Group 1 - Character.AI has appointed Karandeep Anand, former VP of Commerce Products at Meta, as the new CEO during a critical transformation period for the company [2][4] - The company is facing legal pressure regarding minor safety, particularly after a lawsuit linked one of its chatbots to the suicide of a 14-year-old boy in Florida [2] - Anand's primary task is to improve content filtering mechanisms, ensuring that harmless content is not unnecessarily blocked while maintaining user safety as a core value [4] Group 2 - Anand has a strong background in product leadership, having previously led advertising products for billions of users at Meta and managed user experience design for Microsoft Azure [5] - The leadership change follows the departure of co-founder and former CEO Noam Shazeer, who was recruited by Google, raising concerns about potential regulatory issues related to "reverse acquihire" practices [5] - Character.AI has raised over $150 million in funding, primarily from top Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) [5] Group 3 - Character.AI is a leading player in the generative AI entertainment chat sector, with 66% of its users aged 18 to 24 and 72% being female [6] - The commercial potential of Character.AI is being redefined as generative AI expands from tool-based applications to companionship and entertainment [6] - Anand's leadership is expected to bring new growth opportunities and governance balance to the company [6]

"7折其实是给线下经销商的价格，'618'期间，平台零售价完全低于经销商采购价，经销商也挺难 的。"杨子君称。 "平台和算法机制让你不得不持续花钱。"对平台，食品商家杨 子君爱恨交织。 作者：冯雨晨 封图：图虫创意 面对"618"，食品商家杨子君开心不起来。 几年摸爬滚打下来，杨子君的经验是， 在这种大节点，产品不打折很难获得足够的流量，并且大 促节点 的 投流费用更多、更贵，还需要做站外引流。 他举例，在某平台的"618"活动中，产品在S级价格（大促价格）上打了9折后，叠加平台会员，再 加上满减券，实际打折力度为零售价格的7折，还要另外付费做直通车等营销，利润空间进一步压 缩。 幸运的是，他做起来了。 6年后，始终在一线的杨子君自认为，今天再走来时路，要做起来是很难的。 杨子君的公司今年在各电商平台的营销成本都在上涨，但在部分平台营销效益却已见顶。他回顾， 公司自2023年起在某平台的利润已接近于零，他预计2025年即使中台成本不摊销，在该平台还要 再亏十几个点。 "平台和算法机制让你不得不持续花钱。"对平台，杨子君爱恨交织。 权衡后，杨子君决定今年不参加该平台的"618"活动。 他也知道不参加活动，店铺在 ...

Core Insights - The article highlights the challenges faced by food merchants during major promotional events like "618," where discounting is essential for traffic but leads to reduced profit margins [1][3] - The increasing marketing costs on e-commerce platforms are squeezing profit margins for small and medium-sized businesses, prompting some to reconsider their participation in these promotional events [1][3][4] - The recent draft of the "Guidelines for Compliance with Charging Behavior of Online Trading Platforms" is seen as a potential relief for merchants, aiming to regulate platform fees and reduce the financial burden on businesses [4][10][11] Group 1: Marketing Costs and Strategies - Merchants are experiencing rising marketing costs on e-commerce platforms, with some reporting near-zero profits from their investments [3][5] - A specific case shows that the cost per thousand impressions (CPM) has surged by 57%, while the conversion rate has dropped by 17%, leading to a 38% decrease in return on investment [5][6] - Merchants are shifting their marketing strategies, with one company reducing its online-to-offline marketing ratio from 9:1 to 5:5, favoring offline channels due to lower costs and less dependency on platform algorithms [1][3] Group 2: Platform Fee Concerns - Merchants express frustration over opaque fee structures and repeated charges for the same promotional efforts, leading to questions about the fairness of platform practices [6][8] - The article discusses a specific case where a merchant faced unexpected costs due to a lack of transparency in the platform's advertising fee structure [6][8] - The draft guidelines aim to address these concerns by prohibiting unreasonable charges and ensuring that platforms provide adequate services for the fees collected [10][11] Group 3: Regulatory Developments - The article notes that regulatory bodies are increasingly focused on reducing the financial burdens on e-commerce merchants, with recent guidelines aimed at clarifying acceptable charging practices [10][12] - The guidelines outline specific unreasonable charging behaviors that platforms must avoid, such as double charging and lack of service provision [11][12] - Experts believe that these guidelines will enhance merchants' awareness of their rights and encourage platforms to adopt fairer practices [12]