INSIDE THIS ISSUE
News from the Seller Community
The latest must-know info on Policy & Tactics, AI, plus Review news you can use.
From the eCom Growth Show Podcast
Early on Tom Cochrane learned firsthand that profitable growth is not just about ads or attractive listings. We spoke with him about what actually works.
Upcoming eCom Events
What not to miss & what’s coming next. Get your full update on the best industry events (and parties).
Black Hat Watch
A rising black hat strategy involves competitors using fabricated DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) copyright claims to instantly deactivate a rival’s active Amazon listing.
This Week’s Dad Joke
A real hoot! 😁
From Our Sponsor: Hawkefest 2026
Hawkefest is taking over the Santa Monica Pier on October 1st, bringing together 1,500+ founders, CEOs, CMOs, eCommerce operators, investors, and brand leaders for a day of business, networking, and one-of-a-kind experiences.
This isn’t your typical conference.
Hawkefest is built to get you out of ballrooms and into real conversations with the people building what’s next in commerce. Expect top speakers, emerging brands, curated networking, Renaissance-themed experiences, activations, and an after party overlooking the Pacific.
If you’re building, scaling, or leading a brand, we’d love to see you there.
Register for Hawkefest and enter HAWKEFEST75 in the Referral field when signing up for a 75% off discount.
[ Hawkefest 2026 ]
News from the Seller Community
Policy & Tactics
Slow Your Roll … And Win
Every seller who finally cracks the top of a keyword wants to pour gas on the fire. I watched a brand do exactly that this week, launching an aggressive giveaway right after reaching page one, against advice to grow it organically instead.
Amazon’s systems are built to notice unnatural review and purchase velocity, and a promotion that looks great on day one can look like manipulation by day thirty.
If you’re running a launch push, spread it out and mix your traffic sources instead of flooding one keyword overnight.
AI
This week’s things to know.
Ads With Chat
Amazon and ChatGPT are teaming up to place Amazon ads inside ChatGPT conversations, and separately OpenAI is testing “Sponsored Agents” that let a shopper chat directly with a brand’s agent after clicking an ad.
Ad placement is expanding off-Amazon and into AI chat itself. Now more than ever your listings should answer the sorts of questions people are asking, in the way they’re asking them.
Don’t Believe The Hype
Meta’s new “Muse” agent buys things as a byproduct of handling someone’s life admin (booking travel, answering email) rather than acting like a dedicated shopping bot.
The buyer never “shows up” as a shopper, so listing elements built to persuade a human (urgency banners, upsells) may become invisible to the software doing the buying.
Yet another reason to avoid the hype and speak directly to the customer’s needs. These agents will be shopping on behalf of their user’s needs, not chasing sales hype.
Reviews
A seller reached out this week in a full panic. Their rating had dropped overnight and they were sure a competitor or a bad review effort had wrecked them.
Turns out it was one of Amazon’s periodic system-wide review resyncs, the kind that touches thousands of listings at once, not just theirs.
Here’s the part that actually matters: their total review picture had improved, but the rating slipped just under 4.0, and that decimal point hit sales harder than the wipe itself.
I’ve said this before, but if you sell on Amazon, track your rating per ASIN weekly so you can tell a real problem from routine housekeeping.
From the eCom Growth Show Podcast
Episode #89
The Amazon Operator Who Built an Agency Backwards
In this episode of The eCom Growth Show, Danan Coleman talks with Tom Cochrane, Founder & CEO of Eleviam, about what changes when the people managing an Amazon account have put their own capital, inventory, and profit on the line.
Before building an agency, Tom built an Amazon operation. After deploying more than $5 million of his own capital into inventory, he learned firsthand that profitable growth is not just about ads or attractive listings. It is about cash flow, inventory planning, conversion, customer education, and hundreds of small operating decisions that compound over time.
Tom explains why Eleviam is an Amazon operation that built an agency, not a marketing company that learned Amazon, and how brands can use that operator mindset to build a stronger foundation across Amazon, TikTok Shop, and beyond.
Click the Play button above to watch.
For our full selection of episodes click here 👇
Upcoming eCom Events
Amazon unBoxed 2026 (Sep 28-30)
Amazon Ads unBoxed 2026 is Amazon Advertising’s flagship annual conference, bringing three days of product announcements, expert-led sessions, hands-on training, and networking.
Rumor has it the rumors are true: I (Danan) will be there.
White & Private Label Expo New York (Sep 30)
Attendees can explore the latest products, technologies, logistics solutions, and industry trends while gaining practical insights from expert-led educational sessions.
Endless Customers Live 2026 (Oct 5-7)
A three-day sales, marketing, leadership, and AI event for business leaders, sales professionals, marketers, content managers, coaches, and teams.
Creator Commerce Collective (Oct 28)
Hosted by Levanta under the theme “Human-Made,” this is a brand-led gathering for the people shaping product discovery and commerce strategy.
For a full list of industry events (and great parties to attend) visit Ecom.Events:
[ Ecom.Events ]
Black Hat Watch
Fabricated DMCA and Copyright Claims
A rising black hat strategy involves competitors using fabricated DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) copyright claims to instantly deactivate a rival’s active Amazon listing.
How It Works
To start, the attacking competitor copies a targeted seller’s title, bullet points, and images word-for-word.
Then, the attacker publishes this stolen content on an external, temporary throwaway website with a backdated timestamp.
The bad actor submits an official Amazon Copyright Enforcement claim posing as the original copyright owner and links the throwaway site.
The Bad Part
Upon receiving the false report Amazon’s automated systems immediately deactivate the victim’s ASIN to comply with US DMCA safe harbor protocols, bypassing human verification.
Once the listing goes down, the attacker deletes the page on their external website to make it harder to prove perjury or trace the original complaint.
The Bulletproof Evidence Chain
As with many defensive measures, documentation is key. To defeat fake DMCA claims, you must prove you owned the assets before the attacker created their fake external website.
- Timestamp your images.
- Register your content externally, such as uploading to a time-stamped third-party vault, like Google Drive or Dropbox.
Then, ensure your brand is tied directly to you across the web so attackers cannot claim your assets are theirs.
- Go to Amazon Brand Registry > Settings > User Fees and ensure no unauthorized user accounts or foreign entities have been granted access or “registered” under your trademark.
- If you have an external store, ensure the product page matches your Amazon listing exactly. Keep the page publication date visible, as Amazon investigators will look at established DTC sites before a competitor’s throwaway blog.
- For your most critical, high-volume ASINs, formally register your product photography and copy with the U.S. Copyright Office.
See how we can help.
This Week’s Dad Joke 😁
I was fired on my first day at the bank.
A woman asked me to check her balance, so I pushed her over.
