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.
BuzzFeed’s Streaming Pivot Under Byron Allen Is a Desperate Play for Living Room Relevance
BuzzFeed’s pivot to streaming under Byron Allen reveals the harsh reality: digital media’s living room dreams often crash into resource and relevance gaps. It’s a desperate gamble, not a masterstroke.
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Johnnie Walker’s Reinvention Is a Brutal Reminder: Creativity Isn’t a Campaign, It’s Survival
Johnnie Walker’s reinvention under Josh Dean demolishes the myth that creativity is a short-term stunt. It’s a ruthless, long-term growth engine or you get left behind.
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Wednesday's Push: Aries Moon Ignites Bold Moves
With the Moon charging through Aries, America feels the heat in its communication sector. It's a day driven by directness; let's navigate it with purpose.
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AI Content Detectors in 2026 Are Still a Joke — Here’s How Marketers Completely Outsmart Them
In 2026, AI content detectors from giants like OpenAI and Turnitin still fail to reliably flag AI-generated text, with false negatives exceeding 70%.
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Applebot-Extended Visibility: The Secret Black Hole No Publisher Talks About
Applebot quietly crawled 4.5 billion URLs in 2023, yet publishers see zero transparency or actionable data from it.
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Schema.org Adoption Stalled at Publishers, Killing Rich Snippet Growth in 2024
Only 12% of major publisher sites properly implement Schema.org in 2024, yet 80% chase rich snippets expecting SEO gold.
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IndexNow Is a Complete Waste of Bandwidth — Stop Pretending It Moves the Needle
Since its launch by Microsoft Bing and Yandex in 2021, IndexNow has failed to deliver measurable ranking improvements or crawl efficiency benefits.
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Johnnie Walker’s ‘Keep Walking’ Is More Than a Slogan—It’s a Blueprint for Long-Term Brand Survival
Josh Dean’s reinvention of Johnnie Walker’s ‘Keep Walking’ campaign exposes the industry’s obsession with short-term hacks and proves that real creativity is a long game.
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Duluth’s AI Media Buying Divide: Smart Bidding Yes, Brand Storytelling Hell No
Duluth Trading Company smartly trusts AI to handle ad bidding but draws the line at brand storytelling, exposing the overhyped promises of AI-driven creativity.
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OpenAI’s New Shopping Ads in ChatGPT: Another Layer of Algorithmic Bullshit for E-Commerce
OpenAI’s new feature automates product ads inside ChatGPT, but it’s less innovation and more a lazy repackaging of old e-commerce ad tricks. Brands beware.
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GameStop’s Bizarre Bid for eBay: A Cash-Strapped Retailer Playing Billion-Dollar Chicken
GameStop’s unexpected bid for eBay isn’t a bold strategic move — it’s a baffling gamble from a cash-strapped retailer with no clear funding plan.
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Amazon’s Sports Ad Play: Using NBA and NFL Rights to Muscle Into Upfront Dollars
Amazon is leveraging its NBA and NFL live sports rights combined with commerce data to crack open upfront ad budgets long dominated by traditional TV networks.
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Ad Tech’s Automation Apocalypse: Who the Hell Is Accountable When AI Runs Your Campaigns?
Ad tech’s shift to AI-driven campaigns demands ironclad contracts and accountability. Without clear guardrails, brands risk losing control—and money—to opaque algorithms.
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The Lazy Marketing Transformation Myth: Why Your AI Time-Saving Claims Are Bullshit
Marketing Week’s latest stats on AI and consumer confidence are just another layer of marketing grift. Real transformation requires hard infrastructure, not lazy buzzwords.
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SMEs Are Betting on Marketers While Big Corps Sit on Hiring Freeze – Here’s Why That’s a Game Changer
Small- and medium-sized businesses are bucking the trend of hiring freezes, confidently expanding their marketing teams while larger companies pull back. This shift reveals where marketing talent should really be headed in 2026.
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Müller’s Decade of Decline Exposed: Why Price Cuts and Partnerships Were Just Band-Aids
Müller’s decade-long decline wasn’t saved by price cuts or partnerships—it was a failure of strategic focus. Here’s why quick fixes never work for brand revival.
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The Delusion of Social vs. TV: Marketers Are Wasting Time Fighting When They Should Be Building
Marketers still obsessed with social vs. TV turf wars are stuck in a dead-end. The future demands unified strategies with creators who operate across both.
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Cancer Research UK Proves Long-Form Storytelling Still Slays in a TikTok World
Cancer Research UK’s Channel 4 documentary series smashed short-form dogma, proving long-form storytelling drives real donations and brand trust in today’s snackable content frenzy.
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