#218 – Republican FTC, Amazon fee increases, & Google says news is worthless

by Shopifreaks | Mar 24, 2025 | Recent Newsletters

Hi Shopifreaks

I want to give a shoutout this week to my buddy Jason Greenwood for producing his 500th episode of The Ecommerce Edge Podcast! Putting out content consistently is no easy task — let alone 500 episodes. I pride myself on having published 218 consecutive weekly editions of Shopifreaks (never missed a week since launch in Jan 2021). However at this pace, by the time I reach my 500th edition, Jason will likely be on episode 14 million. LOL. But seriously, congrats on the accomplishment.

This week I've got another big edition for you covering leadership shakeups at the FTC, not-so-surprise Amazon fees, and Google's big reveal about its ad business. Let's dive right in…

In this week's edition I cover:

Trump fires Democratic FTC commissioners
Amazon increases fees on deals & coupons
Google says news is worthless to its ad business
Block rebrands Afterpay
Amazon sues the Consumer Product Safety Commission
Shopify is moving to Nasdaq (and maybe to the US?)
Wix launches Wix Functions
eBay's new Ambassador Program
Amazon launches its Ireland marketplace
Section 230 is under attack (again)
Temu is poaching employees from Amazon, Walmart, and TikTok
USPS workers hold a day of action

All this and more in this week's 218th Edition of Shopifreaks. Thanks for subscribing and sharing!

Stat of the Week

1 BILLION:

The dollar amount of USPS‘ estimated counterfeit postage problem, according to the Postmaster General.
Telegram’s number of monthly active users worldwide, according to the company’s CEO.
How much money Apple loses each year on its Apple TV+ streaming service creating original content.

1. Trump fired the two Democratic members of the FTC. Can he do that?

Last week President Trump fired the two Democratic members of the FTC for service that is “inconsistent with my administration's priorities.” The FTC is tasked with protecting consumers and promoting competition by preventing anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices.

Both fired commissioners, Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, plan to sue the White House, alleging their firings are illegal, with expectations that the lawsuit reaches the Supreme Court. Slaughter was appointed in 2018, during Trump's first term; Bedoya was appointed in 2022.

Here's what we know about the scenario:

The FTC consists of 5 commissioners, with no more than three from the same political party to help ensure bipartisan leadership. Commissioners are appointed by the President to serve staggered seven year terms, with one designated as the Chairperson by the current President.
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in 1935 that the President cannot fire appointed leaders of federal agencies without cause, which includes misconduct, incompetence, neglect of duty, violation of law, or inability to perform duties.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the President's actions, saying “the time was right to let these people go and the President absolutely has the authority to do it.”
Andrew Ferguson, who was promoted to FTC Chairman by Trump in January, backed Trump's power to fire commissioners, saying, “President Donald J. Trump is the head of the executive branch and is vested with all of the executive power in our government. I have no doubts about his constitutional authority to remove Commissioners, which is necessary to ensure democratic accountability for our government.”
Alvaro Bedoya said in a statement on X, “This is corruption plain and simple.”
Rebecca Slaughter questioned what can come next if Trump is granted the authority to fire appointed leaders of federal agencies at will, saying, “If I can be fired, I don’t know why Jerome Powell can’t be fired.”

Here's the catch 22 for Democrats:

Any democrat that accepts the position is ultimately conceding that Trump had the power fire Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter in the first place — which is still in question.

So the best way to fight the order is for no democrat to accept the appointment until the case is heard by the Supreme Court.

That means that in the interim, the FTC is comprised solely of three Republicans, which is all it took to pass rules in the first place. Firing the two democrats didn't swing the pendulum in the other direction when it came to having the majority vote.

So why did Trump do it?

Some argue that this is less specifically about the FTC than it is about Trump cementing his power to fire appointed leaders of federal agencies without cause.

Trump has fired 12 appointed leaders since taking office:

4 have not challenged their firings
3 challenged and won (2 are now pending appeal)
1 challenged, won, lost on appeal, and ended the fight
4 challenged and are pending a hearing (including the two FTC commissioners)

What's actually going on here? Is this a power play or are there other reasons involved with firing the democratic members of the FTC?

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Hit reply and let me know.

2. Amazon increases fees on deals and coupons

In November, Amazon announced that it had no plans to raise its merchant fulfillment and referral fees this year, and that despite inflation and greater investment in employee pay and benefits, it had managed to reduce costs through innovation, greater efficiency, and reducing defects, so therefore it would not raise fees or introduce new ones.

Until…

It turns out Amazon very specifically meant that it wouldn't increase fees on fulfillment or referral — but that left a very big window open to increase fees elsewhere like on advertising, deals, and promotions, which is what happened last week.

Amazon announced that it would be changing its pricing structure on deals and coupons. The company wrote:

“Deals and coupons give you access to additional merchandising benefits that make your products more discoverable, drive customer reach, and may generate additional sales. We’re making several changes that are designed to make it easier to test deal and coupons strategies by giving you more control on deal duration, lowering up-front deal costs, and making deals and coupons fees performance-based so they are better aligned with your business.”

However the outcome for most sellers will be HIGHER costs to run deals and coupons.

Jon Elder of Amazon Insiders broke the fee changes down on a LinkedIn post:

Lightning Deals: Used to cost $150 fixed, now $70 per day + 1% of sales (capped at $2,000).
Best Deals: Used to cost $300 for 7 days, now $70 per day + 1% of sales (ouch!)
Coupons: Used to be $0.60 per unit redeemed, now $5 per coupon + 2.5% of sales.
Prime Discounts: Doubled from $50 to $100 per PED.

Several sellers commented on Amazon's announcement with their projections and recent experiences:

“24∗2.5%=0.6 For anything priced OVER $24, the coupon cost SKYROCKETS like crazy. This is a total rip-off! This is highway robbery!”
“If my product is priced at $500, and I set a fixed coupon discount of $50 with a redemption limit of 200 times, my total sales would be $90,000. Under the original coupon policy, I would only need to pay a redemption fee of 200 * 0.6 = $120. But now, with the new coupon policy, I have to pay Amazon $5 + $90,000 * 2.5% = $2,255 in fees. $120 vs. $2,255—has Amazon completely lost it?!”
“We have tallied recent coupon sales, 95 redemptions, sales of $9,003, and costs before and after the change of $57 and $230 respectively, a four-fold difference in cost.”
“This is some serious “Day 3″ energy. $100 item in a 15% category, means Amazon makes $15 when you sell it. Put that item on a 10% off coupon, so your GMV is $90, Amazon now makes $15.75 (+the $5 fixed fee) when you sell it. That's right, you give a customer a $10 savings and Amazon puts their hand into your wallet for an extra $0.75 vs. selling it full price. At 15% off, Amazon makes $0.125 less; at 20% off, $1 less. Amazon wants YOU to discount, but they don't want THEIR fees to be discounted.”

Sellers are bracing for other not-so-surprise new Amazon fees this year on the self-proclaimed “Year of No New Fees.”

3. Google says news is worthless to its ad business

Google claims that news is essentially worthless to its ad business and that publishers “vastly overestimate the value of their journalism to its business.

Quick Backstory: Google has faced criticism from various governments for benefiting from news content without adequately compensating publishers. In response, the EU, France, and Australia have introduced or proposed legislation to require Google to pay publishers for their content or negotiate licensing agreements. In 2019, the European Copyright Directive was passed, which created new rights for news publishers when extended previews of their work are used online. To comply with the law's provisions, Google rolled out a licensing program in Europe that compensated publishers. Since then it has been pressured to publish additional data about the value of this content to Google.

Flash Forward: Beginning in November 2024, the company conducted a test that removed news from search results for 1% of users for 2.5 months in eight European markets. Per the report, Google says the actual value “could not be statically distinguished from zero, either overall or by country.”

“The data showed that Search ad revenue did not change despite daily average users (DAUs) declining by 0.8 percent, which is consistent with users continuing to use Google for more commercial queries even as they used it less for news queries.”

Honestly it makes sense.

If I search “laptops for sale” or “best laptops 2025,” there's obvious buyer intent, which leads to demand from advertisers.

However if I search “Trump's FTC firing,” there are no ads displayed. Who's supposed to buy an ad for that?

Google will likely use the outcome of its experiment as leverage in payment negotiations with European publishers.

In other News Publishers vs Big Tech news…

Apple, Meta, Google, Amazon, and X co-signed a request for the US government to step in to help them push back against what they've labeled “discriminatory” Australian media laws that require US tech companies to “subsidize Australian media companies.” In 2021, the Australian government implemented its News Media Bargaining Code, which requires social apps and search engines to pay local publishers for any use of their content, including links to their sites, aiming to redistribute some of the money brought in by those platforms from the publishers.

4. Block rebrands Afterpay to Cash App Afterpay

Block rebranded its BNPL solution Afterpay to Cash App Afterpay, embedding the service directly into Cash App. The company wrote in its announcement:

“The two leading fintech brands are becoming one, expanding access to its Pay-in-4 product to eligible Americans from today and access to Pay Monthly in coming months.”

The move allows Cash App's 57M monthly users to access BNPL products when shopping at partner merchants and strengthens Block's vision of the app as an all-in-one financial platform that combines banking, payments, investing, and now BNPL for consumers.

Moving forward, customers of Afterpay will be able to manage their BNPL loans directly within Cash App. Existing Afterpay customers will receive the same checkout experience managed through their original Afterpay account, inclusive of the new branding.

Block acquired Afterpay in 2022 for $29B, marking one of the largest fintech acquisitions to date. Cash App first integrated Afterpay into its app shortly after the acquisition, but they've since been run as separate businesses.

It's not a bad idea in my opinion to merge the two apps together. Whereas customers could only manage their installment loans through the Afterpay app, they can do a lot more through Cash App. Pushing users towards Cash App to manage their loans now opens the door for them to use more of Cash App's services. And the move doesn't impact Afterpay's relationship or integration with existing merchants on the buying side.

5. Amazon sues the Consumer Product Safety Commission

Amazon is suing the Consumer Product Safety Commission over its decision to hold the company legally responsible for faulty products on its platform, demanding that Amazon be considered a “third-party logistics provider” instead of a distributor and calling the CPSC “unconstitutionally constructed.”

Quick Backstory: In July 2024, the CPSC unanimously decided that Amazon is responsible for hazardous or defective products sold by third-party retailers through its platform and simultaneously determined that amazon failed to properly notify buyers about faulty products it previously sold. The origins of the legal fight trace back to 2021 when the CPSC sued Amazon to force it to recall faulty carbon monoxide detectors, hair dryers, and children's sleepwear.

Classifying Amazon as a distributor last year made the company responsible for issuing recalls and refunds for products sold through its FBA program, but Amazon takes issue with the decision because it says it doesn't own or make the faulty products. Amazon sees itself as more of a hands-on FedEx. Hmm, that's funny. I've never ordered a product from FedEx before…

Amazon said, “The remedies ordered by the CPSC are largely duplicative of the steps we took several years ago to protect consumers, which are the same steps we take whenever we learn about unsafe products.” If true, then what's the difference?

Amazon also has a problem with the CPSC itself.

The CPSC's commissioners are appointed by the President, approved by the Senate, and serve for seven years. Amazon says that the commission's invulnerability is unconstitutional and makes them “judge, jury, and prosecutor” in proceedings. Amazon's made similar claims about the National Labor Review Board.

Amazon, you're literally suing the CPSC right now — which you're legally allowed to do! Doesn't that kind of negate your claim that they are the “judge, jury, and prosecutor”?

6. Shopify transfers its stock listing to Nasdaq. Is it moving to the US?

Shopify is transferring its US stock exchange listing to Nasdaq from the NYSE, with expectations that its Class A shares will cease trading on the NYSE at market close on Friday, March 28th, and commence trading on the Nasdaq on Monday, March 31st. The stock will continue to be listed under the ticker symbol “SHOP” on both the TSX and Nasdaq.

Shopify didn't provide an explicit reason for the move, but a company spokesperson told TechCrunch:

“We’re excited to join the Nasdaq community and be listed among the most innovative tech companies in the world.”

The Nasdaq is a newer exchange, founded in 1971, while the NYSE has been operating since 1792. Nasdaq differentiates itself by holding listings for most major tech stocks including Alphabet, Amazon, and Nvidia, while the NYSE is known for holding more traditional companies like Boeing, General Motors, and Walmart. Shopify originally went public on the NYSE and TSX ten years ago.

The move itself is not entirely unusual. Over 500 companies have switched their listings from the NYSE to Nasdaq since its inception, while 347 companies have transferred from Nasdaq to NYSE. The shifts are often motivated by factors such as differences in listing requirements, trading costs, and the desire for increased visibility among investors.

Last month I reported that Shopify listed its offices in New York City alongside its normally listed Ottawa headquarters for the first time in a 10-K filing. Prior to then, Shopify had been filing the 40-F form used by foreign issuers. The recent moves are fueling speculation that Shopify is planning to move its business to the US.

7. Wix launches Wix Functions to streamline business flows

Wix unveiled its new no-code interface, Wix Functions, designed to help businesses create custom business flows and elements like dynamic pricing rules, checkout conditions, and tailored loyalty rewards without needing any coding expertise. Businesses can create their own flows from scratch or pick from a library of templates to help them get started.

Here's an example of how it works:

The merchant can select input data from the app, such as cart and checkout details.
Wix Functions then applies logic to create conditions.
The builder visually represents the logic to help the merchant understand how different criteria affects the output.
For example, merchants can apply location-based fees, trigger a discount for returning customers based on their purchase history, and implement custom form validations.
The function then outputs the desired action, which Wix executes in real-time.

Last week I reported that Wix launched a new automation builder called Wix Automations, designed to support advanced business workflows via a visual drag-and-drop canvas. Wix Functions is built to work in conjunction with Wix Automations by enabling real-time customization, while Automations manage ongoing tasks.

Wix Functions is now available on Wix and Wix Studio for Wix Stores, Wix Bookings, Wix Restaurants, Wix Donations, Wix Forms, and Wix Loyalty Program, with free access and optional premium upgrades available to unlock unlimited actions. (Wix, Wix, Wix, Wix, Wix… LOL. Sometimes their product naming structure gets me…)

Watch out Shopify! Merchants and developers might enjoy being able to customize checkout without being on the pricey Shopify Plus plan or overly app-dependent.

8. eBay to reward sellers through new ambassador program

eBay launched a new Ambassador Program that will reward sellers for sharing certain auction listings on social media that subsequently result in a sale.

The Ambassador Program is part of the company's existing eBay Partner Network, which launched in 2008 to replace eBay's previous affiliate program, however unlike ePN, ambassador members will not be able to use APIs, choose which products to promote, or have a rate card. Instead, the Ambassador Program will reward participants for social sharing only certain listings predetermined by eBay, and commission rates will change dynamically.

That sounds fun as an affiliate! Being forced to only share the listings eBay tells you to without knowing how much you'll earn on the sale. Good one eBay!

In 2021, eBay promised sellers a substantial fee reduction for driving sales from their social channels to their eBay store, but the new Ambassador Program is still not enough incentive. Sellers with Shopify or other D2C storefronts would rather share their listings on their own websites to avoid paying eBay a fee altogether.

eBay is planning to announce more details about the ePN Ambassador Program soon, including whether it will require members to also be sellers.

9. Other e-commerce news of interest

Amazon officially launched its Amazon.ie site in Ireland, following an initial announcement of its plans to do so in May 2024. The site offers customers in the country a selection of more than 200M products with prices in euro. Irish Amazon customers can subscribe to Prime membership for around $7.60 per month or $76 per year, compared to $14.99 per month or $139 per year in the US. Don't worry guys, they'll raise you up soon enough! Give it a couple years.

Section 230, a law that shields online platforms from legal liability for user-generated content, allowing them to host and moderate content without being treated as the publisher, is under attack for the 230th time. Senators Dick Durbin (D) and Lindsey Graham (R) are leading a bipartisan effort to introduce a bill that would put an expiration date of January 1, 2027 on the law. Critics on both sides warn that the changes could lead to significant consequences, including over-moderation or an unregulated, harmful online environment. The lawmakers say they don’t want to fully dismantle Section 230, but instead hope the threat of an impending repeal date will push tech companies to engage in good-faith negotiations over new regulation. Ah yes, “threats” and “negotiations” — a great way to create the rules that govern our Internet.

BigCommerce partnered with Pipe17 to enhance order management for merchants, aiming to streamline operations and improve efficiency by integrating Pipe17's AI-powered order operations network with its platform, including Feedonomics, a product feed management platform that it bought in 2021. The partnership aims to address challenges arising from the increase of selling channels and the complexity of fulfillment infrastructures, offering merchants greater flexibility and control over their order processing.

Temu is hiring employees from Amazon, Walmart, and TikTok to help the company recruit US sellers and entice brands to sign up to sell on its platform. At Temu, working in business development involves bringing new brands and manufacturers onto its site and then helping them develop selling strategies including product planning, marketing, and other operations. Many of the new hires who have joined Temu in the last six months previously held similar positions at competing marketplaces.

USPS workers held a day of action in more than 150 cities across the US as they brace for the Trump administration to launch an “illegal hostile takeover,” which they warn will slash jobs, increase delivery prices, and shut down post offices. Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, said, “This is the people's postal service, emphasis on ‘service.' It belongs to the people on Main Street, it shouldn't be handed over to Wall Street. The US mail is not for sale.”

Apple was ordered by EU antitrust regulators to open up its closed ecosystem to rivals. The first order requires the company to give rival makers of smartphones, headphones, and virtual reality headsets access to its technology and mobile operating system so that they can connect with iPhones and iPads seamlessly, and the second order sets out a detailed process and timeline for Apple to respond to interoperability requests from app developers. Apple slammed the EU order, saying it would hurt users and help its rivals.

The EU also ruled that Google has violated the Digital Markets Act, despite the company making numerous changes to its network of online services in advance of DMA's implementation. The latest ruling says that Google is still favoring its own products and services to an impermissible degree and that Google has not done enough to steer users to cheaper offers outside of the Google Play platform. This is just a preliminary finding and Google still has a chance to investigate and challenge it.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a recent meeting that the best leaders are those who “get the most done with the least amount of resources required to do the job,” and that “every new project shouldn't take 50 or more people to do it.” Jassy reminded employees that some of AWS's most successful products initially started with teams of about a dozen and emphasized the need for Amazon to build a culture of speed and meritocracy. Is that a fancy way of saying “no more DEI”?

Walmart has been sending e-mails to trucking companies in its transportation network about its new third-party logistics offering that the company announced in August. The e-mails introduce Walmart's brokerage program and outline the benefits of participating. To qualify, carriers must operate over 10 but under 1,000 trucks, maintain at least five consecutive years of operation, and carry $1M in liability insurance and $100k in cargo insurance. Freight Waves sources say the new brokerage service is still in stealth mode as it takes its first steps toward becoming a competitor in the 3PL space.

Perplexity AI, an Amazon-backed startup building an AI search engine to compete with Google, says that it is “singularly positioned to rebuild the TikTok algorithm without creating a monopoly, combining world-class technical capabilities with Little Tech dependence.” The company first made its bid to buy TikTok back in January, but has been overshadowed by bigger competition from Oracle, Microsoft, and Frank McCourt. If Perplexity thinks it can actually build a better TikTok, then why not do so instead of buying TikTok? Take those billions you would've spent on acquiring the app and launch a $30B Creator Fund to jumpstart content creation on the new platform. That goes for any of these supposed buyers.

Walmart's US e-commerce profitability could arrive as soon as the first quarter of fiscal 2025, following a decade of investment, with Walmart's 1P and 3P marketplace, advertising, and membership income as key drivers of the milestone, according to Morgan Stanley. The bank believes that while Walmart's potential for e-commerce profitability would have been a major stock catalyst years ago, it's now already priced into the shares.

Google uncovered more than 10,000 illegitimate listings for fake businesses on Google Maps and announced a lawsuit against the alleged scammers behind the endeavor. The scam targets people in “duress verticals” like locksmiths or towing companies by directing the consumer to a different company than the one they thought they were reaching out to, performing the service, and then demanding a significantly higher price than the original quote. Google says it plans to donate any damages it wins in this case to organizations working to fight scams.

Amazon Autos plans to add used cars to its online inventory, according to Fan Jin, director and general manager of the division, who said on a recent podcast that adding used inventory for dealers is “really our next biggest milestone here.” The platform wants to make sure that dealers can sell as much of their inventory as they want through Amazon Autos and envisions offering dealers a way to have a “fully online e-commerce channel,” as opposed to a strictly lead generation site.

Smashi, a Dubai-based social media service owned by Augustus Media, urged its followers to boycott Shopify and use alternative e-commerce platforms in the region in response to Shopify President Harley Finkelstein's remarks voicing agreement with a fellow tech entrepreneur who had denounced a news article for uncritically citing casualty figures provided by Hamas. Smashi framed Finkelstein's comment to mean that he had backed a “pro-Israel tweet defending Israel's airstrikes” against Hamas, “adding fuel to the debate over the legitimacy of Israel's military actions, which equate to a genocide in Gaza.”

Google agreed to pay $28M to settle a class-action lawsuit claiming that it favored white and Asian employees by paying them more and putting them on higher career tracks than workers from other demographics. The lawsuit was led by Ana Cantu, who identifies as Mexican and racially Indigenous, who claims that she performed exemplary work over seven years in Google's people operations and cloud departments, but remained at the same job level, while white and Asian peers got extra pay and promotions. The settlement came after Cantu’s lawyers agreed to exclude Black employees from the proposed class, which Google had sought. Google confirmed the settlement but said it disagrees with the allegations.

Oracle is weighing a proposal for a sale of TikTok's US operations that would have it vouch for the safety of users’ data, while leaving the app's algorithm in the hands of the app's Chinese parent company ByteDance. The arrangement would include guarantees that an updated US version of TikTok would not contain a back door that China's government could exploit. Great! Now how about an updated version of the app that America's government or any other government can't exploit? Frankly, I'm less concerned about the back door than I am about the front door that US privacy laws (or lack of) have left wide open. Oracle already works with TikTok to secure US user data as part of a partnership called Project Texas, and it’s currently unclear what would change about the app or its communication with ByteDance under the proposal.

Facebook agreed to stop targeting advertisements at an individual user after she filed a lawsuit against the company. Meta said that the ads on its platform could only be targeted to groups of a minimum size of 100 people, and not specific individuals, which does not count as direct marketing, but the UK's Information Commissioner's Office disagreed. Tanya O'Carroll, who filed the lawsuit, says that she hopes her individual settlement would make it easier for others who want Facebook to stop serving them targeted ads.

Shopify rolled out the ability to include subcategories when creating rules for smart collections. Merchants can select a parent category like “Clothing – Tops” and automatically include all products from subcategories such as “Shirts, Cardigans, Tank Tops,” etc. The move will help make organizing collections easier for stores with large product catalogs.

A Meta director of engineering was discovered in a recent legal filing to have said about its largescale book piracy, “The problem is that people don't realize that if we license one single book, we won't be able to lean into fair use strategy.” Court documents reveal that Meta engineers prioritized books over web data and turned their attention to pirated websites that contain more than 7.5M books and 81M research papers. Meta and OpenAI have both argued in court that it’s “fair use” to train their AI models on copyrighted work because LLMs “transform” the original writing into new work.

Amazon is kicking off its second annual week-long “Big Spring Sale” in the US on March 25th this this year, offering 50% off on Haul purchases for a limited time during the sale. Walmart is also running its Super Savings Week event during the same period, starting on March 24th and running through April 1st, while eBay is currently running its “Spend More, Save More” sale from March 17th thru the 31st. Remember when Prime Day was only once a year?

DoorDash partnered with Klarna to offer BNPL or deferred payment plans on food delivery orders over $35, which is likely most restaurant orders in the US at this point. DoorDash says that 25% of purchases on its platform are not meal deliveries, and the BNPL option is aimed at those purchases. One day an investment fund will be buying that debt for pennies on the dollar.

TikTok ad prices are falling in the US, with CPMs on the app declining 80% between January 2024 and January 2025, according to an estimate from AdRoll based on performance data from 20,000 advertisers. According to Digiday, the decline in TikTok's ad prices is primarily because of reduced advertiser participation due to hesitation over a potential TikTok ban, leading to decreased competition in its auction-based system. The lower prices have created an opportunity for TikTok advertisers still in the game.

Amazon is looking to spin off its India entity and list it publicly in the country. India regulations currently only permit domestic companies to hold e-commerce inventory. Foreign companies are restricted to operating a marketplace model — and the marketplace can't also operate as a seller like Amazon does in the US and elsewhere. Spinning off into an Indian company would allow Amazon to have the best of both worlds.

Meta announced the launch of Meta AI in 41 European countries and 21 overseas territories, marking its largest rollout to date. Initially it will support six European languages with plans for further expansion. Meta AI launched in the US in 2023, but was delayed in the EU due to the region's stricter data protection and privacy laws.

Meta announced new features for its Threads app including topics in bio, follower-only replies and quote posts, and an improved video player. Users can now add up to ten topics to their bios that when clicked, jump the visitor to conversations about it within the user's profile. Lastly, Meta said it's updated its approach to political posts and has started phasing civic content back into Threads in a more personalized way.

Shopify partnered with Bitrise, a mobile DevOps platform, to enhance its mobile app development process and enable the platform to streamline workflows, reduce complexity, and accelerate app builds by up to 50%. Previously, Shopify utilized an in-house DevOps system, but the company says that this collaboration enables it to expand its app capabilities and better serve its growing merchant base.

Mirakl, a provider of marketplace solutions for online retailers like Best Buy and Macy's, appointed Scott Eckert as its new CEO of the Americas, tasked with driving the business into new areas including retail media services. Eckert previously served as Senior VP of Next Generation Retail at Walmart, where he led Store No.8, Walmart's new venture incubator.

10Club, an Indian e-commerce aggregator focused on acquiring D2C brands, is shutting down less than three years after raising $70M between two seed rounds. Four people close to the company told Live Mint that the startup failed to orientate its business model towards stronger target markets or pivot to an alternate strategy before running out of funds, causing it to eventually run out of cash.

Forever 21 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with plans to wind down operations, citing inflation, consumer weakness, and competition from Temu and Shein as primary reasons for shutting down. Unless it can miraculously find a buyer in the next month, which it hasn't had any success with so far, the company will close all of its 354 US stores by May 1st. Forever 21 has lost more than $400M over the last three fiscal years and is on track to lose $180M this year. Jamie Salter, the CEO of Authentic, which acquired the brand in 2020, said purchasing Forever 21 was the biggest mistake he made during his tenure at the company.

Klarna is closing three overseas offices Amsterdam, Germany, and Columbus, Ohio as part of a cost-cutting strategy in preparation for its long-awaited IPO. The closures will reduce the company's physical footprint by over 50,000 square feet of commercial real estate. The decision aligns with CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski's strategy of replacing human workers with AI, which he's utilized to reduce headcount at Klarna by 40% since 2022.

Stationhead, a New York-based live audio streaming platform that allows users to create and host their own live radio stations, is bringing e-commerce to its platform with a feature that will allow artists to offer merch directly on the platform via an integration with Shopify. The feature will offer artists data insights and fan engagement features including voice drops, live streams and push notifications.

Consumers in the US under the age of 60 spent an average of $708 on TikTok Shop last year and an average of $59 per purchase, according to a survey by PartnerCentric. The most popular TikTok Shop categories included personal accessories and household items. One-quarter of shoppers reported making an impulse purchase, and one-quarter said they regretted at least one TikTok Shop purchase.

🏆 This week's most ridiculous story… Paul Roberts, the former CEO of Kubient, an adtech company that developed products to detect fraud, has been jailed for fraud. Roberts was sentenced to over a year in prison for fraud after faking financial records and a test of his company's software, KAI, which was supposed to detect fraudulent ads. He and an unnamed company created fake reports to claim $1.3M in revenue, which helped Kubient appear more successful as it sought to go public. Despite raising millions through a public offering, Kubient eventually delisted from the NASDAQ and terminated its merger plans with Adomni, as the company was built on fabricated financials.

10. Seed rounds, IPOs, & acquisitions

Google acquired Wiz, a Tel Aviv-based cybersecurity firm that provides cloud security solutions to businesses, for $32B, marking its largest ever acquisition since purchasing Motorola Mobility for $12.5B in 2012. The deal will make Wiz part of its cloud unit and strengthen the company's efforts in cybersecurity to better compete with Amazon and Microsoft in this arena. Wiz agreed to a termination fee of $3.2B if the deal, which is subject to regulatory review, goes south, marking one of the highest fees in M&A history. Google was in talks to purchase Wiz last year for $23B, but Wiz backed out due to concerns about pushback from federal regulators, which have eased under the Trump administration.

Perplexity AI, an Amazon-backed startup building an AI search engine to compete with Google, is in talks to raise between $500M and $1B at an $18B valuation, according to Bloomberg sources, which would double its previous $9B valuation from November 2024. Last month, the company teased a new web browser called Comet that can use AI to understand complex queries, execute tasks, and make decisions.

Augment, a startup founded by Harish Abbott, Deliverr cofounder and former Shopify VP, that's building an AI assistant for the logistics industry, raised $25M in a round led by 8VC. The company's AI assistant, Augie, can respond to emails and Slack messages, make and receive phone calls, manage workflows, and perform other routine tasks, beginning in trucking before expanding to the larger logistics industry.

X raised close to $1B in new equity from Elon Musk, Darsana Capital Partners, 1789 Capital, and other anonymous investors who asked not to be identified, at a $32B valuation, according to Bloomberg sources. The company is considering using some of the funds to pay down its remaining debt of the $12.5B debt that it took to buyout Twitter.

MoonPay, a fiat-to-crypto on-ramp provider that simplifies buying and selling cryptocurrencies by enabling transactions using credit cards and bank transfers, acquired Iron, an API-driven startup specializing in stablecoin infrastructure, for an undisclosed amount to expand its enterprise payment solutions. Through the deal, MoonPay can now offer businesses the ability to accept stablecoin payments, including unlocking instant, low-cost, and borderless transactions. This marks MoonPay’s second major acquisition this year, following its $175M purchase of Helio in January.

Spangle AI, a startup launched by former Bolt CEO Maju Kuruvilla that creates custom landing pages for shoppers based on what they searched for or clicked on, raised $6M in a seed round last year led by Madrona Ventures and Streamlined Ventures. Kuruvilla, who joked on X that he had “one-click checked out” from Bolt, was the company's CEO for two years after replacing co-founder Ryan Breslow in 2022 and previously worked for eight years at Amazon.

Ribbit Capital, a Palo Alto-based venture capital firm that invests in fintech companies, is raising $500M for a new fund, which appears to be part of its latest flagship round titled Ribbit Capital Y, according to a filing with the SEC. In 2023, the firm raised $800M for its tenth flagship fund, Ribbit Capital X. The firm has invested in and exited some of the world's biggest fintech startups including Nubank, Affirm, and Robinhood.

Beyond Inc, the company formerly known as Overstock.com that now owns Bed Bath & Beyond, Buy Buy Baby, and Zulily, sold a 75% stake in Zulily to Lyons Trading Company, the parent of Proozy.com, for $5M, valuing the retailer at $6.7M for some reason. Zulily has now officially changed hands four times in less than 10 years, first acquired by QVC parent company Liberty Interactive, then to investment firm Regent, and most recently to Beyond, which acquired the brands IP and brand assets for $4.5M last March. Beyond said that the sale to Lyons is part of its strategy to refocus on its other three brands. Zulily will continue to operate under its own name.

ClearGrid, a Dubai-based startup that helps banks, fintechs, and lenders recover more debt without resorting to customer harassment, emerged from stealth with $10M in funding ($3.5M pre-seed and $6.5M seed). The startup, which was founded in May 2023, offers AI-powered software to streamline recovery and collaborate with existing vendors in the space, operating as a layer between lenders and borrowers to predict borrower behavior and personalize outreach. ClearGrid says that since launch, it has managed hundreds of millions in debt portfolio sand signed 10 of the major fintechs and banks in the UAE, increasing recovery rates by 30% and cutting collection costs in half.

Qlarifi, a UK startup that aggregates BNPL consumer credit data to create a complete picture of a customer's borrowing and repayment history across various providers, raised £1.4M in a round led by HoneyComb Asset Management and Carthona Capital. The firm's goal is to enable lenders to make better informed underwriting decisions by utilizing a broader dataset of transactions, while helping consumers build a positive credit history through the responsible use of BNPL.

FuriosaAI, a South Korean AI chip maker founded by former Samsung and AMD employees, rejected an $800M acquisition offer from Meta, opting instead to focus on developing and producing its AI chips. The negotiations broke down over disagreements on post-acquisition business strategy and organizational structure, rather than issues over valuation. FuriosaAI is also reportedly in talks with investors to raise $48M this month.

Twitter's iconic bird logo, which was removed from its former headquarters in San Francisco when Elon Musk took over the company, sold for $34,375 at an auction to an unknown buyer. The big blue bird weighed 560 pounds and measured 12 feet by 9 feet. Musk previously auctioned off other items from Twitter, including signs, memorabilia, kitchen equipment, and office furniture.

Unicommerce, an Indian e-commerce and supply chain management platform, completed its acquisition of the courier aggregation platform Shipway Technology by acquiring the remaining 57.24% stake in the company, taking Shipway to a wholly owned subsidiary. Last December, Unicommerce acquried a 42.76% stake with terms that allowed it to complete the acquisition within a year.

Yottaa, a Massachusetts-based provider of solutions to enhance the speed, security, and user experience of e-commerce websites, acquired SpeedSense, a San Francisco-based platform for optimizing digital experiences, focused on improving website performance, load times, and user engagement, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition enhances Yottaa's web performance cloud and services offerings by enabling merchants to measure revenue impact across the entire customer service experience.

NymCard, a Dubai-based platform for issuing and managing virtual and physical payment cards, raised $33M in a Series B round led by QED Investors. The company will use the funds to deepen its presence in more than 10 MENA markets and boost its payment infrastructure solutions to better serve clients with card issuing and embedded lending.