Over the past 12 months, Temu turned the UK’s Google Shopping landscape on its head. Here’s what went down:
- 2023: Temu entered the UK and immediately flooded Google Shopping with ads – bidding aggressively to dominate impression share.
- Q4 2023: Temu reached up to 40% impression share, surpassing even Amazon and eBay in key categories like fashion.
- CPC Shockwaves: UK advertisers saw CPCs rise 5–15%, with smaller brands squeezed out of auctions.
- Unexpected Upside? Some advertisers reported better click quality as Temu soaked up low-intent traffic.
- 2024–2025 Shift: By early 2025, Temu has pulled back drastically on Shopping ads – its share now down to ~10%.
- Why the pullback? New US tariffs and looming EU customs changes are hitting Temu’s low-cost, high-volume model.
- Still growing: Despite the ad slowdown, Temu is the 2nd fastest-growing app in the UK and the #1 most downloaded shopping app globally in 2024.
This is a textbook case of platform disruption – and how fast aggressive scale-ups can reshape, then retreat from, paid media ecosystems.
Advertisers: Are you seeing CPCs normalize post-Temu pullback?