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.
Google Search Console Discover Traffic Attribution: A Peak Nothingburger for SEO ROI
Google’s Discover traffic metrics in Search Console are a misleading distraction, not a silver bullet for proving SEO ROI. Here’s why you should stop wasting time on it.
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Core Web Vitals Are Dead Weight - Here's What Google Really Cares About in 2026
Core Web Vitals were the SEO world’s sacred cow—until they became a bloated distraction. In 2026, Google isn’t chasing your LCP or FID anymore; it’s playing a far different game.
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Schema.org Adoption: The Lazy Publisher's Excuse for Invisibility in Google's AI-First Era
Relying on schema markup as a shortcut to SEO glory is the new lazy publisher hustle. In 2024, it’s not your golden ticket—it’s your invisibility cloak.
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The IndexNow Myth: Why Instant Indexing Is Mostly Bullshit for Publishers in 2026
Instant indexing promises the moon but delivers a slow trudge — here’s why IndexNow is a glorified notification system, not a game-changer for publishers.
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Why Yoast and Rank Math’s AI Features Are SEO Grift 2.0 — And How They Sabotage Your Content
Yoast and Rank Math’s latest AI gimmicks aren’t innovation. They’re lazy, self-serving cargo cult designed to keep you locked in a cycle of mediocre content and endless plugin dependency.
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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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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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Specsavers Finally Ditches Its Stale 22-Year-Old Tagline—But Did Anyone Ask For This?
Specsavers has tweaked its iconic 22-year-old tagline to reflect a broader range of services, but this rebrand barely scratches the surface of what the brand really needs.
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Pinterest’s New CMO Bets on Storytelling to Mask Mission Drift and Drive Offline Usage
Pinterest’s new CMO, Claudine Cheever, leans hard on storytelling to promote a mission of offline living — but this feels more like a marketing smokescreen than a strategy.
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Chess.com Hits 250 Million Users and Tries to Pawn Off More Ads Without Killing Subscriptions
Chess.com just hit 250 million users and is trying to boost ad revenue without annoying its paying subscribers. This isn’t your typical lazy ad play.
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Possible 2026 Unmasked: Why the Industry’s Favorite Buzzwords Are Still Mostly Hot Air
Possible 2026 trotted out the usual suspects — outcomes-based pricing, agent orchestration, AI discoverability — but beneath the buzzwords, it’s the same tired industry grift. Here’s what really matters.
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