From the journal

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.

Applebot-Extended Visibility? More Like Applebot-Extended Garbage Crawl
ai-seo Nis 28, 2026

Applebot-Extended Visibility? More Like Applebot-Extended Garbage Crawl

Apple’s so-called “extended visibility” is just a lazy excuse to crawl every scrap of crap on the web. Spoiler: Applebot is not cleaning house—it’s making a bigger mess.

Read →
Core Web Vitals in 2026: Why Google's Signal Weight Is Peak Nothingburger
ai-seo Nis 28, 2026

Core Web Vitals in 2026: Why Google's Signal Weight Is Peak Nothingburger

Google’s Core Web Vitals hype has finally reached peak nothingburger status. Here's why the much-touted ranking boost is mostly a mirage—and what that means for your SEO strategy.

Read →
Google Search Console’s Discover Traffic Attribution Is Broken and Here’s How It Screws Publishers
ai-seo Nis 28, 2026

Google Search Console’s Discover Traffic Attribution Is Broken and Here’s How It Screws Publishers

Google Search Console’s Discover traffic data is a joke—a misleading mess that hides real publisher performance and fuels lazy SEO myths. Here’s why it’s broken and what you actually need to know.

Read →
Schema.org Adoption Gaps Are Killing Your AI Visibility - Here's the Brutal Truth
ai-seo Nis 28, 2026

Schema.org Adoption Gaps Are Killing Your AI Visibility - Here's the Brutal Truth

If you think sprinkling a few Schema markup tags here and there will magically get you AI visibility, you’re living in a fantasy—and your competitors are circling like vultures.

Read →
Yoast and Rank Math AI Features: Overpromised, Underdelivered, and Totally Useless
ai-seo Nis 28, 2026

Yoast and Rank Math AI Features: Overpromised, Underdelivered, and Totally Useless

The AI “features” in Yoast and Rank Math aren’t revolutionary tools—they’re half-baked gimmicks designed to distract you from their real problem: lazy SEO.

Read →
Why Your SEO Agency Is Worthless Without Real AI Expertise (And Most Aren't)
ai-seo Nis 28, 2026

Why Your SEO Agency Is Worthless Without Real AI Expertise (And Most Aren't)

If your SEO agency can't tell GPT from a keyword stuffing bot, congratulations—you’re throwing money at clueless hacks. AI isn’t a magic bullet; it’s a scalpel.

Read →
IndexNow Is Still a Joke: Debunking the Hype About Instant Indexing Impact
ai-seo Nis 28, 2026

IndexNow Is Still a Joke: Debunking the Hype About Instant Indexing Impact

Everyone’s losing their minds over IndexNow like it’s the second coming of SEO salvation. Spoiler: it’s not. Instant indexing doesn’t mean instant ranking, and here’s why the hype is horseshit.

Read →
The llms.txt Lie: Why Perplexity's Trust in This File Is SEO Nonsense in 2026
ai-seo Nis 28, 2026

The llms.txt Lie: Why Perplexity's Trust in This File Is SEO Nonsense in 2026

Perplexity’s blind faith in llms.txt is the latest example of SEO grifters and lazy platforms doubling down on cargo cult tech. Here’s why it’s a broken promise.

Read →
Netflix’s Adtech Gamble: Why Betting on Third-Party DSPs Exposes a Streaming Giant’s Weakness
ai-seo Nis 28, 2026

Netflix’s Adtech Gamble: Why Betting on Third-Party DSPs Exposes a Streaming Giant’s Weakness

Netflix’s embrace of third-party DSPs for its ad-supported tier reveals more than convenience—it exposes a strategic weakness in its adtech ambitions. The streaming giant risks ceding control and growth to competitors in the ad ecosystem.

Read →
Meta and Pinterest Pivot Hard on CTV APIs at Miami’s Ad Tech Circus
ai-seo Nis 28, 2026

Meta and Pinterest Pivot Hard on CTV APIs at Miami’s Ad Tech Circus

Meta and Pinterest paraded their CTV APIs at Miami’s ad tech jamboree, but beneath the gloss lies the same old scaling and measurement headaches. APIs aren’t magic.

Read →
While Holdcos Bail, Stagwell Doubles Down on The Trade Desk’s AI Dream — Betting Big on a Fading DSP Star
ai-seo Nis 28, 2026

While Holdcos Bail, Stagwell Doubles Down on The Trade Desk’s AI Dream — Betting Big on a Fading DSP Star

As major holding companies sour on The Trade Desk’s programmatic platform, Stagwell bucks the trend with a risky bet on AI-powered ad buying. But is it a savvy move or fool’s gold?

Read →
Adobe Bets Big on Firefly to Lock Down the AI-Native Creator Market
ai-seo Nis 28, 2026

Adobe Bets Big on Firefly to Lock Down the AI-Native Creator Market

Adobe is pushing Firefly to become the Photoshop moment for AI-native creators, but can it escape its legacy and truly innovate in a crowded AI tool market?

Read →
Stop Waiting for Your Career to Start: Own It or Stay Stuck
ai-seo Nis 28, 2026

Stop Waiting for Your Career to Start: Own It or Stay Stuck

The myth of a perfect career launch window is dead. Your career is happening now, and taking control is the only way to get ahead — not waiting for permission.

Read →
Allica Bank’s TV Blitz Is a Spotlight on the B2B Marketing Vacuum No One Wants to Admit Exists
ai-seo Nis 28, 2026

Allica Bank’s TV Blitz Is a Spotlight on the B2B Marketing Vacuum No One Wants to Admit Exists

Allica Bank’s bold TV campaign targeting underserved SMEs exposes fintech marketing’s lazy reliance on digital hype and the urgent need for real brand-building.

Read →
Cable News Ratings Crash as Slow News Week Exposes Industry Fragility
ai-seo Nis 27, 2026

Cable News Ratings Crash as Slow News Week Exposes Industry Fragility

The week of April 13, 2026, exposed cable news’s brutal dependency on nonstop breaking stories as every major network saw viewership plummet during a slow news cycle.

Read →
Netflix’s Running Point Season 2: Branded Content or Just Blatant Ad Infiltration?
ai-seo Nis 27, 2026

Netflix’s Running Point Season 2: Branded Content or Just Blatant Ad Infiltration?

Netflix’s Running Point Season 2 turns from espionage thriller into a billboard for State Farm, DoorDash, and Lexus, exposing the streaming giant’s shameless brand infiltration.

Read →
Inside CNN’s Control Room Chaos: How the WHCD Broadcast Pivoted from Banter to Breaking News
ai-seo Nis 27, 2026

Inside CNN’s Control Room Chaos: How the WHCD Broadcast Pivoted from Banter to Breaking News

CNN’s control room transformed from casual commentary to crisis command during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting, revealing the raw reality behind live breaking news coverage.

Read →
Adthena’s ChatGPT AdBridge: A Half-Baked Attempt to Fix ChatGPT Advertising Chaos
ai-seo Nis 27, 2026

Adthena’s ChatGPT AdBridge: A Half-Baked Attempt to Fix ChatGPT Advertising Chaos

Adthena’s new ChatGPT AdBridge promises to convert your Google Ads campaigns into AI-driven ChatGPT ads, but it’s a lazy repackaging that misses the real challenges of AI advertising.

Read →