	{"id":1205436,"date":"2026-05-16T13:50:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T12:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=1205436"},"modified":"2026-05-16T14:10:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T13:10:38","slug":"state-of-play-conversational-commerce-2026","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/br\/blog\/state-of-play-conversational-commerce-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Relat\u00f3rio: Com\u00e9rcio Conversacional 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">About a year ago, in April 2025, ChatGPT started surfacing product recommendations in chats, including direct links to advertiser shops. Just a few weeks later, Google launched the first betas testing the integration of paid ads into AI Overviews, AI Mode and Gemini. The question of how brands and offers can be placed organically in AI chats has become another hot topic under the label GEO back then.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the time, Artefact published an overview of the available opportunities and offerings from the different market players on our website: https:\/\/www.staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/blog\/shopping-in-the-age-of-chatbots-and-generative-engine-optimization\/<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One year later, at least from a German and European perspective, surprisingly little seems to have changed at first glance when it comes to paid ads. Betas are still running, but still only in the US and a few other markets. In Germany, paid advertising in chatbots is still not happening.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And yet, a great deal has happened. It is now becoming much clearer what strategies the major AI and advertising players are pursuing and where the market is heading. Time, then, for an update: Shopping in the age of chatbots: where do we stand in spring 2026?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This update looks at five developments: the deliberate move away from advertising by some providers, OpenAI\u2019s turnaround, Google\u2019s cautious advertising strategy, the rise of agentic shopping, and what all of this means for advertisers in Germany and Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Chapter 1: A partial move away from the advertising model<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While little is still happening in Germany and Europe when it comes to paid ads in LLMs, there have been several interesting developments in the US since the beginning of the year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of them is this: not every AI player sees its future in advertising.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anthropic (Claude) and Perplexity have both publicly stated that they do not intend to enter the ad business and will continue to rely exclusively on revenue from paid subscriptions. Their focus is on an undisturbed user experience, where users can trust that chat content is not influenced in any way by an interest in optimizing ad placement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-1205437 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/claude_superbowl_ad.webp\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/claude_superbowl_ad.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271440%27%20height%3D%27810%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%201440%20810%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%271440%27%20height%3D%27810%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/claude_superbowl_ad-200x113.webp 200w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/claude_superbowl_ad-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/claude_superbowl_ad-400x225.webp 400w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/claude_superbowl_ad-600x338.webp 600w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/claude_superbowl_ad-768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/claude_superbowl_ad-800x450.webp 800w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/claude_superbowl_ad-1024x576.webp 1024w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/claude_superbowl_ad-1200x675.webp 1200w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/claude_superbowl_ad.webp 1440w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Claude ran adverts during the Super Bowl and other events, in which chat threads were interrupted by absurd ad breaks \u2013 a clear dig at ChatGPT<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The decision is clearly communicated as strategic and long-term. Anthropic deliberately positions itself as a productive, ad-free and therefore trustworthy, private and protected space to think<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perplexity\u2019s rejection of advertising is particularly interesting because the provider was one of the first to experiment with ads. As early as 2024, Perplexity had its ad product \u201cSponsored Follow-Ups\u201d in beta. The CPM-based placement complemented the chatbot\u2019s organic content suggestions by offering users relevant follow-up questions based on the previous chat. Perplexity also justifies its step by pointing to the risk of compromising the credibility of chats through perceived conflicts of interest.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-1205438 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.25.58.png\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.25.58.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"696\" height=\"266\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27696%27%20height%3D%27266%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20696%20266%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27696%27%20height%3D%27266%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.25.58-200x76.png 200w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.25.58-300x115.png 300w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.25.58-400x153.png 400w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.25.58-600x229.png 600w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.25.58.png 696w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Organic and \u201cSponsored\u201d follow-up questions below a chat about job search during Perplexity\u2019s beta test.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>Chapter 2: OpenAI\u2019s turnaround<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The high-profile and very public move away from advertising by Anthropic and Perplexity came shortly after a wave of negative user reactions to the then-recent rollout of ads in ChatGPT.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In February, OpenAI introduced ads for US users of the free version and the lowest-priced paid tier. This was a long-awaited and very interesting step, but from a performance marketer\u2019s perspective, the initial ad product was not particularly attractive for three reasons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Firstly: as mentioned, users reacted very negatively to the initial rankings. OpenAI had announced the upcoming ads as \u201chelpful and entertaining\u201d additions to chat conversations that would not be disruptive. In the first days after launch, however, reports accumulated about intrusive large pop-ups and generally poorly matched placements. Many users felt that the ChatGPT user experience had been significantly disrupted.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For most advertisers, however, the main issue was likely the billing model, which was CPM-based and therefore completely independent of performance. With an initial CPM of $60 and a six-figure minimum investment, placements were extremely expensive at launch<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Combined with the absence of meaningful insights and performance measurement<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> ChatGPT ads were, until recently, at best an experimental playground for very large brands with plenty of marketing budget to play around with.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, in May 2026, however, a decisive improvement appears to be underway: the first US beta testers are currently gaining access to a comprehensive Ad Center.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is where campaigns and budgets are to be managed and controlled, and where targeting options are to be configured. The performance of active campaigns can be measured using KPIs such as impressions and clicks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Only a few days ago, a tracking pixel was also announced<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which should make CPO-based analysis possible as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-1205439 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.27.58-1024x570.png\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.27.58-1024x570.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"570\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271024%27%20height%3D%27570%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%201024%20570%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%271024%27%20height%3D%27570%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.27.58-200x111.png 200w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.27.58-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.27.58-400x223.png 400w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.27.58-600x334.png 600w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.27.58-768x428.png 768w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.27.58-800x445.png 800w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.27.58-1024x570.png 1024w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.27.58.png 1085w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">OpenAI walkthrough video for the newly launched Ads Manager beta<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On top of this comes what is probably the biggest change: billing is no longer expected to be limited to CPM only (which had reportedly already fallen significantly), but will also be available on a CPC basis<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Within just a few days, OpenAI has therefore adapted its advertising offering to the requirements of modern digital advertising and laid the foundations for performance-oriented ad campaigns in ChatGPT: self-management, CPC bidding and conversion tracking.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The comparison with Google Ads is obvious, and there is speculation about a \u201credistribution of search budgets\u201d. OpenAI, however, emphasizes the significant differences from Google campaigns. Campaigns in ChatGPT are seen as sitting much further up the funnel. User behavior, targeting and the type of messaging are not considered comparable to the search scenario that underpins classic SEA campaigns.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is precisely these differences from the keyword-based approach that make placements in chatbots so exciting, at least from an advertiser\u2019s perspective and for us as an agency. The platform promise is context-based placement: ideally, customer needs can be identified much earlier than before, allowing ads to be placed more efficiently high up in the funnel than with previous mechanisms. \u201cOften, the best answer to a question is an ad,\u201d Karen Stolberg, VP Customer Solutions at Google, said during her presentation at the Google Partner Summit in autumn 2025, referring to the much greater volume and density of information in a chat compared with a simple search query, which should make it possible to recognize user intentions much earlier.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the new ChatGPT Ad Center, targeting is therefore not based on keywords or similar mechanics, but on so-called \u201cContext Hints\u201d,\u00a0 hints from the advertiser to the system indicating which chat content is most likely to characterize potential customers.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, it is hardly to be expected that advertisers will now have to take granular control of their campaigns by writing pages of Context Hints. As with Meta\u2019s Andromeda and more recent Google campaign types such as PMax, targeting and optimization will remain heavily algorithmic. How well this works in ChatGPT is one of the most exciting questions, and thanks to the newly created measurability, we should get a lot more insight over the coming weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Chapter 3: Google\u2019s priorities<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PMax and AI Max (and other existing options with Google Ads) are intended to form the basis for serving ad campaigns in Google\u2019s chat environments; i.e. within AI Overviews (AIO), AI Mode (AIM) and Gemini.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> This has been clear for some time and can also be observed in beta operation in the US..\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-1205440 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.29.11.png\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.29.11.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"438\" height=\"885\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27438%27%20height%3D%27885%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20438%20885%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27438%27%20height%3D%27885%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.29.11-148x300.png 148w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.29.11-200x404.png 200w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.29.11-400x808.png 400w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.29.11.png 438w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 438px) 100vw, 438px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contextually relevant product ads below a Google AI Overview, autumn 2025.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Interestingly, there has been less development here over the past 12 months than many people \u2014 the author included, would have expected in early summer last year. First and foremost, of course: even the beta has still not started in the EU. We see ads above and below AI content, but still not inside it, as is the case in the test markets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But even within Google Ads, little has changed, including in the beta markets. Yes, AI ads are very unlikely to become their own campaign type or otherwise a freely selectable option. They will probably remain part of existing automated campaign types in the long term. What all of these campaign types have in common is that they prioritize the most \u201cundisturbed\u201d possible work of Google\u2019s algorithms. Google clearly wants to move in this direction \u2014 away from the highly specific granular targeting instructions of advertisers that shaped the original keyword-based search. Observers are more likely to expect the existing algorithm-driven campaign types to be merged by Google one day<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It would run counter to this direction to now offer detailed, separate placement options around AI integrations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the very least, however, more transparency within reporting has long been expected and demanded by many. And although AI Max has received new control options and reporting details in recent months, it is still not possible to separately evaluate how many ads were actually served in AI Overviews or AI Mode. The corresponding KPIs continue to be largely absorbed into existing Search, Shopping or Performance Max campaigns. This means it remains unclear what role these placements already play in reach, clicks, costs and conversions \u2014 and whether the above-mentioned promise of higher upper-funnel efficiency is already being delivered.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are some indications that Google has recently focused more strongly on the adjacent topic of agentic shopping than on ads. Perhaps that is not surprising \u2014 after all, Google already has a multi-billion-dollar ads business.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Chapter 4: What about agentic shopping?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As advertisers, under the broader heading of conversational commerce we are dealing with three overlapping topics. The first is the focus of this article and of the text so far: paid ads. The second is organic mentions in chatbots; i.e. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) as a new field within SEO. And the third is agentic commerce, which this section will cover very briefly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ChatGPT made the first move here and, in late summer 2025, launched a partnership with Etsy: in the US, orders from Etsy could be triggered directly via ChatGPT\u2019s \u201cInstant Checkout\u201d. Together with Stripe, OpenAI announced the \u201cAgentic Commerce Protocol\u201d (ACP) as a standard for connecting shops to Instant Checkout<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, however, OpenAI announced that it was deprioritizing Instant Checkout<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Shortly afterwards came the advertising push described above.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether the trade-off between a \u201c4% fee on tracked sales\u201d<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and CPC on every click played a decisive role here \u2014 or whether Google\u2019s significantly increased activity in this area was a factor, will remain speculation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google, meanwhile, introduced UCP, the Universal Commerce Protocol, as its own open standard for agentic commerce in the summer, bringing on board important ACP pioneers such as Etsy and Shopify. UCP is designed very broadly<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and is not only aimed at checkout in chatbots. It is intended to standardize and simplify shopping outside the boundaries of the shop itself, including searching products and retrieving product descriptions. As a result, the Buy button is finding its way into Google\u2019s Gemini and, for example, back into Google Shopping<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (where a non-UCP-based Buy button had already existed until 2023.).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-1205441 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.30.05-1024x620.png\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.30.05-1024x620.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"620\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271024%27%20height%3D%27620%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%201024%20620%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%271024%27%20height%3D%27620%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.30.05-200x121.png 200w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.30.05-300x182.png 300w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.30.05-400x242.png 400w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.30.05-600x363.png 600w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.30.05-768x465.png 768w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.30.05-800x485.png 800w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.30.05-1024x620.png 1024w, https:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-16-at-14.30.05.png 1035w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Screenshot by Brodie Clark<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">17<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Microsoft, Amazon and others are active here as well. Microsoft is increasingly connecting Copilot, Merchant Center and Copilot Checkout with existing commerce and advertising structures. Amazon, in turn, is building its own agentic shopping experience within the Amazon ecosystem through Rufus and \u201cBuy for Me\u201d. The result is not a single unified market, but several competing commerce ecosystems: Google\/UCP, OpenAI\/ACP, Microsoft\/Copilot and Amazon\/Rufus.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For advertisers, agentic commerce is likely to be less of an ad-media topic than a shop-system and distribution-partner topic. The first step will be to check which standards the selected shop system supports, or which standard the company\u2019s own system should be adapted to. The next step will be to allow external partners to use the interfaces and to agree on compensation models.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Chapter 5: The situation in the EU and what to do now<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So a lot is happening in the US, both in paid ads and in agentic commerce. In Germany and Europe, the pace is different. The formats and standards will of course also apply to the EU, but as we know, a wide range of additional rules must be taken into account: data protection \/ GDPR, consent, price indication rules, withdrawal rights, platform regulation and much more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Observers report that OpenAI is adapting its consent management system, including tracking opt-out mechanisms<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; mechanisms that would not be necessary for a purely US-based operation. This suggests that there is now considerable momentum on this front as well. It could even mean that we will be working with ChatGPT CPC ads in Germany before we can analyze the performance of Google AIO placements. Only a few months ago, very few people would have expected that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From today\u2019s perspective, it therefore makes sense to start thinking about the \u201cContext Hints\u201d that should be entered for your own brand in the ChatGPT Ads Manager once the time comes. And it may also be worth opening a ticket with your in-house IT team early on so that the tracking pixel can be implemented when needed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But for now, especially in the EU, the biggest impact on chatbot visibility still comes from SEO and GEO. Being mentioned organically in the chat for the decisive prompts is crucial and currently only possible by optimizing your own shop and third-party content. Our colleagues at Artefact Netherlands have just compiled the latest state of play including practical tips on this topic: <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At <strong>Artefact<\/strong>, we are already supporting clients in making sense of the changes around AI Search, GEO, agentic commerce and new advertising formats, and in turning them into concrete action. This spans SEA, SEO and GEO, feed management, shopping, affiliate marketing, paid social and retail media, as well as data and AI consulting. Through our close cooperation with the major platforms, we stay very close to the latest developments and can quickly translate new requirements into practical strategies.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"qMYqUG_convSearchResultHighlightRoot\">\n<div class=\"\" data-turn-id-container=\"request-WEB:68000673-5703-4aba-8c39-b5a674dae93c-1\" data-is-intersecting=\"true\">\n<div class=\"relative w-full overflow-visible\">\n<section class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none [&amp;:has([data-writing-block])&gt;*]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]\" dir=\"auto\" data-turn-id=\"request-WEB:68000673-5703-4aba-8c39-b5a674dae93c-1\" data-turn-id-container=\"request-WEB:68000673-5703-4aba-8c39-b5a674dae93c-1\" data-testid=\"conversation-turn-4\" data-scroll-anchor=\"false\" data-turn=\"assistant\">\n<div class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-10 [--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-xs,calc(var(--spacing)*4))] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-sm,calc(var(--spacing)*6))] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-lg,calc(var(--spacing)*16))] px-(--thread-content-margin)\">\n<div class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\">\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col gap-4 grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal outline-none keyboard-focused:focus-ring [.text-message+&amp;]:mt-1\" dir=\"auto\" tabindex=\"0\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"40ba5924-6513-4878-adc9-44853482d190\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-5-5\" data-turn-start-message=\"true\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden\">\n<div class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert wrap-break-word w-full light markdown-new-styling\">\n<p data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"207\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"><em>The author, Denis, looks forward to continuing the conversation: whether over coffee, via email (denis.waurick@staging-artefact.digitalseeder.com), or on <a href=\"http:\/\/linkedin.com\/in\/denis-waurick-90459a44\/?skipRedirect=true\">LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>O cen\u00e1rio de marketing do AI se fragmentou. Enquanto a Anthropic e a Perplexity est\u00e3o se afastando totalmente dos an\u00fancios para proteger a confian\u00e7a do usu\u00e1rio, a OpenAI lan\u00e7ou um CPC Ads Manager focado no desempenho e o Google est\u00e1 mudando para as compras ag\u00eanticas. Aqui est\u00e3o os cinco principais desenvolvimentos que est\u00e3o remodelando o com\u00e9rcio conversacional na primavera de 2026 e o que eles significam para as marcas europeias.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":1205442,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"blog-category":[2997],"blog-language":[2991],"class_list":["post-1205436","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","blog-category-data-marketing","blog-language-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>State of Play: Conversational Commerce 2026 - Artefact<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The AI marketing landscape has fractured. While Anthropic and Perplexity are backing away from ads entirely to protect user trust, OpenAI has launched a performance-focused CPC Ads Manager, and Google is shifting toward agentic shopping. 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