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Allan Leighton rejects chancellor’s assertion that petrol retailers are price gouging as store chain’s profits sinkView the full article

You know SEO improves traffic, authority, and trust. What we don’t talk about enough is how a strong SEO foundation can help other channels, including PPC. This practical case study will show you how performance marketing scales in a high-consideration B2B medical device market and how getting SEO fundamentals firmly in place enables paid media to deliver at scale. B2B medical device marketing breaks most performance playbooks Marketing a premium pelvic floor chair has little in common with selling SaaS tools or consumer products. This is a high-ticket medical device with a long sales cycle and a strong reliance on medical expertise. Buyers include doctors, fitness centers, physiotherapists, urologists, and gynecologists. They ask detailed questions and have high expectations around clinical evidence, credibility, and long-term value. In markets like this, many common performance tactics fail quickly. Increasing bids, expanding keyword coverage, or testing endless landing page variants doesn’t compensate for a lack of credibility and topical authority. If potential buyers don’t trust the provider behind the product, no amount of optimization will create sustainable results. That was exactly the situation we faced at the outset of this project. 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 Starting point: Paid media with limited topical authority At the end of 2023, we launched our first Google Ads lead generation campaigns. At that stage: The website wasn’t optimized to modern SEO standards and lacked topical authority. Conversion tracking was limited, which meant conversions were often attributed to the direct channel. There were no clearly defined Google Tag Manager (GTM) events in place. Conversions imported from GA4 meant delayed signals and limited usefulness for bidding algorithms. Sales were happening, but primarily driven by word of mouth rather than by clearly attributable digital touchpoints. Still, those early campaigns revealed something valuable. We began seeing our first sales coming through paid search. That wasn’t enough to scale, but it confirmed that search demand existed and could convert once the surrounding system improved. Dig deeper: How to run compliant, effective medical and mental health ads The turning point: Treating SEO as revenue infrastructure In mid-2024, we made a deliberate shift, treating SEO as revenue infrastructure instead of a secondary task or a nice-to-have initiative. Rather than focusing on quick ranking wins, the goal became building topical authority in pelvic health and creating the trust layer that paid media depends on, especially in medical markets. The emphasis was intentionally top-of-funnel. The keyword and content strategy focused on education. We: Mapped the full informational landscape around pelvic health, pelvic floor therapy, and non-invasive treatment options using Semrush. Focused on the questions patients actually ask, explanations of treatment mechanisms, and comparisons between different therapeutic approaches. The content avoided aggressive selling and instead aimed to educate clearly and responsibly. Invested in long-form articles with structured sections, FAQ elements, and embedded videos featuring our physiotherapists. The objective was to build a credible resource that users and search engines would trust over time. Semrush Position Tracking development Authority building through medical partnerships Our most impactful SEO lever was authority and link building. The brand already worked closely with clinics and medical professionals who used the pelvic floor chair in their practices. Instead of relying on traditional outreach or guest posting, we developed a partner-driven backlink strategy. We provided clinics using our chair with free, ready-to-use content ranging from performance campaign visuals (B2C lead generation) to educational materials and clinical studies on the effectiveness of the technology. In return, the clinics linked to our website from their dedicated product pages, using the content we supplied and creating natural, relevant references. These weren’t generic backlinks. They came from trusted medical domains, embedded in highly relevant content, and aligned closely with how Google evaluates expertise and trust in healthcare contexts. Over time, this resulted in steady growth in referring domains and a significant increase in topical authority. As the network graph from our Semrush backlink analysis shows, our strongest referring pages have high authority scores. Semrush Network Graph for backlink analysis They originate primarily from fitness studios, physiotherapy practices, and medical clinics. These relationships position the brand at the center of a tightly connected backlink network, reinforcing topical relevance and trust within the healthcare and wellness ecosystem. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. SEO outcomes that changed everything By late 2024, the impact was clearly visible. The website ranked number one for the most important generic keywords, such as “Beckenbodenstuhl” (German for pelvic floor chair), and gained visibility across a broad range of related queries. More importantly, organic visibility began shaping brand perception. Prospects encountered the brand repeatedly during their research phase, often through AI Overviews, long before ever clicking on an ad. SEO has effectively become a trust engine. Semrush Rankings Overview Dig deeper: 75% of ChatGPT users rely on ‘keywords’ for local services: New data How organic dominance reshaped Google Ads performance This is where paid media behavior started to change. A strong organic presence does more than drive unpaid traffic. It changes how users respond to ads. When people already recognize a brand from their organic research, paid listings feel familiar and credible rather than intrusive. This is especially true with AI Overviews, where we held top rankings for the most important generic keywords related to our product. This effect became especially clear in competitor campaigns. Users searching for alternative pelvic floor solutions clicked on our ads because we were a brand they had already encountered organically, and click-through rates reflected that trust. With authority finally established, we restructured our Google Ads campaigns by: Focusing on exact match keywords for core intent. Clearly separating brand, generic, and competitor campaigns. Bidding aggressively on competitor terms. This was only possible because landing pages aligned perfectly with user intent and the brand already carried organic credibility. In several competitor campaigns (competitor names are blurred out), click-through rates reached an astonishing average of 48.29%. In isolation, those numbers might seem unrealistic. In context, they were the natural result of strong organic preconditioning, with AI Overviews playing a major role, and the brand recognition we built through consistent visibility. Fixing the signal: GTM events and CRM feedback loops Another major improvement came from conversion tracking. We moved away from GA4-imported conversions and implemented GTM-native events designed specifically around meaningful lead actions. This provided Google Ads with faster, cleaner signals and significantly improved Smart Bidding performance. In high-ticket B2B and medical markets, signal quality matters far more than volume, and optimizing toward the wrong conversion can do more harm than not optimizing at all. The final step was closing the loop between marketing and sales. By integrating HubSpot CRM, we tracked lead quality beyond form submissions and identified which leads actually converted into revenue. That information was fed back into Google Ads, allowing the algorithm to optimize toward outcomes that truly mattered, not just surface-level conversions. In long sales cycles, this feedback loop is essential. Dig deeper: A guide to Google Ads for regulated and sensitive categories The results With approximately $12,000 in total ad spend in 2025, the combined SEO and PPC system delivered strong year-over-year growth. Unit sales driven by SEO and PPC increased by 140% from 2023 to 2024, followed by a further 79% increase in 2025. Across the full two-year period, this represented more than a fourfold increase in sales volume, with digital marketing playing a central role in influencing revenue throughout a long and complex buying cycle. This translated into a return on ad spend of approximately 133x, underscoring the compounding effect of aligning organic visibility, paid media, and clean conversion data. See the complete picture of your search visibility. Track, optimize, and win in Google and AI search from one platform. Start Free Trial Get started with What actually made PPC scale: Trust, signals, and SEO The biggest takeaway for us was that SEO shouldn’t be viewed solely as a traffic channel. It has a direct impact on the quality of signals fed into paid media platforms, and those signals ultimately determine how well algorithms can optimize. Paid search only begins to scale once a foundation of trust is in place. In categories where consideration cycles are long and credibility matters, ads perform much better when users already recognize the brand and perceive it as an authority in the field. Sustainable, high ROAS is rarely the result of a single optimization. It’s built through interconnected systems that align SEO, paid media, tracking, and CRM feedback regarding lead quality. Performance marketing itself doesn’t fail in complex markets. What fails is the assumption that complexity can be solved with simple tactics. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you want a high-quality OLED TV for gaming and movies but the options you’ve been seeing online are out of your price range (they often easily surpass the $1,000 mark), the 55-inch Samsung S85F OLED TV checks most of the necessary boxes and is currently down to $897.99 (originally $1,397.99) thanks to a 36% discount during the Amazon Big Spring Sale. Samsung S85F OLED TV $897.99 at Amazon $1,397.99 Save $500.00 Get Deal Get Deal $897.99 at Amazon $1,397.99 Save $500.00 Despite being labeled an entry-level OLED TV, the picture quality is still impressive, with not just strong HDR performance, color accuracy, and near-infinite contrast, but also perfect blacks and refined shadow detail. That means you’ll get better bang for your buck during dark scenes than you will with LED/QLED displays. The S85F has a very wide viewing angle, allowing for a consistent image from all sides. It uses an AI Gen2 processor and has AI-based enhancements, including 4K AI Upscaling and Real Depth Enhancer, and runs on the Tizen 9.0 smart TV platform. It’s also an underrated choice for gamers that rivals the best gaming TVs, with a highly responsive 9.4ms input lag. It has four HDMI 2.1 ports that support 4K 120Hz, AMD FreeSync Premium, Nvidia G-Sync, ALLM, and HDR10+ gaming, as well as Motion Xcelerator tech to reduce blur in fast scenes and an AI Auto Game Mode to optimize settings. Plus, the Samsung Gaming Hub offers extra perks, including access to a wide range of cloud gaming apps. The two 2-channel, 20W speakers give users decent bass and clear dialogue, but they're not home theater-level. While it may not be the absolute brightest OLED on the market or have top-of-the-line built-in audio, the 55-inch Samsung S85F OLED TV still offers great value and makes a strong choice for gaming and movies, especially at a sub-$900 price point, which is more than fair for an OLED from a top brand. If you want the best of the best, you can upgrade to a model like the S95, but it’ll come with a hefty price bump. For most people, a middle-ground OLED like the S85F is a solid choice. Our Best Editor-Vetted Amazon Big Spring Sale Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 3 Noise Cancelling Heart Rate Wireless Earbuds — $199.00 (List Price $249.00) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $299.00 (List Price $349.00) Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+ 128GB Wi-Fi 11" Tablet (Gray) — $209.99 (List Price $249.99) Sony WH1000XM6- Best Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones — $398.00 (List Price $459.99) Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 42mm, S/M Black Sport Band) — $299.00 (List Price $399.00) Blink Video Doorbell Wireless (Newest Model) + Sync Module Core — $35.99 (List Price $69.99) Fire TV Stick 4K Max Streaming Player With Remote — $34.99 (List Price $59.99) Amazon Kindle Colorsoft 16GB 7" eReader (Black) — $169.99 (List Price $249.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

Move marks escalation in tensions in run-up to much-anticipated May summit in Beijing View the full article

Use Semrush to turn one topic into a data-backed content pipeline for blog, social, email, and more. View the full article

Managing customer service operations effectively requires a strategic approach that prioritizes several key elements. Personalization of the customer experience is vital, as it builds loyalty and satisfaction. Moreover, providing multichannel support improves accessibility. Empowering your team with ongoing training and knowledge management tools is fundamental for effective service delivery. By continuously evaluating performance metrics, you can identify areas for improvement. Comprehending these strategies can greatly influence your customer service success. What are the specific tactics you could implement? Key Takeaways Personalize customer interactions using data analytics to enhance satisfaction and loyalty. Implement multichannel support to allow customers to engage through their preferred platforms. Empower your customer service team with knowledge management tools for quicker issue resolution. Actively gather and analyze customer feedback to identify improvement areas and build loyalty. Continuously evaluate performance metrics and invest in training to enhance service quality. Personalize the Customer Experience To improve customer service, personalizing the customer experience is essential, as it directly addresses individual needs and preferences. With 81% of customers preferring personalized experiences, comprehending their unique requirements is fundamental for effective customer service operations. By utilizing data analytics and CRM systems, you can track and analyze customer behavior, leading to a 47% increase in customer satisfaction and loyalty. Access to customer history during interactions allows you to customize your support, enhancing the overall experience. Implementing AI and machine learning technologies can further deepen your insights into customer preferences, enabling more effective personalized recommendations. These customized interactions not just boost satisfaction but additionally encourage repeat business and positive referrals. In your customer ops, focusing on personalization guarantees that every interaction feels relevant and valuable, greatly improving customer relationships and driving long-term success. Provide Multichannel Support Offering multichannel support is crucial for modern customer service, as it enables customers to interact through their preferred platforms, whether that’s phone, email, live chat, or social media. By implementing strong omnichannel strategies, you can retain up to 89% of customers, compared to only 33% with less effective methods. This highlights the importance of accessible communication channels in managing customer service operations effectively. Integrating CRM systems like Zendesk or HubSpot helps synchronize customer information across all channels, ensuring consistency and efficiency in communication. Effective multichannel support also improves customer satisfaction by allowing seamless shifts between interactions, reducing frustration. In addition, utilizing customer analytics across various channels enables you to understand customer behavior and preferences better, leading to more personalized interactions and increased loyalty. Empower Your Customer Service Team Providing multichannel support lays the groundwork for an effective customer service experience, but empowering your customer service team is equally important. To achieve this, make certain your agents have access to thorough knowledge management systems. This access lets them swiftly find the necessary information to resolve customer queries effectively. Information sharing and establishing best practices within your team promote consistent responses, which can boost customer satisfaction levels markedly. Utilizing enterprise search tools can streamline information retrieval, reducing resolution times and enhancing the overall efficiency of customer interactions. When your team feels empowered, they’re more equipped to address issues without delay, leading to higher customer satisfaction. Furthermore, offering regular training and upskilling opportunities increases your representatives’ confidence and competence. This not just improves service delivery but also raises team morale. Act on Customer Feedback Acting on customer feedback is vital for any business aiming to improve its customer service experience. Actively seeking and addressing feedback not just boosts your brand loyalty, but statistics show that 83% of customers feel more loyal to brands that effectively respond to complaints. Utilizing tools like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms allows you to gather actionable insights, which can inform necessary service improvements. Regularly analyzing this feedback helps you identify patterns, leading to targeted upgrades in your customer service strategies and operations. Engaging customers in the feedback process cultivates a sense of value and partnership, enabling you to better understand their needs and expectations. Implementing structured approaches for collecting and reviewing feedback guarantees that these valuable insights are consistently integrated into your service improvement plans. Develop Effective Communication Skills Customer feedback is an invaluable resource for refining service strategies, but it’s only part of the equation. Developing effective communication skills is crucial for outstanding customer service. Here are three key strategies to improve your communication: Practice Active Listening: Focus on truly grasping customer needs and concerns. This skill helps you respond appropriately, improving satisfaction rates. Engage in Training Programs: Regular training can greatly boost your communication abilities. These programs equip you with techniques to deliver better service and elevate customer experiences. Encourage Consistent Feedback: Regularly seek feedback on your communication style. This will help you adapt to changing customer expectations, ensuring you remain relevant and effective. Set Realistic Customer Expectations Setting realistic customer expectations starts with clear communication channels that keep your customers informed. Consistent messaging across all platforms helps reinforce your commitments, ensuring that customers understand what they can expect from your service. Clear Communication Channels When businesses prioritize clear communication channels, they not just improve customer satisfaction but also set realistic expectations for service delivery. By establishing these channels, you guarantee customers receive timely updates and accurate information. Here are three key strategies: Openly communicate potential delays or limitations to manage expectations effectively and reduce frustration. Regularly update customers on inquiries or service requests through their preferred channels, cultivating transparency and trust. Implement a feedback loop that encourages customers to voice their expectations and concerns, allowing you to adjust your communication strategies. Consistent Messaging Across Platforms Effective communication isn’t just about having clear channels; it’s also about ensuring that the messages delivered through these channels are consistent across all platforms. When customers receive uniform information, regardless of how they engage with your brand, it builds trust and reduces confusion. Companies with strong omnichannel strategies retain 89% of their customers, emphasizing the need for consistency. By setting realistic expectations through clear communication, you improve customer satisfaction, as 80% of customers value their experience as much as the product. Utilizing CRM systems can synchronize your messaging, aligning all representatives with your strategy. This clarity minimizes misunderstandings and service issues, leading to a 10-15% decrease in customer inquiries and complaints, ultimately enhancing your overall service operations. Transparency in Service Limitations Transparency in service limitations is crucial for managing customer expectations effectively. By being upfront about what you can and can’t provide, you can greatly improve customer satisfaction. Here are three key benefits of this approach: Reduces Frustration: Customers appreciate honesty, which can lower dissatisfaction and negative feedback. Builds Trust: Acknowledging limitations cultivates loyalty, as 83% of customers feel more connected to brands that do so. Improves Efficiency: Clear guidelines allow your team to manage workloads better while maintaining quality interactions. Regularly updating customers about service limitations and potential solutions creates a sense of reliability, encouraging their continued engagement. Continuously Evaluate and Improve To improve customer service effectiveness, it’s essential to continuously evaluate and refine your strategies based on real-time data. Regularly collecting and analyzing customer satisfaction scores and feedback helps you pinpoint areas needing improvement. Implement structured feedback systems, like surveys and performance metrics, to guarantee insights are systematically reviewed for ongoing advancements. Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs), such as average handle time and ticket resolution rates, gives you measurable benchmarks to assess your service effectiveness. Engaging in ongoing data analysis allows you to identify trends and patterns, enabling proactive adjustments in your operations. Furthermore, continuous training and development initiatives based on evaluated feedback cultivate a culture of improvement and adaptability within your service teams. By committing to this cycle of evaluation and improvement, you can create a more responsive and effective customer service environment, ultimately leading to increased satisfaction and loyalty. Frequently Asked Questions What Are the 7 Essentials to Excellent Customer Service? To achieve excellent customer service, focus on seven fundamentals: provide multichannel support, prioritize personalization, empower your team with knowledge tools, actively seek customer feedback, develop effective communication skills, guarantee timely responses, and cultivate a positive service culture. By integrating these elements, you can improve customer satisfaction, build loyalty, and create a seamless experience. What Are the 4 P’s of Service Strategy? The 4 P’s of service strategy are Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Product defines the service’s quality and features, ensuring it meets customer expectations. Price involves setting a competitive pricing strategy that reflects the service’s perceived value. Place focuses on how the service is delivered, making it accessible through various channels. Finally, Promotion includes marketing tactics that effectively communicate the service’s benefits, helping attract and retain customers in a competitive market. What Are the 5 R’s of Customer Service? The 5 R’s of customer service are vital for enhancing customer experiences. First, respect your customers by valuing their time and opinions. Next, be responsive; quick replies can increase the likelihood of repeat business. Reliability is fundamental—consistently meet your promises to build trust. Resourcefulness involves offering creative solutions to problems, ensuring efficiency. Finally, focus on resolution, addressing customer issues effectively to nurture loyalty and satisfaction in your service interactions. What Strategies Have You Used to Ensure Exceptional Customer Service While Managing Day-To-Day Operations? To guarantee exceptional customer service during managing day-to-day operations, you can implement omnichannel support to improve customer retention. Regularly train your team on communication skills to boost performance and satisfaction. Utilize customer feedback systems to adapt strategies, as this cultivates loyalty. Automating routine inquiries can streamline operations, allowing staff to focus on complex issues. Finally, continuously evaluate customer service metrics to refine your approach and drive ongoing improvements in service delivery. Conclusion In summary, managing customer service operations effectively requires a strategic approach that prioritizes personalization, multichannel support, and team empowerment. By actively seeking and acting on customer feedback, developing communication skills, and setting realistic expectations, you can improve customer satisfaction. Regular evaluation and improvement of performance metrics guarantee ongoing success. Implementing these strategies cultivates a responsive environment, ultimately leading to long-term customer loyalty and a more efficient service operation. Stay committed to these principles for best results. Image via Google Gemini This article, "7 Essential Strategies to Manage Customer Service Operations Effectively" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Traditional 60-40 portfolio of global equities and fixed income on course for worst month since 2022View the full article

Learn how the agentic web is transforming search into AI-driven action, and why SEOs must adapt beyond traditional optimization. The post Why Google’s New “Google-Agent” Is The Biggest Mindset Shift In SEO History appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Amazon’s Big Spring Sale is underway, and one of the more practical big-ticket deals right now is on the Anker Solix F2000 Portable Power Station. It’s down to $799.99 (from $1,999), which is about 60% off and the lowest price tracked so far, according to price tracking tools like Keepa. That kind of drop makes this a very different conversation. At full price, it’s a niche buy. At this price, it starts to feel like a realistic backup option for homes, road trips, or anyone who deals with frequent power cuts and wants something more reliable than a basic inverter setup. Anker Solix F2000 Portable Power Station Backup power for home use, outdoor camping or RVs $799.99 at Amazon $1,999.00 Save $1,199.01 Get Deal Get Deal $799.99 at Amazon $1,999.00 Save $1,199.01 The F2000 is built around a 2,048Wh battery and a 2,300W AC output. In real terms, that’s enough to run a dishwasher through a full cycle or keep essentials like a fridge, lights, and a few devices going during a blackout. It can also handle heavier appliances like a washing machine or oven, just not all at once, since that 2,300W is shared across its three AC outlets. You also get a mix of ports that cover most setups: three AC sockets, three USB-C ports with up to 100W output for laptops, two USB-A ports, and car-style outlets. Plus, there’s a screen that gives you a clear read on battery levels, power usage, and time estimates, and the companion app adds extra control like switching ports on or off and monitoring battery temperature. Charging is flexible, too. You can plug it into a wall for a full recharge in a little over an hour, use a car adapter, or connect up to 1,000W of solar panels (sold separately) for off-grid use. If you want more runtime, there’s also an optional expansion battery that doubles the capacity to 4,048Wh, though the output stays the same at 2,300W. It’s currently bundled with the F2000 for $1,498.99, down from $2999. The main downside here is size and weight. Even with wheels and a telescopic handle, this is not something you casually move around. Our Best Editor-Vetted Amazon Big Spring Sale Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 3 Noise Cancelling Heart Rate Wireless Earbuds — $199.00 (List Price $249.00) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $299.00 (List Price $349.00) Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+ 128GB Wi-Fi 11" Tablet (Gray) — $209.99 (List Price $249.99) Sony WH1000XM6- Best Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones — $398.00 (List Price $459.99) Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 42mm, S/M Black Sport Band) — $299.00 (List Price $399.00) Blink Video Doorbell Wireless (Newest Model) + Sync Module Core — $35.99 (List Price $69.99) Fire TV Stick 4K Max Streaming Player With Remote — $34.99 (List Price $59.99) Amazon Kindle Colorsoft 16GB 7" eReader (Black) — $169.99 (List Price $249.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

The Senate early Friday morning approved Homeland Security funds to pay Transportation Security Administration agents and most other agencies, but not the immigration enforcement operations at the heart of the budget impasse that has jammed airports, disrupted travel and imposed financial hardship on workers. The deal, which the Senate approved unanimously without a roll call, next goes to the House, which is expected to consider it Friday. “We can get at least a lot of the government opened up again and then we’ll go from there,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. “Obviously, we’ll still have some work ahead of us.” With pressure mounting to resolve the 42-day stalemate over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, the endgame emerged in the final hours before TSA workers miss another paycheck Friday. President Donald The President said he would sign an order to immediately pay the TSA agents, saying he wanted to quickly stop the “Chaos at the Airports.” The deal did not include any of the restraints Democrats have demanded as they sought to rein in The President’s mass deportation agenda. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said the outcome could have been reached weeks ago, and vowed that his party would continue fighting to ensure The President’s “rogue” immigration operation “does not get more funding without serious reform.” What’s in and out of the funding package Senators worked through the night on the deal that would fund much of the rest of the department, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard and TSA, but without funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Customs was funded, but Border Protection was not. The package puts no new limits on immigration enforcement, which has remained largely uninterrupted by the shutdown. The GOP’s big tax cuts bill that The President signed into law last year funneled billions in extra funds to DHS, including $75 billion for ICE operations, ensuring the immigration officers are still being paid despite the lapse. Next steps in the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., holds a slim majority, are uncertain. Passage will almost certainly require bipartisan support, as lawmakers on the left and right flanks revolt. Conservative Republicans have panned their own party’s proposals, demanding full funding for immigration operations. Many have vowed to ensure ICE has the resources it needs in the next budget package to carry out The President’s agenda. “We will fully fund ICE. That is what this fight is about,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said as he tried to offer legislation to fund the agency. “The border is closing. The next task is deportation.” On-again, off-again talks collapsed Earlier Thursday, Thune announced he had given a “last and final” offer to the Democrats. But as the day dragged on, action stalled out. Democrats argued the GOP proposals have not gone far enough at putting guardrails on officers from ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and other federal agencies who are engaged in the immigration sweeps, particularly after the deaths of two Americans protesting the actions in Minneapolis. They want federal agents to wear identification, remove their face masks and refrain from conducting raids around schools, churches or other sensitive places. Democrats have also pushed for an end of administrative warrants, insisting that judges sign off before agents search people’s homes or private spaces — something new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has said he is open to considering. The President had largely left the issue to Congress, but warned he was ready to take action, threatening to send the National Guard to airports in addition to his deployment of ICE agents who are now checking travelers’ IDs. The White House had floated the extraordinary move of invoking a national emergency to pay the TSA agents, a politically and legally fraught approach. Instead, The President’s order would pay TSA agents using money from his 2025 tax bill, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss it publicly. If the Senate package is approved by the House and signed it into law, the action The President announced to pay TSA agents may be temporary or unneeded. Airport lines grow as TSA workers endure hardships The funding shutdown has resulted in travel delays and even warnings of airport closures as TSA workers missing paychecks stop coming to work. Multiple airports are experiencing greater than 40% callout rates of TSA workers and nearly 500 of the agency’s nearly 50,000 transportation security officers have quit during the shutdown. Nationwide on Wednesday, more than 11% of the TSA employees on the schedule missed work, according to DHS. That is more than 3,120 callouts. Everett Kelley, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said the union is grateful the TSA workers will be paid, but said Congress must stay in session to pass a deal “that funds DHS, pays all DHS workers, and keeps these vital agencies running.” At George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Melissa Gates said she would not make her flight to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after waiting more than 2½ hours and still not reaching the security checkpoint. She said no other flights were available until Friday. “I should have just driven, right?” Gates said. “Five hours would have been hilarious next to this.” Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti, Kevin Freking, Rebecca Santana, Collin Binkley and Ben Finley, Lekan Oyekanmi, Wyatte Grantham-Philips, Rio Yamat, Russ Bynum, and Gabriela Aoun Angueira contributed to this report. —Lisa Mascaro and Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press View the full article

With some of the largest and most influential tech giants planning to go public this year, 2026 is shaping up to be the year of the mega IPO. Stock listings from OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX could all potentially happen in 2026, and it is the latter that may make its market debut first. Here’s the latest on the potential initial public offering from Elon Musk’s space-tech company: When is SpaceX’s IPO? For some time, investors have expected, or at least speculated, that Elon Musk’s rocket and space technology company, SpaceX, would go public sometime in 2026. And it looks like that may finally be happening. Citing anonymous sources, the Wall Street Journal reported that SpaceX is expected to confidentially file its IPO paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) “in coming days.” That means the company’s confidential IPO filing is likely to happen sometime between today and next week. The public IPO filing usually happens about eight weeks after the private one. Of course, the actual SpaceX IPO wouldn’t occur until after both the confidential and public filings. If the standard eight-week timeline holds for public filings, that means SpaceX’s public filing will likely take place sometime in late May or early June. And that June timeframe lines up nicely with WSJ reporting that says SpaceX’s IPO could happen sometime that month. Indeed, the Journal says that SpaceX’s IPO is being timed for mid-June, before Elon Musk’s birthday, which is on Sunday, June 28. He will turn 55 this year. Retail investors may get a bigger slice of the SpaceX IPO pie Historically, when companies go public, very few shares are allocated to so-called retail investors—individuals like you and me. At most, about 10% of a company’s shares are available to retail investors during an IPO, with the remainder earmarked for institutional investors. Yet that’s not expected to be the case for the SpaceX IPO. As reported by Reuters yesterday, Elon Musk is considering allocating as much as 30% of SpaceX’s IPO shares to retail investors. The move is reportedly being considered in part to help reward the loyalty of Musk’s ardent fanbase. The Reuters story cites an unnamed source. This potential retail allocation also stands to benefit Musk and SpaceX. The large retail allocation could help drive hype for SpaceX stock among the masses, leading to a spike in shares on the company’s IPO day as more mom-and-pop investors rush to snap up SpaceX stock. As more retail investors buy in, the price would rise, and since Musk is the largest SpaceX shareholder, his net worth would rise in sync, helping him toward one of his likely goals: becoming the first individual trillionaire in history. Fast Company reached out to SpaceX for comment. What is SpaceX’s IPO share price? As of now, it’s not known what SpaceX’s IPO share price will be, nor how many shares will be made available. How much will SpaceX raise in its IPO? That’s yet to be decided. But the Wall Street Journal reports that SpaceX is looking to raise anywhere from $40 billion to $80 billion in its initial public offering. If it were to achieve even the low end of that range, it would make SpaceX’s IPO the biggest in history. That current title is held by the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), which raised over $29 billion in its 2019 IPO. What is SpaceX’s stock ticker? It’s unknown what SpaceX’s stock ticker will be. Right now, the ticker “SPAX.PVT” is used to track the private company on financial sites like Yahoo Finance. However, that’s no guarantee that SpaceX will decide to use the “SPAX” ticker. Which exchange will SpaceX trade on? It’s likely that SpaceX will trade on the Nasdaq. This is likely for a few reasons. First, the Nasdaq is already the home to the largest technology companies, including Apple, Google, Meta, and Nvidia Second, the Nasdaq is also already home to Elon Musk’s other publicly traded company, Tesla. Given these factors, many expect Nasdaq to be the home of SpaceX shares. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Hisense’s mid-range TVs tend to land in that sweet spot of good features at a not-astronomical price. That certainly describes the 2025 U7 Series right now, as the 65-inch model is discounted by $800 at Best Buy, dropping to just $699. It's one of Lifehacker's picks for the best 65-inch TVs in 2026, especially at this price. The sale price is good through April 19, and Best Buy is sweetening the deal with a discount on mounting and free haul-away for members, which will make upgrading your older TV a bit less of a chore. 65-inch Hisense 65U75QG TV MiniLED Smart 4K TV (2025) $699.00 at Best Buy $1,499.00 Save $800.00 Get Deal Get Deal $699.00 at Best Buy $1,499.00 Save $800.00 The Mini-LED backlighting and QLED panel of the 65U75QG deliver deep blacks with minimal blooming, and displays punchy HDR content with support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+, so watching movies or sports feels lively. It gets bright enough to handle sunlit rooms without looking washed out, though if your room has a lot of light, reflections can show up during darker scenes. There’s a built-in speaker setup with a subwoofer and upward-firing speakers, which adds some height to the soundstage, though it won’t replace a dedicated soundbar. As Google TV runs the interface, apps, casting, and voice control are all baked in. On the downside, this TV doesn’t track brightness levels as precisely as higher-end models, so scenes can look slightly off without careful calibration. Also, the viewing angle is narrow enough that colors and contrast shift if you’re sitting too far to the side. While gaming works well overall, with smooth performance and plenty of support for high refresh rates, fast-moving scenes may blur more than expected. None of these factors will be a dealbreaker for casual use, but they matter if you’re picky about image accuracy or plan to use this in a wide seating setup. For most people, though, this is a bright, capable TV that covers a lot of ground, especially for this price. Our Best Editor-Vetted Amazon Big Spring Sale Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 3 Noise Cancelling Heart Rate Wireless Earbuds — $199.00 (List Price $249.00) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $299.00 (List Price $349.00) Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+ 128GB Wi-Fi 11" Tablet (Gray) — $209.99 (List Price $249.99) Sony WH1000XM6- Best Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones — $398.00 (List Price $459.99) Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 42mm, S/M Black Sport Band) — $299.00 (List Price $399.00) Blink Video Doorbell Wireless (Newest Model) + Sync Module Core — $35.99 (List Price $69.99) Fire TV Stick 4K Max Streaming Player With Remote — $34.99 (List Price $59.99) Amazon Kindle Colorsoft 16GB 7" eReader (Black) — $169.99 (List Price $249.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If your wifi is too damn slow (and I bet it is), the bottleneck is probably the router. This TP-Link Archer AXE75 might be the solution, and it's 44% off for Amazon’s Big Spring Sale, bringing it down to $112.99—and it's already a good deal at the full price. TP-Link Archer AXE75 $112.99 at Amazon $199.99 Save $87.00 Get Deal Get Deal $112.99 at Amazon $199.99 Save $87.00 This is a Wi-Fi 6E router, which unlocks the 6GHz band, so it's a serious router for the price of a bargain one. It features a 1.7 GHz Quad-Core CPU, so it won't freeze up when you're gaming while someone else is streaming 4K in the next room, and it has six high-gain antennas that are built to kill dead zones in medium-to-large homes. Check out PCMag's review for more details. That's the good news. The bad news is the FCC regulations regarding foreign-made routers going into effect. Like most routers, AXE75 is "foreign made"—but the regulations only affect the future authorization of brand-new models. Since the Archer AXE75 is already an authorized, existing model, you can legally buy and use it without worry. But there's a caveat: The FCC has allowed security updates for these models through March 1, 2027. After that, it's not certain it will be supported. TP Link says it's planning to move manufacturing to the U.S. If that happens, the FCC is expected to extend its waiver, and the device will be supported. But no one can say for sure. Our Best Editor-Vetted Amazon Big Spring Sale Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 3 Noise Cancelling Heart Rate Wireless Earbuds — $199.00 (List Price $249.00) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $299.00 (List Price $349.00) Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+ 128GB Wi-Fi 11" Tablet (Gray) — $209.99 (List Price $249.99) Sony WH1000XM6- Best Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones — $398.00 (List Price $459.99) Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 42mm, S/M Black Sport Band) — $299.00 (List Price $399.00) Blink Video Doorbell Wireless (Newest Model) + Sync Module Core — $35.99 (List Price $69.99) Fire TV Stick 4K Max Streaming Player With Remote — $34.99 (List Price $59.99) Amazon Kindle Colorsoft 16GB 7" eReader (Black) — $169.99 (List Price $249.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

If your entire Google Ads strategy consists of targeting brand and non-brand keywords, you’re limiting growth. If performance is declining, it’s not the platform — it’s the strategy. People don’t discover you through non-brand search. They research on Reddit, ChatGPT, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. They watch demos, read testimonials, and learn about your brand long before they ever search for it. If you have a complex sales process and a long customer journey, this shift is critical and requires a different approach. Here’s what you need to know to make this work in B2B. AI-forward campaigns: A cost-effective growth gold mine Google has been developing multi-channel, multi-asset campaigns for years — first with Performance Max, then with Demand Gen. These campaigns reach your audience across the web as they research and evaluate. Your brand is front and center while your audience builds their shortlist. By the time they’re ready to pick vendors to take the next step, you’ve already built trust. Then they’ll find you by searching for your brand. A Performance Max campaign with a variety of ad types, like image and video ads, can showcase demos or customer testimonials on YouTube. They can appear across the web via the Display Network. They can follow (retarget) your target audience as they research. That’s what drives the branded search that converts later. These campaigns let you do all of this cost-effectively. In a Performance Max campaign, you can use keywords alongside your own customer data as signals. You’re not abandoning keywords. You’re using them smarter. Dig deeper: Why B2B brands are shifting from keywords to Performance Max 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 The search experience is changing. Your strategy should, too. Google’s search results pages have evolved with AI Overviews and AI Mode. If this experience is changing so dramatically, isn’t it time to rethink your ad strategy as well? I’m a fan of the 4S framework: search, scroll, stream, and shop. I’d add “ask” to reflect how people now engage across AI tools. They ask ChatGPT or Gemini, search Google, scroll LinkedIn, stream YouTube videos, and shop across platforms. If your strategy only covers one or two of those behaviors, you’re missing how growth actually happens. Focusing only on keyword targeting means you’re missing the bigger picture. Yes, brand keywords will convert better than non-brand keywords. But how do people even know to search for your brand in the first place? (The answer is that you’ve been showing up in their feed the whole time.) Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. Test, learn, and be patient This approach takes time, especially for B2B companies with long sales cycles. It took us nearly a year to realize the value Performance Max was driving for a life science client. Most of their deals take months to close. Our account manager was about to pause the campaign at one point because the ad platform data didn’t look good. But as we began piping in sales data, things started clicking. Once we got over the sales cycle hump and started seeing revenue data, Performance Max proved its value. If you can sync data beyond MQLs — like Proposal Sent — that provides more data and signals to Google, and more peace of mind until you can add sales data. Be patient, feed the system better data, and don’t give up too early. B2B sales cycles are complex. You might have 100 people at an event that you promoted through a LinkedIn ad strategy. Some of those people caught an email promoting a webinar. Months later, they searched for you on Google and asked for a proposal. Still months later, they became a customer. Even with the best-recorded data, you won’t see this happening right away in a long sales cycle. Dig deeper: How to optimize B2B PPC spend when budgets and confidence are low Start small, then scale what works If you don’t have a test-and-learn budget, reallocate 5% to 10% to introduce AI-forward campaign types. Test strategically. Don’t go all in, and don’t launch major tests during a busier time of year. Give yourself breathing room while the system learns. This approach takes time. But it drives sustainable growth if you commit to the process. The advertisers who figure this out are building sustainable growth, while others are still stuck optimizing for a shrinking slice of demand. View the full article

A new version of the Google Ads API is out, bringing a handful of targeted updates across video, app campaigns, and audience planning tools. Key changes in this release. A new VideoEnhancement resource that surfaces whether a video ad is Google-generated or advertiser-provided — giving developers clearer visibility into auto-enhanced creative A new AppTopCombinationView resource providing read-only insights into top-performing asset combinations in App campaigns The ability to disable the hotel feed in Demand Gen campaigns via HotelSettingInfo.disable_hotel_setting A new conversion metric for indirect first in-app installs across Campaign, Customer, and AdGroup resources Several enhancements to ContentCreatorInsightsService and ReachPlanService What to do. Upgrading to v23.2 requires updating both client libraries and client code — all updated libraries and code examples are already published. Catch the walkthrough. Google is hosting a live release walkthrough on March 26 at 11am ET on Discord and YouTube Live, with a recorded version to follow for those who can’t attend. Why we care. The VideoEnhancement gives developers the ability to programmatically identify whether a video ad is Google-generated or advertiser-provided, which has been a notable blind spot in Performance Max reporting. For agencies and teams building custom reporting tools, this is a meaningful step toward greater creative visibility. The bottom line. A routine but useful release — the VideoEnhancement resource in particular is worth attention for any developer building tools around Performance Max creative reporting. View the full article

Designers love intention. Architects draw immaculate plans; curators craft pristine galleries; developers imagine carefully choreographed public experiences. But once the general population shows up, those spaces tend to change. Sometimes there’s an instinct among designers to fight against it; it’s hard to let go of an aesthetic goal. But—more often than not—the public makes spaces and designs better. It’s the people, not solely the place, who spark true imagination and inevitably shape its character. It’s the people who have the power to turn a design into something more welcoming and relevant, and push designers to think outside the box in creativity and problem-solving. This January in New York City, at a small placemaking summit hosted by Journey, experts across art, infrastructure, food, and civic design converged around this idea: Spaces come to life once the public makes them their own. DESIGN FOR VISITORS At the Summit, Katherine Fleming, CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust, for example, described how visitors reshaped the Getty Museum’s iconic steps and lawns. Even though they had been designed as merely aesthetic transitional spaces, they soon became gathering spots: places for picnics, sketching, conversation, or quiet reflection. And instead of correcting that behavior to keep the grounds’ original function, the Getty embraced it. The result was longer museum visits and more positive discourse among the broader Los Angeles community—not, it’s important to note, diminished prestige. That same flexibility manifests in Antwaun Sargent’s work as the Gagosian director, where he curates galleries informed by the public. His Social Works exhibition highlighted artists embedded in their communities, including an installation from Linda Goode Bryant that displayed a fully functioning aeroponic farm in the gallery to demonstrate its use as a community space, challenging traditional notions of what “art” is and how it serves communities. This approach turned the gallery into a community, making it a place for the public to gather and learn instead of simply observing. This notion goes beyond art institutions and appears in everyday spaces, like retail communities. As Claire Bernard, senior food & beverage manager for Chelsea Market and Market 57, shared, the design at New York City’s iconic Chelsea Market didn’t stay fixed for long. Shop owners regularly shifted displays, reworked lines, and pulled seating in or out depending on the crowd. What started as clearly defined footprints, where one retailer ended and another began, quickly blurred once real people entered the mix. Those small, practical adjustments weren’t part of some grand plan, but they created a truly organic market that could respond to crowd patterns in real time. In many ways, that flexibility is what made it feel authentic and alive, it is another reminder that adaptation can serve the community, the vendors, and the space itself. Perhaps the most obvious example is public infrastructure. Tina Vaz, director of arts and design at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), spoke about the MTA’s evolving arts and design efforts, where around 4.3 million daily riders turn transit stations into artistic interactions. Whether it’s poetry installations, live performances, permanent artworks, or occasional uncommissioned graffiti art, the MTA is continually adapting and responding to riders’ lived experiences. Meanwhile, initiatives from the Times Square Alliance embrace the constant flow of one of the world’s busiest crossroads, commissioning installations and digital art pieces designed specifically for visiting multilingual audiences. In many ways, these programs succeed precisely because they accept unpredictability and embrace the variety of the people they’re trying to reach. 4 DESIGN TIPS FOR PUBLIC SPACES So, what should developers and designers take from this? 1. Design for participation. Spaces aren’t finished when they open. They may never be finished. So, build in flexibility, whether it’s movable seating, adaptable signage, multi-use zones or timely installations, and learn from what your communities demand. 2. Measure engagement differently. Metrics tend to prioritize aesthetic loyalty or operational efficiency. But the real signs of success are more often how long people spend in a place, how often they revisit, and how willing the community is to engage spontaneously in them. 3. Invite collaboration. Artists, residents, commuters, and visitors all bring contexts you may not anticipate. Structured programs like residencies, community groups, public feedback discussions, and community-oriented designs make those contexts productive. In turn, your spaces become more thoughtful and more engaging. 4. Let go of perfection. Some of the most beloved public spaces look “messier” and function differently than their initial designs. But that’s the beauty of designing for the public: The unforeseen transformations are signs of life. A space that can absorb that humanness, rather than resist it, allows a design to step outside itself and become truly communal. And community, by definition, is always a collaboration. Andrew Zimmerman is the CEO at Journey. View the full article

This week we covered the release of the Google March 2026 core update that rolled out this morning and will take about two weeks to finish. We also covered Google March 2026 spam update that launched on March 24th and finished 19.5 hours later on March 25th...View the full article

Refreshing creatives for every seasonal moment just got significantly faster — Google has quietly launched Asset Group Theming inside Performance Max, letting advertisers apply seasonal themes to existing asset groups without rebuilding from scratch. How it works. Advertisers can clone a high-performing asset group and apply a theme — Google then generates themed image variations and suggests aligned headlines and descriptions, while leaving the original asset group completely untouched for safe testing. Available themes cover. Promotional: Sale, Studio/Editorial Seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall Cultural moments: Christmas, Black Friday/Cyber Monday, Halloween, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Hanukkah, New Year, Lunar New Year, and Back to School Where to find it. Look for the prompt inside Asset Groups ahead of major holidays, or via “Apply theme to existing asset group” when creating a new one. Important caveat. This is a starting point, not a finished product. The tool uses existing images as a base and adds themed backgrounds — it does not replace videos, and typically only updates a handful of headlines to match the theme. Everything still needs to be reviewed and sense-checked before going live. Why we care. Seasonal creative refresh has always been one of the more time-consuming parts of campaign management — requiring design resources, rebuilding asset groups, and risking performance drops on proven setups. This feature removes most of that friction, letting teams adapt their best performers to key moments in minutes rather than days. The bottom line. Think of it as a creative assistant, not a replacement for a designer — but for advertisers managing multiple seasonal peaks across the year, the time savings alone make it worth exploring. First spotted. This update was spotted by Google Ads specialist Bia Camargo who shared a screenshot on LinkedIn. View the full article

Google tests AI headline rewrites in Search, completes the March spam update in under 20 hours, and adds AI content labeling to structured data docs. The post Google Tests AI Headlines, Rolls Out Spam Update – SEO Pulse appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. This week is Amazon's Big Spring Sale, and I can think of no better way to celebrate the end of this interminable winter than a backyard film festival. Amazon has just the thing for it: this Onoayo digital projector. It's currently $219.98 from a list price of $439.99, and that's for a projector with a 4.6/5 rating with over 1000 reviews on Amazon. Onoayo Digital Projector $219.98 at Amazon $439.99 Save $220.01 Get Deal Get Deal $219.98 at Amazon $439.99 Save $220.01 This isn't one of those projectors where you need to figure out how to connect it with something else, either. While you can stream from other devices, you don't have to; major streaming apps are built in, as are a pair of Dolby-tuned speakers. It features automatic focus, keystone correction, obstacle avoidance, screen-fit, and projection orientation detection right out of the box. The picture is great, too: 3200 ANSI brightness and 4K video decoding means a very defined, bright image. It weighs less than three pounds, so you can take it anywhere you need to project anything. But it's seriously good enough to replace a TV in your house. Our Best Editor-Vetted Amazon Big Spring Sale Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 3 Noise Cancelling Heart Rate Wireless Earbuds — $199.00 (List Price $249.00) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $299.00 (List Price $349.00) Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+ 128GB Wi-Fi 11" Tablet (Gray) — $209.99 (List Price $249.99) Sony WH1000XM6- Best Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones — $398.00 (List Price $459.99) Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 42mm, S/M Black Sport Band) — $299.00 (List Price $399.00) Blink Video Doorbell Wireless (Newest Model) + Sync Module Core — $35.99 (List Price $69.99) Fire TV Stick 4K Max Streaming Player With Remote — $34.99 (List Price $59.99) Amazon Kindle Colorsoft 16GB 7" eReader (Black) — $169.99 (List Price $249.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

I’m buying back in, but who knows if I can pick the right day?View the full article

The local SEO community remains locked in a permanent debate over the “hide address” toggle for service area businesses (SABs). Most owners view this switch as a simple privacy setting. In reality, it’s a high-stakes decision that dictates how Google’s algorithm interprets your physical relevance. Does your defined service area influence where you rank? Does hiding your street address suppress your visibility in the local pack? Most importantly, does Google purge that data from its system, or does your map pin simply become an invisible anchor? These are fundamental and relevant questions of how proximity functions when you choose to go off the grid. How Google actually places your map pin To be clear, the address and the map pin aren’t the same thing. When you enter an address into your Google Business Profile, Google doesn’t simply drop a pin. It runs the address through its geocoding engine to resolve the text string against its internal database. To understand why a map pin ends up in a highway median or a city center, you must examine Google’s internal data models: GeostoreAddressProto: How Google stores and parses a business address. GeostorePointProto: How Google stores the actual map pin location. GeostoreServiceAreaProto: How Google stores the regions a business serves. Google is looking for a match it can trust. When it finds a high-confidence match, it places the pin specifically at the rooftop of your building. Once you understand how these three work together, you can get some clarity on why Google appears to rank SABs differently in the local map pack. Is your map pin placement a bug or the default? Make no mistake: this isn’t a bug. It’s a fundamental breakdown in how Google translates a text string into a physical coordinate. When this translation fails, your business ends up with a misplaced map pin, which directly misplaces your local proximity authority. When Google can’t find a high-confidence match at the building level, it doesn’t just leave your pin floating. Instead, it falls back to the most reliable geographic feature it can confidently resolve. In most cases, that fallback is the city centroid (the geographic center of the municipality tied to your address). Google’s own Geocoding API documentation outlines this fallback logic, explaining why pins for businesses with perfectly visible, verified addresses sometimes end up dumped in the middle of a city. Simply put, if your address isn’t recognized by Google’s internal systems, the geocoding process lacks the confidence to place the pin precisely. If Google can’t reconcile your GeostoreAddressProto with a high level of certainty, it may not anchor your GeostorePointProto to your building’s rooftop. Dig deeper: The proximity paradox: Beating local SEO’s distance bias When does geocoding lose confidence? Geocoding loses confidence when a business shares a generic building footprint, lacks a distinct suite number, or is placed in a newly developed zone that Google’s Street View API hasn’t yet mapped. A building that’s newly constructed or recently added to a commercial complex may not yet exist in Google’s geographic database with enough detail for a rooftop-level match. The street and city exist, but the specific parcel hasn’t accumulated enough mapping data for Google to confidently place a pin. To understand why, it helps to know how Google’s geocoding data actually gets populated. Google’s own developer documentation states that data collection is a periodic process, and new construction data can take time to be reflected in Google Maps. The address hierarchy Google geocodes against is built from a combination of sources, including satellite imagery updates, municipal records, and USPS address data, none of which updates in real time. When the API resolves an address, it returns one of four location types: ROOFTOP, RANGE_INTERPOLATED, GEOMETRIC_CENTER, or APPROXIMATE. The suite number problem I’ve said this to clients more times than I can count. It seems like a minor formatting detail. It isn’t. When a business enters something like 1234 Main Street, Suite 200, in Address line 1, Google’s geocoding engine attempts to resolve that entire string as a street address. Suite numbers are unit identifiers. They exist within buildings. They aren’t street-level geographic data, and Google’s geocoding process doesn’t use them to identify rooftop locations. Embedding a suite number in Address line 1 introduces a conflict into the geocoding query that the system can’t cleanly resolve against a physical coordinate. Instead of anchoring the pin to your building, the geocoding process encounters a string it can’t fully parse at the street level, loses confidence, and falls back, often all the way to the city centroid. This may cause clients to drive to another location or the middle of the highway. Proximity at the pin vs. proximity at the address A profile verified at a physical address doesn’t rank based on the visible address. I recently managed a new listing where a geocoding conflict forced the map pin to the city center of Houston, miles from the actual office. While the text on the profile showed the correct street address, the ranking was anchored entirely to a misplaced coordinate in the downtown centroid. In this instance, a suite number was embedded directly into the primary address field. When Google’s system can’t cleanly parse a street number and name, it often defaults to the city centroid as the best available data point. This isn’t an edge case. Whether it’s a suite number on the wrong line or a new construction site, these formatting errors trigger geocoding failures that are notoriously difficult to unwind. The client’s ranking data confirmed the technical reality. For high-competition terms like “water damage restoration,” the business didn’t rank based on its physical office. It ranked based on where the pin was dropped. If your pin is in a highway median or a city center due to a formatting error, that is where your proximity authority lives. Map ranking in downtown Houston Map ranking at the office Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. What this means for service area businesses If you have a service-area business, the stakes are higher, and the scenarios are more complex. When Google reprocesses that address, and the geocoding fails to anchor cleanly from the beginning, the business owner has no easy way to know. A storefront owner can open Google Maps, pull up driving directions to their location, and immediately see where the pin landed. An SAB with a hidden address can’t do the same quick check. The address isn’t visible on the profile, and the pin placement isn’t clearly surfaced in the dashboard or on Maps. The business is left with poor ranking reports and no obvious explanation. They may never realize the pin drifted at all. Their verified address may be a home office or a shared workspace, and if it’s a shared workspace, the geocoding problem gets worse. Regus locations and similar co-working buildings are among the most geocoding-hostile addresses an SAB can use. These are large commercial buildings with dozens or hundreds of unit numbers, multiple tenants, and high address turnover. My hypothesis is that Google’s geocoding engine assigns lower confidence to these addresses precisely because the unit-level data is so dense and inconsistently mapped. The result is a pin that may never anchor properly to begin with, and an SAB operator who has no easy way to verify where Google actually thinks they’re located. Dig deeper: The local SEO gatekeeper: How Google defines your entity The Farmington Hills fallback My business’s GBP functioned as a verified storefront in Farmington Hills for years. Three years ago, I moved the operation to a new office in Pontiac and updated the address accordingly. The listing appeared as a storefront until I triggered a reverification while testing a separate case study. Because I work primarily from home, and hadn’t invested in signage at the new Pontiac location, Google forced the profile into service area business status. Even though the dashboard displayed a Pontiac address for several months, the map pin reverted to Farmington Hills as soon as I toggled to hide the address. This fallback exists behind the scenes, effectively anchoring the business to a location it hasn’t occupied in over a thousand days. This is a ranking disaster for any business owner. I struggle to rank in my city for the “marketing agency” category because Google is calculating my proximity from an old office. If a business transitions from a storefront to an SAB after changing addresses, editing the existing listing is a risk. I was set up as a storefront at the new address for several months. The most effective path forward is to create a new listing for the business and request a review transfer. This can’t be fixed by Google support. Supporting evidence: What Google’s own patents say Google has filed and been granted multiple patents that describe the underlying systems at work. These patents are directly relevant to how geocoding, pin placement, and local ranking interact. Patent IDTitleImpact on Local SEOUS8312010B1Local Business Ranking Using Mapping InformationOutlines the core pipeline connecting an address to a map pin, establishing that the inputted address and the resolved geocode are two separate entities.US8046371B2Scoring Local Search Results Based on Location ProminenceDescribes a dual scoring system: documents within a geographic area are scored by location prominence factors (authoritative document score, citation volume, review count, and mention count), while documents outside the area are scored by distance from a defined center point such as a postal code centroid or the midpoint of the active map window.US20090177643Geocoding Multi-Feature AddressesExplains how ambiguous or improperly parsed address components produce lower-confidence geocode outputs, resulting in broader map pin placements rather than rooftop-level matches.US7894984B2Digital Mapping SystemDescribes the geocoding/geomap server that converts a street address into a single latitude/longitude coordinate and overlays it as a location marker on a map image. Establishes the mechanical basis for map pin placement and documents that pin position is derived from the resolved coordinate, not the inputted address. Best practices for properly anchoring your map pin A well-geocoded address with a narrow service radius gives Google the most confident, stable picture of where your business operates. Check your Address line 1: Suite numbers, unit numbers, floor numbers, and building names belong in Address line 2. Line 1 should contain only the street number and street name. Check whether your building geocodes cleanly: You can test this in Google Maps directly, or search your address in the developer’s geocoding page and see where the pin lands. Or more importantly, see how Google is parsing the address, and enter it the same exact way. Be prepared for verification: Correcting a geocoding conflict in an existing profile almost always triggers a new verification request. This is expected. Work through it. Don’t make additional edits until verification is complete, as multiple pending changes can restart the cycle. Why geocoding confidence is your local ranking foundation The friction between an address string and Google’s geocoding confidence isn’t a minor technical glitch. It’s a fundamental ranking blocker. Google values data stability and confidence over your recent dashboard edits. If you’re struggling with a pin that refuses to anchor, or an SAB that won’t rank, you’re likely fighting a geocoding pin placement issue that can’t be solved with standard optimizations or Google support, for that matter. Stop trying to out-content a broken map pin. It’s the ultimate proximity indicator that Google needs to confidently rank your business. The underlying issue isn’t complicated. Google needs a clean, parseable address string to anchor your pin at the building level. View the full article

You’ve spent years building a robust professional network. You’ve cultivated relationships with peers, mentors, and industry leaders. So when you signal that you’re exploring new opportunities, you expect your network to perform. Yet too often, promising conversations dissolve into silence. Warm introductions never materialize. Emails go unanswered. This isn’t a reflection of your professional standing. It’s a design problem: you’re making it too hard for people to help you. The fix is straightforward. Make it easy. Here are three ways to do so. Ask To Write to Their Contact Directly When you reach out to a contact seeking an introduction to a decision-maker, a common response goes something like this: “Absolutely — send me your résumé and I’ll forward it to see if there’s interest.” It sounds helpful, but rarely is. The fundamental problem: you’ve just handed over control of your own job search to someone with a dozen other priorities. Even the most well-intentioned contact may not follow through—because the timing isn’t right for their colleague (the chances they need your résumé at any given moment are small), because it slipped off their radar, or because the introduction they made on your behalf didn’t do you justice. The solution is to reclaim the driver’s seat. When a contact offers to pass your résumé along, respond with something like: “I really appreciate it. To save you time, could I reach out to your colleague directly and simply mention that I was referred by you? I’m also looking to build a relationship for opportunities now or down the road, so I would rather not forward a resume that implies I need a job quickly. Would this work?” This proposal removes the burden from your contact while giving you control over the pitch. It also avoids the résumé-forward trap—a résumé implies “please hire me now,” when your real goal is to get an informational meeting with a decision-maker and then keep in touch for future opportunities or get additional referrals. Half of your networking contacts will agree, and now you can use their name to gain attention: “Subject: Referred by [Contact], re: [Topic].” But what about the contacts who want to make the introduction themselves? Send a Forward-Friendly Email Many contacts will respond with something along the lines of “Let me reach out to my colleague first to see if they’d be interested in speaking with you.” In that case, offer to send them a forward-friendly email. This move dramatically improves the likelihood that they will actually follow through, because you’ve reduced their effort from 15 minutes spent figuring out how to pitch you to just 2 minutes of forwarding. You’re also improving the odds that their contact will want to meet with you, since you can include a field-tested pitch explaining why a conversation could be mutually beneficial. The content is virtually the same as the “Referred by …” email; just start it differently: “Subject: Introduction to Katherine Johnson, re: BigCo Dear Rosalind, Thanks for offering to forward my information to Katherine. As discussed, below I’ve shared my background and why I believe a meeting could be mutually beneficial.” One important note on content: resist the urge to attach your résumé unless there’s a specific opening you’re pursuing. Instead, use your LinkedIn profile as your “low-key résumé.” The impressive content in your thoroughly filled-out profile will drive credibility without signaling desperation. Have a Clear Job Target Too many executives prolong their searches because they position themselves too broadly, not wanting to miss an opportunity. The problem: your network finds it harder to advocate for you when your message is watered down across multiple job targets. Worse, you may be asking your contacts to do the heavy lifting of translating your varied background into specific opportunities. That is your job, not theirs. One client came to me after a long, frustrating search. I quickly saw the issue: she was pitching herself to her network as open to Partnerships leadership roles at Fortune 500 companies, COO roles at startups, or Commercialization roles at any company. Three quite varied targets, not connected by a strong theme, led to ineffective messaging. Once we prioritized, she re-launched her outreach with a focused, powerful pitch for COO roles at startups. Within weeks, the interviews began to materialize. A narrow pitch may feel counterintuitive—but it’s what makes your networking more effective, since people can refer you more easily when they see you clearly in a specific role. The Bottom Line Your network wants to help. Your job is to make that help feel effortless—not like a second job. Write the emails they can forward, or email their contacts directly. Do the targeting they shouldn’t have to. And keep yourself in the driver’s seat. The opportunities will follow. View the full article

Google announced Search Live has launched globally, for all languages and locations where AI Mode is available. Google said this is possible by its "new audio and voice model, Gemini 3.1 Flash Live, which delivers even more natural and intuitive conversations."View the full article

As part of a strategic move to optimize its store footprint, Noodles & Company closed 33 company-owned restaurants in 2025. In January, the chain said it would close dozens more stores this year. However, despite the shrinking restaurant count, sales have grown. The fast-casual eatery held its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings call on Wednesday, March 25. It reported that comparable store sales increased 6.6% in the final quarter of 2025. Sales growth and traffic are also up as of early 2026. Following the strong earnings report, shares of Noodles & Company (Nasdaq: NDLS) soared over 50% on Thursday. The stock is up almost 60% year to date as of premarket trading on Friday. That’s a significant contrast to the broader Nasdaq Composite, which is down 7.78% for 2026 so far. How store closures have helped same-store sales Despite having closed more than 30 stores in 2025, Noodles & Company reported system-wide comparable store sales growth of nearly 7% in the fourth quarter of 2025. On Wednesday’s earnings call, CEO Joe Christina told investors that the restaurant closures “resulted in a material transfer of sales to nearby locations . . . which also favorably impacted margins.” And store closures haven’t stopped customers from spending money. CFO Mike Hynes explained during the call that a significant portion of Noodles & Company customers place takeout or delivery orders, so they’ve continued to order from nearby locations that remain open. “The most meaningful impact is the post-closure transfer of sales to nearby Noodles & Company restaurants, which is driving a significant increase to our company-wide restaurant-level profits.” New menu items also drove traffic Menu changes and limited-time offerings have also played a significant role in driving sales and traffic growth, Christina said on the call. “A great example is chili garlic ramen, which we introduced as a limited time offer in October,” he said. “Inspired by trending ramen hacks, this brothless bowl delivered the buttery, spicy, umami-packed flavors guests were already craving. It quickly became one of the strongest [limited-time offers] in our history.” He noted that the trendy dish resonated well with loyalty program members and also brought in new customers. Because of its success, Noodles & Company is evaluating other ramen recipes. Christina also credits the fast-casual noodle chain’s value-focused messaging, “giving guests compelling meal combinations and an attractive price point that delivered balance, variety, and everyday affordability without compromising quality, while also raising consumer awareness to our new menu offerings.” Hourly workers have been most impacted by the store closures While an optimized physical footprint may be producing results for the company, store closures have come at a real cost to employees, primarily hourly workers. According to Noodles & Company’s year-end 2025 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the fast-casual eatery employed approximately 6,000 hourly workers as of December 30, 2025, down from 6,800 a year prior. That’s a net loss of roughly 800 hourly jobs in one year. Meanwhile, the company’s salaried worker headcount remained unchanged during that same period, with 500 salaried workers reported for both years. View the full article