This Week in M&A Issue #228
March 16, 2026
Happy Friday!
Today’s trend of the week is “dandruff combs”. 🪮
Dandruff might not be glamorous, but it can be profitable.
Around 50 million Americans deal with dandruff every year, making it one of the most common skin conditions out there.
Enter the dandruff comb. It’s not new or exciting, but it solves a very real problem.
For ecommerce businesses, it also checks a few important boxes. Dandruff combs are inexpensive to produce and ship, and they aren’t tied to seasonality or short-lived trends. Since dandruff is a year-round issue, demand for solutions stays consistent.
The product also performs well on social media. On TikTok, dandruff combs currently see about 22.2K searches per month. Search demand is strong too. Google recorded around 22K searches for “dandruff combs” last month, with interest up 16% over the past quarter.
While the product itself has a lower price point and smaller margins, its steady demand and strong content potential make it a practical addition for ecommerce brands looking to expand their catalog with simple, high-interest products.
Today we have for you:
- Amazon wins court order blocking Perplexity’s AI shopping agent
- AI Chatbots are boosting, not killing, online search
And:
- Amazon integrates third-party feeds into Shop Direct experience
- Hiring mistakes that slow down your business growth
- Claude Marketplace lets you use Claude Credits to buy third‑party AI apps
Alright, let’s dive in.
AI
Image Source: Giphy (Judge Judy)
Judge Blocks Perplexity AI From Accessing Amazon Customer Accounts
Amazon scored an early legal victory this week when a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against Perplexity, blocking it from using its Comet browser to access customer accounts on Amazon and make purchases on users’ behalf.
The case centers on Comet’s built-in AI assistant, which can browse product listings, compare options, and place orders automatically. Amazon argued that the agent accessed password-protected parts of its platform, including customer accounts and Prime subscriptions, without the company’s authorization.
As a result, the court issued a preliminary injunction that blocks Comet from interacting with these parts of Amazon’s platform while the lawsuit moves forward.
Amazon first filed the lawsuit in November 2025, claiming Perplexity’s software accessed its systems without permission and disguised automated activity as normal human browsing. According to Amazon, the AI agent mimicked a Google Chrome session to avoid detection, raising concerns about potential security risks and marketplace integrity.
A key issue in the ruling was the difference between user permission and platform authorization. The judge said that even if customers allow an AI assistant to shop for them, that does not automatically grant the software access to Amazon’s systems.
The order also requires Perplexity to delete any Amazon account data previously collected by its system. The injunction will take effect after a seven-day pause that gives Perplexity time to appeal.
Perplexity has disputed the claims, arguing that users should be able to choose AI tools that act on their behalf online. It also suggested Amazon’s concerns may be linked to its advertising model, since AI agents bypass product ads that human shoppers typically see.
This is likely to be the first of many similar cases. As AI agents begin to browse, compare, and buy products for users, platforms and startups will likely clash over who controls access when software, rather than humans, becomes the primary customer interface.
Search & AI
Google’s Head of Search Explains How AI Is Boosting, Not Replacing, Search
The rise of AI answers will not replace search. It may actually increase how often people ask questions online.
That’s according to Liz Reid, Google’s head of Search, who shared her take in a recent podcast interview. Her argument is simple. When new tools make it easier to ask questions, people tend to ask more of them.
Reid said users are increasingly combining different tools depending on the task. Someone might use an AI chatbot to brainstorm ideas, then turn to a search engine to explore sources or verify information. The total number of questions people ask online continues to grow.
Reid also pushed back on the idea that Google suddenly rushed into AI after the launch of ChatGPT. She explained that large language models have been part of search for years. Systems such as BERT helped Google better understand search queries and rank results more accurately. The challenge was speed. Search has to respond almost instantly, and even a delay of 100 milliseconds can reduce how often people search. Only recent improvements in model efficiency have made real time AI responses possible.
Reid also described how Google differentiates between search and its AI assistant app, Gemini. Gemini focuses more on productivity and content creation, while Search is designed to organize and surface information from across the web. It is still unclear how closely these products may integrate in the future.
She also revealed that Google is experimenting with more personalized search. New features may allow users to opt in to results that use signals from services like Gmail, Calendar, and past searches. Reid believes this could become a major competitive advantage because Google has years of behavioral data across billions of users.
At the end of the day, Google believes AI may change how search works, but not whether people search. As long as curiosity keeps expanding, so will the demand for tools that help people find answers.
Amazon
Amazon Expands Shop Direct with External Feed Integration
Amazon is expanding access to Shop Direct, its AI‑powered shopping experience that shows products not sold directly on Amazon but available on other merchants’ sites.
The core change in this launch is support for third‑party product feeds from providers like Feedonomics, Salsify, and CEDCommerce. Merchants already using these feed services to syndicate product data to other channels can now plug into Shop Direct with minimal additional work.
Amazon says this will increase visibility for participating brands by putting their products in Amazon search results and in Rufus, Amazon’s AI shopping assistant.
Shop Direct already includes more than 100 million products from over 400,000 participating merchants, and tens of millions of those products can be purchased via Buy for Me. Amazon reports that it has driven millions of customer referrals to merchant sites since the program began.
For merchants, the new feed support means catalog updates, pricing, and inventory sync in real time with Shop Direct. Plus, they’ll have the ability to maintain direct customer relationships while gaining exposure to Amazon’s massive audience. Merchants retain visibility into their brand and traffic, and Amazon displays store names clearly so customers know where they are buying from.
Amazon plans to support more feed partners and to introduce a merchant portal that will let sellers provide product data directly to Shop Direct.
Merchants can work with their feed syndicator or reach out to Amazon directly to participate.
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The Opportunity podcast
![Hiring Mistakes That Slow Down Your Business Growth With Mads Singers [Ep.208] (2)](https://1745913.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/1745913/Hiring%20Mistakes%20That%20Slow%20Down%20Your%20Business%20Growth%20With%20Mads%20Singers%20%5BEp.208%5D%20(2).png)
The Right Way to Hire for a Growing Company
Hiring is one of the most important decisions founders make. Done well, it reduces founder dependency and helps a business run more smoothly.
Unfortunately, many online businesses struggle to grow because of poor hiring decisions.
In this week’s episode of The Opportunity Podcast, we speak with management coach and entrepreneur Mads Singers about the hiring mistakes founders make and how to build stronger teams.
In the conversation, we cover:
-
Why culture is defined by behavior, not written values
-
Why personality often matters more than experience
-
How to avoid resume bias and evaluate candidates more objectively
-
How to hire specialists in areas you don’t fully understand
If you’re planning your next hire or trying to build a stronger team, this episode shares practical insights you can apply right away.
AI
You Can Now Buy Third‑Party AI Tools Through Claude Marketplace
Anthropic has launched a new enterprise marketplace for AI tools.
Currently in limited preview, Claude Marketplace allows companies with existing Anthropic spend commitments to browse and purchase third‑party AI applications built on Claude’s models. Instead of negotiating separate contracts with multiple vendors, organizations can allocate part of their existing Claude spend and manage all billing through Anthropic.
At launch, the marketplace features six partners covering a range of capabilities: GitLab for software development, Snowflake for data operations, Harvey AI for legal workflows, Rogo for financial tools, Replit for AI‑assisted coding, and Lovable Labs for no‑code app building.
Companies can apply unused portions of their Anthropic commitments to these tools without renegotiating their budgets, simplifying procurement, and consolidating spend. Anthropic will also not take a commission on marketplace purchases, allowing partners to keep all of their revenue.
The launch comes amid rapid growth for Anthropic. Reports show the company’s run-rate revenue has nearly doubled in recent months, driven by demand for products like Claude Code and other AI solutions. At the same time, Anthropic faces regulatory scrutiny after being designated a supply-chain risk by the U.S. Department of Defense, a move that is legally challenging.
The Claude Marketplace is still in its early stages. Its impact will depend on how quickly Anthropic expands its partner catalog and whether enterprises are ready to centralize their AI stack around a single provider.
Money Nomad
Looking for a side hustle?
Try Money Nomad, our sister marketplace built specifically for profitable side hustles and micro-businesses that are too small for Empire Flippers.
Check out this recent listing available on the Money Nomad Marketplace:
Listing #10057 – Open to Offers
Amazon FBA, eCommerce | health & Wellness
Chill Seeker is a company in the cold plunge industry, selling DIY at-home cold plunge users. The product is a 2-pack of silicone ice block molds. Customers fill the molds with water, freeze it overnight, and the next day they have huge blocks of ice they can dump into their cold plunge. It’s a quality product with a unique selling proposition. The molds say CHILL, and easily stand out amongst competitors because it’s a fun and exciting product. This is not a white-label product. This is a proprietary product with a custom mold that creates a product unique from the others in the market. The business makes sales on Amazon FBA, but can extend much further with TikTok shop and other ecommerce strategies. Learn More
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