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I was told to stay off screens for a few days last week due to a possible concussion (I’m fine), so today and tomorrow will include some posts from the archives. This was originally published in 2015. A reader writes: I took employment at a nonprofit as an economic researcher about seven months ago. Overall, I love my job and what I get to do and helping people, but there is one major issue: My boss, who is the founder and head of the organization, thinks he is a mayan shaman. I am not joking. He spends crazy amounts of money (sometimes company money) to fund his “spiritual projects” and recently has been telling me to do ludicrous projects like comparing chakra colors in different cultures and staring at a candle to find a sacred angle. Seriously. I’ve been able to handle it just fine until now. He is getting crazier by the day and I don’t know how to handle it anymore because if I tell him anything, he will say the “darkness has possessed me” and then be uncommunicative when I need information. What can I do? Is there anything, because I don’t want to quit my job but this is getting out of hand. He sends texts to us at the middle of the night with his “visions” and when one of our employees was pregnant he would call it the “christ child” and say that one quarter of the DNA must be his. I swear this is not a fake situation or question. Shamans have to have day jobs, I guess. And he’s welcome to believe he’s a shaman. Who knows, maybe he is. But the problem here is that he’s letting his spiritual beliefs interfere with work and apparently misusing the organization’s resources. But I doubt there’s a lot you can do here. This is your boss, the head of the organization, and ultimately he’s calling the shots here. If you really wanted to try to get this addressed, you’d have two options: Talk to him directly, or talk to the board of directors. If you talk to him directly, I’d say something like this: “Percival, I respect your religious beliefs, but I’m not comfortable discussing religion at work or being given religious assignments to work on. I was hired to do economic research and our organization isn’t religious in nature. Is there a way for us to work well together without bringing religion into it?” Ideally, you’d do this with a group of coworkers who feel the same rather than on your own; it’s harder to ignore a group of employees than one lone one — but either way, it’s a reasonable thing to say. That said, will it work? I doubt it. This is a guy who’s telling you that darkness has possessed you and claiming some sort of parentage over a quarter of an employee’s baby. In other words, probably not open to reasoned conversation on these topics. So that leaves you with the second option: Talk to the board. Every nonprofit is required to have a board of directors that serves as its ultimate governing body and which is responsible for ensuring that the organization is well managed and fiscally sound. The board is basically this guy’s boss — even though he’s the founder and even though he’s in charge of day-to-day operations. He might have a seat on the board, but there are presumably other board members, which means that he can be outvoted. The board would presumably want to know that the head of the organization is using resources to find sacred candle angles and freezing out employees when he thinks the darkness has possessed them. But that said … unless you care passionately about this organization and want to take an active role in getting this situation straightened out, your better bet might be to leave. This isn’t likely to change overnight, there’s likely to be some tension if you go to the board, and — maybe most importantly — do you really trust this guy’s leadership, even if he cools it with the shamanism talk at work? I mean, let’s say that the board puts a stop to all the behavior you’ve written about, and it even happens quickly — you’re still going to be working at an organization led by a guy who thought all of this was reasonable to begin with. Is that the job you want? In light of that, it might make sense to skip past all these steps and just start working on leaving. (Alternately, maybe just embrace the whole thing and have him influence the spirit world in your favor. That could be useful too.) Read an update to this letter here. The post my boss thinks he is a mayan shaman appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

Perfecting sales involves a structured process that can greatly improve your effectiveness. It starts with prospecting potential customers, then moves to comprehending their needs through assessments. Engaging with clients through customized solutions is essential, as is establishing follow-up procedures for long-term relationships. Yet, many face challenges along the way. To navigate this, it’s important to adapt your approach to your specific industry as you utilize technology for ongoing advancement. What strategies will you implement to refine your sales process? Key Takeaways Establish a structured sales process to ensure consistency and boost team confidence throughout each stage of sales. Begin with effective prospecting to identify and qualify leads, ensuring a strong pipeline for potential sales. Conduct thorough needs assessments to understand customer requirements and tailor solutions accordingly. Utilize CRM and automation tools to streamline workflows and enhance productivity within the sales process. Regularly review performance data to identify bottlenecks and adapt strategies for continuous improvement. Understanding the Sales Process and Its Importance The sales process is a crucial framework that guides sales professionals through their interactions with potential customers. Comprehending how to succeed in sales starts with adopting a structured sales process. This approach improves consistency among sales personnel, boosts their confidence, and enhances overall performance by creating predictable revenue outcomes. Breaking the sales expedition into defined stages increases efficiency, allowing you to focus on specific tasks and track your progress. Additionally, data-driven insights from this structured process enable continuous strategy refinement, leading to a more agile sales approach. Key Components and Stages of a Successful Sales Process A successful sales process hinges on several key components and stages that streamline the progression from initial contact to closing a deal. To start a career in sales, you need to understand these defined steps, which include prospecting, qualifying leads, and conducting needs assessments. Knowing how to make a sales call is crucial, as this is where sales call meaning becomes clear—engaging potential customers effectively. What makes a good salesman is the ability to present customized solutions and handle objections. Following up to build relationships is important for long-term success. If you want to know how to be a good sales associate, focus on perfecting these stages, enabling you to get started in sales with confidence and competence. Challenges in Sales Processes and How to Overcome Them Steering through the sales process can present various challenges that may hinder your team’s success, especially when shifting from informal methods to a more structured approach. Resistance to change among team members can create obstacles, so providing ongoing training is vital. Consistency is key, as different practices can lead to confusion; implementing standardized processes helps everyone stay aligned. Furthermore, bottlenecks can occur at various stages, necessitating regular data reviews. Balancing structure with flexibility is critical, as rigid processes may stifle creativity. Here are some tips to help you navigate these challenges: Challenge Solution Tips Resistance to change Ongoing training Emphasize benefits Inconsistency Standardized processes Share best practices Bottlenecks Regular data reviews Analyze and adapt frequently Tailoring Your Sales Process to Fit Your Industry Grasping the unique characteristics of your industry is fundamental for tailoring your sales process effectively. To begin, identify how customer behaviors differ in B2C versus B2B contexts, as these distinctions greatly influence sales effectiveness. Each industry may require specific stages or activities that align with customer expectations, so it’s vital to adapt your strategies accordingly. Furthermore, comprehending lead sourcing methods can help you attract and convert leads more efficiently, ensuring your approach resonates with market practices. In regulated industries, compliance stages must be integrated, incorporating necessary checks to meet legal standards. By thoroughly analyzing these factors, you’ll improve your sales process and boost your chances of success as you learn how to begin a career in sales or become a sales rep. Leveraging Technology for Continuous Improvement in Sales As you look to refine your sales strategy, leveraging technology can play a crucial role in driving continuous improvement. By utilizing Salesforce software, you can manage your sales process more effectively, guaranteeing real-time tracking and collaboration. Automation tools streamline workflows, allowing your team to focus on high-value tasks. Implementing analytics tools helps you interpret performance metrics, as continuous feedback loops facilitate quick adaptation based on customer insights. Technology Benefit CRM Software Real-time tracking & collaboration Automation Tools Increased productivity Analytics Tools Informed decision-making Continuous Feedback Ongoing improvement culture Training & Development Latest techniques & strategies Leveraging technology for training and development guarantees your team stays ahead. Frequently Asked Questions What Are the 7 Steps in the Sales Process? The seven steps in the sales process include Lead Generation, Prospecting, Lead Qualification, Initial Contact, Proposal Delivery, Negotiation and Closing, and Post-Sale Follow-up. You start by generating leads to attract potential customers. Then research these leads in the prospecting phase. After qualifying leads based on their interest and capability, you make initial contact, deliver proposals, negotiate terms, and finally follow up to guarantee satisfaction and promote ongoing relationships. What Is the 3-3-3 Rule in Sales? The 3-3-3 Rule in sales helps you structure interactions effectively. You spend three minutes on each of three phases: introduction, fact-finding, and presentation. During the introduction, build trust and set the conversation’s tone. In the fact-finding phase, dedicate 70% of your time to uncovering customer needs through active listening. Finally, present customized solutions that address those needs clearly, ensuring your proposal aligns with the customer’s budget and requirements for a smooth closing. What Is the 10 3 1 Rule in Sales? The 10-3-1 rule in sales suggests that for every ten prospects you reach out to, you should aim to have three meaningful conversations, eventually leading to one closed sale. This approach emphasizes the importance of quality interactions over sheer numbers, recognizing that not every prospect will convert. What Are the 12 Steps to the Sale? The 12 steps to the sale include prospecting, qualifying, needs assessment, presenting solutions, handling objections, closing the sale, and follow-up. Each step builds on the previous one, ensuring you understand customer needs and tailor your approach. By actively listening and asking probing questions during the fact-finding stage, you gather crucial information. A well-structured presentation highlights relevant benefits, whereas effective follow-up nurtures long-term relationships, finally leading to repeat business and referrals. Conclusion Achieving proficiency in sales involves a structured approach that improves your team’s effectiveness. By prospecting, qualifying leads, and conducting thorough needs assessments, you can engage clients more meaningfully. Presenting customized solutions and establishing solid follow-up procedures nurtures long-term relationships that lead to increased revenue. Furthermore, leveraging technology and data-driven insights can refine your sales process. By implementing these steps, you’ll create a consistent and successful sales strategy that adapts to your industry and drives growth. Image via Google Gemini and ArtSmart This article, "Mastering How to Do Sales: A Step-by-Step Guide" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

As a tech journalist who uses Google Docs a lot, I'm used to clicking past various AI prompts and offers of assistance whenever I want to write something with my own human brain. Now, I'm going to have to use up even more clicks to hide the AI integrations on a blank page—though, this time, some of them actually seem genuinely useful. Google is further upgrading Gemini's capabilities in Google Drive and its online office apps: Docs, Slides, and Sheets. You can now produce entire documents and spreadsheets with a prompt, create text that matches a particular style, and pull in relevant information from your Google Drive files, Gmail, Google Chat, and the web. These changes make Gemini inside Google Workspace "more personal, capable and collaborative" Google says, and they're rolling out now to Google AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers with English set as their default language. The old (top) and new (bottom) Gemini interfaces in Google Docs. Credit: Lifehacker Google Docs gets new Gemini featuresThe new changes are most evident when you open up a new document: You'll see a new Gemini bar down at the bottom of the screen, together with various options for matching the style of another document with AI-generated text, and dropping in elements like an email draft or notes from a meeting. You can bring up this bar at any time by clicking the Gemini star icon at the bottom of your document. You can type any prompt you like into the Gemini bar. Want a short story about fish? Need to send a stern email about on-street parking to the neighbors? Gemini can help. I actually tried the fish story one, and it wasn't too bad, in a generic sort of way. If you click the + (plus) button down in the lower left corner, meanwhile, you can choose to import data from Google Drive, Google Chat, Gmail, and the web. Gemini wrote me a short story about fish. Credit: Lifehacker This gives you a host of options. You can draft an email to your boss, and pull from your previous correspondence with them, for example, or plan a travel itinerary based on the recommendations someone has given you in Google Chat. I got Gemini to produce a table listing all the Oscar 2026 winners and it worked flawlessly. (Thank you to the human writers who published this information online.) There are more ways to refine existing text, as well as generate new text. Just highlight a part of a document, then use a prompt to describe the changes you'd like. I asked Gemini to make the introduction to this article "more upbeat and jokey" and it suggested dropping in phrases like "hold on to your hats" and "AI bestie." (I declined to add them.) I also gave the new style matching feature a go. In a blank document, if you click the sliders icon on the Gemini bar, you can choose Match writing style to pick out an existing Google Doc. Your subsequent prompts for text generation will then match the style of the selected documents. You can choose where Gemini looks for importing data. Credit: Lifehacker When I pulled from my own work, Gemini was able to produce text that did read vaguely like I'd written it, but it was still rather stilted and, well, artificial. (That said, I could tell the difference from standard AI text.) For me, it's the ability to pull in information from elsewhere that makes this most useful, rather than the text generation capabilities. I told Gemini to connect to Google Drive and summarize everything I'd written for Lifehacker this year, and it did a respectable job: The doc was neatly formatted, informative, and (as far as I could tell) accurate. Gemini also has new features in Sheets, Slides, and DriveThe updates in Sheets and Slides are similar to Docs: You get a much more prominent Gemini prompt box, and the ability to import data from your other files, chats, and emails. I keep a text document of teams for our local five-a-side soccer matches, and tried to get Gemini to create a spreadsheet showing how often each player had shown up. It worked perfectly. Impressive stuff. I also tried to get Gemini to produce an entire spreadsheet around a fictional school sports day, and again it came up with results that I couldn't really fault. I could then apply edits to the demo spreadsheet with further prompts, and didn't have to bother with editing cells at all. The AI will sometimes ask you to approve a particular action, but it's mostly a smooth and straightforward process. Google suggests you could build a spreadsheet organizing a house move, for example, pulling in relevant emails and documents as needed. You can also use web or Google Drive searches to fill in data alongside relevant row and column headings—like the Oscar example mentioned earlier. You can plot the years across the top with an 'Oscar Best Picture Winner' heading, and Gemini does the rest. The Gemini integration inside Slides isn't quite as advanced yet, however. The ability to generate entire decks is still "coming soon" Google says. However, you can already pull in data from other sources and the web, match slideshow styles to an existing deck, and use prompts to tweak all aspects of your presentation. For me, this was still a bit hit or miss, with some odd formatting and text choices. As a Brit, the only upgrades I haven't been able to try out myself are the Gemini upgrades for Google Drive interface. Unlike the other updates, these are only available in the U.S. for the time being. Based on Google's information and the demos I've seen, you can think of these upgrades as AI Overviews for your cloud storage rather than the web as a whole. This school sports day never happened: Gemini made it up. Credit: Lifehacker That means you can ask natural language questions about whatever's in your Google Drive, questions like "how many times have I written about Gemini in 2026?" for example. Google's own example is selecting a bunch of tax documents and asking Gemini for questions you should give your tax advisor about them. My gripes about AI-generated text and the erosion of our abilities to write aside, these upgrades do seem genuinely useful. They promise to reduce the time you spend on simple and repetitive tasks, and make creating files with information from your other Google apps (or the web at large) much more straightforward. View the full article

The webpage is no longer the unit of digital visibility. For years, we’ve built our digital presence on a foundation of URLs and keywords, but that infrastructure was designed for a highway that AI has now bypassed. In the search everywhere revolution, the most powerful atomic unit is the entity — a well-defined, machine-readable representation of a concept, product, organization, or person. The brands establishing AI-era dominance are engineering entity authority. To survive the shift from traditional search to generative discovery, we must move beyond the page and focus on entity linkage to build a foundation of AI visibility. The evolution: From strings to things to systems To navigate this landscape, we must recognize that we have moved past simple information retrieval. We’re witnessing a three-stage evolution in how the web is indexed and understood. Phase 1 (Strings): Traditional SEO optimized for keyword strings. Success was matching queries to text on a page. Phase 2 (Things): Modern search understands entities. Knowledge graphs allow engines to recognize that a brand, a founder, and a product are distinct, related “things.” Phase 3 (Entities): AI-driven systems now operate on structured ecosystems of entities. The goal is no longer to rank for a term; it’s to become the verified authority within an interconnected system of entities and executable capabilities. In this third phase, the search engine has become a reasoning engine. It looks at your content and the logical role your brand plays within a broader ecosystem. Dig deeper: The enterprise blueprint for winning visibility in AI search The machine imperative: The comprehension budget This evolution is driven by a cold economic reality: the comprehension budget. AI systems read and compute content. Every time an engine attempts to resolve an ambiguous brand or an implied relationship, it burns expensive GPU cycles. Understanding your content is a resource-heavy calculation. If your data is unstructured or inconsistent, you force the AI to overspend this comprehension budget. When the computational cost of grounding your facts exceeds the limit, the model defaults. It hallucinates based on probability, substitutes a cheaper competitor, or ignores your entity entirely. To win, you must provide a comprehension subsidy. Deep, nested Schema.org markup pre-processes your data, shifting the burden from expensive deep inference to fast, economical knowledge graph lookups. In a world of finite compute, the most efficient entity is the one most likely to be cited. Dig deeper: From search to answer engines: How to optimize for the next era of discovery Your customers search everywhere. Make sure your brand shows up. The SEO toolkit you know, plus the AI visibility data you need. Start Free Trial Get started with From SEO to GEO: Relevance engineering Traditional SEO has shifted and created a new discipline — generative engine optimization (GEO) — moving from keyword targeting to relevance engineering, where interconnected semantic structures enable machines to interpret, verify, and reuse trusted information. GEO focuses on maximizing your inclusion in AI-generated answers across platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews. This requires: Structuring content for machine readability. Answering conversational queries with high intent. Establishing authority across trusted third-party ecosystems. Ensuring entity consistency (avoiding “entity drift”). Dig deeper: Chunk, cite, clarify, build: A content framework for AI search Architecture: Knowledge graphs and deep schema Most enterprise sites have some structured data deployed, but basic, fragmented schema — the kind used only for rich snippets — is functionally inadequate for AI. When markup is applied page by page without nested relationships, the AI encounters isolated data islands. It sees a product here and an organization there, but no declared connection. This forces the AI back into an expensive inference loop. The content knowledge graph The architectural solution is a content knowledge graph: an interconnected network of entities built in Schema.org vocabularies and expressed in JSON-LD. A correctly implemented content knowledge graph maps your entities hierarchically: Organization → Brand → Product → Offer → Review. The ROI of schema: 300%: The potential improvement in LLM response accuracy when enterprise CKGs provide factual grounding. 20-40%: The traffic lift seen by sites deploying deeply nested, error-free advanced schema. Dig deeper: Why entity search is your competitive advantage Critical properties for trust To achieve global authority, two properties are non-negotiable: @id: Creates a consistent identifier that connects related entities across your website, ensuring AI understands they belong to the same source. sameAs: Links your entity to authoritative external references (Wikipedia, Wikidata, etc.). This process, known as entity disambiguation, signals to AI exactly who you are in the global knowledge ecosystem. To implement a content knowledge graph that survives the scrutiny of AI models, you must move from tactical tagging to entity governance. This playbook establishes a single source of truth that AI systems can verify at scale. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. The 5-step implementation playbook Here’s the strategic deep dive into the five-step implementation. 1. The semantic audit: Cleansing the foundation Before deploying a single line of code, you must conduct a semantic audit to define your core entities (e.g., organization, products, people, locations) that will build your entity knowledge graph. The goal: Eliminate duplicate or conflicting attributes. The depth: All business information must be cleansed and manually validated against authoritative sources before publication. AI trust is built on consistency. If your website contradicts your Google Business Profile, you create “Entity Drift,” which lowers your confidence score. 2. Strategic type mapping: Precision over generalization Success requires leveraging the full breadth of the Schema.org vocabulary — which now supports over 800 specific types. The depth: Stop using generic types like Article. Use TechArticle, MedicalWebPage, or FinancialService. Property saturation: Beyond types, use specific properties like mentions, hasPart, and about to clarify what the content is truly for. Incomplete markup forces AI systems back into the expensive “inference loop,” increasing the risk of exclusion. 3. Deep nested relationships: Building the MVG Fragmented schema creates data islands. You must implement deep nesting to fully trace your business’s lineage. Minimum viable entity graph: For legacy sites, start with the triangle of trust: Home page: Full Organization schema. About page: AboutPage schema linking back to the Organization @id. Contact page: ContactPage with ContactPoint specifics. The architecture: Group relevant secondary entities under a main entity. For example, an AggregateRating or an Offer should never exist in isolation. They must be nested hierarchically within a Product entity block. 4. The trust layer: Disambiguation and external linking To achieve global authority, you must signal to AI engine platforms that your entity is recognized by the world’s most trusted knowledge bases. The circle of truth: Use the sameAs property to link your entities to Wikipedia, Wikidata, LinkedIn, or the Google Knowledge Graph. This will help corroborate and lead to entity amplification. Entity amplification: This external linking acts as an authority transfer mechanism. It “collapses” identity ambiguity before the AI even begins its inference. When high-trust sources confirm your facts, your citation likelihood increases because the AI no longer has to expend its comprehension budget on verification. 5. Operationalize validation: Defeating schema drift At enterprise scale, manual updates are a liability. You must treat schema as an ongoing operational discipline. The governance pillar: Implement automated validation within your publishing workflow. Real-time signals: Use IndexNow or real-time indexing integrations to push updated schema to search engines the moment content changes. The agentic layer: Proactively include schema actions (like BuyAction, ReserveAction, ScheduleAction, or OrderAction). This makes your brand “machine-callable,” ensuring that when an AI agent wants to act, your services are structured and ready to be triggered. Dig deeper: From search to AI agents: The future of digital experiences Governance and the agentic web: From discovery to delegation The current AI search experience — summarized text answers — is merely a transitional phase. We’re rapidly moving toward an agentic ecosystem, where AI agents inform users and act on their behalf. The AI agent queries your structured entity graph to find executable functions. The callability layer: Schema actions To survive this shift, your entities must be more than just “readable.” They must be callable. Implementing schema actions — such as BuyAction, ReserveAction, ScheduleAction, or OrderAction — is how you declare your brand’s operational capabilities to the machine. If these actions aren’t explicitly defined in your code, your brand becomes a dead end. An AI agent might mention your product, but if it can’t verify price, availability, or a booking path through structured data, it will bypass you in favor of a competitor that is agent-ready. Defeating schema drift: The governance mandate At enterprise scale, the greatest threat to visibility is schema drift. This occurs when your human-visible content (e.g., prices, stock, hours) evolves, but your machine-readable schema remains static. When AI systems detect this inconsistency, they lower your confidence score. Reduced confidence leads to zero citations. To maintain agentic readiness, you must establish four governance pillars: Entity ownership: Assign clear accountability for maintaining canonical definitions. Template-level integration: Ensure schema updates automatically as CMS content changes. Automated validation: Monitor and flag data inconsistencies in real time. Real-time indexing: Use protocols like IndexNow to push updated entity signals to engines immediately. Bottom line: In the agentic web, inconsistency is invisible. If your structured data is outdated, you’re functionally removed from the transaction layer. New KPIs for generative AI: Measuring success in AI-driven search As the customer journey becomes an algorithm-driven narrative, we must shift from measuring traffic to a page to measuring share of model. To dominate the agentic web, your dashboard must evolve to track how AI perceives, trusts, and socializes your brand entities. Share of model (SOM): This is the new share of voice. It measures the percentage of time your brand or entity is included in generative responses for specific category queries. The AI visibility score and citation likelihood: In an AI-first ecosystem, backlinks (endorsements) are giving way to citations (confirmations), and your citation likelihood rises when trusted third-party entity graphs consistently validate your facts and your schema mirrors them precisely. Brand accuracy and grounding quality: Measure the delta between your declared schema (prices, specs, service areas) and AI-generated descriptions — the goal is a 1:1 match to prevent entity drift and ensure AI represents your brand accurately when it acts or recommends. See the complete picture of your search visibility. Track, optimize, and win in Google and AI search from one platform. Start Free Trial Get started with The entity-first mandate for AI visibility The transition from page-based to entity-based strategy is a present operational priority. Brands building content knowledge graphs today are building structural trust advantages that compound as AI systems learn to rely on established authorities. The page was never the point. The entity — and the trust AI places in it — is what determines who gets found next. Key takeaways From strings to things to systems: Traditional SEO focused on keyword strings. AI focuses on entities. Your goal is no longer to rank for a term, but to be the verified authority for a concept. Efficiency is currency: AI systems operate on a comprehension budget. The easier you make it for a machine to parse your data (via structured schema), the more likely you are to be cited. Citations are the new clicks: Visibility is now measured by share of model. If an AI assistant recommends you without a click, you’ve still won the top of funnel influence. Governance is revenue protection: Schema drift (outdated data) is a silent revenue leak. Inconsistency leads to a “confidence penalty,” causing AI models to hallucinate or bypass your brand entirely. Callability = survival: As we move toward the agentic web, your brand must be callable. If your services aren’t defined by schema actions, AI agents can’t execute transactions on your behalf. View the full article

At the turn of the 20th century, the steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie donated $5.2 million to New York to build libraries across the city. Leading architects of the time designed the branches, 67 in all, to look and function like civic temples with elaborate Beaux-Arts detailing, welcoming entrances, dignified reading rooms, and open stacks where patrons could freely browse. They quickly became important, and beloved, neighborhood establishments and remain so today. After more than a century of use, and ad hoc upgrades and adaptations that are also dated, the buildings are due for upgrades. Last year, the New York Public Library (NYPL) completed a $176 million renovation of five Carnegie Libraries in The Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island. They’re pilots of Carnegie renovations to come. Spearheaded by the architecture firms Mitchell Giurgola, which also developed design standards for the renovations, and CannonDesign, the climate-sensitive and community-informed transformations are models for balancing historic architecture and contemporary use. “The buildings are such a part of the fabric of the community and we wanted to double down on that,” says Kerry Gould, director of capital planning at NYPL. “They needed love, and they got it.” A new approach for old libraries Public libraries are the rare institutions with near-universal approval. According to a Pew study, 94% of Americans age 16 or older believe libraries improve quality of life. Perhaps because of this, the city has entered another golden age of architectural invention around them. Affordable housing crowns branches in Sunset Park, Inwood, and Grand Concourse; a recently completed branch in Greenpoint, which replaced a too-small library dating from the 1970s, doubles as an environmental education center; and a glimmering composition by the local artist José Parlá envelops the new Far Rockaway branch. But ground-up contemporary buildings are only part of the story. The Carnegie renovations underscore how a preservation-focused approach can modernize the system while protecting important neighborhood landmarks and community anchors. As aging Carnegie Libraries become Apple stores, comedy clubs, and boutique hotels, or simply deteriorate until demolition is a foregone conclusion, New York is figuring out how to keep them—and keep them relevant. “In architecture, ‘historic character’ used to be just about culture and preservation, and I think that’s really important,” says Carol Loewenson, an architect and partner at Mitchell Giurgola. “But saving what you have is also the most sustainable thing you can do. The continuity of old, new, and future is really what makes New York, and any place, thrilling.” Carnegie libraries then and now New York City has 216 library branches, which are managed by three systems: NYPL is responsible for 88 locations in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island. (The Brooklyn Public Library oversees the borough’s 62 locations and the Queens Public Library has 66 outposts within its jurisdiction.) Of the 39 Carnegie Libraries originally within NYPL’s remit, 30 are still in operation. They face similar issues related to operations and relevance. To wit: They were constructed before the Americans with Disabilities Act; before teens, who are avid patrons, were considered a distinct age and cultural group (until the 1940s, you were either a child or an adult); and before climate change became an urgent issue. And while libraries maintain a mission to advance knowledge and strengthen communities, these institutions today do a lot more than circulate books; they serve as emergency cooling and warming centers, technology hubs where patrons can access computers and 3D printers, and more. Because there are so many Carnegie Libraries in the city, the NYPL decided to approach their renovations systematically. Design standards could ensure stylistic consistency across the upgrades. It’s also practical: the more uniform the building management systems are, the easier repairs and maintenance are since crews have familiarity with the equipment. The standards include specifications for lighting, bookcases and millwork, circulation desks, how to integrate modern heating and cooling infrastructure, and methods for creating flexible-use space. Before implementing these design standards, the NYPL handled Carnegie renovations differently. While the exteriors remained the same, interior overhauls looked like they belonged to different buildings. Renovations and repairs happened piecemeal as equipment reached the end of their useful life, and modifications accumulated to the point where changes obscured the buildings’ spirit. “Very often we are doing necessity repairs and you’re sort of cobbling things together,” Gould says. Despite needing upgrades, the original Carnegie buildings were innovative a century ago and remain hallmarks of good library design today thanks to their large windows that bathed interiors in daylight, spacious reading rooms with high ceilings, a central circulation desk, natural materials, and movable furniture. “It seems so obvious, but people don’t always get it right with libraries,” Loewenson says. “And those fundamentals really do work. We’re doing an academic library right now and I just intuitively use the Carnegie standards and principles, and it just nails it. It’s kind of amazing.” The architects emphasized those details while introducing energy efficient building systems (like triple-pane windows and sensor-operated environmental controls), amenities to better serve library patrons (like teen rooms), and improved accessibility (like adding elevators and ramps). Additionally, the library commissioned artwork that connects to each branch’s respective community, based on intel from engagement sessions. Site-specific solutions Each Carnegie library is different—some are freestanding structures, some are mid-block, and their sizes vary. While design standards informed the top-level approach for the renovations, “it’s not a one-size-fits-all kind of thing,” Loewenstein says. “You first figure out what you’ve got and then what the needs are and then you start adjusting.” Historic preservation rules often informed how the architects approached the renovations. At 125th Street, a McKim, Mead & White branch dating to 1904, no additions could be visible from the street, which nixed moving all the mechanical systems to the roof. So instead, the team at CannonDesign, who oversaw this branch’s renovation, hunted for opportunities to make space inside. Caretaker apartments originally occupied the top floor of Carnegie Libraries (someone needed to feed the coal furnaces 24/7) and over time, these rooms became convenient locations for HVAC equipment. Meanwhile, air handlers and ductwork have become smaller and more efficient since they first went into the libraries. Because of this, the architects could condense the systems into a compact footprint and turn some of the back-of-house areas into public space. At 125th, they were able to squeeze a teen area as well as staff offices into the top floor. Now people, not just machinery, get to enjoy the dramatic double-height level illuminated by clerestory windows. “When we went into the design phase of these libraries, the amount of potential on the top floor, it was just incredible to see,” says Dan Sheen, an architect at CannonDesign. “It was about taking advantage of what was given to us and running iterations until we finally got to a point where it’s like, okay, this represents a modern space, but also pays homage to the original design when it was in its prime, too.” Indeed, the renovated Carnegie Libraries look more like themselves, just better. They also perform at a higher level than before. The Port Richmond branch, designed in 1905 by Carrere & Hastings, architects of the NYPL’s famed Fifth Avenue flagship, is now LEED Silver certified. Sheen and his team looked to Passive House design strategies to retrofit the building, including modifying the masonry walls (they installed mineral wool insulation and a smart vapor barrier on the inside face) and triple-pane wood windows for a tight thermal seal. The Port Richmond reading room featured a slightly arched ceiling with ornamental crown moldings, which Sheen wanted to highlight. Instead of suspending a tangle of sprinkler systems, ductwork, and other life safety systems from the ceiling, he decided to drop the ceiling 12 inches and hide the infrastructure above it. The team consulted original drawings and also 3D scanned the detailing in order to faithfully recreate it. Similarly, they also hid infrastructure behind walls, effectively shrinking the space by six to eight inches on each side. Loewenstein and her team used similar techniques at the Hunts Point location, a Carrere & Hastings building from 1929. “There was more time in the design phase spent on what you don’t see, what’s hidden behind these walls than what the actual visitor experience is,” Sheen says. And instead of visually hefty rows of fluorescent lighting illuminating the reading rooms, there are now halo-like LED pendants throughout. Because the Carnegie Libraries are on the smaller side, figuring out how to accommodate new uses was a challenge. At the Hunts Point library, Mitchell Giurgola integrated folding glass walls and doors into the reading rooms to define space while maintaining visual cohesion and daylight. At the Melrose branch—which suffered a fire in the 1940s that reduced the four-story building to two—Mitchell Giurgola was able to construct a new level that’s dedicated to children. Since few original architectural details remained here, the design team integrated more contemporary elements, like floor-to-ceiling glass walls. Artwork was another important site-specific element for the renovations. NYPL hosted community engagement sessions with patrons to learn about what was most important to them and through this, they learned that the community around the Port Richmond branch, which is predominantly Hispanic, felt an affinity to butterflies and so a newly commissioned mural features the motif. “It really brings that sense of identity to the branch,” Gould says. The future of NYC library renovations The standards Mitchell Giurgola developed aren’t limited to the Carnegie Libraries. The design principles are relevant across the system, and so NYPL is using them to guide renovations across structures with different pedigrees. Gould is currently working on an overhaul of the Edenwald library, a 1970s structure in the Bronx. It’s a squat “Lindsay Box,” the nickname for the inexpensive modular libraries constructed during the John V. Lindsay administration, with tiny windows. Gould plans to open the facade and better connect the interior to the neighborhood. “We’re using a lot of the same themes, like access to natural light,” she says. With the five renovations now complete, NYPL hopes to receive additional capital funding from the city in order to modernize more Carnegie branches. “We want them to last for another hundred years,” Gould says. “As part of the fabric of New York, we think it’s just important to be stewards of these buildings and elevate them to what we think the public deserves. View the full article

Treasury yields look oversold after a rough week, but technical patterns still point to a broader uptrend that could push the 5- and 10-year closer to 5%, according to the head of correspondent business development at AD Mortgage. View the full article

President Donald The President said Sunday that he has demanded about seven countries send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, but his appeals have brought no commitments as oil prices soar during the Iran war. The president declined to name the countries heavily reliant on Middle East crude that the administration is negotiating with to join a coalition to police the waterway where about one-fifth the world’s traded oil normally flows. “I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their own territory,” The President said about the strait, claiming the shipping channel is not something the United States needs because of its own access to oil. The President spoke while answering reporters’ questions as he flew back to Washington from Florida aboard Air Force One. The President said China gets about 90% of its oil from the strait, while the U.S. gets a minimal amount. He declined to discuss whether China will join the coalition. “It would be nice to have other countries police that with us, and we’ll help. We’ll work with them,” The President said. Previously, he has appealed to China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier told CBS that Tehran has been “approached by a number of countries” seeking safe passage for their vessels, “and this is up to our military to decide.” He said a group of vessels from “different countries” had been allowed to pass, without providing details. Iran has said the strait is open to all except the United States and its allies. Araghchi added that “we don’t see any reason why we should talk with Americans” about finding a way to end the war, noting that Israel and the U.S. started the fighting with coordinated attacks on Feb. 28 during indirect U.S.-Iran talks on Iran’s nuclear program. He also said Tehran had “no plan to recover” the enriched uranium that is under rubble following U.S. and Israeli attacks last year. Countries are cautious after The President’s call U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told NBC earlier Sunday that he has been “in dialogue” with some of the countries The President had mentioned previously, and said he expected China “will be a constructive partner” in reopening the strait. But countries made no promises. Britain said Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday discussed with The President the importance of reopening the strait “to end the disruption to global shipping,” and spoke with Canada’s prime minister about it separately. Aboard Air Force One, The President specifically named Starmer, who he said initially declined to put British aircraft carriers “into harm’s way.” “Whether we get support or not, but I can say this, and I said to them: We will remember,” The President said. A spokesperson for China’s embassy to the U.S., Liu Pengyu, said previously that “all parties have the responsibility to ensure stable and unimpeded energy supply” and that China would “strengthen communication with relevant parties” for de-escalation. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said it “takes note” of The President’s call and that it “will closely coordinate and carefully review” the situation with the U.S. Expectations are high that The President will ask Japan directly when Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets him on Thursday at the White House. France previously said it is working with countries — President Emmanuel Macron mentioned partners in Europe, India and Asia — on a possible international mission to escort ships through the strait but has stressed it must be when “the circumstances permit,” when fighting has subsided. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul of Germany, which was not mentioned in The President’s call, told ARD television: “Will we soon be an active part of this conflict? No.” Meanwhile, emergency oil stocks “will soon start flowing to global markets,” the International Energy Agency said Sunday, describing the collective action to lower prices “by far the largest ever.” It updated last week’s announcement of 400 million barrels to nearly 412 million. Asian member countries plan to release stocks “immediately,” and reserves from Europe and the Americas will be released “from the end of March.” The President didn’t directly answer whether his administration is talking about selling oil futures as a way to cap surging oil prices. “The prices are going to come tumbling down as soon as it’s over. And it’s going to be over pretty quickly,” he told reporters. More missile and drone attacks are reported Gulf Arab states including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain reported new missile or drone attacks a day after Iran called for the evacuation of three major ports in the United Arab Emirates — the first time it has threatened a neighboring country’s non-U.S. assets. Dubai temporarily suspended flights at its international airport — the world’s busiest — after a drone hit a fuel tank and caused a fire. Civil defense crews contained the blaze and no injuries were reported, authorities said. Tehran has claimed that Friday’s U.S. strikes on Kharg Island, home to Iran’s primary oil terminal, were launched from the UAE, without providing evidence. It has threatened to attack U.S.-linked “oil, economic and energy infrastructures” if its oil infrastructure is hit. U.S. Central Command said it had no response to Iran’s claim, and Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, rejected it. Gulf countries that host U.S. bases have denied allowing their land or airspace to be used for military operations against Iran. Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Arab Gulf neighbors during the war, causing significant damage and rattling economies even as most are intercepted. Tehran says it targets U.S. assets, even as Iranian strikes are reported at civilian sites such as airports and oil fields. War’s toll mounts across the region Iranian strikes have killed at least a dozen civilians in Gulf countries, most of them migrant workers. In Iran, the International Committee for the Red Cross said more than 1,300 people have been killed. Iran’s Health Ministry said 223 women and 202 children are among the dead, according to Mizan, the judiciary’s official news agency. Iran’s government on Sunday showed journalists buildings damaged by strikes in Tehran on Friday. A police station was hit and surrounding buildings were damaged. Some apartments’ outer walls had been stripped away. “God had mercy on all of us,” said Elham Movagghari, a resident. Other Iranians are leaving the country. In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire and more have been injured, including three on Sunday. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed, six in a plane crash in Iraq last week. At least 820 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to its Health Ministry, since Iran-backed Hezbollah hit Israel and Israel responded with strikes and sent additional troops into southern Lebanon. In just 10 days, more than 800,000 people — nearly one out of every seven residents of Lebanon — have been displaced. More Iranian missile strikes hit Israel Israel’s military said early Monday that Iran launched missiles toward Israel. Earlier, several strikes hit central Israel and the Tel Aviv area, where they caused damage at 23 sites and sparked a small fire. Magen David Adom, Israel’s rescue service, released video showing a large crater in a street and shrapnel damage to an apartment building. Israel’s military says Iran is firing cluster bombs that can evade some air defenses and scatter submunitions across multiple locations. This version corrects to say Araghchi was speaking to CBS, not NBC as previously reported. Contributing were Associated Press journalists Darlene Superville, Fatima Hussein, Tia Goldenberg, Sally Abou AlJoud, Fadi Tawil, John Leicester and Christopher Weber. —Sam Metz, Will Weissert, Julia Frankel and Cara Anna, Associated Press View the full article

UK prime minister says Britain will not be drawn into ‘wider war’View the full article

Loyalty cards provide several key benefits that can improve your shopping experience. They offer rewards that can lead to increased savings, exclusive discounts, and personalized offers based on your preferences. These programs not just cultivate a stronger connection between you and the brand but also create opportunities for community engagement. Comprehending these advantages can help you make informed choices about which loyalty programs to join and how to maximize their value. What other benefits might you discover? Key Takeaways Loyalty cards enhance the shopping experience by providing tangible rewards, such as discounts and redeemable points, encouraging customer engagement. Members gain access to exclusive offers and discounts, leading to potential savings of up to 25% annually during redemption periods. Personalized benefits, tailored to individual shopping habits, increase customer satisfaction and brand loyalty through relevant promotions and discounts. Emotional connections fostered by loyalty programs encourage repeat purchases and positive word-of-mouth, strengthening brand loyalty. Data-driven insights from loyalty programs improve business strategies, enhancing customer experiences and mutually benefiting both customers and businesses. Enhanced Shopping Experience Through Rewards Loyalty cards improve your shopping experience by providing tangible rewards that can make each visit more valuable. One of the main loyalty card benefits is the ability to earn discounts, exclusive deals, and points redeemable for future purchases, which can incentivize you to return more frequently. You may find that customers participating in loyalty programs increase their spending by an average of 67%, driven by the rewards they can accumulate. Programs like Starbucks Rewards exemplify this, allowing you to collect points with every transaction, leading to free items and a sense of satisfaction. Additionally, many loyalty programs personalize rewards based on your shopping habits, ensuring you receive benefits that align with your interests. Overall, the advantages of loyalty cards for customers extend beyond mere savings; they encourage greater engagement, making your shopping experience more rewarding and enjoyable. Access to Exclusive Offers and Discounts With a loyalty card, you gain access to exclusive offers and discounts that can greatly reduce your shopping costs. Many programs reward you with early access to sales, allowing you to snag deals before they’re available to everyone else. Furthermore, you can benefit from customized promotions based on your shopping habits, making your loyalty card experience even more valuable. Special Promotions and Deals Accessing special promotions and deals can greatly improve your shopping experience, especially when you’re a part of a loyalty program. Many retailers tailor discounts based on your individual purchasing behavior, making these promotions more relevant and appealing. In fact, 66% of shoppers say that earning and using rewards greatly influences their buying decisions. During redemption periods, loyalty cardholders often experience an average increase of 25% in annual spending, as they’re incentivized to take advantage of exclusive offers. These special promotions not just enhance your shopping experience but additionally contribute to a brand’s revenue growth, with companies seeing up to 2.5 times faster growth when they implement effective loyalty programs. Enjoying these benefits can lead to smarter shopping choices. Early Access Opportunities When you join a loyalty program, you often gain early access to exclusive offers and discounts that can improve your shopping experience. This privilege allows you to shop sales before the general public, securing limited-time deals that others miss. Here are some key benefits of early access: Shop limited-time deals before anyone else. Receive special promotions customized to your spending level. Enjoy tiered rewards that increase with higher purchases. Take advantage of exclusive events just for loyalty members. Experience a sense of urgency that boosts your shopping satisfaction. These early access opportunities not just make your shopping more rewarding but also encourage repeat visits, eventually increasing your lifetime value as a customer. Personalized Benefits Tailored to Customer Preferences Loyalty programs are increasingly designed to offer personalized benefits that align with your shopping habits and preferences, enhancing your overall experience. These programs often provide customized rewards, such as discounts on items you buy frequently. Studies show that consumers prefer personalized experiences, and individualized rewards can greatly boost your engagement and satisfaction. For example, wineries that offer discounts on specific products, like wineries giving deals on your favorite wine types, see higher repeat purchase rates. The data collected through these loyalty programs helps businesses understand customer behavior better, enabling them to create targeted offers that resonate with different segments. This strategy not only improves marketing effectiveness but also guarantees that you receive relevant benefits. In the end, personalized rewards make you feel valued, as they reflect your unique preferences and shopping patterns, enhancing your overall loyalty to the brand and encouraging you to return for future purchases. Strengthened Brand Loyalty and Emotional Connection Building a strong emotional connection with a brand can greatly improve customer loyalty, as studies indicate that 75% of consumers are willing to switch brands for better loyalty programs. When loyalty programs reward you for your commitment, you’re likely to feel a deeper connection, which enriches your overall shopping experience. This emotional bond can lead to repeat purchases and even make you a brand advocate. Here are some key benefits of strengthened brand loyalty through loyalty cards: Increased likelihood of repeat purchases A 67% increase in spending compared to new buyers Positive word-of-mouth marketing from satisfied loyalty members Reduced chances of exploring alternative brands Elevated engagement with the brand’s offerings Opportunities for Social Engagement and Community Building As customers engage with brands through loyalty programs, they often discover unique opportunities for social interaction and community building. Many loyalty programs host exclusive events or create forums for members, allowing you to connect with others who share your interests in the brand. This sense of belonging can improve your overall experience. Moreover, members tend to interact more with brands on social media, leading to meaningful conversations and connections. Loyalty programs also frequently offer referral bonuses, encouraging you to share your positive experiences with friends and family, which helps expand the brand’s community through word-of-mouth. Active participation in these loyalty communities can increase your satisfaction as you receive personalized communication and recognition. In addition, brands that effectively leverage these programs often see a rise in customer advocacy, with loyal members more likely to promote the brand and engage in community-driven initiatives. Increased Savings and Financial Incentives Engaging with loyalty programs not just encourages community interaction but furthermore opens the door to increased savings and financial incentives. By participating, you can reveal a range of benefits that improve your shopping experience and budget. Here are some key advantages: Exclusive discounts and promotions that lead to significant savings on future purchases. Potential savings of up to 25% annually through reward redemption compared to non-members. Personalized discounts based on your purchasing history, aligning savings with your preferences. Access to special sales events and flash deals unavailable to the general public. Increased purchasing capability, as loyalty members tend to spend 67% more than new customers. These features not only make shopping more rewarding but likewise provide you with valuable financial incentives to maximize your spending wisely. Valuable Insights and Data Utilization for Better Services Loyalty programs play a crucial role in helping businesses collect valuable insights about their customers, enabling them to customize services and offerings more effectively. By analyzing data from loyalty card usage, companies can understand shopping frequency, spending habits, and product preferences, allowing for targeted promotions that meet individual needs. Here’s a quick overview of how these insights can be utilized: Insight Type Customer Benefit Business Benefit Shopping Frequency Personalized rewards Improved inventory management Spending Habits Relevant promotions Improved marketing strategies Product Preferences Customized services Informed product development Utilizing these insights leads to improved customer experiences and increased engagement. Feedback from loyalty programs likewise guides service improvements, ensuring that offerings align with customer expectations and desires, ultimately benefiting both you and the business. Frequently Asked Questions What Are the Benefits of a Loyalty Card? A loyalty card offers several benefits that improve your shopping experience. You earn points on every purchase, which can lead to discounts or rewards, encouraging you to shop more frequently. Many programs provide exclusive offers, ensuring you save money compared to non-members. Furthermore, tiered rewards allow you to access better benefits as you spend more, creating a sense of achievement and boosting your overall satisfaction with the brand you choose. What Is an Advantage of Customer Loyalty? An advantage of customer loyalty lies in the increased spending that loyal customers typically exhibit. When you consistently shop at the same store, you often develop preferences and trust, which can lead you to spend more than occasional shoppers. This loyalty not merely benefits you through better deals and rewards but additionally provides businesses with a stable revenue base. As a result, both you and the business can thrive through this mutual relationship. What Are the 4 C’s of Customer Loyalty? The 4 C’s of customer loyalty are Customer Value, Customer Engagement, Customer Experience, and Customer Advocacy. Customer Value focuses on providing rewards that meet your needs, enhancing your spending. Customer Engagement involves creating meaningful interactions through personalized offers, encouraging repeat purchases. Customer Experience guarantees your shopping path is seamless and enjoyable, boosting satisfaction. Finally, Customer Advocacy motivates you to share positive experiences, influencing others and contributing to the brand’s growth through word-of-mouth. What Are the 3 R’s of Customer Loyalty? The three R’s of customer loyalty are Retention, Referral, and Revenue. Retention focuses on keeping existing customers engaged and satisfied, which is essential for business stability. Referral encourages satisfied customers to recommend your brand to others, broadening your customer base. Revenue emphasizes maximizing the financial contributions from loyal customers, who typically spend considerably more over time. Conclusion To conclude, loyalty cards offer significant advantages that improve your shopping experience. By providing rewards, exclusive discounts, and personalized benefits, these programs can influence your purchasing decisions and increase your savings. They likewise help build a stronger connection with brands, nurturing loyalty and advocacy. Furthermore, the data gathered from your preferences allows businesses to refine their services, ensuring that their offerings align with your expectations. Overall, loyalty cards can lead to a more satisfying and rewarding shopping experience. Image via Google Gemini and ArtSmart This article, "7 Key Advantages of Loyalty Cards for Customers" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Loyalty cards provide several key benefits that can improve your shopping experience. They offer rewards that can lead to increased savings, exclusive discounts, and personalized offers based on your preferences. These programs not just cultivate a stronger connection between you and the brand but also create opportunities for community engagement. Comprehending these advantages can help you make informed choices about which loyalty programs to join and how to maximize their value. What other benefits might you discover? Key Takeaways Loyalty cards enhance the shopping experience by providing tangible rewards, such as discounts and redeemable points, encouraging customer engagement. Members gain access to exclusive offers and discounts, leading to potential savings of up to 25% annually during redemption periods. Personalized benefits, tailored to individual shopping habits, increase customer satisfaction and brand loyalty through relevant promotions and discounts. Emotional connections fostered by loyalty programs encourage repeat purchases and positive word-of-mouth, strengthening brand loyalty. Data-driven insights from loyalty programs improve business strategies, enhancing customer experiences and mutually benefiting both customers and businesses. Enhanced Shopping Experience Through Rewards Loyalty cards improve your shopping experience by providing tangible rewards that can make each visit more valuable. One of the main loyalty card benefits is the ability to earn discounts, exclusive deals, and points redeemable for future purchases, which can incentivize you to return more frequently. You may find that customers participating in loyalty programs increase their spending by an average of 67%, driven by the rewards they can accumulate. Programs like Starbucks Rewards exemplify this, allowing you to collect points with every transaction, leading to free items and a sense of satisfaction. Additionally, many loyalty programs personalize rewards based on your shopping habits, ensuring you receive benefits that align with your interests. Overall, the advantages of loyalty cards for customers extend beyond mere savings; they encourage greater engagement, making your shopping experience more rewarding and enjoyable. Access to Exclusive Offers and Discounts With a loyalty card, you gain access to exclusive offers and discounts that can greatly reduce your shopping costs. Many programs reward you with early access to sales, allowing you to snag deals before they’re available to everyone else. Furthermore, you can benefit from customized promotions based on your shopping habits, making your loyalty card experience even more valuable. Special Promotions and Deals Accessing special promotions and deals can greatly improve your shopping experience, especially when you’re a part of a loyalty program. Many retailers tailor discounts based on your individual purchasing behavior, making these promotions more relevant and appealing. In fact, 66% of shoppers say that earning and using rewards greatly influences their buying decisions. During redemption periods, loyalty cardholders often experience an average increase of 25% in annual spending, as they’re incentivized to take advantage of exclusive offers. These special promotions not just enhance your shopping experience but additionally contribute to a brand’s revenue growth, with companies seeing up to 2.5 times faster growth when they implement effective loyalty programs. Enjoying these benefits can lead to smarter shopping choices. Early Access Opportunities When you join a loyalty program, you often gain early access to exclusive offers and discounts that can improve your shopping experience. This privilege allows you to shop sales before the general public, securing limited-time deals that others miss. Here are some key benefits of early access: Shop limited-time deals before anyone else. Receive special promotions customized to your spending level. Enjoy tiered rewards that increase with higher purchases. Take advantage of exclusive events just for loyalty members. Experience a sense of urgency that boosts your shopping satisfaction. These early access opportunities not just make your shopping more rewarding but also encourage repeat visits, eventually increasing your lifetime value as a customer. Personalized Benefits Tailored to Customer Preferences Loyalty programs are increasingly designed to offer personalized benefits that align with your shopping habits and preferences, enhancing your overall experience. These programs often provide customized rewards, such as discounts on items you buy frequently. Studies show that consumers prefer personalized experiences, and individualized rewards can greatly boost your engagement and satisfaction. For example, wineries that offer discounts on specific products, like wineries giving deals on your favorite wine types, see higher repeat purchase rates. The data collected through these loyalty programs helps businesses understand customer behavior better, enabling them to create targeted offers that resonate with different segments. This strategy not only improves marketing effectiveness but also guarantees that you receive relevant benefits. In the end, personalized rewards make you feel valued, as they reflect your unique preferences and shopping patterns, enhancing your overall loyalty to the brand and encouraging you to return for future purchases. Strengthened Brand Loyalty and Emotional Connection Building a strong emotional connection with a brand can greatly improve customer loyalty, as studies indicate that 75% of consumers are willing to switch brands for better loyalty programs. When loyalty programs reward you for your commitment, you’re likely to feel a deeper connection, which enriches your overall shopping experience. This emotional bond can lead to repeat purchases and even make you a brand advocate. Here are some key benefits of strengthened brand loyalty through loyalty cards: Increased likelihood of repeat purchases A 67% increase in spending compared to new buyers Positive word-of-mouth marketing from satisfied loyalty members Reduced chances of exploring alternative brands Elevated engagement with the brand’s offerings Opportunities for Social Engagement and Community Building As customers engage with brands through loyalty programs, they often discover unique opportunities for social interaction and community building. Many loyalty programs host exclusive events or create forums for members, allowing you to connect with others who share your interests in the brand. This sense of belonging can improve your overall experience. Moreover, members tend to interact more with brands on social media, leading to meaningful conversations and connections. Loyalty programs also frequently offer referral bonuses, encouraging you to share your positive experiences with friends and family, which helps expand the brand’s community through word-of-mouth. Active participation in these loyalty communities can increase your satisfaction as you receive personalized communication and recognition. In addition, brands that effectively leverage these programs often see a rise in customer advocacy, with loyal members more likely to promote the brand and engage in community-driven initiatives. Increased Savings and Financial Incentives Engaging with loyalty programs not just encourages community interaction but furthermore opens the door to increased savings and financial incentives. By participating, you can reveal a range of benefits that improve your shopping experience and budget. Here are some key advantages: Exclusive discounts and promotions that lead to significant savings on future purchases. Potential savings of up to 25% annually through reward redemption compared to non-members. Personalized discounts based on your purchasing history, aligning savings with your preferences. Access to special sales events and flash deals unavailable to the general public. Increased purchasing capability, as loyalty members tend to spend 67% more than new customers. These features not only make shopping more rewarding but likewise provide you with valuable financial incentives to maximize your spending wisely. Valuable Insights and Data Utilization for Better Services Loyalty programs play a crucial role in helping businesses collect valuable insights about their customers, enabling them to customize services and offerings more effectively. By analyzing data from loyalty card usage, companies can understand shopping frequency, spending habits, and product preferences, allowing for targeted promotions that meet individual needs. Here’s a quick overview of how these insights can be utilized: Insight Type Customer Benefit Business Benefit Shopping Frequency Personalized rewards Improved inventory management Spending Habits Relevant promotions Improved marketing strategies Product Preferences Customized services Informed product development Utilizing these insights leads to improved customer experiences and increased engagement. Feedback from loyalty programs likewise guides service improvements, ensuring that offerings align with customer expectations and desires, ultimately benefiting both you and the business. Frequently Asked Questions What Are the Benefits of a Loyalty Card? A loyalty card offers several benefits that improve your shopping experience. You earn points on every purchase, which can lead to discounts or rewards, encouraging you to shop more frequently. Many programs provide exclusive offers, ensuring you save money compared to non-members. Furthermore, tiered rewards allow you to access better benefits as you spend more, creating a sense of achievement and boosting your overall satisfaction with the brand you choose. What Is an Advantage of Customer Loyalty? An advantage of customer loyalty lies in the increased spending that loyal customers typically exhibit. When you consistently shop at the same store, you often develop preferences and trust, which can lead you to spend more than occasional shoppers. This loyalty not merely benefits you through better deals and rewards but additionally provides businesses with a stable revenue base. As a result, both you and the business can thrive through this mutual relationship. What Are the 4 C’s of Customer Loyalty? The 4 C’s of customer loyalty are Customer Value, Customer Engagement, Customer Experience, and Customer Advocacy. Customer Value focuses on providing rewards that meet your needs, enhancing your spending. Customer Engagement involves creating meaningful interactions through personalized offers, encouraging repeat purchases. Customer Experience guarantees your shopping path is seamless and enjoyable, boosting satisfaction. Finally, Customer Advocacy motivates you to share positive experiences, influencing others and contributing to the brand’s growth through word-of-mouth. What Are the 3 R’s of Customer Loyalty? The three R’s of customer loyalty are Retention, Referral, and Revenue. Retention focuses on keeping existing customers engaged and satisfied, which is essential for business stability. Referral encourages satisfied customers to recommend your brand to others, broadening your customer base. Revenue emphasizes maximizing the financial contributions from loyal customers, who typically spend considerably more over time. Conclusion To conclude, loyalty cards offer significant advantages that improve your shopping experience. By providing rewards, exclusive discounts, and personalized benefits, these programs can influence your purchasing decisions and increase your savings. They likewise help build a stronger connection with brands, nurturing loyalty and advocacy. Furthermore, the data gathered from your preferences allows businesses to refine their services, ensuring that their offerings align with your expectations. Overall, loyalty cards can lead to a more satisfying and rewarding shopping experience. Image via Google Gemini and ArtSmart This article, "7 Key Advantages of Loyalty Cards for Customers" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Pedro Dias traces the recurring cycle of mass-produced SEO content and explains why the “publish more pages” playbook always ends the same way. The post You’re Not Scaling Content. You’re Scaling Disappointment appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

This week, the young people on TikTok have uncovered a new way to prepare breakfast and an evocative way to describe the feeling that something bad is coming. That's a pretty good week, but they've also taken to LARPing as artificial intelligence, and finding something interesting about Staples stores. Here's what all of that means. What are "frambled eggs"?I can't believe I never thought of this. "Frambled" is a portmanteau of "fried" and "scrambled." It's eggs prepared partly scrambled, but with the yolk intact. The culinary breakthrough seems to have been invented by TikToker @bussyrelate in this video: Although their commenters are calling it a "sunny scramble," as if it's an known egg preparation style. New or not, everyone else on TikTok is giving it a shot. Judging from the videos I've been watching, there are two schools of frambled eggs. One is scrambled egg whites with intact yolk. The other is one egg fully scrambled mixed carefully in the pan with an egg where the yolk isn't touched. The preferred method seems to be to scramble 'em right in the pan, but you could separate the whites and yolks, scrambled the whites, and then put them in the frying pan. If you want to be fancy. What does "The saxophones are getting louder" mean?This meme-speak phrase isn't used that widely among young people, but it's such an evocative piece of slang, you should know it anyway. "The saxophones are getting louder" describes a feeling of impending disaster. It's a reference to the scene in 1991's Boyz n the Hood where the sound of a screeching saxophones precedes the death of Ricky. The meme seems to have started with this video: but has since expanded to include any situation in which doom is imminent. The saxophones start getting louder when you remember there's pistachios in the dessert right after your allergic brother gives it a taste: when the nurses at the hospital start moving quickly: when there are gunshots at the pool party: and maybe whenever you start really thinking about what's happening: If you like ominous videos as much as I do, check out the collection connected to the sound clip. "Your AI Slop Bores Me" lets people replace AII love a free web game, especially one that comments on AI. Your AI Slop Bores Me cuts the artificial out of artificial intelligence and lets you ask questions or request drawings from an anonymous human instead. Or you can become the AI and answer queries. The answers highlight the difference between fake intelligence and people. You don't get responses like this from ChatGPT: Credit: Stephen Johnson or like this: Credit: Stephen Johnson Viral video of the week: Staples BaddieIf you're like me, you think ubiquitous office supply store Staples is boring, if you think of Staples at all. But we are so wrong. To a growing number of young people, Staples is more than a place to get printer paper when you forget to order it from Amazon. Staples is cool, and it's thanks to one person: TikTok user and Staples employee Kaeden Rowland. Dubbed "Staples Baddie," Rowland's TikTok channel is blowing up, with millions of views on videos describing the things you can do at your local Staples. Like make a custom mug: Or a personalized signature stamp: You can make stickers, too. Or have a mailing sent out to masses of people. There's a lot. While Staples Baddie's popularity is no doubt making Staples Corporate happy, another supposed Staples wage slave is not happy at all. "I'm a Staples worker and Staples Baddie is ruining my life," says Aran in a TikTok response video. "Staples was not a busy store. We would maybe have three people in the store at any given time. Now that the Staples Baddie has gone viral, we get hundreds of people every day." "I was really loving how my job was just kind of sitting around," Aran concludes. On a deeper level, this could all be a corporate advertising. According to CNN's reporting, Staples Baddie is legitimately a Staples employee, but I saw the story of Aran on People.com, and that publication seemed unaware that Aran doesn't actually work at Staples: In other videos they've posted, Aran has claimed to work at Spirit Halloween, AMC, and has said they are a med student. Even if he doesn't work there, according to many Staples employees online, Aran's point is legit, and Staples Baddie is making things harder for everyone else at the chain store. "If they're just a regular person and not a marketing ploy, higher up employee or being paid extra, it makes me mad that customers see a fun glimpse instead of what we deal with, how we're treated and how little we get paid," posts Reddit's u/Dear_Ad63. View the full article

When crafting customer satisfaction surveys, it’s vital to include specific questions that yield actionable feedback. Start by gauging overall satisfaction, then assess customer support effectiveness, product quality, pricing perceptions, and finally, encourage open-ended responses for deeper insights. Each of these elements plays a notable role in comprehending customer needs. By focusing on these five fundamental questions, you can greatly improve the quality of feedback you receive, leading to more informed business decisions. What might those questions look like? Key Takeaways Rate your overall satisfaction with our products/services on a scale of 1 to 5. How effectively did our customer service address your issue during your recent interaction? What specific features of the product do you appreciate the most? Do you feel our pricing reflects good value for the quality offered? Please share any additional comments or suggestions to improve your experience. General Satisfaction Questions How do general satisfaction questions help businesses comprehend their customers? These questions, often part of customer satisfaction surveys, gauge your overall perception of a company’s products or services. They typically feature a rating scale, allowing you to express your satisfaction level quantitatively. This data can then be analyzed for trends over time, helping businesses identify strengths and areas needing improvement. User satisfaction survey questions can range from simple inquiries like “How satisfied are you with our service?” to more detailed prompts about specific aspects of your experience. Including open-ended options alongside rating scales helps gather deeper qualitative insights into customer sentiments. Regularly measuring general satisfaction is essential, as it enables businesses to track changes in customer sentiment, leading to timely adjustments that improve your overall experience and loyalty. By comprehending your feedback, companies can better meet your needs and expectations. Customer Support Experience Questions Customer support experience questions play a crucial role in evaluating how effectively service representatives meet your needs. These questions help gauge the responsiveness and effectiveness of support interactions, providing valuable insights into your overall satisfaction. Consider including the following key questions in your surveys: On a scale of 1 to 5, how would you rate the responsiveness of our customer service? Were your issues resolved satisfactorily during your interaction with support? How clear was the communication from our customer service representatives? How easy was it for you to access support resources, such as FAQs or self-service options? Product Quality Assessment Questions What factors contribute to a product’s perceived quality? Product quality assessment questions are crucial for comprehending how well your product meets customer expectations. You can gauge this through metrics like durability, performance, and reliability. A common question to ask is, “How satisfied are you with the quality of our product?” using a scale from 1 to 5 to quantify feedback. Furthermore, it’s valuable to identify specific features customers appreciate, such as ease of use or effectiveness, which can guide your improvement efforts. Incorporating open-ended questions, like “What improvements would you suggest for our product?” allows for detailed responses and deeper insights into customer experiences. Analyzing the answers to these questions over time can reveal trends, helping you track improvements or declines in customer satisfaction as your product evolves. By focusing on these areas, you can refine your product’s quality and meet customer needs more effectively. Pricing and Value Perception Questions Pricing and value perception questions play a critical role in comprehending how customers view the relationship between a product’s cost and its benefits. These questions help you gauge whether customers feel that what they pay aligns with the quality they receive, which influences their overall satisfaction and loyalty. Consider including questions such as: How do you perceive the pricing of our product compared to competitors? Do you believe our product offers good value for money? What factors influence your perception of our pricing? How likely are you to recommend us based on our pricing structure? Open-Ended Feedback Questions Gathering insights through open-ended feedback questions can considerably improve your grasp of customer experiences and perceptions. These questions allow customers to express their thoughts and feelings in their own words, providing richer qualitative data often missed by structured questions. By asking open-ended questions, you can uncover unique insights, like unexpected pain points or positive experiences, which help you comprehend customer sentiment beyond just numbers. These questions encourage detailed responses, highlighting specific areas for improvement or innovation that quantitative data might overlook. Furthermore, when customers see that their opinions are valued, it nurtures engagement and loyalty for your brand. In the meantime, analyzing open-ended responses can be more complex; employing text analysis tools can assist in identifying common themes and sentiments across the feedback you receive. In the end, integrating open-ended questions into your surveys can lead to a deeper awareness of your customers and their needs. Frequently Asked Questions What Questions Should I Ask in a Customer Satisfaction Survey? In a customer satisfaction survey, you should ask questions that assess overall satisfaction, like “How satisfied are you with our product/service?” Incorporate a rating scale for clarity. Include open-ended questions, such as “What improvements would you like to see?” to gather specific feedback. Measuring customer loyalty is essential, so ask, “How likely are you to recommend us?” Additionally, inquire about ease of use: “How easy was it to navigate our website/app?” What Are the 3 C’s of Customer Satisfaction? The 3 C’s of customer satisfaction are Clarity, Consistency, and Care. Clarity guarantees you’re communicating effectively about your products and services, helping customers know exactly what to expect. Consistency means delivering the same quality and service every time, which builds trust. Care involves genuinely valuing customer feedback and addressing their needs. Together, these principles create a strong foundation for positive experiences, eventually leading to increased loyalty and retention among your customer base. What Are the Best Survey Questions for Feedback? To gather meaningful feedback, you should include specific questions in your survey. Start with a satisfaction scale, like “How satisfied are you with our product/service?” Next, ask about loyalty with, “How likely are you to recommend us?” Open-ended questions such as, “What could we improve?” are essential for detailed insights. Furthermore, consider the ease of interaction by asking, “How easy was it to resolve your issue?” Finally, demographic questions help segment responses effectively. What Is the 5 Point Scale for Customer Satisfaction Survey? The 5-point scale for customer satisfaction surveys ranges from 1, indicating very dissatisfied, to 5, representing very satisfied. This scale simplifies data collection and analysis, allowing you to easily calculate average satisfaction scores. It includes a neutral option (3), which helps reduce response bias and encourages honest feedback. Conclusion Incorporating these five crucial questions into your customer satisfaction surveys can greatly improve the feedback you receive. By addressing overall satisfaction, customer support experiences, product quality, pricing perceptions, and encouraging open-ended responses, you can gain valuable insights into customer preferences and needs. This approach not merely helps identify areas for improvement but additionally nurtures a stronger connection with your customers, ultimately leading to better service and increased loyalty. Prioritize these questions to cultivate a more effective feedback loop. Image via Google Gemini and ArtSmart This article, "5 Essential Questions for Customer Satisfaction Surveys to Boost Feedback" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

When crafting customer satisfaction surveys, it’s vital to include specific questions that yield actionable feedback. Start by gauging overall satisfaction, then assess customer support effectiveness, product quality, pricing perceptions, and finally, encourage open-ended responses for deeper insights. Each of these elements plays a notable role in comprehending customer needs. By focusing on these five fundamental questions, you can greatly improve the quality of feedback you receive, leading to more informed business decisions. What might those questions look like? Key Takeaways Rate your overall satisfaction with our products/services on a scale of 1 to 5. How effectively did our customer service address your issue during your recent interaction? What specific features of the product do you appreciate the most? Do you feel our pricing reflects good value for the quality offered? Please share any additional comments or suggestions to improve your experience. General Satisfaction Questions How do general satisfaction questions help businesses comprehend their customers? These questions, often part of customer satisfaction surveys, gauge your overall perception of a company’s products or services. They typically feature a rating scale, allowing you to express your satisfaction level quantitatively. This data can then be analyzed for trends over time, helping businesses identify strengths and areas needing improvement. User satisfaction survey questions can range from simple inquiries like “How satisfied are you with our service?” to more detailed prompts about specific aspects of your experience. Including open-ended options alongside rating scales helps gather deeper qualitative insights into customer sentiments. Regularly measuring general satisfaction is essential, as it enables businesses to track changes in customer sentiment, leading to timely adjustments that improve your overall experience and loyalty. By comprehending your feedback, companies can better meet your needs and expectations. Customer Support Experience Questions Customer support experience questions play a crucial role in evaluating how effectively service representatives meet your needs. These questions help gauge the responsiveness and effectiveness of support interactions, providing valuable insights into your overall satisfaction. Consider including the following key questions in your surveys: On a scale of 1 to 5, how would you rate the responsiveness of our customer service? Were your issues resolved satisfactorily during your interaction with support? How clear was the communication from our customer service representatives? How easy was it for you to access support resources, such as FAQs or self-service options? Product Quality Assessment Questions What factors contribute to a product’s perceived quality? Product quality assessment questions are crucial for comprehending how well your product meets customer expectations. You can gauge this through metrics like durability, performance, and reliability. A common question to ask is, “How satisfied are you with the quality of our product?” using a scale from 1 to 5 to quantify feedback. Furthermore, it’s valuable to identify specific features customers appreciate, such as ease of use or effectiveness, which can guide your improvement efforts. Incorporating open-ended questions, like “What improvements would you suggest for our product?” allows for detailed responses and deeper insights into customer experiences. Analyzing the answers to these questions over time can reveal trends, helping you track improvements or declines in customer satisfaction as your product evolves. By focusing on these areas, you can refine your product’s quality and meet customer needs more effectively. Pricing and Value Perception Questions Pricing and value perception questions play a critical role in comprehending how customers view the relationship between a product’s cost and its benefits. These questions help you gauge whether customers feel that what they pay aligns with the quality they receive, which influences their overall satisfaction and loyalty. Consider including questions such as: How do you perceive the pricing of our product compared to competitors? Do you believe our product offers good value for money? What factors influence your perception of our pricing? How likely are you to recommend us based on our pricing structure? Open-Ended Feedback Questions Gathering insights through open-ended feedback questions can considerably improve your grasp of customer experiences and perceptions. These questions allow customers to express their thoughts and feelings in their own words, providing richer qualitative data often missed by structured questions. By asking open-ended questions, you can uncover unique insights, like unexpected pain points or positive experiences, which help you comprehend customer sentiment beyond just numbers. These questions encourage detailed responses, highlighting specific areas for improvement or innovation that quantitative data might overlook. Furthermore, when customers see that their opinions are valued, it nurtures engagement and loyalty for your brand. In the meantime, analyzing open-ended responses can be more complex; employing text analysis tools can assist in identifying common themes and sentiments across the feedback you receive. In the end, integrating open-ended questions into your surveys can lead to a deeper awareness of your customers and their needs. Frequently Asked Questions What Questions Should I Ask in a Customer Satisfaction Survey? In a customer satisfaction survey, you should ask questions that assess overall satisfaction, like “How satisfied are you with our product/service?” Incorporate a rating scale for clarity. Include open-ended questions, such as “What improvements would you like to see?” to gather specific feedback. Measuring customer loyalty is essential, so ask, “How likely are you to recommend us?” Additionally, inquire about ease of use: “How easy was it to navigate our website/app?” What Are the 3 C’s of Customer Satisfaction? The 3 C’s of customer satisfaction are Clarity, Consistency, and Care. Clarity guarantees you’re communicating effectively about your products and services, helping customers know exactly what to expect. Consistency means delivering the same quality and service every time, which builds trust. Care involves genuinely valuing customer feedback and addressing their needs. Together, these principles create a strong foundation for positive experiences, eventually leading to increased loyalty and retention among your customer base. What Are the Best Survey Questions for Feedback? To gather meaningful feedback, you should include specific questions in your survey. Start with a satisfaction scale, like “How satisfied are you with our product/service?” Next, ask about loyalty with, “How likely are you to recommend us?” Open-ended questions such as, “What could we improve?” are essential for detailed insights. Furthermore, consider the ease of interaction by asking, “How easy was it to resolve your issue?” Finally, demographic questions help segment responses effectively. What Is the 5 Point Scale for Customer Satisfaction Survey? The 5-point scale for customer satisfaction surveys ranges from 1, indicating very dissatisfied, to 5, representing very satisfied. This scale simplifies data collection and analysis, allowing you to easily calculate average satisfaction scores. It includes a neutral option (3), which helps reduce response bias and encourages honest feedback. Conclusion Incorporating these five crucial questions into your customer satisfaction surveys can greatly improve the feedback you receive. By addressing overall satisfaction, customer support experiences, product quality, pricing perceptions, and encouraging open-ended responses, you can gain valuable insights into customer preferences and needs. This approach not merely helps identify areas for improvement but additionally nurtures a stronger connection with your customers, ultimately leading to better service and increased loyalty. Prioritize these questions to cultivate a more effective feedback loop. Image via Google Gemini and ArtSmart This article, "5 Essential Questions for Customer Satisfaction Surveys to Boost Feedback" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

CMS defaults now influence more of the web’s technical SEO than most consultants ever can, reshaping where optimization work creates real value. The post 3 CMS Platforms Control 73% Of The Market & Shape Technical SEO Defaults appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Samsung’s new Galaxy S26 Ultra launches with the usual Ultra series promise: the biggest screen, the most capable cameras, and the most features in the company’s lineup. It also launches with prices that reflects that ambition ($1,299.99 to $1,799.99). That said, Samsung is running an early promotion from March 16 through April 20 that can soften the blow. Buyers can save up to $720 with an eligible instant trade-in credit, or get $150 in credit without a trade-in to use toward other eligible Samsung devices. The deal applies directly through Samsung’s store, where the phone is also available with configuration options for storage and color. Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra Trade-in deal: up to $720 in instant credit at Samsung Get Deal Get Deal at Samsung The S26 Ultra builds on the formula Samsung has refined over the past few years. The phone keeps the large Ultra-style display, now using Samsung’s newest OLED panel with a high refresh rate and a peak brightness designed to stay readable in direct sunlight. Samsung also introduced a new privacy display feature that limits viewing angles so people nearby cannot easily see what’s on your screen. That feature was introduced alongside the phone during the company’s 2026 Unpacked event, and it is aimed at commuters or frequent travelers who often use their phone in public places. Samsung is also leaning heavily on the camera system this year. As we covered in our earlier look at the S26 cameras, the company appears confident about improvements to image processing and zoom performance. The Ultra line still targets people who treat their phone as their primary camera, and the hardware reflects that focus. Samsung built the S26 Ultra around a large multi-sensor camera system paired with its latest computational photography tools, aimed at users who regularly shoot photos, video, or social media content from their phone. But the device remains big and expensive even with discounts. Samsung raised prices across the S26 lineup this year, which we covered in our breakdown of the price increase. That makes the launch promotion more relevant for anyone already planning to upgrade from an older Galaxy device. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods 4 Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds — $148.99 (List Price $179.00) Samsung Galaxy S26 512GB + $100 Amazon Gift Card (Black) — $1,099.99 (List Price $1,099.99) Google Pixel 10a 128GB 6.3" Unlocked Smartphone + $100 Gift Card — $599.00 (List Price $599.00) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $299.00 (List Price $349.00) Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 42mm, S/M Black Sport Band) — $299.00 (List Price $399.00) Amazon Fire TV Soundbar — $99.99 (List Price $119.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

The rules of organic content are shifting from a “publish more” to a “prove more” mindset. Search results increasingly answer questions directly through AI summaries, shopping features, and other SERP integrations. Visibility alone doesn’t resolve buyer uncertainty. For ecommerce brands, organic visibility now requires recognition and trust amid the noise on the SERPs. The 2026 game is both simpler and more demanding. Invest in organic assets that: Reduce buyer uncertainty. Are machine-readable. Compound across multiple discovery surfaces. The forces shaping organic content’s ROI in 2026 Today’s search is defined by three forces changing how content performs. AI discovery is normal now Generative AI has become a standard part of the organic search results through features like Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode. These generative AIs answer broader questions directly, often pulling in citations from web content. AI Overviews were designed to help people get the gist of a topic quickly, providing a jumping-off point to explore links. However, time has shown they also contribute to fewer direct clicks on traditional search results, as users might get their answer entirely from the AI summary. So, if you want your ecommerce brand to earn organic visibility, you need content that AI will cite and that users will trust. Shopping-first SERPs reward structured product data Nowadays, Google’s search results are saturated with shopping features (e.g., product carousels, price comparison snippets, “Popular Products” lists, and more). Sometimes, they look more like the search results on an ecommerce site than a traditional organic SERP. These discovery surfaces are powered by structured product data and merchant feeds. Product pages must communicate clean data to Google. Product results depend on the quality of the attributes you provide. Google recommends that ecommerce sites include structured data on product pages and share complete product feeds for richer search appearances. The bottom line is that you need to invest in your product data infrastructure. When Google can reliably understand what you sell, it will showcase your products more prominently, helping you attract more qualified shoppers. Discovery is multi-platform The traditional funnel, where a customer Googles something and clicks your link, is evolving especially for Gen Z. Search now takes place on social media in huge numbers. Approximately 86% of Gen Z internet users report searching on TikTok weekly, almost as many as use Google. This means your potential customers might discover products through a TikTok video or an Instagram Reel long before they ever see your website. Here’s the pattern I see with ecommerce: Someone is scrolling on a social media app. They see your Reel, post, or ad. They don’t buy at that moment. Later, they Google you, or they Google the exact thing they saw. They land on your site. This is demand creation. Keep in mind that these types of results are showing up on Google, too. Meanwhile, AI platforms are already part of the discovery process. Social search behavior is here, so think of platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram as extensions of Google. Dig deeper: The social-to-search halo effect: Why social content drives branded search Your customers search everywhere. Make sure your brand shows up. The SEO toolkit you know, plus the AI visibility data you need. Start Free Trial Get started with 7 organic content investments that will pay off in 2026 So, where exactly should ecommerce teams focus their content resources? 1. Upgrade the money pages first Start with the pages that directly drive revenue (e.g., your product detail pages (PDPs), collection pages, and other high-intent landing pages). Make these pages conversion-ready. Go beyond the basic title, image, and price by adding content blocks that answer buyer anxieties. For example, your PDPs should include clear information on sizing/fit, compatibility, materials, care instructions, warranty, shipping and return policies, and genuine FAQs from real customers. To do this, find conversational queries through Google Search Console and look at one-star and two-star reviews, either on competitor products or your own, to see the exact questions, complaints, and doubts buyers have. Alternatively, you can get full clarity on the three types of obstacles that every single client has and focus on the emotional one. For each pain point, ask: What’s the obvious pain point? (surface-level problem) What’s the hidden pain point? (what they’re really worried about) What’s the emotional pain point? (the core feeling driving the decision) Here’s an example scenario: Imagine a mother who works remotely and has a baby who refuses to sleep: Obvious: “I can’t find time to get the baby to nap.” Hidden: “I don’t want to pay for something that might not work.” Emotional: “I feel like a bad mom if I can’t manage this.” That last one — the emotional obstacle — is the strongest. People buy relief. They buy confidence. They buy the feeling that things will be okay. On category pages, add filters that guide users (e.g., “Shop by size, color, or use case”), highlight top sellers or award-winning products, and include comparison links (e.g., “Best for X vs. Y”). Try to enrich these pages so that a customer who lands on them has all the info they need to feel confident making a purchase. The goal is a page that precisely matches the user’s intent and resolves uncertainties. 2. Focus on visual search optimization We live in a visual search world. Consumers are searching with images and even combinations of images and text. As Google itself noted, “… consumers are using their voices to find answers on the go, and their cameras to explore the world around them.” Search has expanded beyond the traditional text box. This shows ecommerce’s huge opportunity to invest in visual content optimization. Throughout 2025, there were over 100 billion visual searches via Google Lens and related visual tools, with one in five of those searches driven by someone looking to buy a product they saw. Up to 39% of consumers have used Pinterest as their search engine, per an Adobe study, and Instagram is clearly moving in the same direction. Shoppers are using images to find ideas, compare products, and determine what to buy. This means you need to optimize your ecommerce images and videos for organic search just as rigorously as your text content. Short-form videos and image carousels are what people watch most on Instagram and TikTok, and now that content is becoming easier to find through search. Instagram now allows keyword searches for posts, meaning alt text and caption keywords can help your posts appear in searches like “best winter boots.” Treat every image and video as a piece of searchable content. Dig deeper: 10 advanced ecommerce SEO tips that boost rankings and revenue 3. Feed Google the right product info: Schema and Merchant Center Structured data and product feeds aren’t optional. If you want Google to feature your products in shopping results (and pull correct info into AI answers), you need clean product data. Start with the product pages. Add Product schema on every PDP and include all the basics: name, description, image, brand, SKU, price, currency, availability, and offers. If you show reviews on the page, mark up reviews and ratings, too. If shipping cost, delivery time, or variants matter for the purchase, include that information as well. Only use FAQ/HowTo/Review schema when the content is actually on the page. Next, treat the Google Merchant Center feed like an SEO asset because Google does. Keep it accurate: use titles that match the product, correct categories, accurate price and stock information, and no mismatches with your PDPs. After you fix errors in Merchant Center, improve the feed by adding attributes like size, color, and material. Turn on automatic updates so Google can handle small changes. When Google can clearly read what you sell, it shows your products more often, and the clicks received are higher intent. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. 4. Build first-party ‘proof’ content (reviews, UGC, expert testing, etc.) Create content that credibly demonstrates the quality and performance of your products. This includes: Customer reviews and ratings on the site. Content your team creates that demonstrates first-hand experience with the products. For reviews, consider improving your review prompts to get more detailed feedback. For example, you can ask customers specific questions about fit, durability, or how they’re using the product. Find ways to highlight these insights on the PDP (e.g., a summary of common pros and cons). This kind of content signals to Google and users alike that the site offers genuine insights. A shopper is more likely to convert when they see real evidence, and this directly leads to higher conversion rates. If you publish in-depth product review articles or videos on your site, you can capture search queries for “[Product] review” or “is [Product] worth it,” because Google will “see” the first-hand expertise. Additionally, ecommerce brands can create their own original testing and use-case content. This might be blog articles or video snippets where the brand tests the product’s claims or compares it to alternatives. Essentially, brands should think like an in-house influencer evaluating their product. Dig deeper: How to make ecommerce product pages work in an AI-first world 5. Create decision-support content that feeds the money pages Νot all customers search for a specific product. Many start with broader questions. Capture these early-stage shoppers by creating both comparison and buyer’s guide content that funnels to your product pages. If shoppers aren’t sure what to choose, use formats that reduce confusion and give them a clear path forward, like quizzes or selectors (e.g., “Find your ideal [product] in 60 seconds”) and criteria-led guides (e.g., “How to choose a [category]: 7 factors that matter”). If they’re comparing options, help them narrow the shortlist with head-to-head comparisons (e.g., “[Product A] vs [Product B]”) and “best for” hubs (e.g., “Best [category] for small spaces” or “Best [category] under $X”). And if they’re scared of making the wrong choice, publish risk-reducing content like “mistakes to avoid” articles and “who it’s not for” pages (e.g., “Don’t buy [type] if you have [constraint]”). Each of these content pieces should be seen as an extension of your sales funnel: Design them to link directly to your relevant categories or products This type of content is the bridge between informational queries and purchase-ready sessions. 6. Strengthen retention with community content One of the smartest content investments an ecommerce brand can make is in content created by real people, whether that’s your customers, your employees, or trusted influencers. The reason UGC works so well is that it doesn’t feel like marketing. This isn’t surprising when you consider user behavior: People trust people. Brands should encourage and showcase UGC at every turn. This can mean reposting customer photos showing them using your product on social media, integrating reviews and customer images into your product pages, or running challenges to generate buzz. The key is to treat your customers as a content engine. Another trend is employee-generated content, or in simpler words: leveraging your team to humanize the brand. Forward-thinking ecommerce brands have employees take the stage in content, whether it’s a product development engineer doing a “behind the scenes” video, retail staff modeling new apparel on TikTok, or your founder writing thought-leadership articles. This insider perspective is paying off because it blends expertise with authenticity. Beyond individual pieces of content, ecommerce brands should invest in building communities around their products and niche. A great example is Instant Pot’s official Facebook group, which has over 3 million members. This community of passionate users shares recipes, tips, and excitement about using the product, which means they generate endless organic content for the brand. The best part? The group keeps existing customers engaged and serves as social proof to potential buyers. More brands are realizing that a community = continuous organic marketing. Here’s one more reason to invest in social proof and community: It can influence your search rankings. Google’s recent updates indicate that brand mentions across the web, engagement on social media, and UGC signals can all contribute to SEO. Dig deeper: Why ecommerce SEO audits fail – and what actually works in 30 days 7. Own your audience: Blogs, email newsletters, and content hubs While we’ve talked about discovery on external platforms, another area for organic content investment is your own channels. First, content-rich blogs or resources on your site are still a powerful organic asset. Yes, the content mix has shifted toward video and social, but consumers and search engines still value in-depth written content for certain needs. According to a recent HubSpot marketing report, blog posts are the third-most-popular content format among marketers. That shows blogs are still very much in play, even if they’re not the hottest format. The key is to evolve the blog strategy: Focus on quality over quantity. Target long-tail keywords and questions that your customers ask. Incorporate rich media into posts to keep them engaging. Next, email newsletters. The value of email lies in its ability to directly reach a highly engaged audience. Unlike social media, where your reach can be limited by algorithms, emails land straight in your subscribers’ inboxes, giving you full control over messaging and design. Keep in mind that your subscribers have opted in voluntarily, showing a clear interest in your content or offers. Investing in email marketing tools, hiring good copywriters, and designing emails with careful attention is worth it. Finally, content diversification within your owned media can pay dividends. This includes: Interactive content (quizzes, calculators, etc.). Podcasts or audio content. Even tools or apps that provide utility (which in turn produce content or data users engage with). The key here is aligning the content with what your customers care about. A smart organic content plan could look like this: Put real effort into short-form videos. Keep investing in blog and SEO content. Build community and collect user-generated content (reviews, photos, Q&A). Stay consistent with email and your newsletter. These channels work better when they work together. A blog post can become social posts and newsletter content. Customer reviews and photos can be used in emails and on product pages. Videos can be added to blog posts and category pages. When you connect everything, your content becomes one system that keeps bringing people in and turning them into customers. See the complete picture of your search visibility. Track, optimize, and win in Google and AI search from one platform. Start Free Trial Get started with What to deprioritize (and why it’s riskier now) Just as important as where to invest is knowing what content tactics to avoid. SEO blog content at scale If your strategy is to publish lots of generic blog posts just to target keywords, stop. Especially if that content is automated, templated, or written with minimal effort. You’ll spend time and money, and you will get zero results. Google has strengthened its spam policies against scaled content abuse, which includes content farms and auto-generated pages made only to win rankings. Anything that looks like manipulative ‘SEO trickery’ or reputation abuse Google is cracking down on tactics where sites leverage shady methods to rank. For example: Buying expired domains and filling them with content to gain website authority. Mass-publishing AI-written pages with no quality control. Fake reviews, review stuffing, or any attempt to game ratings. If it looks like a shortcut, it’s probably risky. In short, deprioritize quantity-over-quality approaches and any borderline spammy shortcuts. The direction is clear: Google wants originality, real value, and content made for people. Be present, valuable, and everywhere Ecommerce brands should invest in a multi-channel content strategy that prioritizes quality and is truly user-centric. You need to show up wherever customers search and measure success through visibility, engagement, trust, and sales. The best investment with the greatest ROI is content that’s both genuinely helpful and strong enough to reuse across different channels. View the full article

This Oscar cycle’s heavyweight battle is finally over. The politically charged action comedy “One Battle After Another” just managed to outmuscle Ryan Coogler’s musically driven vampire thriller “Sinners.” It was a 3 hour and 40 minute whirl through cinema and celebration, with Michael B. Jordan winning best actor for “Sinners” and Jessie Buckley winning for “Hamnet,” making her the first Irish performer to ever win in the category. There was electricity when Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman and Black person to win the cinematography award for “Sinners,” asking all the women in the Dolby Theatre to stand up because moments like this don’t happen without women “standing up for you and advocating for you.” Here were some other show highlights: The battle is over for one filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, one of the most respected filmmakers of his generation, finally won an Oscar. Then he won another. Then he won for best picture. He first won best adapted screenplay for “One Battle After Another” and then was crowned best director. “You make a guy work hard for this,” he said. Anderson was back onstage for the night’s final award — best picture. “Let’s have a martini. This is amazing,” he said. Anderson had been nominated 14 times previously, including five times for screenplays and three times for best director. His films include “Boogie Nights,” “There Will Be Blood” and “Magnolia.” “I wrote this movie for my kids, to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world we’re handing off to them,” Anderson said onstage after winning for his screenplay. “But also with the encouragement that they will be the generation that hopefully brings us some common sense and decency.” Even Cassandra Kulukundis, who served as the casting director on past Anderson films, hoped he would win an award himself while accepting the first new completive Oscar category in over two decades for “One Battle After Another.” She beat him to a win by just minutes. Another long wait for Oscar hardware Amy Madigan, the night’s first winner, had to wait a long time to celebrate an Oscar win. The gap between her first ever Oscar nomination and first win was 40 years — handing her the record wait for a best supporting actress. Madigan’s first Oscar nomination was for 1985’s “Twice in a Lifetime,” losing to Anjelica Huston. She won Sunday for playing an unrecognizable and utterly mesmerizing oddball aunt in “Weapons,” a supernatural thriller about missing children. Madigan had earlier picked up wins at the Critics Choice and Actor Awards. Aunt Gladys’ smeared, heavy makeup, strange hair and large glasses became a popular internet meme and was even played up by Oscars host Conan O’Brien in his opening skit, looking like Gladys as he raced through appearances in other nominated movies chased by children. On hearing her name, Madigan collapsed into the arms of her husband, actor Ed Harris. Onstage, she thanked film writer-director Zach Cregger for giving her a part in “Weapons” she could “grab by the throat.” She last thanked “my beloved Ed,” adding: “None of this would mean anything if he wasn’t by my side.” A heavy goodbye to the Reiners A stage of stars bid farewell to Rob Reiner, led by a long friend and colleague, Billy Crystal. Crystal kicked off the in memoriam section by saying he met Reiner while cast as a best friend of Reiner’s on “All in the Family” in 1975. Reiner’s movies included “This Is Spinal Tap,” “Stand By Me,” “When Harry Met Sally…,” “Misery,” “A Few Good Men” and “The Princess Bride.” “My friend Rob’s movies will last for lifetimes because they were about what makes us laugh and cry and what we aspire to be: Far better in his eyes, far kinder, far funnier and far more human,” Crystal said. Reiner was killed along with his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, in December. Their son, Nick Reiner, has been charged with two counts of murder. After Crystal’s speech, he revealed a stage filled with stars who shone in Reiner’s films, including Meg Ryan, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Kathy Bates, Kiefer Sutherland, Demi Moore, Jerry O’Connell, Annette Bening, Mandy Patinkin, Fred Savage and Cary Elwes. In memoriam and Redford The in memoriam section then highlighted those lost during 2025, like Catherine O’Hara, Diane Keaton, Gene Hackman, Robert Duvall, Brigitte Bardot, Michael Madsen, Terence Stamp, Diane Ladd, Sally Kirkland, Tom Stoppard, Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Val Kilmer. Barbra Streisand then stepped up to honor her co-star in “The Way We Were,” Robert Redford. “He was thoughtful and bold. I called him an intellectual cowboy who blazed his own trail, and won the Academy Award for best director, and I miss him now more than ever, even though he loved teasing me,” Streisand said. She then sang a snippet of “The Way We Were,” which she last performed during the 2013 ceremony, when she sang it as an homage to the late composer Marvin Hamlisch. Two stunning song performances The Oscars had only two musical numbers but they were Grammy-worthy. Singer-actor Miles Caton and songwriter Raphael Saadiq performed the deeply bluesy, slinky song “I Lied to You” from “Sinners,” joined by an ensemble that included Misty Copeland, Eric Gales, Buddy Guy, Brittany Howard, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li, Bobby Rush, Shaboozey and Alice Smith in a tribute to the film’s visual and musical style. The camera swept in and among the writhing bodies in a rollicking, kinetic performance. “KPop Demon Hunters” later celebrated its win as best animated feature by opening its performance of “Golden” with a fusion of traditional Korean instrumentalists and dance, with dancers in gold waving golden fabric flags. Then Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami — the singing voices behind HUNTR/X in the film — belted out “Golden” as members of the audience waved light sticks. Then “Golden” won the Oscar for best original song, a first for K-pop. The coolest part was seeing dancers from each song appear in the other’s, a kind of communication between Delta blues and Asian pop. ‘Bridesmaids’ give us a bouquet Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Kristen Wiig and Ellie Kemper celebrated 15 years after “Bridesmaids” hit theaters by showing everyone their funny bones haven’t aged. “Now, we are not good with numbers, but we figured out backstage that means we shot this movie in 1883,” Wiig joked. The group — presenting best original score and best sound — had fun at the expense of Stellan Skarsgård, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jacobi Jupe of “Hamnet.” They pretended to read messages from the crowd, including one from DiCaprio that accused Byrne of staring at him. “I have been staring at you,” Byrne replied. “I thought you were somebody else.” Rudolph leaned into her dimwit persona when she wondered: “Earlier today, when I was counting my money, I asked myself, “What is sound?” There was also a mini-“Avengers” reunion with Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. presenting best adapted screenplay. And a “Moulin Rouge!” reunion with Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. And there was a Pullman family reunion when Bill teamed up with son, Jack. Second time’s a charm, Conan Conan O’Brien hit almost every note on Sunday — savage, playful, heartfelt and dumb. The second-time host predicted he’d be the last human Oscar MC. “Next year, it will be a Waymo with a tux,” he joked. He also had a jab at Timothée Chalamet, who got into hot water when he seemed to call ballet and opera dying art forms. “They’re just mad you left out jazz,” O’Brien quipped. He reached for a Jeffrey Epstein joke when he noted that it was the first time since 2012 that there were no British actors nominated. “A British spokesperson said, ‘Yeah, well at least we arrest our pedophiles.'” But he also got poetic and sweet when he noted that 31 countries across six continents were represented at the Oscars. “Every film we salute is a product of thousands of people speaking different language, working hard to make something of beauty,” O’Brien said. “We pay tribute tonight, not just to film, but to the ideals of global artistry, collaboration, patience, resilience and that rarest of qualities today: optimism.” Of course, sometimes his bits fell flat, like the time he used a leaf blower onstage and a gag about memes with Leonardo DiCaprio. For more coverage of this year’s Oscars, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards —Mark Kennedy, AP Entertainment Writer View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Sony’s WH-1000XM5 headphones are no longer the newest model in the company’s lineup, but they remain one of the easiest recommendations if you want strong noise canceling without paying flagship prices. Right now, a refurbished pair is $209.99 on Amazon, compared with $278 for a new set (and the $399.99 launch price in 2022). These are sold as Amazon Certified Refurbished units, meaning they’ve been tested and certified by the manufacturer to work like new. They also come with the original accessories and a 90-day limited hardware warranty. Sony WH-1000XM5 Headphones $209.00 at Amazon $278.00 Save $69.00 Get Deal Get Deal $209.00 at Amazon $278.00 Save $69.00 PCMag named them the best headphones of 2022 and gave them an “outstanding” review, largely for how well Sony balanced sound quality with noise cancellation. The XM5 uses 30mm carbon-fiber drivers paired with Sony’s Integrated Processor V1, and the combination still holds up in 2025. Music sounds full without becoming muddy. Bass-heavy tracks have weight, but vocals remain clear, and instruments don’t disappear into the background. The active noise cancellation is also effective at blocking out low-frequency sounds like airplane engines, traffic, or the general rumble of public spaces. Audio quality remains consistent with ANC enabled, unlike many cheaper headphones. For wireless listening, Bluetooth 5.2 supports AAC, SBC, and LDAC codecs, and multipoint pairing makes it easy to switch between devices, such as a laptop and a phone, without reconnecting each time. The XM5 has a lightweight frame and soft synthetic-leather earcups that stay comfortable during long listening sessions. That makes them practical for commuting, long flights, or simply wearing through a full workday. Controls are handled through touch gestures on the earcups—swipe up or down for volume and tap to pause or play. It takes a little time to get used to the gestures, but they work reliably once you learn them. Sony’s Sound Connect app adds more control, letting you tweak the EQ, adjust noise-canceling levels, and change a few listening settings depending on your environment. Battery life is rated at about 30 hours with noise canceling enabled, which is enough for several days of regular use before needing to recharge. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods 4 Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds — $148.99 (List Price $179.00) Samsung Galaxy S26 512GB + $100 Amazon Gift Card (Black) — $1,099.99 (List Price $1,099.99) Google Pixel 10a 128GB 6.3" Unlocked Smartphone + $100 Gift Card — $599.00 (List Price $599.00) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $299.00 (List Price $349.00) Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 42mm, S/M Black Sport Band) — $299.00 (List Price $399.00) Amazon Fire TV Soundbar — $99.99 (List Price $119.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

The prices of memory chip stocks are once again on the rise as a global shortage in random access memory (RAM) continues. Over the past five days alone, the share prices of the four largest memory makers traded on U.S. markets have risen significantly. And today, those same stocks are off to another good start. Here’s what you need to know. Why is there a memory shortage? Since the latter half of 2025, analysts and industry insiders have warned of a looming memory chip shortage coming in 2026—and it’s one of the few tech predictions that have been right. This year, the world is in a full-blown memory crisis. There isn’t enough computer memory to go around, and that scarcity is leading to surging demand—and surging RAM prices. The driving force behind the memory chip shortage is artificial intelligence. But not the AI itself. Rather, the hardware companies need to run their AI systems. An artificial intelligence system like ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini requires massive data centers to run on and compute the billions of requests these chatbots get every day. Those data centers, in turn, need servers, and those servers need memory to carry out the AI tasks. The world is currently in the middle of an AI data center build-out boom, and that massive data center expansion is leading to a surge in memory demand the likes of which the industry has never seen. When memory makers are unable to keep up with demand, a shortage arises, which is exactly where we are today. Micron and Sandisk stocks are skyrocketing There are four major memory makers traded on the U.S. markets: Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU) Sandisk Corporation (Nasdaq: SNDK) Western Digital Corporation (Nasdaq: WDC) Seagate Technology Holdings (Nasdaq: STX) Of those four, Micron and Sandisk are the two firms that primarily make short-term computer memory, which is designed to temporarily store information and help carry out tasks at lightning speed. This kind of memory is seeing the worst shortages. Western Digital and Seagate primarily make long-term computer memory, such as for SSDs, used to retain your documents and photos for a long time. Given that all four of these companies are seeing demand for their memory products soar, it’s little surprise their stock prices have been soaring as of late, too. In the past five days alone, as of Friday’s closing bell, the share prices of all four companies have risen significantly. Over the previous five-day period: Micron stock has risen 15% Sandisk stock has soared 25% Western Digital is up 11% Seagate is up nearly 9% And today, those memory makers are seeing their share prices rise even further. As of this writing, in premarket trading, MU shares are up 4.3%, SNDK shares are up nearly 3%, WDC shares are up 3.3%, and STX shares are up over 2.5%. These continued stock price gains can primarily be attributed to the global memory shortage. How will skyrocketing memory prices affect me? Of course, while investors in the four big memory companies may be quietly cheering on the global memory shortage that is driving their stock prices higher, that shortage is bad for anyone else planning to buy a computer or smartphone this year. While the memory used in AI data centers and that used in laptops and smartphones are different, many memory makers are diverting production resources away from making the “consumer” type of memory bound for smartphones and laptops to making the higher-end memory that AI giants need (because that type of memory is more profitable). This, in turn, means less consumer memory is being made that is suitable for personal devices, so the makers of those devices have to pay more to get their hands on whatever they can. When smartphone and laptop makers pay more for components, they usually don’t just absorb the increased costs; instead, they pass them on to consumers. If you’ve recently shopped for memory or even SSD hard drives online, you’ll probably have seen that prices are much higher than they were last year. And as 2026 progresses, those higher prices will also translate into higher prices for laptops and smartphones, and the memory shortage worsens. Most industry analysts do not expect the memory shortage to get better until sometime in 2027 at the earliest. What to look for next When it comes to the global memory shortage and memory chip maker stocks, the next big thing to look for is Micron Technology’s second-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings results, which will take place this Wednesday, March 18. Analysts will closely dissect the language used by Micron executives to glean insights into how memory demand is changing and whether production capacity is increasing. After Micron’s earnings on Wednesday, the next event to keep an eye on will happen in early May, which is when Sandisk, Western Digital, and Seagate are expected to announce their next results. Memory chip stocks are far outperforming the Nasdaq What’s especially remarkable about Micron, Sandisk, Western Digital, and Seagate’s run lately is that their stock prices have not been significantly impacted by the broader pullback of the Nasdaq on which they trade. While the four memory companies have seen their stock prices rise by nearly 9% to 25% over the prior five trading days, the Nasdaq Composite has declined 1.6% over the same period, largely due to uncertainties about the war in Iran. Year-to-date, the gap between the four memory makers and the Nasdaq Composite is even starker. Since the year began, the Nasdaq Composite is down 4.2%. But in the same timeframe, Micron is up 49%, Western Digital is up 58%, Seagate is up 39%, and Sandisk is up a staggering 178%. View the full article

Discover how AI agents decide which brands to recommend and why trust is essential in the new marketing landscape. The post How AI Agents Decide Which Brands To Recommend: Trust Is The New Ranking Factor appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Gorin explains Expedia’s three-part AI strategy, from improving travel products to giving employees “superpowers.” View the full article

Metrics can tell you if you’re going the right direction or not. They can also be a waste of time if the metrics are noise instead of strong signals. There is no one right answer to which metrics to use, but understanding how others use them can turn on a light bulb for new ideas. We asked our Fast Company Impact Council members what metrics they track obsessively—and why— and the answers we share may have you rethinking your own tracking. 1. CONVERSION AND RETENTION I track a lot of metrics and it’s easy to get lost in the minutiae of the business, but as a subscription business the metrics of conversion and retention are my twin North Stars. What percentage of visitors in trial are going to become paid subscribers, and what percentage of them will remain paid subscribers in three months? Really these metrics are a reflection of the benefit customers get from our products showing they are valuable enough for someone to pay us and that they are valuable enough for them to stick around. Nearly all of the other metrics that I obsessively check flow from these two. — Tony Grimminck, Scribd, Inc. 2. ORGANIC GOOGLE SEARCH I track organic Google search above almost everything. You can buy impressions, but you can’t buy someone typing your brand name unprompted. It’s the cleanest signal of real demand. I also monitor inbound pull—which partners, retailers, or creators are reaching out to us. When serious brands want proximity, it means you’re culturally relevant. If search and inbound drop when spend drops, you’re renting attention, not building equity. And then there’s the quiet test: What happens when we ease off spend? Do we disappear or are we building something worthy of the space we’ve been given? — Emily Kortlang, Yerba Madre 3. EBITDA I track EBITDA because it tells me, without any spin, whether our core business is creating the level of profitability that powers reinvestment and growth for our employee owners. I track labor as a percentage of net revenue, staff churn, and our employee culture index scores because they tell me how efficiently we’re deploying our talent and how engaged our people are in building a career here. — Steven McKay, DLR Group 4. HOW CLIENTS RANK IN AI PROMPTS Right now, we’re obsessively tracking how our clients rank in prompts across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. It’s a new metric for us, but an important one. We want to see how clients show up next to competitors and what narratives or keywords are driving visibility. We layer that with media coverage and domain authority to understand how those stories are performing in the real world. — Kalie Moore, High Vibe PR 5. CONTENT AND PRODUCTS We measure content and products to see how they drive behavior change, build confidence, and turn users into advocates for themselves. Engagement matters, but for us the real signal of success is when people feel empowered to act. As we build for people with real, timely needs, we track both quantitative and qualitative insights to ensure we’re solving the right problems, not guessing. That requires constant testing, learning, and refining. Across industries, leaders have to stay close to the people they serve to ensure they’re truly advancing the mission they set out to achieve. — Nathan Friedman, Understood.org 6. INTERNAL ALIGNMENT AND EXTERNAL TRACTION I track two buckets: internal alignment and external traction. Internally, we run on objectives and key results because it forces clarity. Everyone knows what they’re responsible for and how it ties to business impact. When that breaks, you feel it. When it works, things move fast. Externally, I watch streaming and radio. Streaming shows what’s happening right now, which cities are reacting, whether a record is moving culturally. Radio signals longevity. It’s slower, but it shows real staying power. Together, they tell me if we’re seeing noise or building something durable. You need both. — Logan Mulvey, GoDigital Music 7. CUSTOMER METRICS As CEO, I obsess over daily and weekly metrics like monthly recurring revenue growth, subscription churn, data-plan attach rate, NPS, transmission success rate, and early field reliability (battery life, zero-transmission failures), because recurring revenue powers the business. Any drop in trust kills referrals fast. If customer metrics are healthy so is our business. — Jeff Peel, Tactacam 8. RETENTION AND SAVINGS We track retention of our members, as we offer a lifelong commitment to our C-suite women leaders to provide them with one-on-one peer mentoring for life. This commitment increases our retention to 99%. We also track the mentor/mentee relationship. Lastly, we track our savings, which annually exceed $500,000. — Larraine Segil, Exceptional Women Alliance 9. ENGAGEMENT AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION We track engagement and customer satisfaction obsessively. For us, engagement isn’t just a usage metric, it’s a signal of trust. When someone actively redeems and returns to our platform, that tells us the experience is resonating. Customer satisfaction is even more important. If people feel valued rather than marketed to, long-term relationships follow—and so does durable revenue for our partners. — Elery Pfeffer, Nift 10. WHERE OUR BUSINESS IS GOING When reviewing metrics, I’m looking for information about where our business is going, not lagging indicators of where we’ve been, and early warning signs of issues that may be developing. For growth, I look at pipeline coverage and conversion. For execution, I review forecast accuracy and time to revenue. For customer value, it’s our net retention rate and advocacy score. Looking at these numbers gives me a good idea of not only how we’re performing, but how efficiently we’re executing and what areas need extra attention. — Steve Holdridge, Dayforce 11. JOBS AND ECONOMICS REPORTS I obsessively track LinkedIn’s Jobs on the Rise reports and LinkedIn’s Economic Graph workforce data and research; they are great reads and provide ongoing snapshots on where the labor market, productivity and future of work are moving broadly. I also track the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Productivity and Costs report, to understand where workplace productivity is heading. It’s an excellent dashboard across key indicators and in recent years can be a strong signal on how technology, automation, and operating‑model changes are actually changing worker productivity at scale. — Alice Mann, Mann Partners 12. PROGRESS Progress against the big rocks we established. Setting broad, strategic yet outcome-based goals align the entire organization and drive results. — Michael Tannenbaum, Figure 13. ENGAGEMENT, FRICTION, AND CLIENT IMPACT I think about performance in three pillars: people, process, and product. Some of it is measurable. Some of it you feel. Both matter. On people, I track engagement, retention of top talent, and how often we promote from within. If the bench isn’t deep, nothing scales. On process, I look at friction. How fast do we decide? Is delivery predictable? The best strategy collapses without operational clarity. On product, I focus on client impact, repeat business, and quality. We have a Slack channel devoted to verbatim client praise. Data matters. But when you’re the first call a client makes on their hardest day, that’s the clearest signal of all. — Peter Smart, Fantasy 14. THE FUNNEL For Scribbly, my D2C business, I use every tiny tracking pixel in my funnel. I built a custom dashboard for myself and trained an AI agent to analyze the data just the way I want it—way better than those messy SaaS analytics dashboards that are impossible to decipher. — Lindsey Witmer Collins, WLCM Studio 15. NON-CUMULATIVE DATA Cumulative data is meaningful, but only non-cumulative data holds you accountable. For us, one such metric is how many of the Solvers selected over the past five years are still operational. We’re at 96%. That tells me our selection methods and support programs have a real impact, given that industry averages hover around 70-80%. Something else a company can track is instead of asking “where are you now?” ask “how far have you come?” That’s harder to quantify than dollars raised or media hits, but it’s the only number that tells me whether we’re doing our job. Revenue, employees, money raised—those keep the lights on. But the distance traveled keeps us honest about the mission. — Hala Hanna, MIT Solve 16. BOOMERANGS AND EMPLOYEE DEPARTURES We’ve been focused on people-centric workplace data since we started building a center of gravity for brilliant minds almost three decades ago. We regard the percentage of boomerangs in a company as a leading indicator of having a positive, thriving culture that people value and want to be part of. At the other end of the spectrum, the rate of regrettable departures usually signals when there are culture issues that must be addressed. — Leerom Segal, Klick Health 17. ENGAGEMENT QUALITY, AUDIENCE SENTIMENT, AND BRAND LIFT We prioritize engagement quality, audience sentiment, and brand lift because they tie directly to real business outcomes, not vanity metrics. We trademarked “true human influence” to make influencer marketing more measurable, backing it with proprietary technology and trusted measurement partners to ensure we deliver against brand KPIs. And with AI driving the convergence of creator and affiliate marketing, we can now connect authentic storytelling to commerce at scale. — Ben Jeffries, Influencer View the full article

Over the past decade, I’ve reviewed hundreds of resumes, conducted countless interviews, and led numerous technical tests for SEO candidates. Along the way, I’ve met many exceptional professionals — but I’ve also noticed a recurring pattern of common interview mistakes that can hold even the most talented candidates back. Below are 11 common mistakes I’ve observed in SEO interviews — and how you can easily avoid them. 1. Projecting arrogance instead of confidence Confidence is great! While imposter syndrome is common in SEO, it’s important to maintain realistic confidence in your skills and experience. However, there is a fine line between projecting confidence and appearing arrogant. For example, talk about your successes, such as: Complicated projects you navigated. Great results you achieved. Buy-in you gained. Be clear about what you achieved and how. Show off your theoretical knowledge. Discuss ideas and theories with your interviewer. Don’t assume they will agree with you, though. This can be arrogance. SEO isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” practice. You may have different experiences from your interviewer, leading to different conclusions. This is fine. It happens in SEO all the time. Some people make the mistake of thinking it’s OK to argue and dismiss others’ opinions. This rarely works well in any workplace and can be especially harmful during an interview. When I interview, I look for team players — confident in their knowledge yet humble and open to learning. They embrace new evidence and contribute to discussions that elevate the entire team’s understanding, including their own. If you stray too far into arrogance during an interview, you may come across as difficult to teach or lead and not open to feedback. See the complete picture of your search visibility. Track, optimize, and win in Google and AI search from one platform. Start Free Trial Get started with 2. Giving hazy details about projects and successes Interviews are your time to shine. They let you showcase some of your best work. Another mistake I’ve seen in interviews is assuming interviewers can fill in the gaps. Candidates talk about a project or website they have worked on, but fail to convey its significance. They mention website migrations, expecting non-SEO interviewers to understand the complexities involved. They discuss turning around a traffic slump without giving any data. Avoid this. Make sure to give the specifics. There’s a good acronym for constructing interview answers called STAR. It stands for: Situation: What was the issue or opportunity you were facing? Task: What was your role or responsibility in this and the goal you were working toward? Action: What did you do to address the situation? Result: What happened because of your actions? What successes, learnings, or results can you share? Using this method, you may find it easier to hit all the salient points that give the interviewers clarity and perspective. Try to choose examples that have an outcome that you’re proud of or can at least explain what made it fall short. Dig deeper: How to become exceptional at SEO 3. Ignoring the question Candidates sometimes don’t have time to think of an answer to the question or feel they don’t have one. They try to talk around the question and bring it back to something they feel more comfortable discussing. If an interviewer asks, “Talk about a time when you faced a complex website migration and what you did?” or “How would you handle a stakeholder not signing off on your recommendations?” that’s exactly what they want to know. Avoid going off on a tangent and ensure you address the question directly. Often, interviewers have a list of questions they ask each candidate. They may even use these to compare candidates. If you’re not directly answering them, you put yourself at a disadvantage. Instead, take some time to think about the answer. Explain that you want to answer well and need a minute to organize your thoughts. If you don’t have an experience relevant to a question or have not encountered something before, explain that to the interviewer. Tell them you haven’t “migrated a website before,” but mention what you would do in that situation. If you make something up, passing it off as a situation you faced, you risk being exposed. You may be asked for details you can’t provide, or you may realize that a savvy interviewer has been researching the company or website as you talk about it. 4. Not addressing your audience well Building rapport with interviewers is key to a successful interview. Answer their questions clearly so they can recognize your knowledge and experience. To do that well, you need to understand your audience. You should address their questions using the language and tone they are using and gauge their level of SEO knowledge. It may be tempting to impress non-SEO stakeholders with industry jargon, but if they don’t know what it means, they won’t understand the impact of what you’ve done. Similarly, if you’re being interviewed by the head of SEO, relying on jargon or complex-sounding projects without substance can risk being seen as insincere or unqualified. 5. Being disrespectful of the progress of the site(s) If you are talking to another SEO at the company or agency, don’t assume they are negligent in not addressing that JavaScript issue you’ve noticed on their site. Don’t think their SEO approach is basic; there is still an obvious area for expansion. Be respectful. It’s OK to acknowledge that you noticed these issues with their sites, but assume you aren’t telling them anything they don’t already know. Chances are, some procedural or technical blocks are stopping them from fixing it. Enquire about that instead. It will give you some insight into what challenges you may face if you do go on to work there. Dig deeper: What 15 years in enterprise SEO taught me about people, power, and progress 6. Being unprepared for the types of questions asked Interviews are nerve-wracking. It’s understandable if your mind goes blank when asked to share specific examples of your work or knowledge. One of the most frustrating mistakes I see in interviews (and have made myself!) is forgetting the details of the perfect example of a project that would have answered an interviewer’s question. A good way to avoid this is to come prepared with projects or challenges that exemplify some core areas of SEO that you are likely to face in the role. Look at the job listing again and see what experience they hope candidates will have. Given the scope, seniority, and complexity of the sites, consider the situations and tasks you may face in that role. For example, if you are interviewing for a senior technical SEO role, you may want to prepare examples of projects you’ve worked on that included: A challenging crawling, indexing, parsing, or rendering issue. A large, complicated technical SEO project that you needed to gain buy-in from stakeholders for. A sudden drop in traffic or rankings that needed investigation. A website migration that you had a leading role in. If you’re interviewing for an SEO account manager at an agency, you may want to prepare for times when: You had to explain to stakeholders the drop in performance and the planned remedial action. Present an SEO proposal to a group of people with varying SEO literacy and explain how you helped them get on board with the plan. You presented at a client pitch, the work you put into the pitch, and how you onboarded that client. Come prepared with example projects you can adapt. Think of a successful project and how you made it work. Give an example of an unsuccessful project and what you would do differently. This may mean writing notes about these projects and key points, such as tasks and results, to jog your memory. Essentially, you want to have a few well-detailed and thought-out examples that you can adapt using the STAR method on the fly at the interview. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. 7. All talk, no substance Waffle. Meandering. Stalling for time out loud. Whatever you want to call it, this is possibly one of the most common mistakes I’ve seen in interviews. Starting to answer the question before knowing what you are going to say. Again, it’s understandable. We feel like we need to answer the question as soon as it is asked. In reality, though, it’s OK to take some time to think it through first. Listen to the question and address that directly. Consider it a school assignment where you get a mark for every point you hit. Structure your answers clearly to help interviewers find the information they’re looking for. Sometimes the waffling comes from a poorly asked question. Perhaps it isn’t entirely clear what the interviewer is asking. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to answer a question you don’t fully understand. It’s OK to ask clarifying questions. If you still don’t have an answer, you can explain that it isn’t something you have encountered or even heard of. However, this gives you something to go away and look into. You could even ask the interviewers what they think about the topic or what they would do in the situation you mentioned. Most interviewers seek team members who are willing to learn and expand their knowledge. In the best case, they will see your willingness to learn and grow from others around you. Worst case, you have another side of SEO or interviewing techniques to study for the next role you apply for. 8. Trying to bribe or threaten interviewers This should go without saying, but I’ve encountered it in interviews before. Don’t threaten or try to bribe your interviewers. It’s highly unlikely that if an interview is going badly, the promise of a link from your friend’s blog to their company’s website will turn it around. Don’t promise them that if they hire you, they will get access to the secrets to your “guaranteed SEO approach” if you have not been able to demonstrate your competency through the questions they’ve asked. Don’t threaten a negative SEO attack on them or their competitors. Avoid suggesting they only wanted to interview you to steal your ideas. Don’t be rude or dishonest. You won’t get the job, and you won’t be kept in the database of possible future candidates. 9. Contacting everyone in the company to get an ‘in’ Another mistake I’ve seen is a candidate getting too enthusiastic about standing out from the crowd. In doing so, they contact anyone in the company they can to make themselves known. It’s great to show that you are interested in the company and the role. If the interviewers have said it’s OK for you to contact them after the interview, it is absolutely fine. However, be considerate when contacting interviewers outside the interview process. It may come across as keen, but do it too much, and it can become difficult for people to respond, especially if they aren’t directly involved in the interviewing process. Follow up sparingly and with the right people, but be mindful of how busy interviewers are when running hiring processes. Your keen attitude may be too much if it’s not appropriate. 10. Being dishonest about your level of involvement in the project Be truthful about your level of involvement in a project. Don’t claim you worked on a project just because it happened at your agency at the same time you were working there. As soon as interviewers start asking in-depth questions about the project, your lack of knowledge will be apparent. Instead of it sounding impressive, you’ll come across as lacking knowledge and depth in your answer. Focus your answers on the impact that you had on a project. Talk to what others did and how it fit into the whole approach, but don’t take credit for their work. This is important because interviewers want to know where your competencies lie. It’s OK to talk about what you learned from others during the project and how you might use that insight in future work. It isn’t OK to claim that it was your idea when it wasn’t. Dig deeper: 8 tips for SEO newbies See the complete picture of your search visibility. Track, optimize, and win in Google and AI search from one platform. Start Free Trial Get started with 11. Giving ‘Google lies’ as an answer to an interview question This is an SEO-specific interview mistake. Unfortunately, it’s quite common. I see it often during technical portions of interviews. When candidates are asked to think through how they would approach a situation, or explain why an approach may not work. They don’t necessarily know why Google ignored a canonical tag. Or why a page that is blocked in the robots.txt is still indexed. So they panic and start blaming Google for lying about its practices and bot behavior. I’ve heard a lot of sweeping statements during interviews about how you can’t believe Google spokespeople. How they outright lie to us to disguise how the bot and algorithm mechanisms work. Whether you agree with those statements or not, they are a poor way to get around not knowing the answer to a technical question. If you don’t know why a page has been indexed even though it is blocked in the robots.txt, the answer isn’t to claim “Google ignores the robots.txt and just says they don’t.” Yes, the SEO world is full of conspiracy theories and genuine questions about the integrity of the industry’s larger players. It’s good to question the status quo through experiments and thought exercises. However, the better way to approach an interview question like that would be to think around the issue. Let’s assume Google isn’t lying — what could be the reasons the page has been indexed despite being blocked in the robots.txt? If you start your interview answers from a place of assuming there is a logical answer to them, you are more likely to get to the right conclusions. This is a much better way of approaching SEO in general, rather than assuming you’re being lied to! Ace your SEO interview and leave a lasting impression By avoiding these common mistakes, you can present yourself as a confident, prepared, and team-oriented candidate. With the right approach, you’ll be better positioned to impress interviewers and land your next SEO role. View the full article

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