What we are thinking about.
Notes from running 8 publications and building tools for them. Restaurant SEO, local marketing, the boring parts that move the needle.
Why SEO Agencies Like Yoast and Rank Math Still Sell Magic Tricks They Can’t Deliver
Despite billions spent annually by US companies on SEO agencies, most deliver negligible ROI. The '10x agency' scam thrives on lazy reports, not real results.
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llms.txt in Perplexity Search: The Hype vs. Reality Smackdown
Perplexity AI launched llms.txt in 2024 claiming radical transparency, but it’s mostly a smoke-and-mirrors stunt with zero impact on real LLM performance.
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Applebot-Extended Visibility? The Invisible Bot Marketing Bullshit We Deserve
Apple launched Applebot-Extended in 2023, boasting improved web indexing — yet it remains a ghost in SEO strategies everywhere.
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IndexNow’s Real Impact on Search Is a Peak Nothingburger, Here’s Why
Launched in 2021, IndexNow promised instant URL indexing but Bing’s own data shows it fails to move the needle on crawl budgets or rankings.
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Burberry’s ‘Marketing Miracle’ Is Just Another Luxury Brand Smoke Screen
Burberry’s claim that marketing is the ‘signature factor’ behind its brand turnaround is a classic luxury industry smokescreen. Real transformation needs more than slick campaigns.
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The Marketing Academy’s 2026 Scholars Program: More Buzz or Real Skill-Building for Future Leaders?
The Marketing Academy’s 2026 Scholars program promises to mold future marketing leaders, but is it a genuine skill-builder or just another industry vanity project?
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NBCUniversal’s Ads Head Clings to Late Night TV as Brands Keep Throwing Cash at Dying Formats
NBCUniversal’s ad chief insists brands are still eager to buy late night TV spots, but this stubborn commitment to dying formats ignores the brutal reality of fragmented viewership.
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Health Brands Still Failing the Modern Consumer: Why Influencers and AI Aren’t the Magic Fix
Health brands in 2026 are stuck recycling influencer hype and AI buzz without real substance, fueling consumer skepticism instead of trust.
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Evening News Ratings Tumble Again: Broadcast Networks Bleed Viewers in May
Broadcast evening news ratings keep sliding, with ABC and NBC locked in a losing battle for a shrinking audience amid industry-wide decline.
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Retail Media’s TV Ad Spend Heist: Walmart and Amazon Double Down on Data-Driven Domination
Walmart and Amazon are aggressively converting TV ad dollars into retail media spend, leveraging AI and shopper data to outpace traditional advertising. The era of broad TV buys is over.
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Retail Media’s Land Grab: How Walmart and Amazon Are Poaching TV Dollars with AI-Driven Data Schemes
Walmart and Amazon are aggressively poaching traditional TV ad budgets, using AI and data-driven retail media pitches that promise precision but often deliver hype. The industry’s lazy acceptance of these claims is setting marketers up for disappointment.
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Live Sports Aren’t Just TV Shows: They’re the Last Real Appointment Viewing—and Advertisers Know It
Live sports remain the last true appointment viewing, commanding premium ad slots amid media fragmentation. Following fans across platforms isn’t optional—it’s survival.
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Mobile Gaming’s Measurement Migration Nightmare: How They Keep Performance From Crashing and Burning
Mobile gaming companies face a brutal challenge migrating measurement systems amid privacy upheavals and AI integration. Adjust reveals how surgical infrastructure work keeps performance intact.
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Biscoff Ditches Control Freakery, Hands Creators the Keys to the Biscuit Kingdom
Biscoff’s UK marketing chief reveals the brand’s radical strategy of handing full creative control to trusted creators, proving that trust beats control every time.
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Marketing's Big Lie: Why Chasing Buzz Over Business Kills Investment
Marketing’s obsession with buzz over business is killing investment. The Marketing Week Awards judges demand a brutal realignment: tie your work to the company narrative or get cut.
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AI-Fueled ‘Meaningful’ Brands Surge 129% as Marketing’s Smoke and Mirrors Get Exposed
Kantar BrandZ reveals that brands delivering genuine consumer value with AI-driven insights have surged 129%, shattering the $13.1 trillion valuation barrier for the top 100 global brands.
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Marketing Accountability Is a Smokescreen: ROI Obsession Hides Real Misalignment
Marketing accountability isn’t about chasing elusive ROI figures. The real issue is the chronic misalignment between marketing and finance goals, disguised by lazy metrics and agency lip service.
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Burberry’s Brand Turnaround: Marketing or Overhyped Spin?
Burberry credits marketing as the key driver in its brand turnaround, but the real story is more complex — and less glamorous. The luxury giant’s PR spin masks deeper challenges.
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