Open AI sets a minimum spend for ads | Beauty brand mini SEO case study

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Happy Monday, Shopify Rockstar!

Ada here, with your weekly dose of ecommerce insights designed to boost your sales by at least 1% this week. 

Here is what is inside today’s edition:

• Industry: Open AI sets a minimum spend for ads.

• Growth Hack: Why we keep talking about SEO (and why we have to).

• Weekly Challenge: Fix your SEO in 20mins

• Trend: PDRN Masks

Industry

Open AI sets a minimum spend for ads

So the first results from OpenAI’s foray into ads are out and the barrier to entry is... steep. They’re reportedly asking for a $200,000 minimum commitment for their beta ads program. Despite the premium price tag ($60 CPMs…roughly 3x the cost of Meta), OpenAI is being stingy with the data. Advertisers will see basic impressions and clicks, but no granular attribution. You won't know which specific keywords triggered your ad or which prompt led to a sale.

As a Shopify merchant, best to wait and see usless you have a $1M+ monthly ad budget. Let the giants (and their agencies) test these waters first.

• Also, Zuckerberg also just teased "Agentic Shopping" in Meta’s Q4 2025 investor call on January 28, 2026. Apparently, agentic shopping tools that don’t just recommend products but actively find them based on personal history, interests, and relationships. This means that a a merchants, you need to focus on your Product Feed as AI agents can only find you if your backend data (tags, categories, and descriptions) is flawless.

Trending Product

PDRN Masks

PDRN (Polydeoxyribonucleotides) masks are the latest K-Beauty obsession. Yes, it’s DNA harvested from salmon, and yes, it’s exploding. One brand, Medicube, is already doing $1.9M/month on Amazon alone.

3 Ways to cash in on this trend:

The Entry Point: If you sell beauty products, you do not need to manufacture your own. Sourcing reputable K-beauty PDRN brands for your store can capture the current surge in search interest which is up 5x this year.

Educational Content: This trend relies heavily on the shock factor. Use the "Salmon Sperm Facial" hook in your marketing to stop the scroll, then pivot to the science of tissue repair to close the sale.

The Routine Upsell: PDRN is most effective when paired with microneedling or LED therapy. If you sell skincare tools, bundle them with PDRN serums or masks as the ultimate post-treatment recovery kit.

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Growth hack

SEO isn’t going away - optimize!

If you feel like SEO is an overflogged topic, you are right. It is discussed constantly because it is the only evergreen asset you can build that does not require a daily tribute to the ad platforms. While ads are like a faucet you have to pay to keep running, SEO is a well you dig once.

A Redditor recently asked a question that perfectly captures the anxiety of every new store owner:

So I hunted around for some examples of stores that are doing SEO right in 2026. On top was Genabelle, a niche Shopify brand dominating "meta-trends" like PDRN with a battle-tested SEO strategy that ranks the brand ahead of Amazon, and even Shopping results.

Here’s what what they did right:

• High-Intent, low-competition keywords

Instead of competing for massive, generic terms like "face mask" or "anti-aging," Genabelle dominates high-intent, branded, and specific trend keywords.

• Branded Authority

By consistently ranking #1 for their own branded terms across different regions (US, UK, Korea), they ensure that third-party retailers (like iHerb or Amazon) don't "steal" their direct-to-consumer (DTC) traffic.

• The "SEO Well" Traffic Explosion

The organic traffic grew from nearly zero to a sustained peak of 450–600 daily visitors. This is the "well" we discussed…unlike ads, which stop when you stop paying, this organic growth continues to deliver sales 24/7 without a daily ad tribute.

• "Problem-Solution" backlinks

Genabelle doesn't just list products; they build "educational hubs" that serve as a librarian for the niche. They target hyper-niche pain points like "blemish care for sensitive skin" and "post-laser treatment recovery".

• Global Market "Interception"

The search data shows they are ranking for terms across multiple languages and regions (US, UK, FR, DE, SG). They also rank #1 for specific products in the UK (via Skin Cupid) and the US (via iHerb), allowing them to scale globally through a "hub and spoke" SEO model.

The big lesson here is that you should ttop trying to be a poet and start being a librarian. When you align your content with the exact, niche problems your customers are typing into Google at 2 AM, you do not need a $5,000 ad budget. You just need to be the most helpful result on the page.

Challenge

The 60-Minute Search Intent Audit

This week, take 20 minutes to audit your Shopify store to figure out if the products you offer actually match what your customers are searching for.

Step 1 (2 mins): Get Plug In AI

Step 2 (5 mins): Run a scan (Scan all products)

Step 3 (15 mins): Fix highlighted problems in one click.

Till next Monday,

Ada