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.
X Finally Stops Dragging Its Feet with Ad Platform Overhaul — A Decade Late and Dollars Short
X’s ad platform overhaul is a decade overdue and barely scratches the surface of what advertisers actually need. Catching up is not the same as leading.
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How Indian Railways Weaponized Gamification to Crush Fare Evasion
Indian Railways crushed fare evasion by turning ticket buying into a lottery game, proving that surprise rewards beat lazy, cookie-cutter engagement tactics every time.
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Netflix Crushes Prime Video in Ad Reach as Ad-Supported Streaming Becomes the New Normal
Netflix has overtaken Prime Video in ad-supported household reach, signaling a major industry shift as ad-supported streaming becomes the dominant model within months.
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Why Marketing’s Reckless Disregard for the CTO Is a Time Bomb Waiting to Explode
Only a tiny fraction of marketers prioritize their relationship with the CTO, and it’s killing performance. Ignoring tech leadership is a reckless gamble that’s already costing the industry dearly.
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Claire’s Comeback: Squishies, ASMR, and the Hollow Quest to Reclaim Girlhood
Claire’s latest campaign leans hard on squishies and ASMR to reclaim girlhood, but it’s less innovation and more shallow nostalgia wrapped in buzzwords.
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Vue Enlists Taika Waititi in Desperate Bid to Rescue Movie Theaters from Streaming’s Smothering Grip
Vue’s latest gambit to revive theaters involves enlisting Taika Waititi, but celebrity endorsements won’t fix an industry crippled by complacency and streaming’s dominance.
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Lenovo’s Latest Stunt: Becky G, AI, and the Soccer Kit Art Grift
Lenovo’s new campaign pairing Becky G with AI to ‘artify’ soccer kits is a tired marketing stunt dressed up as innovation. Here’s why it’s more grift than groundbreaking.
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Budweiser’s 150th Anniversary Campaign: A Red, White, and Blue Overkill
Budweiser’s 150th anniversary campaign drowns audiences in patriotic clichés, exposing how big brands use flag-waving as a lazy shortcut instead of genuine storytelling.
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Rao’s Hires Goodby Silverstein & Partners to Fake Iconic Status—Because Authenticity Was Too Hard
Rao’s pasta sauce is hiring Goodby Silverstein & Partners to manufacture an 'iconic' brand image—because real authenticity takes work no one wants to do.
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AI Content Detector Accuracy in 2026: Why Your 'Safety Net' Is Garbage and Hurting Your Strategy
The AI content detectors you’re relying on are paper tigers—clunky, outdated, and actively sabotaging your SEO and content game in 2026. Here’s why dumping them is overdue.
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Why IndexNow Is a Peak Nothingburger: Debunking the 'Instant Indexing' Cargo Cult for Publishers
IndexNow promises instant indexing nirvana, but the reality is a lazy agency grift dressed up as innovation. Here’s why it’s a peak nothingburger for publishers.
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Agentic Marketing’s Multicultural Mirage: Why The Industry Still Can’t Get It Right
The so-called agentic marketing wave championed by agencies and brands alike is just another hollow buzzword, masking a persistent failure to truly serve multicultural audiences.
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Middle East War Shatters Advertising Budgets with Unpriceable Uncertainty
The Middle East war has exposed the advertising industry's fragile illusion of control, turning predictability into chaos no algorithm can tame.
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TJ Palma: From College Athlete to Airbnb Hustler to Love Island’s Reluctant Content King
TJ Palma’s leap from college athlete and Airbnb host to Love Island star isn’t your typical influencer fairy tale. He’s rewriting the playbook on how creators build real business, not just fleeting fame.
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Push Notifications and Peer Sharing Are Quietly Hijacking Publisher Traffic — And No One’s Talking About It
Push notifications and peer-to-peer sharing are quietly overtaking Google as the primary traffic sources for publishers, according to new Chartbeat data. It’s time to ditch SEO grifts and build real engagement.
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AMC’s Upfront Playbook: More Than Just Nostalgia, It’s a Sports and Franchise Power Grab
AMC Global Media is redefining upfront season by ditching generic ad slots for tailored sports and franchise opportunities that actually engage audiences and advertisers alike.
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UK Ad Spend Soars to £46.7bn in 2025 — Yet It’s Not All Roses for the Market
UK ad spend hit a staggering £46.7bn in 2025, nearly doubling since 2018 and outpacing GDP growth. But this explosive growth masks a bloated, inefficient market still dominated by legacy platforms and outdated practices.
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Retail Media’s Growth Nightmare: Silos, Shitty Metrics, and Industry Spin Are Killing Profitability
Retail media’s growth is being throttled by siloed data, unreliable metrics, and a lack of industry collaboration, according to execs at ADWEEK House in Miami.
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