Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

Google CEO Sundar Pichai is expected to take the stand on Wednesday morning at a trial in Washington where antitrust enforcers seek an order forcing the company to sell its Chrome web browser and take other measures to boost competition among online search providers. Pichai will testify in the Alphabet unit’s defense against proposals by the U.S. Department of Justice that the company has said would cause unintended harm to browser developers, smartphone makers and internet users. The outcome of the case could fundamentally reshape the internet by potentially unseating Google as the go-to portal for information online. The DOJ and a broad coalition of state at…

General managers around the National Hockey League are putting some of their old roster and team management tactics on ice. That’s because NHL front offices, through a partnership with software company SAP, are now using the SAP-NHL Front Office App, bringing reams of data and information into a single all-encompassing platform. Given that so much of the sports world is driven by numbers—goals, shots, saves, salaries, and more—all the data and information can be difficult to wrangle. For those working in the front office in the NHL, it could mean “staring at eight computer screens,” and “carrying around a big binder” to make sure it’s all on-hand, as Don Waddell, GM o…

When the Vietnam War finally ended on April 30, 1975, it left behind a landscape scarred with environmental damage. Vast stretches of coastal mangroves, once housing rich stocks of fish and birds, lay in ruins. Forests that had boasted hundreds of species were reduced to dried-out fragments, overgrown with invasive grasses. The term ecocide had been coined in the late 1960s to describe the U.S. military’s use of herbicides like Agent Orange and incendiary weapons like napalm to battle guerrilla forces that used jungles and marshes for cover. Fifty years later, Vietnam’s degraded ecosystems and dioxin-contaminated soils and waters still reflect the long-term ecolog…

Every hour, the McDonald’s in Hong Kong’s crowded Admiralty Station sees more than 1,200 people bustle through its golden arches to grab a coffee or a burger. That’s one customer every three seconds. It’s the second-busiest McDonald’s in the world and the most-frequented restaurant in Asia—and now, it’s getting a makeover. To celebrate 50 years of McDonald’s in Hong Kong, the Admiralty Station has been renovated for the first time in 10 years. The design takes inspiration from the subway station itself, using a clever new installation to set a mood, evoke the excitement of travel, and, crucially, keep foot traffic moving through the bustling restaurant. It also takes a te…

I-P-Go! Shares of Navan, a travel-tech firm based in Silicon Valley, hit the exchanges on Thursday. The company priced its initial public offering at $25 per share, raising roughly $923 million. The $25 per-share price is within the $24–$26 range the company zeroed-in on last week, when it also announced it would sell nearly 37 million shares of common stock. The IPO puts Navan’s valuation at around $9.2 billion. Navan shares will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker “NAVN.” Founded in 2015, the company bills itself as “an all-in-one business travel, payments, and expense management platform that makes travel easy for frequent travelers,” helping customers fin…

More than 60,000 federal workers were dismissed during the first two months of the The President administration with more staff reductions expected in the coming months. Many are mid-career employees who have worked for the government for a decade or more, making it more challenging for them to make the case that their skills are transferrable to the private sector. “It’s an identity shift,” says Arianny Mercedes, founder of Revamped, a New York City-based career consultancy. For many of these professionals, their roles weren’t just jobs; they were commitments to public service, she says. “When someone’s identity is deeply tied to government service, being laid off or…

What is “happiness”—and who gets to be happy? Since 2012, the World Happiness Report has measured and compared data from 167 countries. The United States currently ranks 24th, between the U.K. and Belize—its lowest position since the report was first issued. But the 2025 edition, released on March 20, the U.N.’s annual “International Day of Happiness,” starts off not with numbers, but with Shakespeare. “In this year’s issue, we focus on the impact of caring and sharing on people’s happiness,” the authors explain. “Like ‘mercy’ in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, caring is ‘twice-blessed’—it blesses those who give and those who receive.” Shakespeare’s plays of…

Greg Walton, PhD, is the co-director of the Dweck-Walton Lab and a professor of psychology at Stanford University. Dr. Walton’s research is supported by many foundations, including Character Lab, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. He has been covered in major media outlets including The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, and Los Angeles Times. What’s the big idea? Stanford psychologist Greg Walton reveals how small psychological shifts—known as wise interventions—can create profound change in our live…

One of the more unique takes on the POV trend on TikTok: “POV: You bought a 100-year-old skyscraper . . . ” For those unlikely to ever own a skyscraper themselves, TikTok’s Skyscraper Guy offers a behind-the-scenes look at what that experience entails—think hidden rooms not listed on blueprints, a bottomless pit in the basement, a Prohibition-era speakeasy, and a mysterious safe with no known combination. The video, posted last week, has already racked up more than 2.4 million views. “Step 1. How does one acquire a skyscraper,” one commenter asked. “My idea of an impulse buy is a cupcake,” another added. Sleuths in the comments quickly identified the …

People are often under the false impression that making their language complex or using jargon enhances their credibility. That might be true in certain circumstances. If you’re an academic talking to other academics or a software engineer talking to other software engineers, using jargon makes sense. However, if you‘re talking to people outside of your field of expertise, it can alienate them. And when you alienate someone, it can cause them to switch off. It also reduces the likelihood that they take away anything useful or do what you’d like them to do. That’s probably the last thing you want to happen when communicating with someone. So if you’re prone to …

The AI revolution is redefining business and tech leadership—and no one is standing more squarely on the front lines than product leaders. Once seen as a behind-the-scenes role, the CPO is now one of the most powerful voices in the executive suite. In 2020, only 4% of the Fortune 1000 had a CPO, a number that has since ballooned to almost 50%. In the next few years, we expect to see that figure grow to 70%. At Products That Count, the nonprofit for product managers I chair, we’ve spent the past year talking to almost 1,000 CPOs at companies ranging from startup unicorns to Fortune 100 giants like Salesforce, Walmart, and Microsoft. What we’ve heard is clear: The o…

The old Tesla can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, ‘cause she’s dead. Over the past few days, a new trend has emerged on TikTok: people are posting their Tesla trade-ins accompanied by the hashtag “ByeTesla” and soundtracked to Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do.” In the videos, the Tesla driver backs out of a driveway as the lyrics play: “I’m sorry, the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, ’cause she’s dead.” Cut to a brand-new Rivian R1S, Porsche Macan Electric, or even a GMC Hummer EV SUV as the song’s chorus plays: “Look what you made me do.” “The best upgrade I’ve seen in this trend,” one person commented on the vide…

Residents of the mostly Black communities sandwiched between chemical plants along the lower Mississippi River have long said they get most of the pollution but few of the jobs produced by the region’s vast petrochemical industry. A new study led by Tulane University backs up that view, revealing stark racial disparities across the U.S.’s petrochemical workforce. Inequity was especially pronounced in Louisiana, where people of color were underrepresented in both high- and low-paying jobs at chemical plants and refineries. “It was really surprising how consistently people of color didn’t get their fair share of jobs in the petrochemical industry,” said Kimberly T…

Last month, a food research organization called Nectar released an expansive set of findings from taste tests that rated plant-based meat alternatives alongside actual meat. One bit of information stood out: In terms of taste, 54% of people on average found 20 vegan products (such as burgers, nuggets, and sausages) from 13 brands (including Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, and Gardein) to taste as good as or better than analogous conventional meat products. This should probably be good news for those of us who are concerned about the environment, public health, and animal welfare. But the flipside of this discovery is that even though plant-based meat is starting to ta…

For most social media companies, getting users to doomscroll as much as possible is the name of the game. But Pinterest is now encouraging its young users to put their phones away during class. The mood board app is currently demoing a new pop-up for users aged 13 to 17 in the U.S. and Canada that will prompt them to stop scrolling and close the app during class, according to a report from The Verge. “Focus is a beautiful thing,” a screenshot of the prompt reads. “Stay in the moment by putting Pinterest down and pausing notifs until the school bell rings.” The pop-up is set to appear between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on school days, and Pinterest plans to roll out the test t…

Blue-check verification is nothing new in the world of social media, but Bluesky is only now making it available to any “notable” accounts. The social media company has launched an application that allows users to apply for this authentication and receive a blue check. Bluesky first launched a form of verification in 2023 that required users to put a domain as their handle. For example, a brand or magazine could show its validity by using its official website as an identifier. Meanwhile, individuals who worked for the company could then make their usernames @name.wesbite.com. According to Bluesky, over 270,000 accounts took part in this option over its first two …

A hot new high-stakes competition show went viral on the internet this week that had fans placing bets, joining fantasy leagues, tweeting live updates, and posting daily recaps. But it wasn’t Love Island or Survivor. It was the conclave. The conclave is the Catholic Church’s traditional process for picking a new pope. It involves sequestering dozens of cardinals in an locked-down Sistine Chapel for an indefinite period, during which time they use a series of votes to elect a new pontiff. After each ballot, an old-fashioned system is used to let the world know whether a pope has been chosen: If the decision has not been made, black smoke issues from the Chapel’s chimn…

This story originally appeared in Global Voices. A decade after the first assessment, the 2025 Ranking Digital Rights Index: Big Tech Edition reveals a landscape of paradox. While some of the world’s most influential digital platforms demonstrate incremental improvements in transparency, particularly in governance disclosures from Chinese companies like Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent, the overall picture suggests a concerning inertia. In a world grappling with rising authoritarianism, the use of AI tools, and ongoing global conflicts, the report shows that many Big Tech companies are largely continuing with “business as usual,” failing to address critical issues. The…

If you recently bought celery sticks from Walmart, you’ll want to check to make sure they are not of a certain variety. That’s because a select celery stick product is being recalled due to fears that it may be contaminated with Listeria, a potentially deadly bacterium. Here’s what you need to know. What is the reason for the recall? On April 10, Duda Farm Fresh Foods, Inc. of Oxnard, California, issued a voluntary recall for one of its products: a bag of celery sticks sold under the “Marketside” brand, according to a recall notice posted on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website. The company issued the recall because the celery sticks have the possibi…

The number of domestic travelers in the U.S. is expected to break a record for Memorial Day weekend that was set in 2005. AAA anticipates that 45.1 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home over the weekend, an increase of 1.4 million travelers compared to last year. Those traveling by car see the biggest difference, with more than a million extra travelers expected on the roads compared to last year. While 87% of travelers choose to take road trips during Memorial Day weekend, this year, they’re also aided by the lower crude oil prices making gasoline cheaper nationwide. (Typically, gas prices will peak in the summer as the busy travel season commences. Y…

Jennifer Meyer always knew she wanted to work in fashion. It probably comes, she says, from the hours she spent in her grandmother’s Santa Monica, California, apartment, playing with art supplies, and the small kiln her grandmother kept on the kitchen counter. “She did a lot of enameling,” says Meyer, an LA-based jewelry designer. “She had all of these colors and plaques to put things on; wiring. I would design things with her for fun; I have this love of design from her.” Still, as the daughter of an entertainment executive, Meyer didn’t really have a road map for a career in design. She completed her education on the East Coast, studying child and family psychology…