Manuel Gut
Co-founder of bown
Manuel Gut co-founded bown in Vienna, Austria, together with David Nawloka. He is a software developer, has worked as a freelancer for the past four years and loves taking on new projects.
Posts
AI News
AI Overviews in Austria: what Google itself says
Since March 2025 Google has shown AI summaries above the search results in Austria, in German and English. What Google documents about availability, inclusion and measurement.
Marketing & advertising
Cookie banners in Austria: when tracking, the Meta Pixel and consent require one
A cookie banner is mandatory in Austria as soon as your website uses cookies or similar techniques that are not technically necessary, such as the Meta Pixel, Google Analytics or advertising cookies: under § 165(3) TKG 2021 these may only run after active consent, and “Reject” has to be as easy as “Accept”.
Visibility
Google reviews: what is allowed and how to reply well.
With Google reviews, you may ask your customers for an honest review and reply to it publicly. Bought or self-written reviews, rewards such as discounts, and asking only satisfied customers are prohibited: the first by Austria's Unfair Competition Act (UWG), all of them by Google's policies.
Marketing & advertising
Advertising on TikTok: costs, formats and rules in Austria
You run TikTok ads in TikTok Ads Manager with a minimum budget of more than 50 US dollars per day and campaign, usually as a video in the feed or as a Spark Ad from one of your own posts; in Austria, people under 18 must not be shown ads tailored to them.
Brand & content
Take photos yourself or book a shoot?
You can take everyday photos for social media yourself with a phone; for pictures that stay the same for a long time and introduce your business, such as on your website or in ads, a planned shoot usually pays off.
Hosting & servers
Moving your domain and email without anything going down
Moving domain and email works without an outage if you first record every DNS entry, prepare mailboxes at the new provider, only then switch over, and cancel the old contract only once everything demonstrably works.
Marketing & advertising
A marketing budget that fits your business
A usable marketing budget starts with a goal and then separates three items from each other, namely production, ongoing support and the money for the advertising platform.
Marketing & advertising
Post regularly or run ads?
Posts build trust in your business over time, ads make a specific offer known quickly, and your goal decides which form you need.
Brand & content
What makes your business unmistakable online
Your business is recognised online when colours, typeface, images and language are the same on every channel and your details are correct everywhere.
AI News
ChatGPT advertising in Austria: what is possible in the EEA
Self-serve ChatGPT advertising reached 31 European markets in August 2026. Here is what an advertiser in the European Economic Area can and cannot do with it.
Visibility
How to be found on Google and in AI search
You are found when your website is technically clean and fast, your content answers your customers' questions and your business details are consistent and current everywhere.
AI News
AI search and fewer clicks: what the data actually shows
AI summaries changed how search results look, and click numbers are falling. Here is what is measured, what each number leaves out, and what a business can influence.
Websites & shops
What a website has to do for a small business
A website for a small business has to explain within a few seconds what you offer, work on a phone and make an enquiry possible without detours.
AI News
Labeling AI-generated text under the EU AI Act
Article 50 of the EU AI Act has applied since 2 August 2026. Who has to label AI-written text, which exception applies, and what it means for a small business website.
Hosting & servers
What ongoing maintenance for your website includes
Ongoing maintenance means someone backs up, updates and monitors your website and handles small changes, so that it stays reachable and secure.
Hosting & servers
Where your website actually lives when it is online
Your website is a set of files on a server in a data center, your domain is the address that sends visitors there, and email runs as a separate service alongside it.
And your project?
Prefer not to do this yourself? bown offers a free 30-minute intro call to talk through your project.