Speed/conversion stats commonly cited but NOT supported by primary evidence in 2026 — Candid will not quote these

Rule: Do not quote these statistics in sales conversations or marketing copy:

1. "A 1-second delay reduces conversions by 7% across all sites." Traces to Akamai/SOASTA 2017 retail data (Akamai/SOASTA (2017, ~10B visits): 100ms delay = -2.4% desktop / -7.1% smartphone conversions; 2s delay = -36.5% desktop / -26.2% mobile). Defensible as a retail e-commerce benchmark from 2017, not a universal law. For a KW lawyer or HVAC contractor, this specific elasticity has not been demonstrated.

2. "Amazon loses 1% revenue per 100ms of latency." Reportedly Amazon internal research ~2006 (Greg Linden). No public methodology, ~20 years old, Amazon-scale operations.

3. "Core Web Vitals doubled in ranking importance" / "Google made CWV twice as important." Cited by some marketing blogs but not in any Google primary statement. Google has consistently described CWV as one of many page-experience signals, tiebreaker class. See Core Web Vitals is a tiebreaker-class Google ranking factor, not a heavy lever — independent studies (Perficient, AWR, Backlinko) corroborate.

4. "53% of mobile users abandon in 3 seconds" applied to 2026 baselines. Original study (Google/DoubleClick/SOASTA, 2016) is nearly a decade old. Networks, devices and tolerance baselines have shifted. Quote it as historical context, not a current 2026 number.

5. "Faster site = better AI Overview citation rate." No defensible primary research supports this as of May 2026. The one direct analysis (Dan Taylor (SE Land, Jan 13 2026, n=107,352): CWV is a gate for AI citation, not a growth lever) found the opposite of what an SEO marketer would assume.

6. Agency "case studies" claiming "redesign → +40% conversions" as performance wins. A redesign confounds content, layout, CTA copy, navigation, trust signals, and performance. Cannot attribute the lift to speed without an isolated A/B test. Reject these.

7. Conversion-rate elasticity for "professional services" specifically. No major isolated study (Deloitte, Akamai, web.dev cases, Portent, Contentsquare) breaks out elasticity for lawyers, accountants, dentists or consultants in a defensible way. Extrapolate cautiously from Deloitte lead-gen and Portent B2B — but flag as "general B2B," not "professional services-specific."

Why this rule exists: Candid Creative's sales conversations are won on credibility. A quoted stat that doesn't survive scrutiny loses the room. See Research brief: Confidence Levels, Sources, and Dated Claims — why every statement on a credible site should be verifiable (piece 15 of 15) (existing) for the broader sourcing discipline.