This Week in M&A Issue #246
July 20, 2026
Howdy partner!
Today’s trend of the week is “landline phones”. ☎️
As smartphones become more powerful and feature-packed, many consumers are yearning for simpler times.
According to Shopify sales data shared with Retail Brew, landline phone orders grew 277% in June, while demand for corded phones surged 115%. Orders for basic feature phones also jumped 99%.
The trend goes beyond hardware too. Eventbrite reported a 567% global increase in phone-free events between 2024 and 2025, showing growing interest in disconnecting from constant notifications.
For entrepreneurs, this opens up opportunities beyond simply selling retro phones. Products that support digital detoxing, phone-free lifestyles, or intentional living are all seeing growing demand.
Today we have for you:
- Amazon opens Seller University to everyone
- Why OpenAI shut down its Atlas browser
And:
- The new battle for Amazon’s top sellers
- What 1 million keywords tell us about the future of search
- AI is fueling a 24% surge in new business applications
Alright, let’s dive in.
Amazon
Image Source: Giphy (Anthony Antonellis)
Amazon Seller University Is Now Available Without a Seller Account
Amazon has removed the login requirement for Seller University, allowing anyone to access its free library of seller education resources without creating an Amazon seller account.
Previously, users needed an active or pending Seller Central account to view the full training platform.
Seller University provides access to more than 125 training topics covering areas such as product listings, pricing, Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), advertising, inventory management, and brand-building tools. The content includes videos and downloadable guides designed for both beginners and experienced sellers.
For new entrepreneurs, this creates an easier way to understand Amazon’s requirements, tools, and processes before investing in inventory or marketing. It also gives sellers access to official information directly from Amazon rather than relying only on third-party courses.
It’s also a strategic move by Amazon. Now that Seller University content is no longer hidden behind a login wall, it improves Amazon’s visibility in search results. Amazon can also now attract more traffic from people looking for answers about selling online. By opening Seller University earlier in the decision-making process, Amazon can educate more potential sellers and encourage more entrepreneurs to join its marketplace.
This does, however, create new challenges for third-party educators, agencies, and consultants that offer Amazon training. Much of the beginner-level information covered in paid courses overlaps with what Amazon now provides for free. Businesses that rely on basic tutorials and setup guidance may need to shift their focus toward more specialized advice, such as improving margins, analyzing product opportunities, and solving account-specific challenges.
For sellers, the change is a positive step. Anyone considering Amazon as a sales channel can now build a stronger understanding of the platform before deciding whether to create an account and invest in growing a business.
AI
OpenAI Shuts Down AI Browser Atlas
Less than a year after launching its AI-powered browser, Atlas, OpenAI is shutting it down. It marks a surprising end for what was once pitched as a browser that could change how people use the web.
Atlas is scheduled to be deprecated on August 9.
But this is not a retreat; it’s simply a repositioning. Rather than asking people to switch browsers, OpenAI is moving Atlas’s best features into places where users already spend their time. Its browser agent capabilities will live inside the ChatGPT desktop app and a Chrome extension, making them available without requiring people to abandon Chrome or other browsers.
OpenAI is consolidating its growing list of AI products. Atlas’ capabilities are being folded into a broader desktop experience alongside other tools like Codex, creating a single workspace instead of multiple disconnected apps.
There is also a lesson here for founders.
One of the biggest mistakes startups make is treating every new feature as a separate product. Over time, that creates fragmented experiences that are harder for customers to learn and harder for teams to maintain. OpenAI is taking the opposite approach by consolidating products around a single workflow.
There is also a lesson in how OpenAI used customer feedback. Atlas provided valuable insights into how people wanted to use AI while browsing, and that feedback is now shaping the company’s broader platform. Building a product doesn’t always mean sticking to the original vision. The most useful improvements often come from understanding how customers actually use a product and adapting from there.
It’s also a reminder that shutting down a product is not always a sign of failure. Sometimes the fastest way to improve a product is to retire a standalone offering and bring its best ideas into the experience customers already use every day.
Amazon
Chinese Sellers Take More Spots in Amazon’s Top 10,000, But U.S. Brands Still Lead Revenue
Chinese sellers now make up the majority of Amazon’s top 10,000 sellers, but American businesses still dominate the highest-value positions on the marketplace.
New data from Marketplace Pulse shows that while Amazon’s top seller rankings are becoming more competitive, established businesses continue to hold strong positions. Around 68.6% of sellers in today’s top 10,000 were already there a year ago, a figure that has remained relatively stable since 2019. Nearly half of the sellers in the ranking today were also there three years ago.
However, the sellers competing at the top have changed. Since 2020, Chinese sellers have gained 1,342 spots in Amazon’s top 10,000, increasing their share from 42.5% to 55.9%. During the same period, U.S. sellers lost 1,320 positions, dropping from 53.7% to 40.5%.
Chinese sellers have gained ground by leveraging advantages such as direct manufacturer relationships, lower production costs, established export networks, and AI tools that help with product research, listings, and daily operations.
But the number of sellers does not tell the full story. U.S. sellers still generate the majority of revenue among Amazon’s top businesses. American sellers account for 65.3% of GMV from the top 10,000 sellers, compared with 28.6% for Chinese sellers. At the very top of the marketplace, the gap is even wider. U.S. sellers represent 81.4% of the top 100 sellers and generate 93.2% of their GMV.
This highlights an important advantage for Amazon sellers: building a successful business on the platform takes time, but strong businesses can maintain their position for years.
However, longevity alone is no longer enough to guarantee a top position. Successful sellers also need strong brands, efficient operations, and the ability to adapt as competition increases.
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Search
1 Million Keywords Reveal How AI Is Reshaping Search
AI is changing how people find information online, but that doesn’t mean that traditional search is disappearing.
Fractl and Search Engine Land analyzed more than 1 million high-volume keywords across 379 brands and eight industries, representing 35.4 billion monthly searches. They also surveyed more than 1,000 consumers to understand how AI is affecting search behavior.
The data shows traditional search demand is declining, but not collapsing. About 29% of high-volume keywords are losing traffic, slightly more than Gartner’s 2024 prediction of a 25% decline by 2026. However, the lost demand is being replaced by growth in other areas.
The 285,489 declining keywords represented 10.29 billion monthly searches, while 140,835 growing keywords represented 10.31 billion. Across the entire dataset, search volume actually increased by 16.8 million searches.
The difference is that users are changing what they search for, and businesses need to understand which queries are growing instead of assuming search is disappearing.
The impact depends heavily on the industry. Information-heavy categories like FinTech, HealthTech, and Wellness are seeing larger declines because AI tools can often answer these questions directly. Meanwhile, categories like SaaS and Lifestyle have remained stronger because customers still need to compare products, evaluate options, and visit brands before making decisions.
Another major change is how brands earn visibility. Traditional rankings are becoming only one part of discovery. Around 70% of consumers say they use AI more than they did last year, while only 17% say they use traditional search less. Nearly one in five consumers have purchased something based on an AI recommendation without checking another source.
For businesses, this means building authority matters more than ever. If AI tools answer customer questions without sending traffic to websites, brands need to become the sources those systems reference.
Entrepreneurship
Business Applications Rise 24% as AI Makes Entrepreneurship More Accessible
AI is changing the economics of starting a business. New data suggests that lower technology costs and easier access to AI tools are helping more entrepreneurs launch businesses with fewer resources.
According to research from Citadel Securities using U.S. Census Bureau data, new U.S. business applications reached 5.6 million in 2025, a 24% increase since ChatGPT launched. The strongest growth came from industries where AI can directly reduce the time, money, and expertise required to build and operate a company.
Historically, starting a business often required hiring specialists for tasks like software development, marketing, customer support, research, and data analysis. AI tools are lowering the barrier for entrepreneurs by allowing small teams, and sometimes individuals, to handle more of these functions themselves.
This doesn’t mean AI replaces the need for business fundamentals. Finding customers, building a valuable product, and creating a sustainable business model remain the biggest challenges. However, the cost of testing ideas and getting early versions of products into the market has changed significantly.
For founders, this creates both opportunities and new challenges. More people can launch businesses, which means there’s more competition. At the same time, entrepreneurs who understand how to use AI effectively can move faster and operate with smaller teams.
The rise in business applications also reflects a broader change in how companies are being built. Instead of needing large upfront investments and full teams from day one, many startups can now validate ideas, automate repetitive work, and grow only after finding demand.
For investors and business buyers, this could create a larger pipeline of online businesses built with leaner operations. It may also change how companies are valued, as efficiency and the ability to scale without adding significant overhead become increasingly important factors.
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