On September 18, 2025, two of the world’s largest tech giants—Google and Amazon—unveiled major artificial intelligence (AI) enhancements to their core advertising and marketplace tools, signaling a new era of data-driven automation for digital marketers and sellers. While each company’s announcement targets a different part of the commerce funnel, together they underscore a rapidly accelerating trend: AI is not just powering recommendations and targeting—it’s now making high-stakes decisions that can reshape how businesses reach and convert customers.
Google’s update comes in the form of Smart Bidding Exploration, now available within Performance Max campaigns. According to Search Engine Land, the new feature lets advertisers toggle an option that allows Google’s system to “relax” their ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) targets. In plain English, this means the AI is authorized to go after more conversions by being less strict about the profitability of each ad click. The potential payoff? More sales, more customers, and possibly, a bigger piece of the market pie. But—as with any shortcut—there’s a catch.
Early tests of Smart Bidding Exploration are already drawing attention. Google reports that advertisers who enabled the feature saw an 18% increase in unique converting query categories and a 19% lift in total conversions. These are not negligible numbers. For marketers, that kind of bump could mean the difference between a good quarter and a record-breaking one. But there’s a tradeoff lurking beneath the surface: efficiency.
Jonni Lomax, Company Director at Lomax PPC, spotted the new toggle and weighed in on X (formerly Twitter), saying, “Optimistically, this means that when competition is high, data quality is preserved. Pessimistically, it will lower ROAS overall.” It’s a sentiment that will ring true for any advertiser who’s ever had to explain a shrinking profit margin to a skeptical boss. In short, Smart Bidding Exploration could unlock untapped demand, but the real test will be whether those incremental conversions justify a softer approach to ROAS discipline.
This isn’t Google’s first foray into AI-driven bidding. As Search Engine Land notes, Smart Bidding Exploration was initially tested on search campaigns after being announced at Google Marketing Live. The difference now is that Performance Max—the company’s all-in-one campaign type—puts even more of the decision-making into Google’s hands. Marketers can still set their goals, but the AI is increasingly in the driver’s seat, adjusting the route as it sees fit. The new toggle, now appearing in advertiser accounts, is a clear sign of where things are headed: more automation, less manual tweaking, and a bigger emphasis on growth over micromanaged efficiency.
Meanwhile, over at Amazon, the focus is on empowering sellers with sharper, faster insights through the AI-powered Opportunity Explorer. As reported by Amazon’s own announcement, the tool—already a favorite among many selling partners—has received a major upgrade. Previously, Opportunity Explorer provided raw signals like search volume, seasonality, and the most-clicked items. Sellers could use this information to spot trends and gaps in the market, but drawing actionable conclusions often required weeks of manual research and spreadsheet wrangling.
That’s all changing. With the new AI enhancements, Opportunity Explorer now analyzes billions of customer interactions—including searches, clicks, and purchases—and distills them into clear, actionable recommendations. Sellers can instantly see which product features matter most, where demand is trending, and what customers expect to pay. For small businesses and enterprise brands alike, this means less guesswork and more data-driven decision making.
Amazon’s move is about more than just speed. By translating mountains of behavioral data into prioritized product insights, the company is helping sellers stay ahead of shifting consumer preferences. In an age where a viral TikTok trend can spark a new product craze overnight, the ability to move fast—and smart—has never been more valuable. As Amazon puts it, insights that once required weeks of manual research can now be surfaced in minutes, giving sellers a crucial edge in an increasingly crowded marketplace.
Both Google and Amazon are betting that AI-driven automation will become the norm, not the exception, in digital commerce. For advertisers, the promise is tantalizing: more conversions, deeper insights, and less time spent poring over spreadsheets. But there’s a flip side. As automation takes over more of the decision-making, marketers and sellers must grapple with new uncertainties. Will relaxing ROAS targets lead to a flood of low-value conversions? Can AI recommendations capture the nuances of emerging trends, or will they miss the next big thing?
There’s also the question of control. With Google’s Smart Bidding Exploration, advertisers are ceding some authority to the algorithm. While the promise of higher conversion volume is appealing, the risk of diminished efficiency is real. Marketers must weigh the benefits of growth against the potential cost to their bottom line. As Jonni Lomax’s comment highlights, optimism and skepticism are both warranted—data quality might be preserved in competitive scenarios, but overall returns could slip if the AI chases volume at the expense of value.
On the Amazon side, the Opportunity Explorer’s AI-powered insights are poised to level the playing field for sellers of all sizes. By making sophisticated analysis accessible to anyone, Amazon is democratizing access to the kind of intelligence that once required a team of data scientists. But as with any automated system, there’s a risk that overreliance on recommendations could lead to a herd mentality, with many sellers chasing the same trends and saturating the market.
For businesses navigating this new landscape, the key will be balance. Embracing AI tools can unlock new opportunities and save time, but human judgment remains essential. Marketers and sellers who pair automation with critical thinking—testing, iterating, and staying attuned to their unique audiences—will be best positioned to thrive.
As September 2025 draws to a close, it’s clear that the future of digital commerce is being shaped by algorithms that learn, adapt, and recommend at lightning speed. Whether these tools deliver on their promise—or introduce new challenges—will depend on how thoughtfully they’re deployed. For now, Google and Amazon’s latest moves offer a glimpse into a world where AI doesn’t just assist, but actively shapes, the strategies of tomorrow’s most successful businesses.
