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Despite all the shiny new capabilities at our disposal, many professionals seem stuck in a cycle of “AI Groundhog Day.” You open a chat window, carefully craft a prompt, paste in your context, and get a great result. An hour later, you do it all over again. If this is how you use AI to automate, you’re still doing manual work — you’re just doing it in a chat box. To move from using AI to building with it, you need to shift from a human doer to a true human orchestrator. That means stopping one-off prompts and starting to build systems. In this new phase of AI automation, what you really need are AI skills. I explore this shift in my new book, “The AI Amplified Marketer,” where I look at how the human element of marketing remains vital even as new AI tools and shifting expectations evolve at a breakneck pace. Below, I’ll show how to use Skills, a newer AI capability, to make you more efficient when managing PPC. What’s a Claude Skill? While many marketers have used ChatGPT’s Custom Instructions to set a general approach for how their AI works, a Skill is a more rigorous definition of how the AI needs to do things. These instructions can help it deliver more predictable outcomes that fit your expectations. For example, I recently used a standard chat to rate search terms. While the AI’s logic was sound, the output was inconsistent: one session returned letter grades, another gave a percentage out of 100, and a third used a 1-10 scale. In a professional setting, this inconsistency is a problem. It makes it difficult to integrate that prompt into a larger workflow where unpredictable grading might confuse other tools or team members. A Skill solves this by providing a reusable set of instructions. It defines which tools and logic to use for a complex task and ensures the results are formatted exactly the same way every time. It’s what turns the AI from a temperamental assistant into a reliable professional teammate. And thanks to more recent agentic capabilities in Claude, a Skill is like turning your best multi-step PPC playbook into something an AI can execute on demand by delegating the various tasks to the right tools and subagents. Whether it’s your agency’s proprietary account audit checklist or your framework for mining search query reports, a Skill encodes that process. It turns your PPC expertise into a scalable system that anyone on your team can use with their AI. Dig deeper: Agentic AI and vibe coding: The next evolution of PPC management 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 How to build your first AI Skill Creating a Skill is more straightforward than it might sound and you can do it through a simple chat session with your AI. Provide an account audit checklist, a standard operating procedure (SOP) from your team, or a blueprint to Claude. You can then ask it to convert that process into the formal structure of a Skill. Interestingly, when you ask Claude to help build a Skill, it uses a specialized Skill-building protocol. This ensures your final output is structured correctly, follows best practices, and remains consistent with Anthropic’s underlying architecture. Technically, a Skill is saved as a Markdown (.md) file that contains the playbook for the task at hand. This file can be stored locally on your computer if you’re concerned about data privacy. Alternatively, you can share it in a central cloud repository. This makes it easy for your team to update and deploy best practices across your entire organization. You don’t have to start from zero. Many pre-built Skills are available on platforms like GitHub. You can find examples for various marketing tasks, download them, and adapt them to fit your specific needs and workflows. How to use a Skill in PPC To use a skill, first make sure there are some available in your account. Then, just tell the AI the task you want to do. The AI will look through connected Skills and, if it finds one that matches the task, it will use those instructions to perform the work. Sidenote: This means it is important not to have competing skills in your account. Imagine what could go wrong if you did: with two skills that both do Google Ads audits, you lose the predictability a Skill was supposed to give you in the first place, because it may randomly pick a different one and do the work in different ways as a result. Dig deeper: Agentic PPC: What performance marketing could look like in 2030 PPC Skills need real-time data A Skill provides powerful logic, but without access to live account data, it remains theoretical. A Skill can define an analysis, such as “review search terms from the last 14 days with costs over $50 and zero conversions.” However, it doesn’t know how to pull that data from Google Ads on its own. In the past, the workaround was to manually download static data, like a CSV from the Google Ads interface or a Google Ads Editor file. You would then feed this file to the AI as context. This works, but it’s slow, manual, and the data is outdated the moment you download it. A more modern approach uses a Model Context Protocol (MCP) to connect your AI and its Skills to other systems, such as live data sources. For example, using the Optmyzr MCP, your Skill can dynamically pull the exact Google Ads data it needs, when it needs it. This connection turns a static set of instructions into a living, responsive tool. (Disclosure: I’m the cofounder and CEO of Optmyzr.) How Skills tell AI how to do things, and how tools and MCP enable it to do those things more reliably Dig deeper: From scripts to agents: OpenAI’s new tools unlock the next phase of automation Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. From grunt work to system oversight Combining a Skill with a tool like an MCP is where the real transformation happens. Your AI moves from being an assistant that requires constant direction to a system that can manage a process. It transitions from giving you ideas to executing your vision. Let’s look at a common PPC task: Task: Search Term Analysis to Eliminate Irrelevant Clicks A Skill without tools is a task-oriented assistant: It might instruct you: “Paste in your search term report as a CSV, and I will identify potential negative keywords.” You’re still the one doing the grunt work of retrieving data and implementing the findings. A Skill with tools acts as a junior manager for that specific process: It can be configured to: “Pull the search term report for the last 7 days via the MCP, identify terms with high spend and no conversions, and apply them as exact match negatives to the appropriate campaign.” The entire workflow is handled, and your role shifts to one of oversight. When you combine structured logic (Skills) with live data and execution capabilities (tools), you’re building more than a chatbot; you’re building a reliable teammate. It’s a grounded, practical system that handles defined tasks, freeing you up to be the orchestrator of your strategy. Dig deeper: Scaling PPC with AI automation: Scripts, data, and custom tools 4 PPC Skills you can build today To move from theory to practice, let’s look at four concrete examples of PPC Skills. In each case, notice how connecting these Skills to live tools transforms the AI from a passive analyst into an active participant. 1. Search term mining This Skill’s logic guides the AI to analyze a search query report to find wasted spend and opportunities. Without tools: You provide a CSV. The Skill returns a structured list of recommended negative keywords and new keyword ideas. You have to implement them manually. With tools (MCP): The Skill automatically pulls the latest search query report data, identifies the negative keywords, and uses a tool function to apply them directly to your Google Ads account. 2. Ad copy generation This Skill takes a landing page URL and target keywords to generate ad copy variations based on value propositions and user intent. Without tools: The Skill produces headlines and descriptions in a text format. You copy and paste them into Google Ads. With tools (MCP): The Skill finds underperforming ad assets in your account, and then generates the ad copy and pushes the new ads directly into the correct ad groups, potentially even setting up a new ad experiment. 3. Account auditing This Skill runs a predefined checklist against an account, looking for issues like missing ad extensions, campaigns limited by budget, or ad groups with low CTR. Without tools: The Skill generates a report that lists all the problems it found. You then have to log in to the account and fix each one. With tools (MCP): The Skill not only identifies that an ad group is missing a callout extension but can also apply a relevant, pre-approved extension from extensions used elsewhere in the account. It doesn’t just report the problem; it fixes it. 4. Budget reallocation This Skill analyzes campaign performance data to find opportunities to shift budget from underperforming campaigns to those with higher potential returns. Without tools: The Skill provides a recommendation, such as: “Decrease Campaign A’s budget by 20% and increase Campaign B’s budget by 15%.” With tTools (MCP): The Skill performs a dynamic analysis, pulling in exactly the right data with the appropriate lookback and time segmentation, and then executes the budget change directly, ensuring budgets are optimized as soon as the opportunity is identified. The future of your role: From PPC doer to PPC designer The combination of Skills and tools enables you to move from playing with AI to having AI do meaningful work. For years, AI has been good at generating ideas but weak at executing them inside the ad platforms. This solves the “last mile problem” by giving AI the logic, data, and permissions to act. This also signals a change in the role of the PPC professional. Your job will shift from doing the repetitive work to designing the systems that do the work. Instead of manually analyzing reports and making changes, you will spend more time designing Skills, defining the rules and guardrails for automation, and reviewing the outcomes. We’re at a point where the large language models are capable, the tools for connecting them to platforms are available, and the interfaces make it possible for non-developers to build. It’s time to rethink your processes and get AI to be a real teammate. Dig deeper: AI tools for PPC, AI search, and social campaigns: What’s worth using now 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 end of endless prompting The cycle of endless prompting is a dead end. It keeps you in the role of a manual operator when you should be a systems designer. By embracing Claude Skills, you’re doing more than just working faster; you’re changing the very nature of your job. You’re moving from “doing PPC work” to “designing the PPC systems” that perform that work with predictability and at scale. This is the ultimate expression of the AI-amplified marketer: building a true partner that codifies your expertise into a reliable, efficient engine. The first step is to look at your daily tasks through the lens of a designer. What repetitive process is ready to be turned into your first Skill? View the full article

Last spring, when employees from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency arrived at the National Endowment for the Humanities, they used ChatGPT to decide which federally funded grants to eliminate. They typed one, simplistic prompt: “Does the following relate at all to D.E.I.? Respond factually in less than 120 characters. Begin with ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’” A documentary about Jewish women forced into slave labor during the Holocaust? DEI. A 40-volume scholarly series on the history of American music? DEI. Within two weeks, DOGE staff had flagged nearly every active award from the Biden administration and cut the National Endowment for the Humanities budget by half. This search-and-destroy approach uses artificial intelligence as an ideological wrecking ball. But we can use artificial intelligence differently. Instead of stripping communities of federal funding, we can use AI to help them access the money Congress appropriated, fulfilling congressional intent and strengthening our democratic institutions. A free platform called GrantWell does exactly that, and shows the way we should be building AI with communities in the public interest. What are federal grants? To understand what’s at stake, it helps to understand what federal grants actually include. Every year, Congress appropriates more than $1 trillion in tax dollars in the form of grants and directs them back to states, cities, towns, and communities across the country to invest in replacing lead pipes before more children are poisoned, repairing bridges before they fail, expanding broadband to rural areas the market has never reached, putting clean school buses on the road, and modernizing an electrical grid that is decades behind. The challenge of obtaining those grants often results from a lack of staff knowledgeable about how to apply. Massachusetts alone estimates that their communities are eligible for approximately $17.5 billion in federal grants, yet less than 30% of that money is successfully accessed by local governments, according to a state study. The money is technically available. Congress specifically reserved it for this exact purpose of ensuring that local governments can improve services for its constituents. But finding it, understanding it, and applying for it has become so complex that smaller communities are effectively locked out. AI for Impact: Community-centered AI in action I run a program called AI for Impact, where graduate, undergrad, and community college students are paid to take time off—think of it like a semester abroad, only in Boston and in New Jersey—to build AI-enabled products for and with government partners. Anjith Prakash and Jai Surya Kode took time out of their graduate studies in AI at Northeastern University to create the first version of GrantWell, working in partnership with Massachusetts’ Federal Funds and Infrastructure Office. We built GrantWell by listening to the communities most in need of these grants. Anjith and Jai joined the team from the Massachusetts Federal Funds and Infrastructure Office and traveled across the state, meeting with local officials, tribal representatives, and community organizations. Anjith Prakash They heard the same story from Haverhill to Barnstable: officials spending hours reading 100-page grant announcements only to discover that their town wasn’t even eligible. Deadlines missed. The applications never started. Not because communities didn’t need the money, but because they lacked the capacity to pursue it. Wealthy municipalities had consultants and dedicated grant writers. In smaller towns, one person did five jobs. When we started the project, we assumed that people would want to use AI to help with drafting. But the challenges, the team learned, started much earlier: Which grants exist? Am I even eligible? What does this requirement mean? For many smaller communities, answering those questions alone was enough to stop an application before it began. Community-centered AI means building with people, not just for them. It treats communities as co-creators, drawing on the expertise of families, caregivers, residents, and frontline workers. Those people are closest to the problems these tools aim to solve, whether the product is a grant-writing app or one that helps navigate government benefits. It starts by asking what people actually need, not what AI can do, a shift that often reveals different problems than designers initially assumed and, in our case, led to entirely new features for GrantWell. What GrantWell does So we designed GrantWell around their needs. GrantWell now aggregates federal and state funding opportunities into a single searchable database, generates plain-language summaries of dense government documents, and includes a chatbot that answers questions directly from the source text to reduce the risk of confabulation. A structured drafting workflow produces a first draft that human grant writers can refine and own. The tool is deliberately modest about what AI should do. It doesn’t submit applications. It gets people to the starting line, supporting them to do the work better for themselves. In March, the Governor of Massachusetts launched GrantWell as a free AI-powered platform on mass.gov here. To help towns and civic groups trust the tool is free, secure, and will not misuse their information, we’ve integrated it into state infrastructure and made it freely available to all, thanks to this collaboration between a state and one of its leading universities. From one to many Building on our collaboration around AI and innovation training, California, Colorado, and Rhode Island are exploring adopting the tool next, with several other states waiting in the wings. In considering GrantWell, leadership from the Colorado Governor’s Office emphasized the value of reducing barriers to entry for communities seeking grant funding to meet local needs, which will help their Federal Funds office better scale its impact across the state. There is no reason taxpayers in these states should start over, procuring and rebuilding the same capabilities that all states need, wasting limited funding, leading to wildly uneven quality and widening the gap between well-resourced governments and under-resourced ones. As we expand the GrantWell model to other states, AI for Impact Fellows are not simply replicating the Massachusetts version. We’re building collaboratively, convening states regularly to share what’s working and what isn’t, and going directly to the communities we’re trying to serve with questions like: What tools do you already use? What challenges do you face when applying for grants? What do you need the tool to do? AI for Impact is also working with multiple states to share, refine, and deploy a procurement drafting tool, a contract review tool and partnering with cities to roll out the tool we built with the City of Boston to help residents explore and use open municipal data. AI is increasingly embedded in everyday life, especially in public systems like education, benefits, housing, and healthcare. Yet most AI tools are still designed far from the lived realities of the people who depend on these systems. The result is predictable: systems that fail to reflect real needs, tools that are technically impressive but practically unusable, and communities treated as subjects of technology rather than participants in shaping it. Trust erodes, particularly among groups historically excluded from decision-making. Federal grants are taxpayer dollars that Congress directed back into our communities for lead pipe removal or clean school buses. We can use AI to help those dollars reach the people they were meant for. When we build AI with those who will use it, we also create better tools, stronger institutions, and more capable, resilient communities. View the full article

Hybrid work isn’t slowing down—and neither are the expectations placed on IT teams to support it seamlessly. View the full article

The man accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home had written about AI’s purported risk to humanity and traveled from Texas to San Francisco intending to kill Altman, authorities said Monday. Authorities allege 20-year-old Daniel Moreno-Gama threw the incendiary device about 4 a.m. Friday, setting an exterior gate at Altman’s home alight before fleeing on foot, police said. Less than an hour later, Moreno-Gama allegedly went to OpenAI’s headquarters about 3 miles (4.83 kilometers) away and threatened to burn down the building. Moreno-Gama is opposed to artificial intelligence, writing about AI’s purported risk to humanity and “our impending extinction,” according to a federal criminal complaint. “This was not spontaneous. This was planned, targeted and extremely serious,” said FBI San Francisco Acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Cobo during a press conference. No one was injured at Altman’s home or the company offices, authorities said. Moreno-Gama faces state and federal charges Moreno-Gama faces charges including two counts of attempted murder and attempted arson in California state court, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. He tried to kill both Altman and a security guard at Altman’s residence, she alleged. He is set to appear in court Tuesday, and online state court records do not yet show if he has an attorney. Jenkins said the state charges carry penalties ranging from 19 years to life in prison. On Monday morning, FBI agents went to Moreno-Gama’s home in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston, where they spent several hours before leaving. He has been charged by federal prosecutors with possession of an unregistered firearm and damage and destruction of property by means of explosives. Those charges carry respective penalties of up to 10 years and 20 years in prison. The federal court documents do not list an attorney for Moreno-Gama, and he has not yet had his first appearance in federal court. Authorities allege Moreno-Gama traveled from his home in Texas to San Francisco and visited Altman’s home early Friday morning. Authorities say Moreno-Gama was opposed to artificial intelligence When Moreno-Gama was arrested Friday, officials found a document on him in which he “identified views opposed to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the executives of various AI companies,” court documents say. The document discussed AI’s purported risk to humanity and “our impending extinction,” according to the criminal complaint. Surveillance video images included in the criminal complaint show a person dressed in a dark hoodie and pants that the FBI alleges is Moreno-Gama approaching the driveway of Altman’s home. In various images, the person can be seen tossing the Molotov cocktail, which landed at the top of a metal gate and started a small fire. Surveillance video images from outside OpenAI’s headquarters allegedly show Moreno-Gama grabbing a chair and using it to hit a set of glass doors. Authorities said Moreno-Gama was approached by the building’s security personnel, who told investigators he “stated in sum and substance” that he came to the headquarters “to burn it down and kill anyone inside,” according to the complaint. San Francisco police arrested Moreno-Gama and recovered “incendiary devices, a jug of kerosene, a blue lighter, and a document.” Moreno-Gama was being held Monday in the San Francisco County Jail on the state charges, and was expected to appear in court on Tuesday. U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian said authorities “will treat this as an act of domestic terrorism, and together with our partners, prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law.” Authorities say Moreno-Gama’s anti-AI document contained threats against Altman The document in which Moreno-Gama discussed his opposition to AI also made threats against Altman, officials said. “Also if I am going to advocate for others to kill and commit crimes, then I must lead by example and show that I am fully sincere in my message,” Moreno-Gama is alleged by authorities to have written in the document. Advocacy groups that have issued grave warnings about AI’s risks to society condemned the violence. Anthony Aguirre, president and CEO of the Future of Life Institute, said in a written statement Friday that “violence and intimidation of any kind have no place in the conversation about the future of AI.” Another group, PauseAI, said in a statement that the suspect had no role in the group but joined its forum on the social media platform Discord about two years ago and posted about 34 messages there, none containing explicit calls to violence but one that was flagged as “ambiguous.” Discord said Monday that it has banned Moreno-Gama for “off-platform behavior.” Altman addressed the threats in a blog post Hours after the attack on his house, Altman posted a photo of his husband and their toddler in a blog post addressing the threats against him. “Normally we try to be pretty private, but in this case I am sharing a photo in the hopes that it might dissuade the next person from throwing a Molotov cocktail at our house, no matter what they think about me,” Altman wrote. He added that “fear and anxiety about AI is justified” but it was important to “de-escalate the rhetoric and tactics and try to have fewer explosions in fewer homes, figuratively and literally.” Altman has become a preeminent voice in Silicon Valley on the promise and potential dangers of artificial intelligence. The attack comes days after The New Yorker published an in-depth investigation that touched on concerns some people have about him and the company. Debate about the impact of AI is growing The attack came at a time of growing debate about the societal effects of AI assistants like OpenAI’s ChatGPT that millions of people are turning to for information, advice, writing help and to do work on their behalf. An annual report published Monday by Stanford University called the AI index found that most people believe AI’s benefits outweigh its drawbacks, “but nervousness is growing and trust in institutions to manage the technology remains uneven.” Associated Press journalists Matt O’Brien and Rebecca Boone contributed. —Olga R. Rodriguez, Juan Lozano and Lekan Oyekanmi, Associated Press View the full article

The President’s pick to succeed Jay Powell reports $10mn in consulting fees from Stanley Druckenmiller’s family officeView the full article

Cross-selling is a strategic approach that can greatly enhance your sales across various customer interactions. For instance, implementing targeted suggestions on your checkout page can boost the average order value, whereas personalized recommendations on product pages can drive further purchases. Furthermore, leveraging post-purchase offers can effectively tap into customer satisfaction. Comprehending these techniques is vital for optimizing your sales strategy, and there are several key examples worth exploring further. Key Takeaways Checkout Page Cross-Sells: Suggest complementary products during checkout to increase average order value and capitalize on high purchase intent. Post-Purchase Cross-Sell Funnel: Offer discounted complementary items immediately after purchase to leverage customers’ positive buying experiences and boost repeat sales. Thank You Page Cross-Sells: Engage customers right after purchase with targeted suggestions, potentially capturing up to 15% for second purchases through strategic messaging. Product Page Suggestions: Use customer behavior data for personalized recommendations, which can lead to a potential 20% increase in sales through visually appealing product displays. Email Marketing Cross-Sells: Send customized emails based on purchase history to increase engagement, with potential conversion boosts of up to 25% through timely delivery. Checkout Page Cross-Sells When you reach the checkout page, you’re often in a focused buying mindset, which is why this stage presents a prime opportunity for cross-selling. Checkout page cross-sells leverage your high purchase intent, often leading to a significant increase in Average Order Value (AOV). For example, retailers like Amazon effectively suggest complementary products, such as accessories for electronics, enhancing conversion rates. Incorporating urgency, like limited-time offers or discounts, can further incentivize you to add these additional items to your cart before completing your purchase. A study found that effective checkout page cross-sells can boost revenue by up to 10% when relevant products are displayed alongside your primary purchase. Using non-intrusive formats, such as subtle pop-ups or sticky bars, allows these cross-selling strategies to maintain your focus on the checkout process whilst promoting additional products you might find useful. Post-Purchase Cross-Sell Funnel After completing a purchase, customers often experience a sense of satisfaction, making this a prime opportunity for brands to introduce extra products through a post-purchase cross-sell funnel. Implementing this funnel can greatly capitalize on that positive buying experience. Studies show that customers are more receptive to further offers immediately after a purchase. By offering complementary products, particularly at a discount, brands can increase the likelihood of repeat sales, with some capturing up to 15% of customers for second purchases. Tools like ReConvert can automate personalized cross-sell options based on previous purchases, enhancing the customer experience. In addition, time-sensitive deals, such as limited-time discounts on related items, create urgency and encourage quick action. The benefits of cross selling in this phase not only boost revenue but improve customer satisfaction by delivering relevant product recommendations that align with their recent purchase. Thank You Page Cross-Sells Thank you pages present an excellent opportunity for brands to engage customers immediately after a purchase, as shoppers are typically satisfied and more open to exploring further offers. By implementing targeted cross-sells on these pages, you can capture up to 15% of customers for second purchases, greatly boosting your average order value (AOV). Product Category Example Product Incentive Eco-Friendly Reusable Bags 10% off for 24 hours Home Improvement Smart Thermostat Free shipping on next order Beauty Products Organic Skincare Buy one, get one 50% off Tech Accessories Wireless Earbuds Limited-time discount Strategic messaging can highlight complementary products, enhancing customers’ overall experience. Moreover, offering time-sensitive discounts creates urgency, encouraging immediate action. This approach in cross selling marketing can greatly increase customer satisfaction and sales revenue. Product Page Suggestions Product page suggestions play a crucial role in enhancing the shopping experience by leveraging customer behavior data to display complementary items. By effectively utilizing these suggestions, you can greatly boost your sales through cross selling voorbeeld. Here are some key strategies to implement: Personalized Recommendations: Tailor suggestions based on individual customer preferences, leading to a potential 20% sales increase. Visually Appealing Pop-ups: Use pop-ups to recommend related products, similar to Native‘s approach with body wash and shampoo. “Complete the Look” Feature: Engage customers by suggesting matching accessories, as Nike does, to increase average order value. Strategic Placement: Position cross-sell suggestions in high-visibility areas, such as under the “Frequently Bought Together” section, to capture interest effectively. These tactics create a more engaging shopping experience, enhancing your chances of converting visits into sales. Email Marketing Cross-Sells When you leverage email marketing for cross-selling, you tap into a potent tool that can greatly improve your sales efforts. Email marketing cross-sells capitalize on customer purchase history, allowing you to recommend related products that can boost conversion rates by up to 25% when customized effectively. By implementing automated sequences for cross-sell emails, you guarantee timely delivery, maximizing engagement right after a purchase or during key customer lifecycle moments. Personalization is key; including the customer’s name and specific product recommendations can amplify open rates by 26% and click-through rates by 14%. Successful cross-sell emails feature compelling subject lines and visually appealing layouts, driving customers to take action. Utilize data-driven insights to measure the performance of these emails, refining your strategies based on open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. This approach not just increases sales but also deepens customer relationships, making it a critical component of your marketing strategy. Frequently Asked Questions What Are Some Examples of Cross-Selling? Cross-selling involves suggesting additional products to improve the customer’s primary purchase. For instance, when you buy a laptop, you might see recommendations for accessories like a mouse or a carrying case. Retailers often use techniques like pop-ups during the checkout process or special offers on thank you pages to encourage these additional purchases. This strategy not only boosts customer satisfaction but furthermore increases overall sales by providing relevant options customized to your needs. What Is the 3 3 3 Rule in Sales? The 3 3 3 rule in sales is a structured approach to effectively engage potential customers. It involves making three attempts to connect with the customer, presenting three specific benefits of your product, and asking for the sale three times. This method emphasizes persistence, recognizing that most sales occur after multiple follow-ups. What Is the 25% Rule of Thumb for Cross-Selling? The 25% rule of thumb for cross-selling suggests you should aim for at least 25% of your total sales to come from cross-sell opportunities. This approach helps you establish measurable targets for your sales strategies, driving focus on maximizing average order value. How Does Cross-Selling Increase Sales? Cross-selling increases sales by encouraging customers to purchase additional items that complement their initial choices. By suggesting relevant products during the buying process, you can improve the average order value and elevate conversion rates. This strategy leverages customer data to personalize recommendations, promoting satisfaction and loyalty. Implemented effectively, cross-selling can boost overall revenue markedly, making it an essential tactic in maximizing sales without needing to acquire new customers. Conclusion Implementing effective cross-selling strategies can substantially improve your sales performance across various customer touchpoints. By utilizing methods like checkout page suggestions, post-purchase funnels, thank you page offers, product page recommendations, and targeted email marketing, you can effectively increase average order value and boost repeat purchases. Each of these tactics leverages customer satisfaction and engagement to maximize revenue. By focusing on personalized and strategic cross-selling, you can create a more profitable sales environment for your business. Image via Google Gemini and ArtSmart This article, "5 Powerful Cross Selling Examples That Boost Sales" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Learn why covering fewer subtopics can outperform exhaustive guides in ChatGPT citations, backed by large-scale data. The post Shorter, Focused Content Wins In ChatGPT 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. A like-new unit of the Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus is down to $109.99 (originally $249.99) on Woot, and using the code FIRE20—valid through April 14, 2026—drops the price another 20 percent to $88. For comparison, a brand-new unit is currently listed at $189.99 on Amazon, and most past discounts haven’t gone much lower than $149.99, according to price trackers. Shipping is free if you have Prime; otherwise, expect to pay about $6. It is also worth noting that shipping is limited to the contiguous U.S. Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus Extra 20% off with code $88.00 at Woot $250.02 Save $162.02 Get Deal Get Deal $88.00 at Woot $250.02 Save $162.02 This is a 3.1-channel soundbar with an integrated center channel, designed to make dialogue clearer and give movies a fuller sound than standard TV speakers. It is a straightforward setup that connects over HDMI eARC or optical, so it works with most TVs without extra configuration. There’s also Bluetooth if you want to stream music from your phone. Despite the name, it does not run Fire TV software. You control everything with a basic remote that lets you switch inputs, tweak bass and treble, and cycle through modes like Movie or Night. There is no on-screen interface, so you rely on voice prompts and small LED indicators to confirm changes. Sound-wise, it’s a noticeable improvement over built-in TV speakers, notes this PCMag review. Dialogue is easier to follow, and overall audio has more presence. The limitation shows up in the low end. The built-in bass is present but not strong, so action scenes and music can feel a bit flat. Amazon sells bundles with a separate subwoofer or rear speakers, and those add noticeable depth, but they also cost significantly more. This bar also supports Dolby Atmos in a basic way, though it lacks height channels, so you will not get the full overhead effect. For under $100 after the code, this works as a straightforward upgrade for smaller rooms or casual viewing. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 3 Noise Cancelling Heart Rate Wireless Earbuds — $199.99 (List Price $249.00) 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) Fire TV Stick 4K Plus Streaming Player With Remote (2025 Model) — $29.99 (List Price $49.99) Amazon Fire TV Soundbar — $99.99 (List Price $119.99) Blink Video Doorbell Wireless (Newest Model) + Sync Module Core — $35.99 (List Price $69.99) Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen, 2-pack, White) — $59.98 (List Price $79.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

Managing multiple businesses requires effective bookkeeping software to guarantee accuracy and efficiency in your financial operations. The right tool can streamline processes, support collaboration, and provide insights crucial for decision-making. You’ll find options like QuickBooks Online, FreshBooks, and Xero, each with unique features customized for various needs. Comprehending what each software offers is vital, especially when considering aspects like automated billing and multi-currency support. Let’s explore these top choices further to see which might fit your requirements best. Key Takeaways QuickBooks Online offers a centralized dashboard and unlimited invoicing for managing multiple businesses efficiently. FreshBooks provides automated billing features and real-time financial insights from a single platform. Xero supports multi-entity functionality with a user-friendly interface and unlimited users at no extra cost. Sage Intacct delivers real-time reporting and automated inter-company transactions for multi-entity organizations. NetSuite features robust multi-entity accounting and strong security measures for data protection. QuickBooks Online QuickBooks Online is a robust tool for managing finances across multiple businesses. This accounting software for multiple businesses allows you to create separate company files for each entity while providing a centralized dashboard, making financial oversight straightforward. You can enjoy unlimited invoicing, detailed expense tracking, and customized financial reports that improve decision-making for each business. With pricing plans ranging from $35 to $235 per month, QuickBooks Online scales to fit different business sizes and intricacies. Moreover, features such as automated bank reconciliation, multi-currency support, and a customizable chart of accounts streamline your bookkeeping processes. This bookkeeping software for multiple businesses also integrates seamlessly with various third-party applications, enhancing its functionality. FreshBooks For those managing multiple businesses, FreshBooks offers a thorough bookkeeping solution that simplifies financial management from a single platform. You can handle invoicing, expense tracking, and financial reporting seamlessly across various entities. With automated billing features, such as recurring invoices and late payment reminders, managing cash flow becomes easier, reducing late payments. FreshBooks provides real-time financial insights, mobile receipt scanning, and bank account imports, automating expense categorization for each business. Tax filing is simplified with consolidated financial reports, making it easier to prepare tax-ready documents. Here’s a quick overview of FreshBooks’ features: Feature Benefits Rating Automated Billing Improves cash flow 4.8/5.0 Expense Management Streamlines expense tracking Over 120,000 reviews Financial Reporting Simplifies tax preparation High user satisfaction Mobile Access Manage finances on-the-go User-friendly This platform is particularly effective for freelancers and small businesses managing multiple accounts. Xero Xero stands out for its multi-entity functionality, allowing you to manage several businesses from one platform without extra user fees. Its user-friendly interface makes it easy for you and your team to navigate through features like bank reconciliation and expense tracking. With the ability to customize your chart of accounts and support for multi-currency transactions, Xero caters to the specific financial needs of each entity efficiently. Multi-Entity Functionality Managing multiple businesses can be challenging, especially with regard to bookkeeping; nonetheless, software that offers robust multi-entity functionality can make this task considerably easier. Xero allows you to manage unlimited organizations from a single account, providing seamless access through one dashboard. This is particularly beneficial if you operate in various countries, as Xero supports multi-currency transactions, ensuring accurate financial reporting across currencies. You can customize your chart of accounts for each entity, aligning financial management with the specific needs of each business. Furthermore, Xero’s real-time financial reporting provides consolidated views of performance, enhancing oversight. With features like automated bank feeds and expense tracking, Xero greatly simplifies bookkeeping, reducing manual data entry and improving efficiency across your multi-entity operations. User-Friendly Interface Steering bookkeeping across multiple businesses doesn’t have to be complicated, especially when you have a user-friendly interface at your disposal. Xero features an intuitive design that makes navigation seamless, even for those without accounting expertise. The dashboard presents a clear overview of key financial metrics, such as bank balances and outstanding invoices, all in one place. You can invite unlimited users at no extra cost, allowing your team to collaborate effortlessly across various business accounts. Xero likewise offers customizable invoice templates, helping you maintain brand consistency. Plus, with the mobile app, you can access real-time financial data from anywhere, ensuring you stay on top of your finances no matter where you are. Sage Intacct When you’re looking to streamline financial management across multiple businesses, Sage Intacct stands out as a robust solution. This cloud-based software is particularly designed for multi-entity organizations, providing advanced capabilities to manage various businesses under one platform. With Sage Intacct, you can enjoy real-time financial reporting and analytics, allowing you to consolidate financial data effortlessly across different entities and currencies. The software simplifies complex accounting processes with features for automated inter-company transactions and eliminations, making it easier to manage subsidiaries. Its multi-currency functionality supports accurate financial management for global operations, accommodating various accounting standards and fiscal periods. Users often report a significant productivity boost, with a 79% reduction in close time and an impressive average ROI of 250% within just six months of implementation. NetSuite For businesses managing multiple entities, NetSuite offers a potent ERP solution that surpasses in multi-entity accounting through its OneWorld Suite. This all-encompassing software is customized for complex business needs, excelling in global operations and multi-currency management. You’ll appreciate the real-time financial reporting and dashboards, which provide a consolidated view of financial data across all your entities and subsidiaries, enhancing oversight. NetSuite further simplifies accounting processes with features like automated inter-company transactions and eliminations, greatly reducing the manual workload. Its customizable chart of accounts allows you to modify financial management to fit the unique structures and transaction behaviors of each entity. Moreover, the platform’s robust security measures and compliance capabilities guarantee your data is protected during adherence to financial regulations, no matter the jurisdictions in which you operate. Zoho Books Zoho Books stands out as a versatile bookkeeping solution, especially for businesses managing multiple entities under a single account. Its user-friendly interface allows you to create and manage several organizations easily, making it ideal for your diverse business needs. The software offers vital features like expense tracking, invoicing, and thorough financial reporting, all designed to streamline your financial management across different entities. With built-in multi-currency support, you can handle international transactions effortlessly, which is important for businesses with a global presence. Moreover, Zoho Books integrates seamlessly with other Zoho products and various third-party applications, enhancing its overall functionality. The flexible pricing structure is another advantage, offering a free plan for very small businesses and scalable paid plans starting at $0 for one organization, making it accessible for companies at various growth stages. Tipalti Tipalti offers a robust set of features customized for businesses managing multiple entities, focusing on accounts payable automation and global payments. With its self-service supplier onboarding, paperless invoice processing, and extensive payment rules, you can streamline your financial operations effectively. As we explore Tipalti’s integration capabilities and pricing, you’ll see how it can improve your bookkeeping across various business units. Key Features Overview When managing multiple businesses, having a robust bookkeeping software like Tipalti can greatly improve operational efficiency. Its key features are designed to streamline processes and strengthen security. Feature Description Supplier Onboarding Self-service onboarding and blacklist validation guarantee security. Paperless Invoice Processing OCR scanning reduces manual data entry errors and boosts efficiency. Global Payments Supports payments in over 200 countries and 120 currencies, ideal for international operations. Additionally, with over 26,000 payment rules and 3-way matching, Tipalti improves error detection. The integration of AI-driven insights via Tipalti Pi offers actionable data analytics, empowering you to make informed decisions across your business units. Integration Capabilities For businesses managing multiple entities, integration capabilities play a vital role in enhancing financial operations. Tipalti offers seamless integration with over 200 third-party applications, allowing you to streamline your financial processes efficiently. With automated data synchronization across platforms, you can reduce manual entry errors as you save time on financial management tasks. The software’s API supports custom integrations customized to your specific needs, guaranteeing connectivity with existing ERP systems and enhancing data flow. Being cloud-based means these integrations are accessible from anywhere, promoting collaboration among teams situated in different locations. Moreover, Tipalti focuses on supplier management by integrating onboarding processes and validation checks, which guarantees compliance and minimizes risk in financial transactions. Cost and Pricing Comprehending the cost and pricing model of Tipalti is crucial for businesses looking to optimize their financial operations across multiple entities. Tipalti offers a flexible pricing structure customized to your specific needs, allowing you to personalize based on the scale of your operations and desired features. By utilizing their all-encompassing suite of accounts payable automation tools, you can achieve significant cost savings through decreased manual processing and improved payment efficiency. Furthermore, Tipalti supports global payments in over 120 currencies, minimizing international transaction fees. Many organizations report an impressive ROI, with some users experiencing up to 250% returns owing to improved financial controls. You can inquire about custom pricing plans to guarantee you only pay for the features that matter to your business. Frequently Asked Questions What Is the Best Accounting Software for Multiple Small Businesses? When choosing accounting software for multiple small businesses, consider factors like user-friendliness, pricing, and crucial features. FreshBooks stands out in invoicing and expense tracking, whereas QuickBooks Online offers flexible pricing and separate bookkeeping for each entity. Xero supports unlimited users and multi-currency transactions, ideal for international operations. If budget is a concern, Wave Accounting allows management of up to 15 business profiles for free. Evaluate these options based on your specific needs to find the best fit. Can I Use Freshbooks for Multiple Businesses? Yes, you can use FreshBooks for multiple businesses. It allows you to manage different business accounts from a single login, streamlining your financial oversight. You can customize invoicing and expense tracking for each entity, ensuring everything stays organized. FreshBooks likewise generates consolidated financial reports, making tax filing simpler. Plus, it automates processes and reduces manual bookkeeping errors, providing real-time insights that help you maintain efficient financial management across all your businesses. Which Quickbooks Is Best for Multiple Businesses? For managing multiple businesses, QuickBooks Online offers several plans customized to your needs. The Fundamental plan, at $65/month, supports up to three users and includes invoicing and expense tracking. If you need advanced features like project tracking, consider the Plus plan for $99/month. For larger operations, the Advanced plan at $235/month allows up to 25 users and provides improved reporting. You can easily switch between company files using a centralized dashboard, streamlining management. What Is the Best Way to Legally Structure Multiple Businesses? To legally structure multiple businesses, consider forming separate entities like LLCs or corporations for each one. This approach protects your personal assets by limiting liability. A parent company structure can streamline management and financial reporting as well as allowing each subsidiary to maintain its legal identity. Moreover, a holding company can provide tax benefits and facilitate asset transfers. Always check state regulations and tax laws, as they vary and can greatly impact your choice. Conclusion Choosing the right bookkeeping software for managing multiple businesses is crucial for streamlining your financial processes. Each option, from QuickBooks Online to Tipalti, offers distinct features customized to various business needs, such as automated billing and real-time reporting. By selecting the software that aligns best with your operations, you can improve efficiency and gain valuable insights into your finances. Assess your specific requirements carefully to make an informed decision that supports your organization’s growth and success. Image via Google Gemini This article, "7 Best Bookkeeping Software for Managing Multiple Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

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Google’s Ask Maps feature does more than help users find nearby businesses. Based on hands-on testing of local service queries for plumbers, electricians, and HVAC companies, Ask Maps often narrows the field, interprets user intent, and frames businesses around qualities such as responsiveness, specialization, honesty, and repair-first thinking. In more complex prompts, it sometimes provides guidance before recommending businesses. This shows Google Maps moving beyond simple local retrieval and toward a more recommendation-driven experience. To evaluate that shift, we tested Ask Maps across five levels of local intent — starting with simple category searches and progressing toward conversational prompts involving uncertainty, trust, and decision-making. A clear pattern emerged. As query nuance increased, Ask Maps shifted from listing businesses to interpreting which businesses fit and why. This article draws from hands-on testing across a limited set of local service queries in one geographic area. Treat these findings as an early directional view, not a comprehensive representation across all markets or query types. The testing framework To evaluate progression, we built a five-level intent model based on how homeowners and local service customers actually search. Instead of organizing around traditional keyword categories, we structured the framework from simple retrieval toward conversational decision-making. Level 1 focused on basic requests with minimal context. Example: “Looking for an HVAC company near me.” Level 2 introduced more service specificity. Example: “I need an electrician to upgrade my panel in an older home.” Level 3 moved into situational queries, where the user described a problem. Example: “My furnace is making a loud banging noise and I’m not sure if it needs to be replaced or repaired.” Level 4 introduced trust and decision concerns. Example: “I think my furnace might need to be replaced, but I don’t want to get overcharged. Who is honest about that?” Level 5 combined those elements into fully conversational prompts asking for guidance, validation, and recommendations in the same search. Example: “I was told I need a full furnace replacement, but it feels expensive. How do I know if that’s actually necessary, and who should I call for a second opinion in my area?” This framework allowed us to evaluate: Which businesses appeared. How Ask Maps interpreted prompts. What attributes it emphasized. When results started to resemble guided recommendations rather than search results. 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 Ask Maps narrows the field and adds interpretation One of the clearest patterns across the testing was that Ask Maps consistently returned a relatively small set of businesses while increasing the amount of interpretation as the user’s search intent became more complex. At Level 1, the average number of businesses shown was 3.6. Level 2 rose to 4.3. Level 3 dropped slightly to 3.3. Level 4 averaged 5, and Level 5 averaged 4.6. Across the full set, the range remained fairly tight, generally between three and eight businesses. That’s a different experience from traditional Maps, where a user can scroll through a much broader set of options and do more of the evaluation work themselves. Ask Maps narrows choices early and spends more effort explaining why those businesses fit the prompt, but stops short of being fully action-oriented. Even when a phone number is shown, there’s no clickable call button directly in the Ask Maps response. To call or access the full set of contact options, the user still has to click into the business’s Google Business Profile. That matters because while Ask Maps is becoming more interpretive, the underlying GBP is still where action happens. As prompts become more nuanced, uncertain, or trust-sensitive, Ask Maps draws on a broader range of sources. It shows fewer businesses, replacing breadth with interpretation. Dig deeper: How to build FAQs that power AI-driven local search Basic queries already go beyond simple listings Even the simplest queries don’t behave like a traditional Maps result. At the baseline level, Ask Maps still relies heavily on Google Business Profile data, including: Business descriptions. Review content. Ratings. Hours. In some cases, posts. Website influence is minimal here, and there’s little evidence of outside sourcing. But even within that mostly closed ecosystem, it goes beyond listing nearby businesses. Instead of just showing names, ratings, and locations, Ask Maps: Generates narrative summaries based on information in the Google Business Profile. Describes businesses in terms of responsiveness, experience, specialization, or the kinds of situations they seem well-suited for. Draws on reviews when framing businesses. Even at the most basic level, Ask Maps isn’t neutral. It’s beginning to interpret businesses for the user. As queries become more specific, Ask Maps starts matching capability Once the prompt shifts from a general service search to a specific type of job, Ask Maps becomes more selective in how it matches businesses to the request. A query about an electrical panel upgrade doesn’t behave the same way as a query about urgent AC repair. Replacement-oriented prompts emphasize installation and system expertise. Repair-oriented prompts emphasize speed, availability, and responsiveness. Queries tied to older homes or higher-risk work call for more evidence of specialization. At this level, Google Business Profile and reviews still carry much of the weight, but websites matter more when the job is more complex or costly. A panel upgrade query produces stronger external link usage than a more straightforward AC repair prompt. That doesn’t mean websites are always heavily used. It shows more selectivity. As decisions become more complex, Google looks for more supporting evidence before recommending businesses. Situational queries push Ask Maps toward interpretation The more noticeable shift begins once the prompts move from service categories to real-world scenarios. At Level 3, the user is no longer looking for a plumber, electrician, or HVAC company. Instead, they’re describing a problem, such as a loud banging furnace, outdated electrical in an older home, or an AC unit that has stopped working during extreme heat. In those cases, Ask Maps increasingly interprets the problem before introducing businesses. Some responses provide guidance or context first. Others identify the provider and clarify the work before making recommendations. The businesses that follow aren’t framed as generic providers. They’re framed as possible solutions to the situation. Review content becomes important here. Rather than simply supporting a business’s credibility, reviews act as evidence that the company has handled similar situations before. Fast arrival times, experience with older homes, communication during stressful repairs, and problem-solving ability all become more meaningful when describing businesses. This is the point where Ask Maps moves more clearly from retrieval to interpretation. Dig deeper: 7 local SEO wins you get from keyword-rich Google reviews Trust-oriented queries change what gets emphasized When the prompts introduce fear, skepticism, or concern about making the wrong decision, Ask Maps changes again. At Level 4, the focus is less on the service need itself and more on the emotional context around it. The user is worried about being overcharged, being pushed into unnecessary replacement, or hiring someone who would cut corners. Ask Maps doesn’t just return businesses capable of doing the work. It organizes businesses around trust-related qualities such as honesty, transparency, careful workmanship, fairness, and second-opinion value. This is one of the strongest patterns in the research. At this stage, review language is the primary signal shaping how businesses are framed. Specific phrases and anecdotes matter, elevating businesses that explain options clearly, don’t upsell, offer honest assessments, or deliver careful, professional work. External sources become more relevant here. In addition to GBP information and reviews, Ask Maps shows more willingness to pull from company websites, testimonials, third-party platforms, and educational resources when the user’s concern involves decision risk rather than just service need. Once the query becomes trust-driven, the recommendation no longer appears to be based only on who can do the job. It reflects who is most likely to handle the situation in a way that the user feels good about. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. Advisory queries show the clearest shift The strongest example of this progression came at Level 5. These are prompts where the user combines a problem, uncertainty, and a request for recommendations in a single query. For example, someone might say they were told they needed a full furnace replacement but were unsure whether that was really necessary and wanted to know who to call for a second opinion. In these cases, Ask Maps moves most clearly into a decision-support role. Instead of leading with local businesses, it often starts with an explanation, introducing frameworks, safety context, or ways to think about the decision. Only after that does it recommend businesses, and those businesses are often grouped not just by rating or proximity, but by approach. Some are framed as repair-first options. Others are framed as second-opinion experts or safety-focused specialists. This is where Ask Maps feels least like a directory and most like an advisor. The structure of the response looks more like a guided decision process than a traditional local search result. That doesn’t mean the system is flawless or that every answer is equally strong. But it does suggest that when a prompt includes uncertainty and a need for validation, Ask Maps is trying to do more than match a category. It’s trying to help the user think through what to do next. Dig deeper: New Google Maps features: Local Guides redesign, AI captions, photo sharing Where Ask Maps gets its information Across the testing, several source patterns appear repeatedly, and the mix appears to shift depending on the type of query. At the foundation, Google Business Profile does much of the early work. Business categories, service descriptions, hours, ratings, and review counts help determine which businesses are eligible to appear and how they are initially framed. In some cases, Ask Maps also pulls from GBP services and products, business descriptions, and occasionally posts when those help reinforce what the business does. Reviews seem to be one of the most important inputs across nearly every query type. Not just in ratings, but in how review language shapes the summary. Ask Maps often draws on review themes tied to: Responsiveness. Honesty. Professionalism. Fast arrival times. Work on older homes. Repair-versus-replace situations. Whether customers feel the company explains options clearly or avoids unnecessary upselling. In other words, reviews support reputation and help define how a business is positioned in the response. Business websites matter more once the query becomes more specific, higher-stakes, or more tied to decision-making. In those cases, Ask Maps seems more likely to pull in service pages, testimonial pages, or other on-site business information that helps reinforce specialization, repair-first positioning, second-opinion value, or experience with a particular type of job. That’s more noticeable in queries tied to things like panel upgrades, replacement decisions, or older-home electrical concerns than in simpler “near me” searches. External sources are the most selective layer, but they become more visible when the query involves safety, diagnosis, pricing uncertainty, or broader decision support. In those cases, Ask Maps pulls in: Educational content around issues like repair-versus-replace decisions, quote validation, and electrical safety. Third-party review and directory platforms such as Angi, HomeAdvisor, YouTube, and Facebook. Other publicly available business information, when it helps reinforce trust, workmanship, or reputation. In some of the trust-oriented electrician queries in particular, this outside sourcing is more prominent than in simpler local lookups, suggesting Google may broaden its evidence base when evaluating how a business is likely to operate, not just what services it offers. Ask Maps isn’t relying on a single source of truth. It appears to be constructing an answer from a mix of Google Business Profile data, review language, business website content, and selectively chosen outside sources, with the balance shifting based on what the user is actually asking. What this may mean for local visibility If Ask Maps continues to develop in this direction, it could have meaningful implications for local visibility in Google Maps. Inclusion alone may matter less than interpretation. If Ask Maps is consistently showing a smaller set of businesses and adding more explanation around them, the question is no longer just whether a business appears. It’s also how that business is framed and whether Google has enough confidence to position it as a good fit for the situation. Review content is becoming more important than many businesses realize. The language within reviews appears to influence not just credibility, but the actual way a business is described and recommended. Website content plays a more targeted role than many local businesses assume. It may not be equally important for every prompt, but it matters more when the service is complex, expensive, or tied to greater uncertainty. More broadly, Ask Maps points toward a version of local search in which retrieval, evaluation, and decision support occur much more closely together. Instead of searching, comparing, researching, and then deciding across several steps, the user may increasingly be guided through much of that process within a single AI-mediated Maps experience. What businesses and SEOs should tighten up now If Ask Maps continues moving in this direction, the practical response isn’t to chase a new tactic or treat it like a separate channel. It’s to make the business easier for Google to understand and easier for customers to trust. Keep the Google Business Profile current and specific A Google Business Profile may play a bigger role when Ask Maps is trying to decide what a business does, what kinds of jobs it handles, and whether it fits a more nuanced prompt. Review primary and secondary categories to make sure they reflect the core work accurately. Tighten the business description so it clearly explains the services offered, the types of jobs handled, and any specialties or areas of focus. Make sure hours, service areas, and contact details are complete and current. Add photos that reinforce the kinds of jobs the business wants to be associated with. Treat posts and profile updates as another way to reinforce services and activity, not just as optional extras. Use the Services and Products sections fully, adding clear descriptions that reflect the specific jobs, specialties, and situations the business wants to be known for. Pay closer attention to review language If Ask Maps uses review language to shape how businesses are positioned, then the wording in reviews may matter more than many businesses realize. Look beyond review volume and average rating. Pay attention to whether reviews naturally mention specific jobs, customer concerns, and outcomes. Watch for language around responsiveness, honesty, professionalism, repair-first thinking, and clear communication. Encourage reviews that reflect real experiences rather than generic praise. Use review trends to understand how the business is likely being framed by Google. Revisit website content for higher-consideration services Website content appears more likely to matter when the query is more complex, more expensive, or tied to more uncertainty. Strengthen service pages for the higher-value or higher-risk work the business wants to be known for. Add FAQs that address real decision points, not just basic definitions. Include examples of the kinds of jobs handled, especially where context matters. Reinforce trust signals such as experience, process, reviews, and proof of work. Use language that helps explain situations like repair versus replace, older-home work, or second-opinion scenarios. Think beyond ranking for a phrase There’s a broader strategic shift here for local SEO. The question may no longer be only whether a business can rank for a phrase. It may also be whether Google has enough evidence to recommend that business in response to a real-world question. Evaluate whether the business is easy to understand across GBP, reviews, website content, and broader digital mentions. Look at whether the business is clearly associated with the jobs and situations it wants to win. Think about trust and decision support, not just service relevance. Focus on making the business more legible to both Google and potential customers. Treat local optimization less like keyword matching alone and more like building a clear, consistent business profile across sources. Dig deeper: If your local rankings are off, your map pin may be the reason 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 direction of Ask Maps is becoming clearer The main question behind this research was when Ask Maps stops behaving like a directory and starts behaving more like a recommendation engine. Based on this testing, that shift starts earlier than many might expect. Even at the most basic level, Ask Maps narrows, summarizes, and interprets. As prompts become more specific, situational, and trust-driven, they move further toward guided recommendations. At the highest level of complexity, it begins to look less like traditional local search and more like a system designed to help users make decisions. That doesn’t mean Google Maps has fully changed into something else. But it does suggest the direction is becoming clearer. For local businesses and the people who support them, that makes this worth watching closely. Visibility inside Maps may increasingly depend not just on being present, but on being understood well enough for Google to explain why the business fits the user’s needs. View the full article

The standoff between the United States and Iran deepened Tuesday as the U.S. declared it had blockaded Iran’s ports, Tehran threatened to strike targets across the region, and Pakistan said it was racing to bring the sides together for more talks. Though last week’s ceasefire appeared to hold, the showdown over the Strait of Hormuz risked reigniting hostilities and deepening the region-wide war’s economic fallout. Talks aimed at permanently ending the conflict — which began Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran — failed to produce an agreement last weekend, though Pakistan has proposed hosting a second round in the coming days. Two Pakistani officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter with the media, said that the first talks were part of an ongoing diplomatic process rather than a one-off effort. Two U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic negotiations, said on Monday that discussions were still underway about a new round of talks. They said that the venue, timing and composition of the delegations hadn’t been decided, but that talks could happen Thursday. The war, now in its seventh week, has jolted markets and rattled the global economy as a great deal of shipping has been cut off and airstrikes have torn through military and civilian infrastructure across the region. The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,000 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen U.S. service members have also been killed. Tanker reported rounding the corner The blockade is intended to pressure Iran, which has exported millions of barrels of oil, mostly to Asia, since the war began. Much of it has likely been carried by so-called dark transits that evade sanctions and oversight, providing cash flow that’s been vital to keeping Iran running. Both the nature of enforcement and the extent to which ships will comply remained unclear during its first full day in effect on Tuesday. Tankers approaching the strait on Monday turned around shortly after it took effect, though one turned around and transited the waterway early Tuesday. The tanker Rich Starry had been waiting off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, according to shipping data firm Lloyd’s List, which cited data from the energy cargo-tracking firm Vortexa. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the Rich Starry had earlier docked in Iran. Yet it is listed by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control as linked to Iranian shipping. Lloyd’s List, citing ship registry and tracking data, reported that it’s owned by a Chinese shipping company and ultimately bound for China. U.S. Central Command didn’t immediately respond to questions about the vessel after it cleared the 21-mile-wide (nearly 34-kilometer) waterway. A day earlier, it said that the blockade applied to vessels going to and from Iranian ports. Since the start of the war, Iran has curtailed maritime traffic, with most commercial vessels avoiding the waterway. Iran’s effective closure of the strait, through which a fifth of global oil transits in peacetime, has sent oil prices skyrocketing, pushing up the cost of gasoline, food and other basic goods far beyond the Middle East. U.S. President Donald The President on Monday said that Iran’s control of the strait amounted to blackmail and extortion as the U.S. blockade took effect. He said in a social media post that Iran’s navy had been “completely obliterated,” but still had “fast attack ships.” He warned that “if any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED.” Iran threatened to retaliate against Persian Gulf ports if attacked. “If you fight, we will fight,” Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said in a statement addressed to The President. French President Emmanuel Macron and British prime Minister Keir Starmer will co-chair a conference Friday for nations willing to deploy warships to escort oil tankers and container ships through the Strait of Hormuz. The deployment will happen “when security conditions allow,” Macron’s office said Tuesday. Israel and Lebanon scheduled for talks Meanwhile, direct talks between Israel and Lebanon were set to begin in Washington on Tuesday, the first such negotiations in decades. Israel has pressed ahead with its air and ground campaign since last week’s ceasefire in Iran, insisting that it doesn’t apply to fighting in Lebanon. It has, however, halted strikes in the country’s capital since April 8, after a deadly bombardment that hit several crowded commercial and residential areas in central Beirut. It sparked an international outcry and threats by Iran that it would end the ceasefire. After more than a year of near-daily strikes in southern Lebanon, Israel escalated its offensive in the early days of the war following Hezbollah launching rockets into Israel. The fighting has carved a path of destruction from agricultural towns near the border to Beirut, killing more than 2,000 people and displacing in excess of 1 million others, according to Lebanese authorities. The talks are expected to be preliminary, focused on setting parameters rather than resolving core issues. Lebanese officials have pushed for a ceasefire, while Israel has framed the negotiations around Hezbollah’s disarmament and a potential peace deal, without publicly committing to halting hostilities or withdrawing its forces. Israel wants Lebanon’s government to assume responsibility for disarming Hezbollah, much like was envisaged in a November 2024 ceasefire. But the militant group has survived efforts to curb its strength for decades and said on Monday that it won’t abide by any agreements that may result from the talks. Aamer Madhani, Matthew Lee and Farnoush Amiri contributed to this report. —Munir Ahmed and Sam Metz, Associated Press View the full article

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A user asks Gemini: “Find me a task chair under $400 with lumbar support and free shipping. Order the best one.” The AI doesn’t open a new tab. It doesn’t ask the user to click anything. Instead, it queries product databases, cross-references reviews, checks real-time inventory, compares shipping policies, and initiates a checkout — all without a human touching a single page. These are all things the user would have done themselves, but now in a fraction of the time, with as much effort as it took to write the initial prompt. Okay, we might not be quite at the stage where everyone is letting AI agents make all their purchases for them. But it’s no longer an unrealistic future. What made that possible isn’t the AI models themselves. It’s the infrastructure we’re seeing become an increasingly important part of how modern websites are built. This infrastructure consists of a stack of protocols that tells AI agents how to find each retailer’s site, understand their catalog, verify their claims, and take action. These protocols define how AI agents interact with your brand. And most SEOs have no idea they exist. By the end of this article, you’ll understand what each protocol does, how they differ from one another, and why you need to pay attention to what’s going on underneath the hood of AI search if you want to stay visible going forward. Why Protocols Matter for SEOs Protocols determine whether an AI agent can interact with your brand programmatically, or whether it has to guess. Brands that can speak the agent’s language are more likely to not just be surfaced, but also recommended and, ultimately, interacted with to make purchases. Think of how robots.txt and XML sitemaps became table stakes for search crawlers. Agentic protocols are shaping up to be that for AI agents. Put simply: if you want agents to be able to take action on your site — whether that’s making a purchase, booking a table, or completing a form — you need to understand these protocols. Note: We’re not suggesting that without these protocols AI agents and users will never access your site or buy from them. Agentic commerce is still pretty new, and even the protocols themselves are still evolving. But we believe that agents will increasingly act on behalf of users, and that the easier you make it for them to do that on your website, the better positioned you’ll be as agentic commerce becomes the norm. The Protocol Stack: A Quick Map These protocols aren’t competing standards fighting for dominance. They operate at different layers of the same stack, and most are designed to work together. Here’s a quick breakdown of what these protocols do: Layer What It Does Key Protocols Agent / Tool Connects agents to external data, APIs, and tools MCP Agent / Agent Lets agents hand off tasks to other agents A2A Agent / Website Lets websites become directly queryable by agents NLWeb, WebMCP Agent / Commerce Enables agents to discover products and complete purchases ACP, UCP Note: As with everything AI, the agentic protocols we’ll give more details on below are constantly evolving. This means some platforms are yet to adopt some of the protocols, and the specifics of each protocol could also change over time. MCP: Model Context Protocol MCP is the universal connector between AI agents and external tools, data sources, and APIs. How It Works Before MCP, every AI tool needed a custom integration for every data source it wanted to access. If you wanted a chatbot to pull live pricing from your database and cross-reference it with your CMS, someone had to build a bespoke connection between those systems. Then rebuild it whenever either one changed. MCP standardizes that connection. Think of it as USB-C for AI: one protocol that lets any agent plug into any tool, database, or website that supports it. An agent using MCP can pull live pricing data, check inventory, read structured content from a site, or execute a workflow, all through the same interface. The website or tool publishes an MCP server, and the agent connects to it. There’s much less need for custom integration work on either side. Who’s Behind It MCP was launched by Anthropic in November 2024. It has since been adopted by OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft. MCP is now governed by an open-source community under the Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF), a directed fund under the Linux Foundation. As of early 2026, there are more than 10K MCP servers out there, making it the de facto standard for agent-to-tool connectivity. What It Means for Your Brand Structured data, clean APIs, and accessible HTML have always been good technical SEO. Now they’re also agent compatibility requirements. Brands with MCP-compatible data give agents something to work with. Brands without it force agents to scrape pages and infer meaning, which creates friction and can affect whether they recommend you. Learn more about MCP here. A2A: Agent-to-Agent Protocol A2A is the standard that lets AI agents from different vendors communicate, delegate tasks, and hand off work to one another. How It Works MCP lets an agent talk to tools. A2A lets agents talk to each other. When a task is complex enough to need multiple specialist agents — like one for research, one for comparison, and one for completing a transaction — A2A is the protocol that coordinates them. Each A2A-compliant agent publishes an “Agent Card” at a standardized URL (that looks like “/.well-known/agent-card.json”). This card advertises what the agent can do, what inputs it accepts, and how to authenticate with it. Other agents discover these cards and route tasks accordingly. The result: agents from entirely different companies, built on different frameworks, running on different servers, can collaborate on a single user request. No custom-built connections required. Who’s Behind It Google launched A2A in April 2025 with 50+ technology partners, including Salesforce, PayPal, SAP, Workday, and ServiceNow. The Linux Foundation now maintains it under the Apache 2.0 license. What It Means for Your Brand As multi-agent workflows become more common, agents may evaluate your brand across multiple checkpoints before a human sees the result. That chain might look something like this: A research agent surfaces your product from a broad category query An evaluation agent reads your reviews and checks the sentiment A pricing agent verifies your costs against third-party sources A trust agent cross-references your claims for consistency A2A orchestrates that entire chain. If your data is inconsistent across sources, like if your pricing page says one thing and your G2 profile says another, the AI agent might filter your brand out as a contender. All before the user even sees you as an option. Learn more about A2A here. NLWeb: Natural Language Web NLWeb is Microsoft’s open protocol that turns any website into a natural language interface, queryable by both humans and AI agents. How It Works Right now, when an AI agent visits your website, it might have to make a lot of guesses. It scrapes your HTML, infers meaning from your content, and relies on your page being structured properly to be able to parse it effectively. There’s a lot of room for error. Once a site implements NLWeb, any agent can send a natural language query to a standard “/ask” endpoint and receive a structured JSON response. Your site then answers the agent’s question directly, rather than the agent interpreting your HTML. Every NLWeb instance is also an MCP server. A site implementing NLWeb automatically becomes discoverable within the broader MCP agent ecosystem without any additional configuration. Who’s Behind It NLWeb was created by R.V. Guha, the same person behind RSS, RDF, and Schema.org. (That’s no coincidence.) NLWeb deliberately builds on web standards that already exist, which means a lot of websites are close to NLWeb-ready right now. Microsoft announced NLWeb at Build 2025 in May 2025. It’s open-source on GitHub. Early adopters include TripAdvisor, Shopify, Eventbrite, O’Reilly Media, and Hearst. What It Means for Your Brand For SEOs, NLWeb is a natural extension of work you may already be doing. Schema markup, clean RSS feeds, and well-structured content are the foundation NLWeb builds on. Sites that have invested in structured data have a head start. Sites that haven’t are harder for agents to work with, but they can easily catch back up by implementing schema markup now. Structured data already helps search engines, and it can make it easier for agents to understand and interact with your site too. That increases the value of technical SEO work you may have been putting off. Learn more about NLWeb here. WebMCP WebMCP is a proposed W3C standard that lets websites declare their capabilities directly to AI agents through the browser. How It Works NLWeb makes your content queryable. WebMCP goes one step further: it lets websites declare what actions they support. These actions could include “add to cart,” “book a demo,” “check availability,” and “start a trial.” These capabilities are declared in a structured, machine-readable format. Instead of an agent scraping your UI and guessing how your checkout works, WebMCP gives it an explicit map, straight from the source (you). Who’s Behind It Google and Microsoft proposed WebMCP, and the W3C Community Group is currently incubating it. Chrome’s early preview shipped in February 2026, with broader browser support expected by mid-to-late 2026. What It Means for Your Brand WebMCP is the clearest preview of where agent-website interaction is heading. Imagine you have two brands with similar products, similar pricing, and similar reviews. The one whose site declares clear, structured capabilities is easier for an agent to act on. The other requires guesswork. Agents are likely to take the path of least friction, and WebMCP helps you reduce friction to a minimum. Learn more about WebMCP here. ACP: Agentic Commerce Protocol ACP is OpenAI and Stripe’s open standard for enabling AI agents to initiate purchases. How It Works ACP focuses specifically on the checkout moment. It creates a standardized way for an AI agent to complete a purchase on a merchant’s behalf, handling payment credentials, authorization, and security through the protocol itself. Before ACP, an agent that wanted to complete a purchase had to navigate each merchant’s unique checkout flow. A different form, a different payment process, and a different confirmation step for every retailer. ACP standardizes this process. Merchants integrate with ACP through their commerce platform, and once live, checkout becomes agent-executable. The user doesn’t have to do anything except approve. ACP originally powered ChatGPT’s instant checkout functionality, but that has since been removed by OpenAI in favor of dedicated merchant apps. ACP may still power product discovery within ChatGPT, and may be used within these apps, but things are evolving fast. Who’s Behind It OpenAI and Stripe launched ACP in September 2025. It’s open-sourced under Apache 2.0, with platform support still expanding. What It Means for Your Brand If an agent has shortlisted your product and the user tells it to go ahead and pay, ACP is what allows the agent to complete the transaction. If your brand isn’t integrated with this workflow, you risk the AI agent getting stuck or being unable to complete that purchase. The agent can recommend you, but it can’t buy from you. That gap will matter more as agentic commerce becomes the norm. Learn more about ACP here. UCP: Universal Commerce Protocol UCP is Google and Shopify’s open standard for the full agentic commerce journey, from product discovery through checkout and post-purchase. How It Works ACP focuses on the checkout moment, while UCP covers the entire shopping lifecycle. An agent using UCP can discover a merchant’s capabilities, understand what products are available, check real-time inventory, initiate a checkout with the appropriate payment method, and manage post-purchase events like order tracking and returns. All through a single protocol. UCP is built to work alongside MCP, A2A, and AP2 (Agent Payments Protocol), meaning it plugs into the broader agent infrastructure rather than replacing it. Merchants publish a machine-readable capability profile. Agents then discover it, negotiate which capabilities both sides support, and proceed. Who’s Behind It Google and Shopify co-developed UCP, with Google CEO Sundar Pichai announcing it at NRF 2026. More than 20 launch partners signed on, including Target, Walmart, Wayfair, Etsy, Mastercard, Visa, and Stripe. What It Means for Your Brand When a user asks Google AI Mode to find and buy something, UCP determines whether your brand is in the conversation, and whether the agent can actually complete the transaction. The machine-readability of your product data, the consistency of your pricing across sources, the clarity of your inventory signals: all of it feeds directly into whether an agent can successfully transact with you. Learn more about UCP here. ACP vs. UCP: The Key Difference ACP and UCP are often confused, and they do share some similarities, but here’s where they differ: ACP UCP Built by OpenAI + Stripe Google + Shopify Scope Discovery and checkout layers Full journey: discovery, checkout, and post-purchase Powers ChatGPT instant checkout and product discovery Google AI Mode, Gemini Architecture Centralized merchant onboarding Decentralized: merchants publish capabilities at /.well-known/ucp Status (early 2026) Live, wider rollout in progress Live, wider rollout in progress ACP and UCP are complementary, not competing. A brand may eventually support both — one for ChatGPT’s ecosystem, one for Google’s. For now, the practical question is: which platforms matter most to your customers, and where does your commerce infrastructure make integration easiest? Choose the protocol that aligns with your answer, or use both. Example of Agentic Search Protocols in Action These protocols don’t operate in isolation. Here’s what they might look like working together (note that this isn’t necessarily exactly what’s going on at each stage, and is just for illustrative purposes): Scenario: A user asks Gemini: “Find me a comfortable task chair under $400 with lumbar support and free shipping. Order the best option.” Step 1: MCP Activates The agent uses MCP to connect to external tools: product databases, review platforms, retailer inventory feeds. It can query live data rather than relying on cached or trained knowledge. Step 2: A2A Coordinates The agent then coordinates with specialist agents published by brands and review platforms via A2A. One evaluates ergonomics reviews. One checks pricing consistency across sources. One verifies free shipping claims against each retailer’s actual policy page. Step 3: NLWeb Answers Queries Directly The agents query each retailer’s site. Brands with NLWeb implemented respond to the agent’s /ask query with structured data. This includes things like accurate inventory, real-time pricing, and product attributes. Brands without it force the agent to scrape and infer, slowing it down and potentially leading to them being skipped altogether. Step 4: WebMCP Declares Available Actions The “winning” retailer’s site has declared its checkout capabilities via WebMCP. The agent knows exactly what actions are available and how to initiate them without any guesswork. Step 5: UCP Completes the Transaction The purchase is executed via UCP, entirely within Google’s AI experience. The merchant’s backend communicates through the standardized API. The user gets an order confirmation, and they never visited a single product page. Obviously this is the fully agentic scenario. In reality, not every purchase is going to be left entirely to an AI agent. But even when a human wants to evaluate options before clicking buy, making it as easy as possible for the agent to make recommendations is still good practice. That’s why these protocols are worth paying attention to. What SEOs Should Do Now Understanding the protocol layer is step one. Here’s where to focus next: 1. Prioritize Machine-Readable Content Over Volume Before adding more pages, make sure your existing pages can be parsed cleanly by an agent. That means: Having your pricing in plain text, not locked behind JavaScript drop-downs Using feature lists that don’t require interaction to reveal Including FAQ content that renders server-side Using schema markup on product and organization pages An agent that can’t read your page can’t recommend or buy your products. 2. Audit Your Structured Data NLWeb builds on Schema.org, RSS, and structured content that sites already publish. If you’ve invested in schema markup, you have a head start on NLWeb compatibility. If you haven’t, this is now a double reason to prioritize it: it improves your search visibility and makes your site more easily queryable by agents. 3. Check Your Consistency Across Sources Agents verify claims by cross-referencing your site, review platforms, and third-party content. If your pricing page says one thing and your Capterra profile says another, agents can flag the discrepancy and lose confidence in your brand, making the recommendation or purchase less likely. Audit for cross-source consistency the same way you’d audit NAP consistency in local SEO. It’s the same underlying principle, just for a different kind of crawler. 4. Get on the ACP and UCP Waitlists Now These protocols are in active rollout. Early adopters benefit from lower competition in agent-mediated commerce while the rest of the ecosystem catches up. Join Stripe’s waitlist for ACP access. And join Google’s UCP waitlist too. For other protocols like MCP, talk to your dev team about making sure your site supports them. 5. Monitor Your AI Footprint as a Regular Practice Search your brand in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Mode. Are agents describing your product accurately? Is your pricing consistent with what they’re surfacing? Are competitors appearing where you aren’t? This is the new version of checking your SERP presence, and it needs to become a recurring part of your workflow, not a one-time audit. Understand how your brand is appearing in AI search right now with Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit. It shows you where you’re showing up, where you’re behind your rivals, and exactly what AI tools are saying about your brand. What’s Next for Agentic Search Protocols? The protocols we’ve discussed here are already live, but they’re still evolving. WebMCP is still in early preview. ACP and UCP are mid-rollout. New protocols — for agent payments, agent identity, agent-to-user interaction — are still being drafted and debated. But the SEOs that understand and implement these protocols correctly are the ones most likely to see success. Find out where your brand stands right now with our free AI brand visibility checker. The post The 6 Agentic AI Protocols Every SEO Needs to Know appeared first on Backlinko. View the full article

Seven & i Holdings, the Japan-based owner of 7-Eleven, has announced that it plans to close hundreds of stores in North America over the next year. The store closures are an attempt to reduce costs and increase profitability for the chain of convenience stores ahead of a U.S. initial public offering for its North American unit, which was recently delayed. Here’s what you need to know. 645 store closures in North America Tucked away in Seven & i Holdings’ brief summary for its fiscal year 2025 last week was news that the company plans to close more than 1,000 locations in its fiscal year 2026, which runs from March 1, 2026, to February 28, 2027. According ot the document, Seven & i Holdings plans to shutter 645 locations in North America. During the same period, 205 new 7-Eleven locations are set to open, meaning a net loss of 440 of the beloved convenience stores is expected. For context, 645 closures represent about a 5% reduction in the company’s current footprint of 12,272 North American locations. However, it should be noted that Seven & i Holdings says some of the closing locations won’t be shuttered entirely. Many 7-Eleven locations in North America sell both gas at the pump and food inside the convenience store. Locations that don’t have an operating convenience store and only sell gas are known as wholesale fuel stores. Seven & i Holdings says that the “645 store closures in the full-year FY2026 forecast include the conversion to wholesale fuel stores.” This means some locations will close their convenience store segment, but continue to operate as gas stations. However, the locations that undergo a transition to wholesale fuel stores only will no longer count as part of the chain’s total footprint, hence a wholesale fuel stores conversion counts as a closure. Which 7-Eleven locations are closing? It’s unknown which of the company’s 12,272 North American locations are closing. Fast Company has reached out to Seven & i Holdings for comment. However, the 645 North American locations aren’t the only 7-Eleven locations that Seven & i Holdings is shuttering over the next year. The company says it will close additional stores internationally, including: 350 in Japan 18 in Australia 30 in Beijing, China 25 in Tianjin, China 10 in Chengdu, China How has 7-Eleven’s delayed IPO impacted closures? While Seven & i Holdings is a publicly traded company in Japan, the 7-Eleven owner has long intended to list its North American operations separately on a U.S. stock exchange. This initial public offering for 7-Eleven was expected to take place this year, but has now been delayed until at least 2027. As the Financial Times reported last week, Seven & i Holdings has announced that the U.S. IPO would be delayed until the company’s 2027 financial year “at the earliest.” That financial year runs from March 1, 2027, until the end of February 2028. The delayed IPO is being driven by the company’s desire to turn around profits at its North American locations ahead of the listing. The company’s North American locations have been hit by declining sales as cash-strapped consumers cut back on spending. The ongoing U.S. war with Iran is also not helping the company’s bottom line, as it is raising fuel prices, thereby eating into profits. Companies also tend to cut costs wherever they can before an IPO to help present a better bottom line to potential investors. So the upcoming IPO is also likely having an impact on Seven & i Holdings’ decision to close hundreds of North American locations. When will 7-Eleven close its stores? That is unknown. But it is unlikely that the 645 stores marked for closure will all close at once. Instead, locations will likely close individually throughout Seven & i Holdings’s 2026 fiscal year. That fiscal year runs until February 28, 2027, so expect the 645 North American locations to be closed by that date. View the full article

UK carmaker tests limits of the market with its personalised vehicles for the super-richView the full article

Saying “my back hurts” is a bit like saying “my car is making a noise.” It may be serious, or it may be nothing, and only a professional will know for sure. But if you have back pain, especially in your lower back, you’re not alone: By some estimates, 75% of us will have an achy lower back at some point in our lives, often without any obvious cause. I cannot diagnose your back pain over the internet. That said, I can tell you about common reasons for back pain, and provide general strategies that can help you feel less achy. Back pain doesn’t always mean you’re injuredWe tend to assume that pain is a sign that some part of our body is damaged and needs fixing. But that’s not always true. When it comes to back pain, around 90% of the time there is no detectable injury. That doesn’t mean that the pain is imaginary—there can be physical causes that don’t show up on x-rays or MRIs, and other factors also contribute to us feeling a sensation of pain. Doctors and scientists used to think of pain as a simple signal sent from damaged body parts to the brain. It’s now considered more accurate to say that pain is a perception created in the brain in response to a variety of things we experience. Tissue damage can be one of them, but our experience of pain is also shaped by our expectations, our fears, and other things going on in our brain and body. You might feel pain more acutely if you’re stressed or worried about it. This increases your stress, and things snowball from there. Or maybe you’ve been to the doctor about something that was worrying you, only to find out that the issue is actually very minor, and you’ll be fine. It’s not unusual to experience less pain from that point onward, even though nothing has physically changed. Obviously, there are back problems that are physical and fixable, so it’s definitely worth getting checked out to rule out serious issues. But if you just have an achy back sometimes and your doctor says nothing is seriously wrong, what can you do? A strong back tends to be a healthier backExercise tends to help people with low back pain feel better, according to a 2021 meta-analysis of trials that included everything from strength training to Zumba. If you’re dealing with pain on a daily basis, the first step doesn’t have to be finding the “best” exercises to deal with it. Instead, focus your efforts on finding something you can do without experiencing pain, or at least without increasing your pain. A physical therapist can help guide you through this process, especially one who specializes in sports medicine or who has experience working with active people. (Some physical therapists prescribe exercises that are too easy to be effective, especially to older adults; this is a recognized problem in the industry.) There is still disagreement on exactly what kind of exercise is best to prevent or treat back pain. Some PTs focus on core work, believing that it’s crucial for your deep core muscles, such as the transverse abdominis, to be strong to protect your back. Using this approach, you may find yourself doing a lot of dead bugs and bird dogs, and get a lot of practice drawing your belly button in toward your spine. Another school of thought holds that core muscles are only a small part of the picture, and that strengthening your back muscles themselves should be the focus of training. This approach is more likely to favor work with free weights, like deadlifts, dumbbell rows, and lunges. Done correctly, these moves also work your core; you need to brace your core to stabilize your spine for a deadlift or squat, and that’s as legitimate a type of core work as anything you do on a yoga mat. Sore muscles are okay, actuallyIt’s normal to be concerned about protecting your back. After all, if you’ve heard a million times not to “lift with your back,” you might worry that any soreness after lifting or bending means you injured something. But there are muscles in your back, and they can get fatigued or sore when you use them a lot—just like the muscles in your arms or legs. You wouldn’t be surprised or worried if you had sore thighs after a heavy squat day or after running a race. The muscles in your lower back can feel sore after your deadlift day at the gym, or even after a long day of standing and walking more than you’re used to. Sometimes people confuse this normal soreness with injury, and worry that those deadlifts did something terrible to their back. But before you panic, consider treating your back the same way you would any other sore muscle: Use gentle heat, walk around a bit, and consider foam rolling or massage. The pain from sore muscles tends to feel a bit better with activity, and will usually fade within a few days. Stretches and exercises that are good for people with back painWhat exercises can you do to potentially prevent back pain and possibly manage back pain you already have? Again, it’s best to check with a professional to be sure of what makes the most sense for you, but here are some strengthening and stretching exercises that are often recommended: Core exercisesBird dogs Dead bugs Planks Side planks Back-strengthening exercises (with barbells, dumbbells, or kettlebells)Deadlifts or Romanian deadlifts Rack pulls or block pulls Bent-over rows Split squats or your favorite regular squat Reverse hypers StretchesCat/cow Jefferson curls Figure 4 stretch Spinal twist Lying hamstring stretch View the full article

At midnight on Jan. 5, hackers took over our Google Ads Manager Account (MCC). We weren’t alone. While it’s hard to get an exact count, hundreds, if not thousands, of agencies have been affected by the hacks, in turn affecting tens of thousands of accounts. While I wouldn’t wish this experience on our worst enemy, having been through it, I have some insights that I hope can help you prevent the same experience from happening to your MCC account. How we were hacked Despite having two-factor authentication (2FA) and allowed domains enabled, the hackers were able to get into our account via an employee’s email address. It was clearly a targeted hack: the night of the hack, the hackers tried to get in via two other email accounts at our company before they succeeded with the third. While phishing or compromised passwords may have originally gotten them into the system — we still don’t know which — we later learned that the account the hackers used had been compromised for months and that they had created their own 2FA that they had been using all along. Once they gained access to our account, the hackers removed everyone else’s access to the MCC. They then changed the allowed domain to Gmail and granted access to over a dozen people. The hackers then created a new MCC in our company’s name and invited most of our clients. Luckily, none of them accepted. In the few hours they were in the MCC, the hackers proceeded to create chaos. They removed all the users from some accounts and changed the payment method in others. They launched new campaigns on only a few accounts, yet somehow also attempted half-million-dollar credit card charges on two others (despite not running any ads in those accounts). 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 What happened after the hack We were very lucky. The hackers were locked out within eight hours, and we regained access in just over a week. They spent only about $100 across the MCC. Neither crazy credit card charge went through. We were fully recovered from the hack within two weeks. How did we do this? Let’s take a look at the steps we took. Step 1: We contacted Google When we were hacked, we immediately contacted our reps at Google. We’re incredibly lucky to have wonderful Google reps with whom we’ve built longstanding relationships, including one we’ve worked with for over three years. These long-term relationships helped, and our reps went to bat for us. They continued to put pressure on the support cases until they were resolved and helped connect us to the resources we needed. Not everyone has their own reps, but you can also take these steps on your own. Step 2: Fill out the forms Our Google reps immediately directed us to their “What to do if your account is compromised” resource. From there, we filed Account Takeover Forms, alerting Google to the hack. We were directed to file a form for each of our accounts that had been hacked. We first filed one for our MCC, even though the form, at the time, said not to use it for MCCs. It looks like that language has since been changed, which is great — don’t skip this step. Getting back into the MCC makes it easier to resolve all issues, rather than having to file tickets and coordinate access for each account. Step 3: Contact clients At the same time, we directed any clients who still had access to their accounts to disconnect them from our MCC, and to grant access to a non-compromised email account. That way we were able to secure the accounts, work on them, and mitigate any damages immediately. We were also able to triage our accounts to figure out which we were still able to access, and which had no admins left with access. Step 4: Reset billing Disconnecting from our MCC wound up being a very important step. That’s because when our accounts were disconnected from the MCC, we were easily able to reset the billing by editing the payment manager and undoing all of the payment chaos that the hackers had created. We were then able to reconnect them without issue. Step 5: Check change history When we eventually did get back into the accounts, we immediately checked the change history, which we were able to do at the MCC level for additional speed. All the changes the hackers made during that time were there with time stamps, allowing us to put together a timeline of the hack and remediate any remaining issues. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. Best practices for recovering from a hack During all this activity, a few things were especially critical to our success in recovering the account and mitigating damage. Here’s a quick rundown of best practices to keep in mind. Make sure clients have access This isn’t just a best practice, but something we believe should always be the case for ethical reasons. Having additional admins in the account let us regain access immediately, despite being locked out of the MCC, and remediate issues without losing time or momentum. Google also pushed back on any access or billing changes that didn’t have approval from an existing admin, so having people still in the accounts was critical. Keep your MCC clean Remove old clients, and any other MCCs for tools you’re no longer using. We didn’t do this, and wish we had. We’ve made it a best practice for our accounts moving forward. Limit team access Make sure your team only has the minimum access they need. Standard access is great. Admin access should be reserved for as few people as possible. The compromised account belonged to a junior team member who didn’t need admin-level access. This isn’t to say they wouldn’t have gotten in through a more senior team member’s account — as mentioned, they did try to get in through several before succeeding — but it would have mitigated risk. Use credit cards or invoices Never connect your bank accounts to your MCC. We’ve heard of companies that have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars with this same kind of hack. Because our clients were all either on invoice or credit cards, the hackers couldn’t quickly spend money in a way that hit their accounts. As noted earlier, the credit card companies rejected the very suspicious half-million-dollar charges the hackers attempted to make, and notified the credit card holders. The clients we were invoicing were never charged, and everything was captured on the invoices before billing. Invest in relationships It’s important to invest in your relationships with your Google reps, and fellow agency owners. We remain incredibly grateful to all of the people who helped us, or even just commiserated with us along the way. This experience would’ve been even more painful if we’d had to go through it alone. How to prevent being hacked For those who have yet to be hacked, congratulations! Let’s try to keep it that way. Here are some things you can do to make it much less likely that this will ever happen to your accounts. Start with a clean reset Begin by kicking every single user out of your account, and have everybody on the accounts reset their passwords. Make sure you log everyone out of every session they were in on every device. Our hackers were sitting around auto-logging in and keeping their sessions open for over two months prior to the night they took over the MCC. If we’d forced a reset and logged everyone off, we would’ve removed their access without even realizing it. Enable 2FA and allowed domains Make sure there’s only one 2FA per person. 2FAs that use authenticators or physical keys are better than pinging a device. The hackers had created their own 2FA to get into our employees’ accounts, and we never even had an idea that it was happening. Audit and limit access Make sure the minimum number of people have the minimum access they need to the MCC. This reduces your risk. Enable multi-party approval Google rolled out this new feature quite recently to help prevent account takeovers. Essentially, the feature requires that a second admin verifies any big changes before they happen. If you’d like to read up on this feature, here’s a great guide introducing multi-party approval. Back up your accounts You can copy and paste your accounts into your preferred spreadsheet app via Google Ads Editor. Make a habit of doing this periodically so that you’ll always have a copy of how things were in case of a hack. With the backups, you can easily revert back if you need to. Use strong passwords It’s important to use unique passwords that aren’t being used anywhere else. That way, if one site gets hacked, your MCC is still not at risk. We’re still not sure how the hackers passed the initial password stage to be able to create their own 2FA. Invest in security monitoring If you want to be extra careful, invest in security software and/or a cybersecurity expert to monitor your system. We have now done this, and it’s been amazing (and scary) to see how many phishing attempts have already been caught in the six weeks since we did it. A note for clients: If you’re a client and another team is managing your Google Ads, do not accept any Google Ads MCC access requests that you aren’t expecting. Please make sure you always know who and what you’re giving access to. When in doubt, double-check with the team that is managing your account. A little caution can go a long way. 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 Stay safe out there The good news is that Google knows about these issues, and is actively finding ways to tighten their systems to prevent hacks. In the meantime, I hope this article has helped make our loss your gain. With an ounce of prevention, you’re likely to prevent a pound of pain. View the full article

It's been a while since Google has come out with a new search spam policy and penalty to accompany it with and now we have a new one, "back button hijacking." Back button hijacking is something many of us were surprised Google didn't specifically disallow but now, Google said it is on the rise and it is adding it to the list - officially.View the full article

CoreWeave is having a very eventful week, and its stock price reflects it. Shares of the AI cloud-computing firm (Nasdaq: CRWV) are up more than 37% in five days following deals with Meta Platforms and Anthropic. On Thursday, April 9, CoreWeave announced a six-year agreement with social media giant Meta, parent company of Facebook and Instagram. CoreWeave will supply AI cloud capacity to Meta through December 2032. “The dedicated capacity will be deployed across multiple locations and will include some of the initial deployments of the Nvidia Vera Rubin platform,” CoreWeave stated in a release. “This distributed approach is designed to optimize performance, resilience, and scalability for Meta’s AI operations.” The agreement is worth about $21 billion for CoreWeave. Then, on Friday, April 10, the company announced another deal, this time with Anthropic. The multi-year agreement will see CoreWeave support Anthropic’s development and deployment of the latter’s Claude AI models. The plan is to bring compute online by the end of the year. “CoreWeave joins Anthropic’s growing ecosystem of infrastructure partners helping to scale the adoption of Anthropic’s AI models across developers, startups, and enterprises worldwide,” the company stated in another release. “With the addition of Anthropic, nine of the leading ten AI model providers now leverage CoreWeave’s platform, reflecting the growing demand for infrastructure that can support AI at scale.” Analyst goes from hold to buy In response to these developments, Macquarie analyst Paul Golding upgraded CoreWeave’s position from Hold to Buy. Golding further increased its target price from $90 to $125 per share. Currently, it’s at about $115 per share. As of early Tuesday, CoreWeave shares are up another 4.53% in premarket trading. The stock has increased 39% year to date. Although it has been volatile along with many tech stocks in 2026, CoreWeave has far outperformed the broader Nasdaq Composite, which has declined 0.22% over the same period. View the full article

Google's John Mueller said on Reddit that Google can handle and deal with having multiple URLs for a single web page, but it is not a good practice. He said it makes it harder for Google and Google will just pick one URL anyway. View the full article

Google has made some changes to the Google Business Profile policy document, specifically the identity change section. It is now much more descriptive than before.View the full article

Get actionable ways to break affiliate plateaus using data, audience research, and new content distribution channels. The post How To Break Through An Affiliate Site Plateau & Find New Growth – Ask An SEO appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article