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.
Timothée Chalamet’s Adidas World Cup Ad Is a Star-Studded Fantasy Football Fumble
Adidas’ new World Cup ad starring Timothée Chalamet is less about soccer and more about celebrity spectacle, exposing the brand’s sponsorship as a vanity project rather than a genuine tribute to the sport.
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Amazon’s AI-Powered Upfront Playbook: Reinventing TV Deals or Just More Noise?
Amazon is using AI and live sports sponsorships to upend the TV upfront market, but beneath the shiny pitch lies a self-serving grab for control that advertisers should be wary of.
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Permutive’s Boardroom Power Move: Bringing in IPG Mediabrands’ Ex-CEO to Crack Buy-Side Code
Permutive just shook up the adtech chessboard by recruiting Eileen Kiernan, ex-IPG Mediabrands CEO, aiming to crack the buy-side market’s toughest nuts.
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OpenAI's Ad Blitz: ChatGPT Monetization Hits Global Overdrive, Igniting Privacy and Trust Alarms
OpenAI’s rapid global rollout of ChatGPT ads signals a jarring pivot from innovation to aggressive monetization, raising serious privacy and trust issues.
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CNN’s ‘This Land’ Docuseries: A Polished Patriotic Parade That Skims the Surface of America’s 250 Years
CNN’s new docuseries This Land marks America’s 250th birthday with polished patriotism but skirts the tough truths about the nation’s history. Expect safe narratives over real reckoning.
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Applebot-Extended Visibility: The Invisible Signal Google Doesn't Want You to Use
Applebot's extended crawling capabilities launched quietly in 2023, yet Google pretends it doesn't exist in SEO conversations.
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Rank Math’s AI Features Are a Crutch, Not a Game-Changer for SEO Pros
Rank Math launched AI content tools in 2023 claiming to change SEO workflows—yet its impact is mainly padding lazy agencies’ workflows.
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Schema.org Markup: SEO’s Biggest Cargo Cult Nobody Wants to Admit
Despite 80% of Fortune 500 sites having Schema.org markup, organic rankings have barely budged since 2020.
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The Media Planning Survey Scam: £250 Amazon Voucher as Bait for Yet Another Pointless Data Grab
Marketing Week’s latest “Planning Media 2026” survey offers a £250 Amazon voucher to share your insights — but it’s just another pointless industry data grab dressed up as research.
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Diageo’s CEO Calls Out Industry Complacency, Demands Radical Rethink on Competitiveness
Diageo CEO Sir Dave Lewis admits the company must overhaul its approach to brand competitiveness and affordability, signaling a rare break from corporate complacency.
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Aaron Silva of Exverus by Brainlabs Smokes the Competition—And His Own Meats at Home
Aaron Silva, assistant director of ad ops at Exverus by Brainlabs, is as serious about his barbecue game as he is about his digital campaigns, proving real mastery demands grit and craft.
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Brian Chap’s RootIQ Isn’t Your Average AI Hype — It’s a Decision Engine That Actually Delivers
Brian Chap’s RootIQ is cutting through AI hype with a decision engine that actually delivers actionable insights, not just buzzword bingo.
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AB InBev’s Third Cannes Lions Creative Marketer Crown Exposes the Industry’s Trophy Obsession
AB InBev’s third Cannes Lions Creative Marketer of the Year award spotlights an industry obsessed with trophies over true innovation. It’s time to call out the marketing echo chamber.
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WPP’s Quarter Proves Margins Matter More Than Revenue — Stop Worshipping Vanity Metrics
WPP’s latest quarterly report proves that margin improvements matter far more than headline revenue growth in today’s agency landscape.
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James Murdoch Sparks a Bidding War for Vox Media — Brace for Portfolio Shakeup
James Murdoch’s bid for Vox Media isn’t just another acquisition—it’s a sign the company’s sprawling portfolio faces a ruthless restructuring ahead.
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WPP’s Quarter Proves Margins Matter More Than Top-Line Bullshit
WPP’s latest quarter reveals the real battlefield isn’t revenue growth, it’s margin expansion. Time for agencies to ditch the growth-at-all-costs grift and get profitable.
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Criteo’s ChatGPT Hype Collides With Reality as Revenue Forecast Takes a Hit
Criteo’s ChatGPT partnership has drawn client interest but failed to stop shares from sliding after a downgraded revenue forecast, exposing the limits of AI hype in ad tech.
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TikTok’s Ecommerce Hype Meets PepsiCo’s Experimentation—But Don’t Call It ‘Active Attention’ Yet
TikTok claims it can turn viral videos into instant purchases, and PepsiCo is testing those ecommerce waters. Spoiler: it’s not magic, just early-stage hustle.
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