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We looked at the revenue data from 100 e-commerce brands, and September brought some noticeable shifts across marketing channels. While Google Ads and Direct Traffic remained steady leaders, Meta Ads saw a sharp decline, and Email made one of the strongest gains of the month. Brands also continued leaning into owned channels like SMS and SEO, both of which posted solid growth. Here’s what stood out from the data.
Top Gainers
Email (+17%)
Organic Search (+24%)
SMS (+38%)
Email (+17%)
Organic Search (+24%)
SMS (+38%)
Decliners
Meta Ads (-72%)
Organic Social (-50%)
What is going on with Meta Ads?
Meta Ads saw the most significant dip across all measured channels. Several factors could explain this drop, but one key shift worth highlighting is the consolidation of targeting options rolled out this summer.
On June 23, 2025, Meta began consolidating detailed targeting options in Ads Manager, followed by August 21, 2025 updates in Meta Business Suite and boosted posts.
“For example, we will combine certain interests that fall within the same sports category, film and music genre, car models or food and drink type.” — Meta
This change reduced the granularity advertisers once relied on for niche targeting, which may have contributed to fluctuations in campaign performance as algorithms adjust and audiences re-balance.
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