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Everyone who has tried to code with Anthropic’s Claude Code AI agents runs into the same usability problem: If you run two or three concurrent artificial intelligence sessions—say, one rewriting your server code, another generating tests, a third doing background research—you are forced to manually hunt through separate terminal tabs, each one generating a relentless stream of machine-readable log entries, just to figure out what each program is actually doing at any given moment. Not only is it hard to follow what’s really going on, but not checking constantly can also lead to problems, as agents might stop to ask you something and you won’t notice it for minutes or hours. Developer Pablo De Lucca thought there had to be another way: What if you could create a control panel and alert system that bridges the AI coding agents with your brain in an intuitive way, allowing you to control at a glance what’s going on? That’s how Pixel Agents was born. Pixel Agents is an extension that runs inside Visual Studio Code, the most popular code editor on the planet. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, that’s okay. The important thing to know here is that the UX of agentic coding could someday soon look a lot different. While it looks like an adorable 8-bit video game, Pixel Agents is not something you can play. Rather, it transforms the user experience of coding with Anthropic’s Claude Code agentic AIs by turning them into sprite characters who live, work, and interact in an office doing your bidding. The extension draws directly from the language of video games because it’s something everyone understands. “I envision a future where agent-based user interfaces resemble a video game more than a traditional IDE,” he said in the Reddit thread introducing his tool. “Projects like AI Town have demonstrated the appeal of visualizing agents as characters within a tangible space, which I find much more engaging than just viewing endless lines of terminal text.” How Pixel Agents worksThe extension achieves this transformation by acting as a silent observer. Think of Anthropic’s Claude Code as a worker who keeps a detailed, timestamped diary of every action it takes: every file it opens, every command it runs, every moment it waits. These diaries are stored in a format called JSONL transcript files, essentially a structured log that records the machine’s activity in real time. Pixel Agents reads these logs continuously, without touching or modifying Claude Code itself, and uses the entries as triggers to update the state of the corresponding character, animating them on screen and making them “talk” using speech bubbles when needed. Developers can customize the virtual office where these characters live to better suit their needs. A built-in layout editor lets them design their own workspace on a grid that can be expanded to up to 64 by 64 tiles, with furniture, walls, and floors arranged to taste. Then, each concurrent Claude Code session spawns one of six distinct animated pixel art character designs into that space. The layout persists across VS Code windows so the office retains its configuration between work sessions. The result is a spatial map of your entire active workload. “Each character moves around, takes a seat at a desk, and visually represents the actions of the agent,” De Lucca describes on Reddit. “For instance, when coding, the character types; when searching for files, it appears to read; and if it’s waiting for input, a speech bubble appears.” Love them bubblesOne of the most persistent frustrations in AI-assisted development is the blocked agent. That’s when a program that has paused its work to request human authorization (for example, permission to execute a potentially destructive system command) sits completely idle. It’s usually invisible inside a minimized terminal tab until the developer happens to notice it. Pixel Agents converts that invisible pause into a visual and audio event: an amber bubble over the character’s head, with an optional sound notification. The extension also tackles a second, subtler problem: the spawning of sub-agents. Modern AI coding tools routinely break large tasks into smaller pieces, launching temporary child processes to handle discrete sub-problems before terminating. In a text terminal, the birth and death of these ephemeral processes is nearly invisible and cognitively taxing to follow. Inside the Pixel Agents office, each sub-agent physically materializes as a separate character visually linked to its parent, then disappears with a dedicated exit animation the moment its job is complete. De Lucca says that the sub-agents “enter and exit with neat animations reminiscent of the Matrix.”​ That way, the workload hierarchy becomes something you can see rather than something you have to infer from logs. The extension is free but the furniture and office tile graphics come from a commercial asset pack called ‘Office Interior Tileset (16×16)’ by an artist named Donarg, which is available on itch.io for $2. De Lucca has publicly called for community contributions of public domain art assets to fully open and extend the visual ecosystem. Hopefully people will contribute. Pixel Agents is one of those happy ideas that solve a real problem in a fun way, making the invisible visible and turning the annoying into entertainment. Translating the abstract, parallel labor of multiple autonomous machines into a spatial, ambient picture that a human brain can monitor at a glance is definitely something to admire. Whether that constitutes the beginning of a broader shift in how we design interfaces for AI tools remains to be seen, but as a proof of concept, it is hard to argue with.​ View the full article

OpenAI has emerged as one of the government’s leading providers of artificial intelligence. According to the company, 37 federal agencies now have access to its tech, and about 80,000 government employees are now using it regularly. This makes OpenAI a frontrunner in the race between the top AI companies to get their tech in front of government users. These workers are just a small fraction of these frontier labs’ total customer bases, but they’re symbolically valuable. Wooing the U.S. government is important enough to these companies that they’re offering their technology at a steep discount. And, in another bid to speed up the administration’s use of the tech, several of those labs—OpenAI, Perplexity, and Google—have now earned a fast-track to offer their AI on a government-approved cloud. Of course, working with the U.S. government brings a host of logistical challenges. Between arduous cybersecurity requirements and arcane procurement rules, getting technology to federal agencies can be a real chore. Federal agencies also operate on far tighter budgets than the commercial sector, and are slow to adapt to new tech, which is why OpenAI, like other companies, is offering them access to ChatGPT for basically nothing. Government contracting can also put tech companies under a microscope. Working for government agencies, particularly more polarizing ones (like the Department of Homeland Security) has become politically toxic—not just to the broader public, but also to tech workers. And as Anthropic is learning in real-time, the government can be a troublesome customer. The Pentagon, which has grown highly reliant on Claude, is now threatening to deem Anthropic a “supply chain risk,” should the company not accede to its demands for essentially unlimited usage terms. Felipe Millon, who leads government sales at OpenAI, spoke with Fast Company about why the AI giant wants to work with the U.S. government, and its progress in getting federal employees to use its tech. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. I can’t imagine that government sales are determinative for the success of OpenAI’s business model. Why do this? Why work with the government, if it’s so hard and there are all these extra complications involved with it. I joined two years ago as our first government hire before we had anything here. It is absolutely very hard. It is also—I won’t say not material—but we don’t ever expect government sales to be a very large percentage of OpenAI’s revenue. If you want to think of it purely from a financial perspective, the reason is very mission-aligned, right? OpenAI has a mission as a public benefit corporation now, that is to ensure this technology called AGI, Artificial General Intelligence, benefits all of humanity. And what we have discussed internally with our leadership team is that . . . creating a technology, AGI, that is better than humans at most economically viable tasks and deploying that to the world will not happen without the U.S. government being involved. They can’t understand it unless they’re users of the technology, right? The best way to understand what’s happening in AI is to be a user and to see it for yourself, whether that’s a chatbot, coding, or other tools. We’re ready to start seeing where it can add value. And so part of our mission is really to ensure that the U.S. government understands what is coming by being able to unlock that for government use cases. If our mission is to ensure AGI benefits all humanity, one of the ways that [humanity] is benefited is by the delivery of citizen services—whether it be someone who is reliant on food stamps or someone who is getting housing support from Housing and Urban Development, or whether they are paying their taxes in an effective way with the IRS. So you’re now able to host your own AI as a cloud service. Why does that matter, and how does it impact government users? With the advent of cloud computing, a lot of government tools have moved to the cloud and so off a government-hosted computer. Previously, government [agencies] would host their own mainframes and their servers and their own personal data in their own data centers. . . . Business models emerged with cloud computing, where large hyperscalers, mainly Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Oracle. [They] said, “Hey, we can run this at scale, and you can just use this capacity from us on demand as a service.” So rather than owning your server, you get compute and storage and things like that . . . and you pay for it. We use cloud-based services to host our tools, whether that be the models we operate and provide in an API service to developers, or as ChatGPT Enterprise. We would like to use that enterprise version of ChatGPT, at, for example, the Treasury or at HHS or at the State Department. But in order to do so, we need to be compliant with these cybersecurity rules. This accreditation means that now the government agencies are allowed to use our tools with real data and are able to really start getting value. I understand that you don’t work on the defense side of OpenAI’s government business. Obviously we’ve seen in the news, there can be tensions between AI companies or any software company selling to the government what the government wants to do, and what you know a company might be interested or comfortable with. Can you talk a little bit about weighing that when you’re thinking about selling to the civilian side of the government? I’m not going to cover a lot of the national security side that is outside of my specific purview. I focus on the civilian and state and local side. On the civilian side, we rarely encounter these things. It’s rare that these things will come up at places like the Treasury, etc. If they do come up, really, I think it’s just a good faith discussion and negotiation with the government. I’m wondering about the penetration of OpenAI technology in the government right now, particularly after the OneGov deal, which saw you offer ChatGPT to the government at a major discount. We have a commercial tool that is available . . . and anyone can download it on their phone. We saw that over 100,000 people had a government email address in ChatGPT, before we even launched an enterprise product. We also have a relationship with Microsoft. It’s a very complicated relationship, but they . . . deploy their own products called Azure OpenAI, which is our model hosted and run by Microsoft. But that’s a Microsoft product, and that product has been used in government for some time, because Microsoft has a very large and established government business. We want to work directly with the government as well. There’s two main barriers that have blocked government adoption of AI: authorization, which we’re just getting with FedRAMP, and then the other one is procurement and budgeting. HHS, for example, is a very large user of ChatGPT Enterprise. They have tens of thousands of users. The U.S. Treasury also has tens of thousands of users through ChatGPT Enterprise. I would say around 50 or so federal agencies have taken advantage of our OneGov deal and have used it. It has been painful because they have to provide agency level authorization. So their authorizing officials and their security have to do their own cybersecurity review—either that or they don’t use the tool. We actually have our only on-premises deployment with Los Alamos, which was kind of a separate work that we had done. The majority of the national labs are enterprise customers. View the full article

If you don’t know, that’s a problem. ChatGPT influences millions of product decisions every day—and unlike Google, it gives you zero impressions data, no Search Console, and no built-in analytics. In this guide, I’ll show you how to monitor your…Read more ›View the full article

Iran and the United States were holding indirect negotiations Thursday in Geneva as talks over Tehran’s nuclear program hang in the balance following Israel’s 12-day war on the country in June and the Islamic Republic carrying out a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests. U.S. President Donald The President has kept up pressure on Iran, moving an aircraft carrier and other military assets to the Persian Gulf and suggesting the U.S. could attack Iran over the killing of peaceful demonstrators or if Tehran launches mass executions over the protests. A second aircraft carrier now is in the Mediterranean Sea. The President has pushed Iran’s nuclear program back into the frame as well after the June war disrupted five rounds of talks held in Rome and Muscat, Oman, last year. Two rounds of talks so far have yet to reach a deal, though. Mideast nations fear a collapse in diplomacy could spark a new regional war. U.S. concerns also have gone beyond Iran’s nuclear program to its ballistic missiles, support for proxy networks across the region and other issues. Iran has said it wants talks to focus solely on the nuclear program. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has insisted that his nation was “not seeking nuclear weapons. … and are ready for any kind of verification.” However, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog — the International Atomic Energy Agency — has been unable for months to inspect and verify Iran’s nuclear stockpile. The President began the diplomacy initially by writing a letter last year to Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to jump start these talks. Khamenei has warned Iran would respond to any attack with an attack of its own, particularly as the theocracy he commands reels following the protests. Here’s what to know about Iran’s nuclear program and the tensions that have stalked relations between Tehran and Washington since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The President writes letter to Khamenei The President dispatched the letter to Khamenei on March 5, 2025, then gave a television interview the next day in which he acknowledged sending it. He said: “I’ve written them a letter saying, ‘I hope you’re going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing.'” Since returning to the White House, the president has been pushing for talks while ratcheting up sanctions and suggesting a military strike by Israel or the U.S. could target Iranian nuclear sites. A previous letter from The President during his first term drew an angry retort from the supreme leader. But The President’s letters to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in his first term led to face-to-face meetings, though no deals to limit Pyongyang’s atomic bombs and a missile program capable of reaching the continental U.S. Oman mediated previous talks Oman, a sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, has mediated talks between Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. The two men have met face to face after indirect talks, a rare occurrence due to the decades of tensions between the countries. It hasn’t been all smooth, however. Witkoff at one point made a television appearance in which he suggested 3.67% enrichment for Iran could be something the countries could agree on. But that’s exactly the terms set by the 2015 nuclear deal struck under former U.S. President Barack Obama, from which The President unilaterally withdrew America. Witkoff, The President and other American officials in the time since have maintained Iran can have no enrichment under any deal, something to which Tehran insists it won’t agree. The first attempt at negotiations ended, however, with Israel launching the war in June on Iran. A new effort has seen two new rounds of talks in Oman and Geneva so far. The 12-day war and nationwide protests Israel launched what became a 12-day war on Iran in June that included the U.S. bombing Iranian nuclear sites. Iran later acknowledged in November that the attacks saw it halt all uranium enrichment in the country, though inspectors from the IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, have been unable to visit the bombed sites. Half a year later, Iran saw protests that began in late December over the collapse of the country’s rial currency. Those demonstrations soon became nationwide, sparking Tehran to launch a bloody crackdown that killed thousands and saw tens of thousands detained by authorities. Iran’s nuclear program worries the West Iran has insisted for decades that its nuclear program is peaceful. However, its officials increasingly threaten to pursue a nuclear weapon. Iran now enriches uranium to near weapons-grade levels of 60%, the only country in the world without a nuclear weapons program to do so. Under the original 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium up to 3.67% purity and to maintain a uranium stockpile of 300 kilograms (661 pounds). The last report by the IAEA on Iran’s program put its stockpile at some 9,870 kilograms (21,760 pounds), with a fraction of it enriched to 60%. The agency for months has been unable to assess Iran’s program, raising nonproliferation concerns. U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons program, but has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.” Iranian officials have threatened to pursue the bomb. Israel, a close American ally, believes Iran is pursuing a weapon. It wants to see the nuclear program scrapped, as well as a halt in its ballistic missile program and support for anti-Israel militant groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas. Decades of tense relations between Iran and the US Iran was once one of the U.S.’s top allies in the Mideast under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who purchased American military weapons and allowed CIA technicians to run secret listening posts monitoring the neighboring Soviet Union. The CIA had fomented a 1953 coup that cemented the shah’s rule. But in January 1979, the shah, fatally ill with cancer, fled Iran as mass demonstrations swelled against his rule. The Islamic Revolution followed, led by Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and created Iran’s theocratic government. Later that year, university students overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, seeking the shah’s extradition and sparking the 444-day hostage crisis that saw diplomatic relations between Iran and the U.S. severed. The Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s saw the U.S. back Saddam Hussein. The “Tanker War” during that conflict saw the U.S. launch a one-day assault that crippled Iran at sea, while the U.S. later shot down an Iranian commercial airliner that the U.S. military said it mistook for a warplane. Iran and the U.S. have seesawed between enmity and grudging diplomacy in the years since, with relations peaking when Tehran made the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. But The President unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the accord in 2018, sparking tensions in the Mideast that persist today. The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. —Jon Gambrell, Associated Press View the full article

Student-Led Conversations With Arpan Grewal and Harshita Multani Center for Accounting Transformation Go PRO for members-only access to more Center for Accounting Transformation. View the full article

Student-Led Conversations With Arpan Grewal and Harshita Multani Center for Accounting Transformation Go PRO for members-only access to more Center for Accounting Transformation. View the full article

As snow piled up in front of bus stops and fire hydrants during New York City’s second winter storm of the year, city workers have tried to move fast to remove it before snow hardened into ice. A new internal tool makes that job easier to track. The city’s Department of Sanitation (DSNY) now tags infrastructure that’s been plowed in a mobile mapping tool that employees can update on the go. “We have started the work of geotagging every single bus shelter and crosswalk,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Monday, and overnight, he said the city cleared more than 1,600 crosswalks, 419 fire hydrants, and nearly 900 bus stops. DSNY handles trash collection, but it’s also tasked with snow removal from city streets and bike lanes, areas within its legal obligation. DSNY sometimes provides supplemental services too, plowing pedestrian infrastructure like curb ramps, unsheltered bus stops, and fire hydrants that property owners are responsible for. In the past, this supplemental work was done piecemeal, but under Mamdani, the amount of supplemental service has “vastly increased,” says Joshua Goodman, a DSNY deputy commissioner. “That necessitated a need to formally track this work,” he says. Cities from Bellevue, Washington, to Syracuse, New York, use digital maps to show residents when streets get plowed, and New Yorkers can track when their streets were last plowed on PlowNYC, a public site launched in 2013. DSNY needed its own PlowNYC, but for bus stops and more. “We developed an internal mapping tool, and Sanitation Supervisors make live updates from the field when one of these locations in their assigned section is complete,” Goodman tells Fast Company. “So maybe it’s a bit simpler than the terminology implies—it’s essentially someone making updates to a central database on their work cell phone—but it’s a big development for us, especially so quickly.” “This is our first storm using it, but it is allowing greater efficiency around clearing these important areas,” he adds. Preparations began following the snowstorm in January, when sites were surveyed for the mapping tool. The interface looks like a typical maps app, and while perhaps simpler than what the idea of “geotagging” might conjure, the database of information the tool stores is vast. New York City has about 13,000 bus stops and about 83,000 crosswalks in commercial corridors. The tool was designed by the DSNY operations management division, which is its data and analytics team. To handle snow from the latest storm, DSNY has delayed trash and recycling collection so its workers can prioritize snow removal, and it’s hired hundreds of emergency temporary snow shovelers for $30 per hour. That’s a pop-up snow shoveling army with tens of thousands of sites and miles of ground to cover. Tracking this work with clipboards wouldn’t be efficient. By developing an internal tool to better monitor their job, DSNY found a quick solution to solve a pressing problem. View the full article

If you’ve been paying attention to AI at all lately, you’ve certainly seen the “Something Big Is Happening” essay by Matt Shumer, or at least some of the reaction to it. In it, Shumer describes how coding, for him, has completely transitioned from manually writing code to simply prompting and approving the near-flawless work done by AI. The piece was meant as a warning to all knowledge workers, essentially saying: AI has taken over my job, and it’s coming for yours next. There have been countless thought pieces on the merits and flaws of Shumer’s argument, and I have no intention of adding to the pile. But journalism is knowledge work, too, and the field had its own, slightly less viral, moment of AI existential crisis this past week. The editor of Cleveland.com, Chris Quinn, wrote a column this week, describing how a college student who had applied for a reporting job withdrew their application when they found out how the publication uses AI. Besides using AI to help generate story ideas, the newsroom developed an “AI rewrite specialist” to write stories based on the material that reporters gather. By ditching writing, according to Quinn, their reporters have been able to reclaim an extra workday each week. The backlash was predictably vicious. On X, Axios reporter Sam Allard earned a lot of likes by comparing what Cleveland.com is doing to being an “AI content farmer,” while various veteran journalists on Substack expressed various degrees of outrage and dismay. Most of the reaction was along the lines of this piece from journalist Stacey Woelfel: “Writing is an integral part of the reporting process.” The AI newsroom split That’s true, but I think what Quinn describes isn’t so easily dismissed. After all, reporters often work in teams on single articles, with one of them taking the lead on the draft. Did the others then . . . not report? And I’ve certainly been in breaking-news situations where a reporter would text, email, or call in their notes to an editor or writer who would put together the piece. It’s generally recognized that writing and reporting are different skills, and what Quinn and Cleveland.com appear to have done is use AI to fully separate them. The conventional wisdom on the “correct” way to use AI is to let it take over the tasks that it can do faster and better than humans, freeing them up to do the things that absolutely require human engagement and judgment. In the case of a reporter, that’s talking to sources, learning new things, and earning their trust. Well, at long last, AI is actually very good at writing. Certainly, much of the text that’s come out of AI systems over the past few years hasn’t done much for its literary reputation (yes, we’re all tired of the rampant em-dashes and the “it’s not X—it’s Y” bits). But if you use the most powerful models with a modest amount of deliberate prompting, they can produce highly competent prose. And if we’re being honest, highly competent prose is all that’s needed for a large amount of reported stories. Many, if not most, news reports are meant to convey basic information about what happened, with little judgment or opinion, and typically written in AP style, which is essentially a formula. It’s not quite code, but it’s a very functional way of writing. The most important thing is conveying the facts, accurately and with context, as quickly as possible. Again, it’s important to understand that the reporter is not removed from the process, but their role changes significantly. Just as Shumer found himself becoming a supervisor to an AI building machine, reporters may become operators of writing bots, ensuring they’re crafting stories properly out of the raw material they’ve been given. In the case of Quinn’s newsroom, reporters have final say over the copy. Bleeding between the lines None of this is to say this approach will result in a perfect future. There are writers who aren’t great at reporting, and there are reporters who aren’t skilled at writing, but there are plenty who are good at both. Will they need to pick a side—either become a feature or opinion writer, or settle for just doing the reporting part? And what about skill building? Even if this approach is as successful as Quinn says, how will junior staff become better writers without the day-in, day-out act of writing stories? When Woelfel says writing is integral to reporting, I think he means it’s integral to storytelling, which is an act of curation, prioritization, and expression—all with an audience in mind. This is what Ben Affleck meant when he famously drew a distinction between AI as a craftsman and AI as an artist. But how do you become an artist if AI is doing all the crafting? The irony of Shumer’s piece is that, while he makes a solid case that AI will soon disrupt most knowledge work—and even name-checks journalism as one of the areas in the crosshairs—he did it with an essay with a distinctly human voice. I honestly don’t know if he used AI to fully or partially write the piece, but I’m certain that if he did, he also was meticulous about every word. I think that’s a hopeful sign that, even if we relegate some of the craft of writing to AI, that we might not lose as much as we might think. Audiences will always demand a human touch, so that touch will need to manifest in some form. It’s true that no one wants to read AI slop. But it might turn out that the most valuable reporting skill in the future will be the ability to turn slop into stories. View the full article

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today...View the full article

At least 25 million people have had their personal information stolen in a major hack on business services company Conduent. The data breach itself isn't new—it was initially disclosed in January 2025, and Conduent has already notified millions of individuals whose data was compromised in the incident. However, the breach is now believed to be larger in scale than previously reported, possibly among the largest to affect healthcare. Who is Conduent? Conduent is a New Jersey-based business processing outsourcing (BPO) company that provides services like printing, payment, and document and claims processing to state and federal government agencies as well as large commercial and transportation organizations. According to the company's 2025 annual report, these offerings include disbursement of benefits, such as food assistance and child support, and administration of government healthcare programs (like Medicaid). For large corporations, services include workplace and unemployment benefits management. Conduent was spun off from Xerox in 2017 and now employs around 51,000 people worldwide. What happened with the Conduent breach?In January 2025, Conduent suffered an outage that was later confirmed to be the result of a "cybersecurity incident." The disruption lasted several days, during which agencies across the U.S. were unable to process some benefit payments. While the breach was discovered in January, hackers reportedly gained access to Conduent's systems months earlier on October 21, 2024. The Safepay ransomware gang later took credit for the attack. While Conduent confirmed in April 2025 that client information had been stolen in the breach, it didn't begin notifying affected individuals until October. According to those notices, the compromised data included names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, health insurance policy information, and medical information. How many people were impacted by the breach? The scope of the breach continues to grow, but the total number of individuals affected currently sits around 25 million. The greatest impact appears to be in Texas and Oregon, though residents in California, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New Mexico have also received notices. (For reference, the total number of users impacted by the 2024 ransomware attack on Change Healthcare is now estimated at 190 million.) What to do if you were affectedIf you receive a notice saying your information was compromised, you should take every precaution to secure your identity: At a minimum, ensure your credit is frozen, and set up a one-year fraud alert on your credit files to prevent someone from applying for credit using your information. None of the notices we've seen have offered any type of credit monitoring or identity theft protection services to affected individuals, but you could utilize these services as well. At this point—given the ubiquity of data breaches and information compromise—you should be keeping a close eye on your credit report and financial accounts at all times to quickly catch anything suspicious. If you do find fraudulent activity, report it to your bank and/or credit issuer immediately, and file an identity theft report. View the full article

Google’s AI Overviews now appear across search results with varying frequency. However, in certain categories, they dominate entirely. According to Adthena: Finance queries see AI Overviews on 79% of longer searches with five or more words. Retail shows 84% visibility for comparison and product discovery queries in the 9-10 word range. Healthcare also triggers high AI Overview penetration even when users are searching short medical questions of 1-3 words. You know organic traffic faces headwinds. What you might underestimate is how severe the downstream impact on paid search can be. Here’s what that looks like in practice. AI Overviews’ impact on paid search AI Overviews are systematically changing paid search, affecting everything from click volume to auction dynamics and conversion behavior. They are accelerating structural trends that are already reshaping search, including SERP saturation, automated bidding, Performance Max adoption, and broad match expansion. What makes AI Overviews significant is the speed of the rollout. In many verticals, Google had compressed what would have normally been a multi-year transition into mere months. Understanding the impact on your own paid search efforts requires examining how AI answers have reshaped each component of your campaign performance. 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 AI Overviews drive lower response rates So, how much have response rates been impacted by AI Overviews? Recent data from Seer Interactive reveals the scale of the decline. Paid CTR on queries featuring AI Overviews plummeted by 68%, dropping from 19.7% to 6.34% between June 2024 and September 2025. At the same time, we saw organic CTR fall 61% on the same queries, but the steeper paid decline suggests AI Overviews reshape where paid ads appear and who clicks them, not simply their overall presence. The trend accelerated sharply in July 2025 when paid CTR collapsed from approximately 11% to 3% in a single month. One month. This happened as Google expanded AI Overviews more aggressively into commercial and navigational queries, demonstrating AI Overviews’ direct impact on paid search response rates. What we’re finding is that these declines are the most severe for non-branded informational queries. But it’s not all bad news. Branded search and high-intent transactional queries are showing greater resilience, with many advertisers seeing minimal impact on their core conversion-driving terms. AI Overviews contribute to higher CPCs through inventory compression We’re also finding a direct correlation between AI Overviews and the cost of paid search campaigns. That’s because the response rate decline is directly driving cost-per-click (CPC) inflation through supply and demand mechanics. Google Search spending grew 9% year-over-year in Q1 2025, but click growth was only 4%. That 5% gap represents more dollars chasing fewer clicks across many industries. AI Overviews amplify this CPC inflation through several mechanisms. Some of that has to do with ad positioning. Research on ad positioning shows that ads that appear above an AI Overview still perform reasonably well. But the ads below are seeing a dramatic reduction in impression share and CTR. At the same time, double-serving policies are concentrating impression share among larger advertisers, which is forcing smaller ones to bid more aggressively. Automated bidding systems optimize toward conversion predictions rather than cost efficiency, which means campaigns are paying premium CPCs as the click inventory shrinks. AI Overviews collapse the consideration phase We’re also seeing a dip in the consideration phase of the buyer’s journey. Customer journeys that used to take up to a few days, AI Overviews can now compress into minutes by handling the research and comparison activities that traditionally occurred across multiple search sessions. For example, think back to how in, say, 2023 a search for [best project management software for remote teams] would have triggered a multi-day sequence for users who would first, perhaps, click through to organic results, then read some comparison articles, then perhaps visit some vendor websites, and, finally, after maybe 7-14 days, they might finally convert. Today, when you search for [best project management software for remote teams], you could convert in a single session. An AI Overview can give users everything they need at once: a comparison table with features, pricing, and use cases, then refined recommendations for two or three options. People could decide in hours instead of weeks. This compression reshapes campaign performance in three ways: Smaller retargeting pools: Retargeting pools shrink dramatically because fewer clicks during research means there are fewer users entering remarketing audiences. While Google has lowered audience minimums from 1,000 to 100 users, the shift is meant to help boost small business campaigns, but it still means that a campaign that historically would have built up a 10,000-user pool from informational traffic might now capture only 3,000 users. Less brand awareness: Brand awareness suffers when users never visit your site during research, entering the purchase decision having consumed AI-generated comparisons rather than experiencing your messaging directly. AI Overviews mentions are a must: AI citation creates a winner-take-all dynamic. Being mentioned in AI Overviews becomes a primary determinant of visibility. Brands that appear in the AI answer capture disproportionate traffic, while those excluded lose ground entirely. AI Overviews create a quality-over-quantity trade-off The journey compression caused by AI Overviews is producing a counterintuitive economic outcome. As click volume declines, conversion rates improve. A benchmark analysis of 16,446 campaigns confirms the pattern. While overall click volume declined across nearly all query types in 2025, 65% of industries actually saw improved conversion rates. For many of those industries, the jump was substantial. For example, education and instruction saw conversion rates jump 43.87% year-over-year, while sports and recreation climbed 42.43%. So why is this happening? The improved conversion rates are reflective of AI Overviews pre-qualifying users by answering their basic questions before they click ads. This filters out a lot of the users who are simply seeking general information without any intention to convert and leaving only high-intent prospects. These improved conversion rates could also potentially partially offset CPC inflation in many scenarios. For example, let’s say a business software campaign is generating 1,000 clicks at $2.00 CPC. The campaign generated a 5% conversion rate, resulting in 50 conversions at a $40 CPA. Then, let’s say, Google rolled out AI Overviews for their keywords, and it compressed the customer journey. The same campaign might then generate fewer clicks, say 700, at $2.90 CPC and a higher 7% conversion rate, producing 49 conversions at $41.43 CPA. The effective cost increase is only 3.6% despite 45% CPC inflation and 30% volume decline. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. 4 strategic pivots for the AI search era Paid search still offers opportunities for advertisers who adapt quickly. Let’s look at four strategies you can incorporate into your own campaigns that align with the new realities of AI-mediated search. 1. Monitor informational intent performance and optimize accordingly Since AI Overviews are fundamentally changing the economics of informational queries, they require extra scrutiny from you. Implement systematic monitoring rather than blanket exclusions of informational keywords to identify which keywords still deliver value and which have become budget drains. Begin by understanding which informational keywords still hold value. Informational keywords like “what is,” “how to,” and “guide to” are being cannibalized by AI Overviews at substantial rates. In finance, AI Overviews appear on 79% of longer queries, while in retail they show up on 84% of comparison searches. However, transactional keywords like “buy,” “best,” “compare,” and “near me” maintain higher CTRs because AI typically doesn’t complete transactions. The user needs to click away from AI Overviews to complete their transaction. We’re still seeing 69% of transactional searches in AI Mode result in clicks to websites. Branded search remains largely intact, with AI Overviews primarily affecting non-branded informational queries. To identify which informational keywords still perform, follow these steps: Start by pulling 90 days of Google Ads query data. Next, you’ll want to flag queries that contain informational trigger words. Then, cross-reference that data with Google Search Console, since GSC now tags these in performance reports, to identify which queries trigger AI Overviews. Finally, you can calculate CTR and conversion rate for informational versus transactional queries to establish your baselines. For the informational queries that show less than 1% CTR and less than 50% of your average conversion rate, you have three options: Test whether you can improve performance by focusing on creative optimization for unique offers rather than information. Reduce your bids on those queries to maintain presence at a lower cost while continuing to monitor for changes. Shift your budget toward transactional and navigational keywords that are performing better, while maintaining minimal informational presence to bolster brand visibility. Note: An important exception applies for brands that are consistently being cited in AI Overviews. Since cited brands are seeing a 91% paid CTR lift, this suggests that these informational keywords could become strategic assets. If your brand appears in AI Overviews for informational queries like “best accounting software for freelancers,” it may warrant maintaining or increasing bids on those terms. You’ll also want to scrutinize for any uncited queries more aggressively to see if you’re missing any opportunities. 2. Prioritize feed quality Yes, generative AI can summarize and compare, but it can’t invent price, inventory, or availability from thin air. This creates a structural advantage if you have robust product feeds in Google Shopping, Hotel Ads, and local inventory. Google’s AI Mode shopping experience, powered by the Shopping Graph with 50 billion product listings refreshed hourly, relies entirely on structured product data from Merchant Center feeds. When users search, for example, for “breathable bamboo crib sheets under $40,” the AI can only surface products whose feeds include that level of attribute specificity. Shopping ads now appear directly within AI Overviews for queries with commercial intent, powered by existing Shopping and Performance Max campaigns. Feed optimization requires four priorities: Attribute enrichment must include contextual details like “waterproof for rainy commutes” or “red couch for small apartment” that match natural language queries. Real-time accuracy matters as Google updates listings hourly and outdated data filters products out of AI Mode entirely. Structured data completeness determines visibility. Google’s AI prioritizes products with rich, complete attribute data over listings with minimal information. Rich media assets have become table stakes. Google’s AI prioritizes listings with five or more product images and video content, with virtual try-on features integrated across Search, Shopping, and Images, driving visual discovery. 3. Craft creative that differentiates Since users have already learned about the features and benefits they were querying in AI Overviews before clicking, your ad must answer why they should choose you and why they should choose you now. Lead with unique value propositions instead of generic benefits. For example: “Project Management Software for Teams” is generic and would convert less often than a specific offering like “14-Day Free Trial + Free Migration from Asana/Monday.” An overly-general value prop like “Tax Preparation Services” would be expected to underperform something much more specific and unique like “Same-Day CPA Review | $50 Off Filing This Week.” You’ll also want to leverage ad extensions aggressively. Research shows that ads can appear above or below AI Overviews depending on query type and industry. When AI Overviews pushes everything down the page, extensions are your way to stay visible. Ads that use all available sitelinks, callouts, and structured snippets can occupy 2-3 times the SERP real estate of basic ads. Taking up that extra space is critical as ads now appear within AI Overviews themselves for commercial intent queries. You can use responsive search ads to test value proposition hypotheses at scale. Start by loading Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) with diverse headlines that test: Urgency (i.e., “Limited Availability”). Risk reversal (i.e., “No Credit Card Required”). Social proof (i.e., “4.9 Stars, 5,000+ Reviews”). Differentiation (i.e., “Only Platform with Native Zapier Integration”). Then let Google’s machine learning identify which messages resonate with high-intent users who’ve already completed their research. If your brand is cited in AI Overviews for specific use cases, reference those directly. For example, if AI Overview consistently recommends your accounting software for “freelancers,” you’ll want to include “Built for Freelancers” in headlines to align with the recommendation users just consumed. 4. Embrace audience data These days, it’s all about the data. As keyword-based targeting becomes less reliable in an AI-dominated search environment, first-party audience data is becoming more and more your sustainable competitive advantage. When AI answers queries without regard to keyword precision, your existing customer relationships represent what AI can’t disintermediate. What we mean is that you know your audience already. Take advantage of that. Customer Match lists allow you to upload email lists, phone numbers, and CRM data, with Google lowering the minimum from 1,000 to 100 users in 2025. Remember, users who’ve already engaged with your brand will convert at significantly higher rates than cold traffic and search with intent to re-engage rather than research. It’s also important to build granular website visitor segments based on the behaviors that signal purchase intent. You want to represent all prospects who have moved beyond research: Product page viewers who didn’t convert. Abandoned cart users. Visitors to pricing and comparison tools. Users with 10+ minute sessions. Target these audiences with messaging that assumes they’ve already completed their evaluation through AI-powered search. Use similar audiences and lookalikes to help Google’s AI identify users who match your highest-value customer profiles. Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns work best when fed customer lists and purchase history, which allows for identifying intent patterns beyond keywords. In the AI Overview environment, shift your budget from old-school, keyword-heavy Search campaigns to audience-driven Performance Max and Demand Gen formats that prioritize first-party data. Build email capture mechanisms through gated content and progressive profiling. Then, integrate your CRM with Google Ads to activate customer data for targeting and bidding. A good place to start is by reallocating an underperforming informational query budget to audience-based campaigns, and then scaling based on results. First-party data provides higher signal quality than behavioral targeting alone, which gives advertisers with robust data infrastructure measurable advantages in conversion rates and customer acquisition costs. 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 Adaptation is the key to today’s search success AI Overviews are changing paid search. There’s no doubt about it. And the data shows the real pressure paid search is facing. But there’s good news: you can still succeed if you adapt your strategy to match how search works now — not how it worked two years ago. Start by monitoring which of your informational queries are still working, rather than excluding them all. Then, prioritize feed quality for Shopping campaigns. Make sure you write ads that differentiate rather than inform. And definitely build first-party audience lists before your competitors do. View the full article

ChatGPT ecommerce traffic converted 31% higher than non-branded organic search across 94 ecommerce sites in 2025, but it still drove a small share of revenue. That’s based on a 12-month GA4 analysis by Visibility Labs covering January through December 2025. Why we care. This data shows that AI referral traffic converts at a higher rate than traditional non-branded search traffic, but the volume remains small. This signals emerging value, not a replacement channel. Higher conversion rate. ChatGPT traffic converted at 1.81% vs. 1.39% for non-branded organic (31% higher). It outperformed organic in 10 of 12 months. Visibility Labs attributes the higher rate to intent compression. Users often refine product needs in ChatGPT before clicking. By the time they reach a product page, they may be closer to purchase than a typical search visitor still comparing options. Key findings. ChatGPT’s conversion advantage is clear, but growth is slowing and volume remains small. Massive traffic growth: ChatGPT visits grew 1,079%, from 1,544 in January to 18,202 in December. Non-branded organic grew 17% over the same period. Lower AOV: Average order value was $204 for ChatGPT vs. $238 for organic, a 14.3% gap. Higher revenue per session: Despite lower AOV, ChatGPT generated $3.65 per session vs. $3.30 for organic (10.3% higher). Small revenue share: ChatGPT drove $474,000 in revenue vs. $32.1 million from non-branded organic — 1.48% of organic revenue, rising to 2.2% in the second half of 2025. Growth tied to product updates: Visibility Labs links the first-half spike to shopping carousel features introduced in April 2025. Growth began flattening around August. Still dwarfed by organic: Non-branded organic traffic was 70x larger than ChatGPT overall, narrowing to 47x in Q4. Early 2025 volatility included months with just 15 to 37 ChatGPT-attributed conversions, limiting statistical confidence until midyear. The attribution gap. GA4 referral data likely understates ChatGPT’s influence. According to Visibility Labs: Many users get product recommendations from ChatGPT, then search for the brand or product on Google before purchasing. Those conversions are typically attributed to branded organic search. Set up post-purchase surveys to better capture AI-influenced revenue. About the data. Visibility Labs analyzed 12 months of GA4 data (January to December 2025) from 94 seven- and eight-figure ecommerce brands, comparing 9.46 million non-branded organic sessions to 135,000 ChatGPT referral sessions. The study excluded homepage and blog traffic to focus on commercial-intent visits more likely to evaluate and purchase products. The report. ChatGPT Traffic Converts 31% Better than Non-Branded Organic Search (94 eCommerce Sites Analyzed) View the full article

We’re bringing the SEJ newsroom to a screen near you. On March 11 from 12–3pm ET, we’ve gathered our own search experts, alongside some very special guests, to help you master AI search visibility this year. This is SEJ Live, a new series we’ve been building behind the scenes, and I couldn’t be more excited to see it come to life. Here’s why this matters right now: I’m seeing a huge disconnect between leadership and the marketing teams doing the work. Leadership wants performance yesterday, but those with their feet on the ground know that customer behaviors have changed. The […] The post We’re Bringing The SEJ Newsroom To You, Live [Free Event] appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

RF inefficiency can no longer be corrected digitally and 'after the fact' without triggering thermal runaway, QuantalRF says. The post QuantalRF: AI workloads are exposing legacy RF designs as the ‘hidden bottleneck’ holding back Wi-Fi performance appeared first on Wi-Fi NOW Global. View the full article

For decades, a legal degree felt like a golden ticket, a safe career choice because a robot could never take a lawyer’s job. Today consumers are increasingly turning to new technologies like generative artificial intelligence for answers to their legal questions without the assistance of a lawyer. No wonder: The high cost of legal services places them beyond the reach of most Americans. Some outside the profession see this market failure as an opportunity. Legal technology startups armed with AI agents are securing billion-dollar evaluations, and after recent leaps in AI models and new features—including one from Anthropic that can help automate legal tasks—some legal and tech stocks went into shock. The sense that “something big is happening” also left at least some lawyers wondering whether the robots are finally coming for their jobs, and asking if this is the beginning of the end of the legal profession? It doesn’t need to be. Lawyers could try to wage what will certainly be a losing campaign against the encroachment of new technologies on areas of American life typically dominated by lawyers. Instead, the American legal profession can learn to run with the machines and not against them, fulfilling their ethical duty to ensure all Americans have access to justice by harnessing these technologies to deliver affordable and accessible legal services at scale. These two powerful phenomena—the emergence of new technologies and the fact that tens of millions of Americans face their legal problems without a lawyer—will certainly encourage Americans to rely on new and widely available tools regardless of whether the information and guidance these consumers receive is accurate. And it often isn’t. Indeed, according to one recent report, there are nearly 1,000 documented cases of lawyers and unrepresented litigants referencing fictitious court decisions and other legal authorities in court filings because of AI “hallucinations”: instances where the AI fabricated the legal sources upon which those litigants relied to their detriment, resulting in fines and other punishments from the courts. The tragic reality driving many Americans to these imperfect alternatives to professional legal help is not that consumers are choosing between a lawyer and a bot; they are all too often facing their legal problem with no lawyer at all. This is especially true in areas where the fees available to lawyers are low, yet the stakes for the consumer high: where a tenant faces eviction, an immigrant is at risk of deportation, a homeowner might lose their home to foreclosure, or a victim of identity theft faces a mountain of debt they did not accumulate themselves. Roughly 93% of low-income and half of middle-income Americans go without adequate legal representation when confronted with legal problems like these. This access-to-justice crisis, as bad as it is, leads to larger and even more troubling concerns. When lawyers are not available to vindicate important interests, that threatens other critical values all Americans should cherish: individual liberty and dignity, civil rights, equal justice, and the rule of law. But this isn’t the first time that the legal profession has faced these sorts of challenges. At the turn of the 20th century, industrialization led to reorganization of the bar into larger and larger law firms to respond to the growing and more complex demands of their clients. Simple technologies like the telephone, telegraph, and typewriter made the practice of law more efficient, allowing lawyers to provide more comprehensive services to their corporate clients. Ironically, many of the measures elites in the bar formulated to respond to these societal and technological changes led to the current market failure. Indeed, instead of welcoming more lawyers into the profession to meet the growing need for its services, elites in the bar erected barriers to entry where few existed before (at least if you were white and male). They built high walls and wide moats to prevent dilution of the legal services market, including requiring an expensive legal education and more challenging bar exams before an aspiring lawyer could begin to practice. These requirements had the desired effect: limiting access to the profession and artificially inflating the cost of legal services. What is more, many of these barriers endure and continue to drive up the cost of legal services today. This time is different though. Never before has it looked like technology could truly displace lawyers. Indeed, tools like CitizenshipWorks, an online portal that helps individuals apply for citizenship, and Depositron, which assists tenants in New York seeking a return of their security deposit from their former landlords, are meeting critical needs without the fees a lawyer might otherwise charge for these services. Think of it as the expansion of TurboTax-like products to other areas of the law. There are certainly situations where there is no substitute for a living, breathing lawyer, like when a criminal defendant is facing a felony charge, or when a complex and novel business transaction requires unique legal skills. But when the alternative is no legal representation at all, as is the case with far too many American consumers with far simpler legal needs—needs that can be met through technological innovations—the profession has an obligation to find ways to address those needs, even when doing so will bring down the price of legal services or displace some traditional legal jobs. In the face of such threats to their position in society, however, lawyers must remember that the point of the legal system is not to serve as a full-employment plan for lawyers; it is to help people solve their legal problems. This market opportunity is one that lawyers can actually seize. Instead of ignoring new technologies or erecting even higher walls to their adoption, the legal profession should embrace and shape these technologies, creating an array of options for individuals, families, and businesses to address their legal problems at lower cost, and at scale. Big Law is already adopting many of these new tools to serve their well-heeled clients; the present cost of building effective systems may mean that the widespread adoption of such technologies at the high-end of the legal services market actually makes the access-to-justice gap worse, not better. Instead of exacerbating legal access inequality, the profession should build bridges—aided by new technologies—that will span the chasm between those who require legal assistance and those who can afford it, even if the services that solve Americans’ legal problems in the not-so distant future are not always delivered by lawyers alone. There’s plenty of legal work to go around. Lawyers should be the ones figuring out how to put new technologies to use to serve the legal needs of all Americans in creative, ethical, effective, affordable, and accessible ways. When they do that, they will serve the profession’s most important values and functions, and advance what should be its highest ideals. View the full article

In the domain of sales, excelling in effective prospecting techniques is vital for your success. You’ll want to dedicate specific time blocks for outreach and set clear goals for those sessions. Segmenting your prospects allows for customized messaging that resonates. Utilizing digital events can improve lead generation, as you reach out through preferred channels, like LinkedIn, increases engagement. These strategies form the foundation of a resilient sales approach, but there’s more to explore. Key Takeaways Allocate dedicated time blocks for prospecting to enhance focus and maintain a consistent sales pipeline. Segment prospects by demographics and interests to tailor messaging and address unique pain points effectively. Host digital events like webinars to engage prospects and position your brand as an industry expert. Leverage preferred communication channels, such as personalized emails and LinkedIn, for higher engagement rates. Utilize CRM tools to organize customer data, prioritize leads, and facilitate timely follow-ups for better sales outcomes. Book Intentional Time for Prospecting Booking intentional time for prospecting is crucial for any sales professional aiming to boost their outreach effectiveness. By scheduling dedicated blocks in your calendar, just like client meetings, you improve your focus and consistency. Top salespeople dedicate over four hours each week to these activities, ensuring a steady sales pipeline. To create an effective prospecting plan, choose ideal times that align with both your energy levels and your prospects’ availability, as this can increase engagement. Set clear goals for each session, such as the number of outreach attempts or meetings secured, to track your progress. Finally, minimize distractions during these hours by using “do not disturb” settings, which can greatly improve your productivity and connection rates using creative prospecting ideas. Segment Your Prospects to Make Emotional Connections Segmenting your prospects is essential for creating meaningful emotional connections that can improve your sales outreach. By grouping prospects based on demographics, interests, or product needs, you can tailor your messaging to address unique pain points. This amplifies engagement and greatly boosts your chances of successful outreach. Utilize sales prospecting ideas, like the EY Future Consumer Index, which identifies key segments—Affordability, Health, Planet, Society, and Experience. Focus on high-value prospects by ordering segments by sales potential, improving your efficiency. Utilize Digital Events for Lead Generation As you look for effective ways to generate leads, consider the potential of digital events, like webinars, which can improve your outreach strategy. These events serve as an underutilized tool for prospecting, positioning your brand as an industry expert as you educate potential customers. Hosting webinars can fill your sales pipeline with interested prospects, as attendees often share similar interests and needs. Research shows that 82% of buyers accept meetings initiated by sellers, highlighting the importance of engaging prospects early. Digital events likewise nurture community, allowing potential customers to interact with your brand and each other, enhancing engagement and trust. Utilizing digital platforms enables scalability and accessibility, reaching a wider audience and accommodating varying time zones, greatly increasing your lead generation potential. Reach Out on Your Buyers’ Preferred Channels After exploring how digital events can improve your lead generation, it’s important to reflect on how you connect with your prospects once they’ve shown interest. Reaching out through their preferred channels is essential for effective engagement. Most buyers prefer email, with 80% of them favoring this for initial contact. LinkedIn is likewise effective; 82% of buyers accept meetings initiated there, especially when you provide customized content. Here’s a quick overview of these channels: Channel Preference Rate Key Insights Email 80% Personalized emails yield 26% higher open rates. LinkedIn 82% Customized content increases meeting acceptance. General Outreach 91% Prospects are open to connecting with sales reps. Make your outreach brief, relevant, and value-driven. Target Thriving Industries Identifying and targeting thriving industries is vital for maximizing your sales prospecting efforts, especially as certain sectors, like technology and healthcare, continue to experience significant growth. By focusing on these industries, you can achieve higher conversion rates, as they often see increased investment and demand for innovative solutions. Research shows that 71% of buyers like to connect early in the sales process, so targeting industries where buyers actively seek new ideas is critical. Engaging with sectors prioritizing digital transformation can yield better results, as 82% of buyers accept meetings initiated by sellers who provide relevant insights. Leveraging data analytics to pinpoint high-potential industries improves your efficiency, increasing your chances of securing valuable meetings and conversions. Embrace a Numbers Game Mindset Sales success relies heavily on the comprehension that it’s a numbers game, where persistence and consistency often differentiate high achievers from their peers. To thrive in sales, remember these key points: It typically takes about nine attempts to connect with a prospect; many give up after just four to six. A staggering 68% of salespeople abandon their efforts after one follow-up, whereas top performers know that consistent outreach boosts conversion rates. Set specific goals for your outreach sessions, like aiming for a certain number of calls or emails to maximize engagement opportunities. Streamline Prospecting With CRM Tools To effectively streamline your prospecting efforts, leveraging CRM tools is essential, as they centralize customer data and improve organization within your sales process. A sales CRM allows you to track interactions with prospects, promoting more efficient prospecting. By using lead management features, you can segment prospects based on their characteristics, ensuring personalized engagement that resonates with their needs. Advanced CRM systems analyze data patterns, helping you prioritize high-potential leads and allocate resources effectively. Automation tools within these platforms facilitate timely follow-ups, keeping prospects engaged without overwhelming your team. A well-implemented CRM boosts prospecting effectiveness by supporting data-driven decision-making and enabling continuous improvement through performance tracking and analysis, ultimately resulting in higher conversion rates and better overall results. Frequently Asked Questions What Are the 5 P’s of Prospecting? The five P’s of prospecting are preparation, personalization, persistence, process, and performance measurement. First, you need to prepare by researching your potential buyers. Next, personalize your outreach to address their specific needs. Persistence is key, as it often takes multiple attempts to connect. Establish a systematic process for following up with leads. Finally, measure your performance regularly to refine your strategies and adapt to changing circumstances, ensuring continuous improvement in your prospecting efforts. What Is the 30 Day Rule in Prospecting? The 30 Day Rule in prospecting suggests that you should re-engage leads who’ve shown interest within the last 30 days. This timeframe is essential, as research indicates prospects are most receptive to follow-ups during this period. Prioritizing timely outreach can greatly improve your chances of securing meetings and advancing leads toward conversion. What Is the Best Prospecting Technique? The best prospecting technique combines personalized outreach with a multi-touch approach. Personalized emails typically see a 26% higher open rate, whereas a campaign with eight touches can greatly boost meeting rates. Cold calling likewise proves effective, especially for high-level executives, as 69% accept calls from new salespeople. Furthermore, leveraging referrals increases trust, raising the likelihood of conversion. Continuously evaluating and adapting your strategies based on feedback and market trends can further improve results. What Are the Three Keys to Prospecting Success? To achieve prospecting success, focus on three key areas. First, dedicate intentional time for prospecting, as consistent engagement is essential. Second, understand and segment your prospects by demographics and pain points to tailor your outreach effectively. Finally, leverage technology, such as CRMs, to streamline efforts and track engagement. Conclusion Incorporating these seven crucial sales prospecting techniques can greatly improve your outreach efforts. By scheduling dedicated time, segmenting prospects, and utilizing digital events, you can create more meaningful connections. Furthermore, focusing on preferred communication channels and targeting thriving industries helps optimize your approach. Embracing a numbers game mindset and leveraging CRM tools guarantees organized follow-ups and persistent engagement. By applying these strategies consistently, you can enhance your prospecting success and in the end drive better sales outcomes. Image via Google Gemini This article, "7 Essential Sales Prospecting Techniques for Success" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

In the domain of sales, excelling in effective prospecting techniques is vital for your success. You’ll want to dedicate specific time blocks for outreach and set clear goals for those sessions. Segmenting your prospects allows for customized messaging that resonates. Utilizing digital events can improve lead generation, as you reach out through preferred channels, like LinkedIn, increases engagement. These strategies form the foundation of a resilient sales approach, but there’s more to explore. Key Takeaways Allocate dedicated time blocks for prospecting to enhance focus and maintain a consistent sales pipeline. Segment prospects by demographics and interests to tailor messaging and address unique pain points effectively. Host digital events like webinars to engage prospects and position your brand as an industry expert. Leverage preferred communication channels, such as personalized emails and LinkedIn, for higher engagement rates. Utilize CRM tools to organize customer data, prioritize leads, and facilitate timely follow-ups for better sales outcomes. Book Intentional Time for Prospecting Booking intentional time for prospecting is crucial for any sales professional aiming to boost their outreach effectiveness. By scheduling dedicated blocks in your calendar, just like client meetings, you improve your focus and consistency. Top salespeople dedicate over four hours each week to these activities, ensuring a steady sales pipeline. To create an effective prospecting plan, choose ideal times that align with both your energy levels and your prospects’ availability, as this can increase engagement. Set clear goals for each session, such as the number of outreach attempts or meetings secured, to track your progress. Finally, minimize distractions during these hours by using “do not disturb” settings, which can greatly improve your productivity and connection rates using creative prospecting ideas. Segment Your Prospects to Make Emotional Connections Segmenting your prospects is essential for creating meaningful emotional connections that can improve your sales outreach. By grouping prospects based on demographics, interests, or product needs, you can tailor your messaging to address unique pain points. This amplifies engagement and greatly boosts your chances of successful outreach. Utilize sales prospecting ideas, like the EY Future Consumer Index, which identifies key segments—Affordability, Health, Planet, Society, and Experience. Focus on high-value prospects by ordering segments by sales potential, improving your efficiency. Utilize Digital Events for Lead Generation As you look for effective ways to generate leads, consider the potential of digital events, like webinars, which can improve your outreach strategy. These events serve as an underutilized tool for prospecting, positioning your brand as an industry expert as you educate potential customers. Hosting webinars can fill your sales pipeline with interested prospects, as attendees often share similar interests and needs. Research shows that 82% of buyers accept meetings initiated by sellers, highlighting the importance of engaging prospects early. Digital events likewise nurture community, allowing potential customers to interact with your brand and each other, enhancing engagement and trust. Utilizing digital platforms enables scalability and accessibility, reaching a wider audience and accommodating varying time zones, greatly increasing your lead generation potential. Reach Out on Your Buyers’ Preferred Channels After exploring how digital events can improve your lead generation, it’s important to reflect on how you connect with your prospects once they’ve shown interest. Reaching out through their preferred channels is essential for effective engagement. Most buyers prefer email, with 80% of them favoring this for initial contact. LinkedIn is likewise effective; 82% of buyers accept meetings initiated there, especially when you provide customized content. Here’s a quick overview of these channels: Channel Preference Rate Key Insights Email 80% Personalized emails yield 26% higher open rates. LinkedIn 82% Customized content increases meeting acceptance. General Outreach 91% Prospects are open to connecting with sales reps. Make your outreach brief, relevant, and value-driven. Target Thriving Industries Identifying and targeting thriving industries is vital for maximizing your sales prospecting efforts, especially as certain sectors, like technology and healthcare, continue to experience significant growth. By focusing on these industries, you can achieve higher conversion rates, as they often see increased investment and demand for innovative solutions. Research shows that 71% of buyers like to connect early in the sales process, so targeting industries where buyers actively seek new ideas is critical. Engaging with sectors prioritizing digital transformation can yield better results, as 82% of buyers accept meetings initiated by sellers who provide relevant insights. Leveraging data analytics to pinpoint high-potential industries improves your efficiency, increasing your chances of securing valuable meetings and conversions. Embrace a Numbers Game Mindset Sales success relies heavily on the comprehension that it’s a numbers game, where persistence and consistency often differentiate high achievers from their peers. To thrive in sales, remember these key points: It typically takes about nine attempts to connect with a prospect; many give up after just four to six. A staggering 68% of salespeople abandon their efforts after one follow-up, whereas top performers know that consistent outreach boosts conversion rates. Set specific goals for your outreach sessions, like aiming for a certain number of calls or emails to maximize engagement opportunities. Streamline Prospecting With CRM Tools To effectively streamline your prospecting efforts, leveraging CRM tools is essential, as they centralize customer data and improve organization within your sales process. A sales CRM allows you to track interactions with prospects, promoting more efficient prospecting. By using lead management features, you can segment prospects based on their characteristics, ensuring personalized engagement that resonates with their needs. Advanced CRM systems analyze data patterns, helping you prioritize high-potential leads and allocate resources effectively. Automation tools within these platforms facilitate timely follow-ups, keeping prospects engaged without overwhelming your team. A well-implemented CRM boosts prospecting effectiveness by supporting data-driven decision-making and enabling continuous improvement through performance tracking and analysis, ultimately resulting in higher conversion rates and better overall results. Frequently Asked Questions What Are the 5 P’s of Prospecting? The five P’s of prospecting are preparation, personalization, persistence, process, and performance measurement. First, you need to prepare by researching your potential buyers. Next, personalize your outreach to address their specific needs. Persistence is key, as it often takes multiple attempts to connect. Establish a systematic process for following up with leads. Finally, measure your performance regularly to refine your strategies and adapt to changing circumstances, ensuring continuous improvement in your prospecting efforts. What Is the 30 Day Rule in Prospecting? The 30 Day Rule in prospecting suggests that you should re-engage leads who’ve shown interest within the last 30 days. This timeframe is essential, as research indicates prospects are most receptive to follow-ups during this period. Prioritizing timely outreach can greatly improve your chances of securing meetings and advancing leads toward conversion. What Is the Best Prospecting Technique? The best prospecting technique combines personalized outreach with a multi-touch approach. Personalized emails typically see a 26% higher open rate, whereas a campaign with eight touches can greatly boost meeting rates. Cold calling likewise proves effective, especially for high-level executives, as 69% accept calls from new salespeople. Furthermore, leveraging referrals increases trust, raising the likelihood of conversion. Continuously evaluating and adapting your strategies based on feedback and market trends can further improve results. What Are the Three Keys to Prospecting Success? To achieve prospecting success, focus on three key areas. First, dedicate intentional time for prospecting, as consistent engagement is essential. Second, understand and segment your prospects by demographics and pain points to tailor your outreach effectively. Finally, leverage technology, such as CRMs, to streamline efforts and track engagement. Conclusion Incorporating these seven crucial sales prospecting techniques can greatly improve your outreach efforts. By scheduling dedicated time, segmenting prospects, and utilizing digital events, you can create more meaningful connections. Furthermore, focusing on preferred communication channels and targeting thriving industries helps optimize your approach. Embracing a numbers game mindset and leveraging CRM tools guarantees organized follow-ups and persistent engagement. By applying these strategies consistently, you can enhance your prospecting success and in the end drive better sales outcomes. Image via Google Gemini This article, "7 Essential Sales Prospecting Techniques for Success" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Search isn’t disappearing, but the habit is changing. This article breaks down why agents are replacing browsing with delegation. The post When Google Is No Longer A Verb: Search Becoming Infrastructure appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Investment banks hawk complex hedging strategies as ‘whack-a-mole’ sell-off rips through US stocksView the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Samsung Odyssey G50D is currently down to $229.99 on Amazon, marked down from $429.99. That is a big drop, and according to price trackers, it is the lowest price this model has hit. For that money, you are getting a 32-inch screen with 1440p resolution, which is sharper than standard 1080p but not as demanding as 4K. It is designed mainly for gaming, and the headline feature is the 180Hz refresh rate. In simple terms, that means the screen can show up to 180 frames per second. If you play fast games like shooters or racing titles, movement looks smoother and feels more responsive compared to a regular 60Hz display. 32" Samsung Odyssey G50D 2560x1440 QHD Fast IPS 180Hz Gaming Monitor $229.99 at Amazon $429.99 Save $200.00 Get Deal Get Deal $229.99 at Amazon $429.99 Save $200.00 In real use, it performs well for competitive gaming. Input lag is low, so your actions feel instant. It supports AMD FreeSync and is certified as G-SYNC compatible for NVIDIA graphics cards, which helps reduce screen tearing and stuttering. There is still a bit of blur in very fast scenes, but nothing unusual for a monitor in this price range. You can hit the full 180Hz over DisplayPort with an 8-bit signal. Over HDMI, you are capped at 144Hz. The monitor also does not get bright enough for highlights to stand out, and the local dimming system does little to improve contrast. If you mainly play RPGs or story-driven games in low light and care about deep contrast, this will not impress you. For daytime use or a well-lit room, brightness is strong enough to fight glare. One area where this monitor surprises is comfort. You can raise or lower it, tilt it, swivel it side to side, and even rotate it vertically. That makes it easy to adjust for long sessions or different desk setups. It also supports VESA mounting if you want to use a monitor arm. Viewing angles are decent, so the image does not wash out when you sit slightly off to the side. Overall, this is a practical gaming monitor. It focuses on speed and size rather than stunning picture quality. If you want smooth gameplay at 1440p without spending a lot, this deal makes sense. If you care more about deep contrast and cinematic visuals, you may want to look at higher-end options. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods 4 Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds — $139.99 (List Price $179.00) Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra 6.9" 512GB Privacy Display Smartphone + $200 Gift Card — $1,299.99 (List Price $1,699.99) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $329.00 (List Price $349.00) Google Pixel 10a 128GB 6.3" Unlocked Smartphone + $100 Gift Card — $499.00 (List Price $599.00) Apple Watch Series 11 [GPS 46mm] Smartwatch with Jet Black Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - M/L. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant — $329.00 (List Price $429.00) Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE 128GB Wi-Fi Tablet (Gray) — $379.99 (List Price $499.99) Amazon Fire TV Soundbar — $99.99 (List Price $119.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

Google is expanding beta access to text guidelines for all advertisers globally in AI Max, giving brands more control over how AI-generated ad copy aligns with their standards. What’s happening. Text guidelines are now available worldwide across AI Max for Search and Performance Max campaigns, with full language and vertical support. The feature lets you shape AI-generated creative using natural-language instructions — such as excluding certain terms or avoiding specific phrases — to ensure messaging stays on-brand. Why we care. As AI-powered creative becomes central to your performance marketing, brand safety and tone control are top concerns. Text customization helps you match ads to user intent, and the new guidelines layer ensures they don’t drift from your brand positioning. You can guide AI with guardrails like “don’t imply our products are cheap” or “avoid language like ‘only for,’” helping you maintain consistency at scale. Early adopters like BYD have seen higher leads at lower costs, showing that combining AI speed with human-guided safeguards can directly improve your campaign results. Bottom line. Keeping AI-generated ads aligned with your brand voice is likely high on your task list, so Google’s expanded text guidelines meet that need, giving you practical, easy-to-use tools to stay in control while leveraging AI at scale. View the full article

Data shows sharp rise in Americans applying, but overall number of people granted British citizenship fell last yearView the full article

While originators are not the primary focus of the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act going into effect on March 5, the way they do business is going to change. View the full article

Communicating on group chats has quickly become a way of life, but what are the rules? We used to use email, the phone or talk in person. Now we use platforms like iMessage, WhatsApp or Slack to coordinate a night out with friends, a kids’ birthday party, a work project or even to discuss sensitive military information — as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did by sharing details of airstrikes in a Signal chat. But while group chats have exploded in popularity because of their informality, that also creates its own challenges: discussions can veer off topic, repetitive or basic questions can irritate group members, and that viral meme you think is funny could also offend. The principles of digital etiquette remain the same as other kinds of etiquette, but they are also “context specific and many of the rules are implicit rather than explicit,” said Rupert Wesson, a director at Debrett’s, the British etiquette guide, who outlined key tips for The Associated Press: Think before messaging Etiquette is always based on the idea of care and consideration for others, Wesson said. So it helps to think about how the recipients might be affected by your message. That means, for example, not wasting other members’ time by asking questions that could be easily answered by doing a Google search, or scrolling up or searching through the previous posts. The Trent Windsurfing Club near Nottingham, England, which communicates with members using both WhatsApp and email, spells out other considerations in a 15-point list on its website. “Don’t get angry if someone doesn’t respond to your messages in a group. No one is obliged to do so. Better send him/her a direct message,” the club says. Also, “Before sending a video, picture, meme or any content, analyze if such material will be in the interest of the majority of the members of the group.” And avoid sending videos or files that are very large, because “nobody likes to saturate the memory of their smartphone or waste their data/internet plan on nonsense,” its guidance says. The club did not respond to a request for comment. Remember the aim of the chat Always consider the chat group’s purpose. For those created with a specific and practical function in mind, just stick to the task and don’t post any more than you need to, Wesson said. On the other hand, “some groups are there for frivolity and here, more is more,” he added. It should be obvious, but don’t post personal stuff in a company or business-related chat, and refrain from posting work-related material in a group with friends or family. It doesn’t hurt to lurk first before weighing in, partly because on some chat platforms new members can’t see what was posted before they joined. “It is always best to err on the side of caution until you are very clear on the purpose and culture of the group,” Wesson said. Consider the size of the group Do you need to respond to every message? There’s often someone who feels the need to type out a reply to every post, even if it’s just to say “thanks.” But doing so in a big group might be somewhat akin to an email reply-all storm. Wesson advises considering how many people are in the chat. “If there are three of you in the group, a response, if only an emoji, is almost expected,” Wesson said. “In group of 50 or more it is practically a criminal offense.” Keep it clean and decent, especially at work This is an especially important point when it comes to work communications, with many white collar workers now using chat platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams rather than email to communicate. These platforms feel less formal than email but don’t forget to follow the same guidelines as you do with other company communications. “Assume anything messaged can be forwarded and be especially cautious of work chats (however informal they appear),” Wesson said. “As countless people have discovered at employment tribunals, any diversion into anything indecorous can be career limiting.” Less can be more in chats Chat messages should be short and sweet. One reason is that your words could come across differently depending on the person reading the message, so stick to using short sentences to avoid being misinterpreted. If it’s about work, and you want to discuss something in more length and detail, consider an in-person meeting, a phone call, or email instead. “No one wants to read a 7-inch-long unformatted message when an organized attachment would have worked better,” the experts at The Emily Post Institute — the American equivalent of Debrett’s — advised in a blog post on business communications. Message clarity and style matter It’s not a college essay, so the rules around grammar, punctuation or even emoji don’t need to be too strict. “You should not feel too constricted and nor should you judge others for playing fast and loose with the King’s English,” Wesson said. “Just let brevity and clarity be your guide.” Speaking of emoji, they’re fun and can convey your meaning as well as the most thoughtful turn of phrase, Wesson said. But don’t abuse them because they can be a “minefield.” There’s a world of difference between, for example, the crying emoji and the crying with laughter emoji, he said. It’s best to play it safe and avoid emoji when, for example, sending condolences, Wesson said. How to properly leave a chat group If you’re getting annoyed by the number of message notifications from a big chat group, or you feel uncomfortable because of some of the comments, just put it on mute. And don’t be afraid to leave the group if you don’t need to be in it. Before leaving, consider letting the chat administrator know. “The group administrator has a responsibility to ensure the chat serves its purpose and that things don’t get too out of hand,” Wesson says. What should admins do if certain people are causing problems? “If things are going awry, deleting a member is an option but perhaps a little drastic. A quiet DM or a brief muting should always be considered first,” Wesson says. If you do leave the chat, should you say farewell? Again, it depends on the context. If it’s for a one-off event with a lot of people you don’t know, there’s probably no need. But if, say, you’re part of a remote work project, it would be a good idea to notify everyone. “When leaving make it clear that you are removing yourself immediately so the chat does not fill up with people wishing you farewell,” Wesson said. Is there a tech topic that you think needs explaining? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your suggestions for future editions of One Tech Tip. —Kelvin Chan, AP Business Writer View the full article

This week, you’ll find seven impressive store deals that you shouldn’t overlook. For instance, the Asperex Laptop Battery Bank is available at 46% off, making it a great travel companion with its compact design and multiple ports. Furthermore, LED Under Cabinet Lights are priced at just $17 for two, featuring energy-efficient motion sensors. You’ll likewise discover crucial clothing items for only $5 each. These deals are time-sensitive, so let’s explore what else is available this week. Key Takeaways The Asperex Laptop Battery Bank is on sale for $69.97, offering 20,000 mAh capacity and 165 watts output at 46% off. Grab the Inton Desk Clamp for $28, featuring multiple ports and a space-saving design perfect for clutter-free workstations. Affordable LED Under Cabinet Lights are available at $17 for two, with motion sensors and easy USB-C charging for home enhancement. All clothing items, including t-shirts and jackets, are discounted to $5 each, making it a great time to refresh your wardrobe. Explore home essentials priced at $5 each, ensuring you stock up on necessary kitchen tools and other items at a reduced rate. Power Solutions Regarding energy solutions, having reliable and efficient options can greatly improve your productivity. The Asperex Laptop Battery Bank, now 46% off at $69.97, offers a robust 20,000 mAh capacity and a strong 165 watts output. With both USB-C and USB-A ports, it’s designed for your on-the-go lifestyle, making it flight-approved for travel. Its built-in retractable charging cord features a magnetic closure, guaranteeing compact storage and easy access. Another excellent option is the Inton Desk Clamp, priced at $28. It provides six 120V ports, two USB-A, and one USB-C port, making it ideal for workstations that need more energy. This clamp design allows flexible placement, enhancing workspace efficiency without the clutter of multiple extension cords. Investing in these energy solutions guarantees you stay charged, so don’t forget to check the best grocery deals this week as you’re at it, maximizing your savings. Lighting Solutions After guaranteeing your devices stay energized with reliable solutions, it’s time to focus on lighting that improves your environment. One of the best grocery store deals this week features LED Under Cabinet Lights, which consist of 10-inch LED light strips equipped with motion sensors. These lights are perfect for illuminating dark cabinets and storage spaces. Battery-powered, they offer easy USB-C charging for added convenience. Installation is hassle-free, thanks to their magnetic attachment system and optional metal stickers. Priced at just $17 for a set of two, each light only costs $8.50, making it an economical choice for enhancing your home’s lighting. The motion sensor functionality guarantees the lights activate automatically, improving user convenience as well as conserving energy. These LED lights not only brighten your space but furthermore provide a smart solution for any area that needs extra illumination. Don’t miss out on this practical lighting option! Tools and Accessories Tools and accessories play a crucial role in ensuring that your DIY projects and repairs are executed efficiently and effectively. This week, you can score some fantastic deals. The Electric Precision Screwdriver Set, originally priced at $80, is available for $70 with a 10% off coupon, making it a reliable choice for repairs. It features a rechargeable screwdriver with a built-in ring light and a magnetic parts mat for organization. For versatile cutting needs, consider the Liu 55-piece oscillating multi-tool blade set, perfect for general use. Furthermore, the R tool, designed for fine and coarse cuts, is on sale for $18, down from $26, ideal for pruning tasks. If you’re looking to streamline packaging tasks, check out the Zeit Box Cutter, which features two blades and a USB charger for $44.99. Don’t miss out on these best grocery deals that improve your toolkit! Specialty Tools Specialty tools are designed to tackle specific tasks that standard tools mightn’t handle effectively, making them invaluable for both DIY enthusiasts and professionals. For instance, the Zeit Box Cutter, priced at $44.99, surpasses at efficiently opening boxes and breaking down cardboard. It comes with two blades and a USB charger, available in colors like “mocha mouse,” emphasizing speed and ease for packaging tasks. Another excellent option is the Tai talk mini chainsaw, currently on sale for $66.46, down from $90. This 6-inch chainsaw is perfect for pruning and trimming, includes two batteries, and features a built-in oil tank for convenience. If you’re looking for advanced diagnostics, consider the Launchpro X431 OBD2 scanner, priced at $850 but comes with a $70 coupon. It offers 38+ resets and two years of free updates, making it a smart investment for automotive enthusiasts. Don’t forget to check for the best grocery shopping deals as you’re at it! Home Essentials This week, you’ll find a great selection of affordable home items that can improve your living space. From crucial kitchen tools to cozy bedding options, these products offer both functionality and comfort. With deals like these, it’s a perfect time to stock up on everything you need for a well-equipped home. Affordable Home Items When you’re looking to improve your living space without overspending, affordable home necessities can make a significant difference. This Saturday, you can find a variety of crucial items priced at just $5, down from the usual $6. If you need to brighten up dark areas, consider the LED under cabinet lights available for $17 per set of two, a budget-friendly choice. For those small repairs around the house, the electric precision screwdriver set is priced at $70 after coupon discounts. The store encourages bulk purchasing, so you can stock up on these vital home goods without breaking the bank. Don’t miss out on these deals; they could be among the best grocery store deals this week. Essential Kitchen Tools Even though you may not think of your kitchen as a place requiring specialized tools, having the right vital kitchen tools can greatly improve your cooking experience and efficiency. Check out the electric precision screwdriver set, perfect for electronic repairs, available for $70 after applying a 10% off coupon. For those dark cabinets, the LED Under Cabinet Lights, featuring motion sensors, are only $17 for a set of two. Another important item is the R tool, a double-sided hand tool for pruning, now priced at $18 with an additional $360 off coupon. Don’t forget the versatile Liu 55-piece oscillating multi-tool blade set for general use and the Zeit Box Cutter for efficient box opening, priced at $44.99. Look for the best coupons this week to maximize your savings. Cozy Bedding Options As the colder months approach, finding cozy bedding options becomes vital for maintaining comfort in your home. This Saturday, take advantage of incredible home deals with bedding items available at a flat price of just $5 each. You can explore a variety of materials and styles, ensuring you find the perfect match for your bedroom décor and personal taste. The store’s selection includes comforters, sheets, and pillowcases, catering to all your sleeping needs. This low pricing encourages you to purchase in bulk, allowing for a mix-and-match experience that can transform your bedroom. Revitalizing your home necessities with these cozy bedding options is now easier than ever, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to improve your comfort this winter. Electronics Deals This week, you’ll find some impressive deals on vital electronics that can improve your daily life. For instance, the Asperex Laptop Battery Bank, with its 20,000 mAh capacity and 46% discount, is a great option for keeping your devices charged on the go. Furthermore, you can snag handy tools like the Electric Precision Screwdriver Set and innovative lighting solutions such as motion-sensor LED Under Cabinet Lights, all at discounted prices. Power Bank Highlights When you’re on the go, having a reliable energy bank can make all the difference, and the Asperex Laptop Energy Bank stands out as an excellent choice. Priced at just $69.97, it’s currently available at a remarkable 46% discount. With a robust capacity of 20,000 mAh and an output of 165 watts, this energy bank can charge multiple devices simultaneously. It features both USB-C and USB-A ports, allowing for versatile charging options. Furthermore, the built-in retractable energy cord with a magnetic closure improves portability, making it easy to use during travel. This flight-approved energy bank is perfect for frequent travelers and outdoor enthusiasts alike. Don’t forget to shop deals on home and garden for other useful accessories! Essential Tool Discounts Having the right tools at your disposal can greatly impact your efficiency and success in various projects. This week’s in-store deals feature crucial tool discounts that you shouldn’t overlook. The Electric Precision Screwdriver Set is now $70, down from $80, and includes a magnetic parts mat and a rechargeable screwdriver with a built-in ring light for easy electronic repairs. The Liu 55-piece oscillating multi-tool blade set offers versatility for general use. For packaging tasks, the Zeit Box Cutter is available for $44.99 and includes two blades and a USB charger. Furthermore, the Tai Talk mini chainsaw is on sale for $66.46, and the Launchpro X431 OBD2 scanner is priced at $850, with a $70 coupon available for advanced automotive diagnostics. Innovative Lighting Solutions As you explore innovative lighting solutions, consider the practical benefits of LED Under Cabinet Lights, intended to improve visibility in various spaces. These 10-inch strips, priced at just $17 for a set of two, feature motion sensors that automatically activate when you enter a dimly lit area. Battery-powered and easily rechargeable via USB-C, they offer great convenience and portability. The magnetic attachments and optional metal stickers allow for effortless installation on different cabinet types, making them versatile for kitchens, closets, or any dark space. During this week’s sale, don’t miss out on electronic discounts that make upgrading your home lighting both affordable and efficient. Augment your environment with these smart lighting solutions today. Clothing Offers This week, shoppers can take advantage of an incredible clothing offer, with all items priced at just $5 each, down from the regular price of $6. With such a low price point, it’s a perfect time to stock up on necessities or try something new. The store features a variety of clothing options, ensuring there’s something for everyone, whether you need casual wear or formal attire. Here’s a quick look at some options available: Category Item Price Casual Wear T-shirts $5 Formal Attire Dress Shirts $5 Outerwear Jackets $5 Activewear Sweatpants $5 Accessories Hats $5 Don’t miss these offers near me today, and remember to check back regularly for updated promotions! Frequently Asked Questions What Is the Cheapest Place to Buy Stuff? The cheapest place to buy stuff often depends on local options and specific needs. Discount stores, outlet malls, and online retailers frequently offer significant savings. Look for flat pricing models, like those that charge a set amount for all items, simplifying your shopping experience. Furthermore, take advantage of sales and promotions, which can further reduce costs. Always compare prices across different platforms to guarantee you’re getting the best deal available. What Is the Best Daily Deal Site? The best daily deal sites vary based on your needs, but popular options include Groupon, Rakuten, and Slickdeals. These platforms offer significant discounts on diverse products, often featuring flash sales and exclusive promotions. They simplify shopping with flat pricing models, making it easier to compare deals. Engaging with the community by liking and sharing deals can improve your shopping experience, increasing the visibility of attractive offers as you save money effectively. What Are Crazy Hot Deals? Crazy Hot Deals is an outlet store located in Houston, TX, offering a variety of home items, electronics, and clothing at a flat price. This Saturday, all items will be available for just $5, down from the usual $6. The store encourages bulk purchasing to maximize savings, making it appealing for budget-conscious shoppers. You can additionally stay updated on promotions through their website and social media channels for the latest offers. Who Are the Biggest Off-Price Retailers? The biggest off-price retailers include T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and Ross Stores. These companies specialize in selling branded merchandise at reduced prices, often 20-60% lower than traditional stores. They purchase excess inventory and discontinued items from manufacturers, allowing for significant savings. Significantly, T.J. Maxx and Marshalls generate over $30 billion in annual sales. Their business model emphasizes quick turnover and a constantly changing inventory, encouraging frequent shopping for unique finds at discounted prices. Conclusion In conclusion, this week offers a range of attractive deals across various categories, from energy solutions like the Asperex Laptop Battery Bank to practical home necessities such as LED Under Cabinet Lights. You can additionally find affordable clothing items, all priced at just $5 each. These discounts present valuable opportunities to improve your home and wardrobe as you save money. Be sure to take advantage of these limited-time offers before they expire, ensuring you get the best for your budget. Image via Google Gemini This article, "Don’t Miss These 7 Store Deals This Week" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article