updates like this one quietly reshape the search landscape by better identifying high-quality, helpful content, and filtering out the rest.

The Opportunity Podcast

Avoiding Account Shutdowns Proactive Support Strategies for Amazon Sellers With John Cavendish [Ep.184]-min

The Silent Threats Undermining Your Amazon Success

The rules of selling on Amazon have changed, and sellers who don’t adapt are paying the price in time, revenue, and sometimes, their entire account.

In this episode, we’re joined by John Cavendish, the founder of Seller Candy, an agency that deals with Seller Support on behalf of Amazon sellers.

We explore the most common launch mistakes Amazon sellers make, why account suspensions are on the rise, and what proactive steps you can take to protect your account’s health before it’s too late.

From shifting product launch strategies to the overlooked support issues that sabotage sellers, we uncover the patterns that can quietly erode your success.

If you want to launch smarter, avoid suspension triggers, and get ahead of account health issues before they escalate, this episode is packed with essential insights.

Amazon

Amazon Prime Day 2025 Becomes Biggest Shopping Event Yet

Amazon’s Prime Day 2025 was its biggest yet, breaking records with a new four-day format that ran from July 8 to 11.

The extended sale led to massive engagement across the platform, especially from independent sellers who saw record-breaking sales and a surge in new customers. According to data from Pacvue, total brand sales on Amazon rose 34% compared to last year, while ad spend jumped 48%.

Momentum Commerce reported that Amazon U.S. generated an estimated $750 million during the event, up 4.9% from last year. Adobe’s broader analysis showed $24.1 billion in total U.S. eCommerce sales during the Prime Day period, up 30.3% year-over-year and on par with two Black Fridays.

Sales momentum built gradually. Days 1 and 2 lagged behind last year, with Day 1 sales down 41% and the first two days averaging a 35% drop compared to 2024. But shoppers surged back on Day 3, pushing sales up 165% compared to the same period last year. Many consumers appeared to be holding off for better deals, filling their carts early and completing purchases on the final day as discounts increased.

One of the most dramatic shifts was the rise of generative AI in online shopping. Traffic from AI tools like chatbots and smart browsers soared 3,300% year-over-year, highlighting how consumers are increasingly using AI to research and compare deals, though channels like paid search and email still drive most sales.

Paid search led the way with 28.5% of sales, while social media influencers played a growing role, contributing nearly 20% and converting shoppers 10 times more effectively than general posts.

Top-performing categories this year included appliances (up 112%), office supplies (105%), electronics (95%), books (81%), tools and home improvement (76%), home and garden (58%), and baby and toddler products (55%), showing broad consumer interest beyond just tech gadgets.

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ecommerce

U.S. Amazon Sellers Stick to Domestic Markets Despite Tariff Hikes

Despite expectations that rising U.S. tariffs would drive American Amazon sellers to expand into international markets, new data shows this shift hasn’t happened.

Marketplace Pulse analyzed over 5 million Amazon sellers and found that 69.24% still operate in just one marketplace, a figure virtually unchanged from the 69.36% reported four months ago. The anticipated rush to diversify away from tariff-exposed supply chains hasn’t materialized.

Following the April 2 announcement of new tariffs, consulting firms saw a 47% increase in international expansion inquiries from brands. However, that interest hasn’t translated into action. The number of sellers active in six or more marketplaces nudged up only slightly, from 6.18% to 6.23%.

American sellers have historically shown little interest in selling outside North America. Even with ongoing tariff pressure, U.S. sellers still make up less than 1% of sellers in non-North American Amazon marketplaces.

By contrast, Chinese sellers continue to dominate international expansion, maintaining a strong presence across most global Amazon platforms. Japan remains the only major Amazon marketplace where local sellers still outnumber international ones, though that is starting to shift.

Expanding globally sounds easy in theory, thanks to existing supply chains and Amazon’s international infrastructure. But in practice, sellers face hurdles such as complex regulations, tax requirements, Brexit complications, and new EU product safety laws. These challenges make it hard for sellers to justify the move, especially when the return on effort is uncertain.

Market size also plays a role. All of Amazon’s 22 non-U.S. marketplaces combined only slightly surpass the traffic volume of Amazon.com alone. Given the scale and simplicity of selling domestically, many sellers decide it’s not worth the trouble to go global.

Although four months is a short period for measuring major shifts, the lack of real change indicates that tariffs by themselves aren’t enough to drive American sellers to expand internationally.

WordPress

Want to Add AI to Your Site? WordPress Just Made It Easier

WordPress is taking major steps to future-proof its platform by building a powerful set of AI tools designed to make it easier for developers and creators to build intelligent, personalized, and efficient websites.

These foundational “Building Blocks” are part of a broader effort to prepare WordPress for an AI-driven web, without forcing users to wait for future core updates.

The initiative includes four key components.

First is the PHP AI Client SDK, which lets developers connect to any major AI model, like ChatGPT or Claude, using a single, unified interface. It comes in two versions, one for general PHP use and one made specifically for WordPress, making integration fast and flexible.

Second is the Abilities API, a central registry that defines what WordPress can do in a structured format. This allows AI tools and automation systems to discover and interact with plugins, commands, and site features more easily and securely.

Third, the Model Context Protocol (MCP) Adapter bridges WordPress with external AI assistants. It translates WordPress functions into tools that AI agents can access and use. It allows those AIs to perform tasks on your site or help with things like content editing and workflow automation.

To bring it all together, WordPress launched the AI Experiments Plugin, a testing space where developers can try out AI features, experiment with different setups, and build working tools like AI-powered chatbots or workflow builders.

What makes WordPress’s approach different is that it doesn’t lock anyone into specific AI services. Instead, these tools are open and reusable, giving developers the freedom to choose what works best for their needs. Everything is available now as installable packages, and some features may eventually be added to WordPress Core.

For business owners running WordPress sites, these updates offer a way to test and adopt AI gradually, without committing to a specific provider or major site overhaul. They offer more control over how and when AI is integrated into your operations.

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