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.
The Brutal Truth About Growing a CPG Challenger Brand: Why Grit Beats Gloss Every Time
Launching a challenger brand in CPG isn’t about grit and storytelling alone—it’s a brutal fight over distribution, margins, and real consumer access.
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AI Is Not Magic — It’s the Retail Media Wake-Up Call Brands Desperately Needed
AI isn’t a magic wand for retail media — it’s a brutal efficiency tool forcing brands to finally link ad spend with real sales. CVS Media Exchange shows how lazy legacy models get disrupted.
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The Marketing CEO Myth: Why Leadership Isn’t About Branding — It’s About Not Being a Clueless Suit
The marketing CEO fad is just lazy leadership wrapped in buzzwords. True brand stewardship demands ruthless clarity, data-driven decisions, and ditching the agency grift.
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CNN’s NewsNight Erupts as Scott Jennings and Adam Mockler Trade Barbs — Meanwhile, Newsmax Tries to Buy Credibility with Greta Van Susteren Podcast
Scott Jennings and Adam Mockler’s heated CNN segment was less debate, more spectacle, while Newsmax bets on Greta Van Susteren’s podcast to boost its credibility. Both moves highlight the media’s ongoing descent into partisan theater.
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Taboola’s AI Answer Engine: Publisher Engagement or Another Content Monetization Mirage?
Taboola’s new AI answer engine promises to boost publisher engagement but is really just another slick layer of ad-driven content monetization dressed up as innovation.
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USA Today Co.’s AI Licensing: A Rare Win Amidst Programmatic and Traffic Meltdown
USA Today Co. bucks the industry trend with AI licensing deals driving real revenue growth in Q1, even as traffic and programmatic ad sales tank.
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Core Web Vitals Worship Is Peak SEO Cargo Cult - Here's the Data
Stop falling for Google's Core Web Vitals snake oil. The obsession with these metrics is the biggest distraction in SEO right now — and the data proves it.
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The Lazy SEO Agency Playbook: How They Sell You Snake Oil with AI Buzzwords
The “AI-powered SEO revolution” is a scam. Lazy agencies slap GPT-3 outputs on your site and call it strategy. Here’s how they game you — and why you’re paying for digital snake oil.
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The Lazy SEO Agency Playbook: How They Sell You Snake Oil with AI Buzzwords
The “AI-powered SEO revolution” is a scam. Lazy agencies slap GPT-3 outputs on your site and call it strategy. Here’s how they game you — and why you’re paying for digital snake oil.
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Core Web Vitals Worship Is Peak SEO Cargo Cult - Here's the Data
Stop falling for Google's Core Web Vitals snake oil. The obsession with these metrics is the biggest distraction in SEO right now — and the data proves it.
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Skittles and Claire’s Campaigns Prove Creativity Still Beats Algorithmic Garbage
Skittles, Claire’s, and Budweiser’s latest campaigns prove creativity still wins over algorithmic ad factory churn. Here’s why these ads caught our attention.
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USA Today Co.’s AI Licensing: A Rare Win Amidst Programmatic and Traffic Meltdown
USA Today Co. bucks the industry trend with AI licensing deals driving real revenue growth in Q1, even as traffic and programmatic ad sales tank.
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Taboola’s AI Answer Engine: Publisher Engagement or Another Content Monetization Mirage?
Taboola’s new AI answer engine promises to boost publisher engagement but is really just another slick layer of ad-driven content monetization dressed up as innovation.
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YouTube’s Creator Data Gambit: A Half-Baked Gift Wrapped as a Game-Changer
YouTube’s new creator data access is being hailed as a breakthrough, but it’s really a half-measure designed to keep marketers locked in, not truly empowered.
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The AI Visibility Tool Circus: Why Marketers Are Waking Up to Overpriced Snake Oil
Marketers are dumping cash into AI visibility tools that promise clarity in a zero-click world, but inconsistent data and lack of standards expose them as costly gimmicks.
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Baller League Exposes the Myth That Reach Equals Real Fandom — Here’s What Marketers Are Getting Wrong
Baller League’s growth method debunks the lazy marketing myth that reach equals fandom, proving that authentic communities sell franchises—not just clicks.
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Marketers’ Tech Myopia: Why Ignoring Your CTO Is Marketing’s Dumbest Move in 2024
Only 4.6% of marketers value their relationship with the CTO, exposing a massive blind spot in marketing’s tech strategy amid the AI revolution.
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Lucky Yatra: How Indian Railways Turned Ticket Fraud Into a Marketing Masterstroke
Indian Railways’ Lucky Yatra lottery proves gamification crushes fare evasion where heavy-handed enforcement fails. It’s time marketing stopped punishing and started rewarding.
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