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We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Arlo Pro 5S 2K four-camera kit with solar panel is down to $229.99 at Woot, compared to $299.99 for the same bundle on Amazon. That price includes a full outdoor setup with four weather-resistant outdoor home security cameras, four rechargeable batteries, mounting hardware, and a solar panel with an eight-foot magnetic cable. For a full-home setup, the math works out to under $60 per camera with solar support included. Arlo Pro 5S 2K Four-Camera Kit $229.99 at Woot $299.99 Save $70.00 Get Deal Get Deal $229.99 at Woot $299.99 Save $70.00 The Pro 5S records in 2K resolution, which is 2,560 by 1,440 pixels. In plain terms, it captures sharper footage than standard 1080p cameras. The camera has a wide 160-degree field of view, so it can cover a driveway or backyard without constant repositioning, and you can zoom in up to 12x digitally to read a license plate or see a face more clearly. At night, it uses both infrared LEDs for black-and-white footage and a motion-activated spotlight for color night vision. The color clips look good for a battery camera, though daytime footage still looks better, notes this PCMag review. You also get two-way audio, an 80-decibel siren, and fast motion alerts sent through the Arlo app. The camera connects over dual-band wifi and works with Alexa, Google Assistant, SmartThings, and IFTTT. It does not support Apple HomeKit. Local storage requires a separate Arlo Smart Hub. Otherwise, you will need an Arlo Secure subscription starting at $9.99 per month for one camera (or $19.99 per month for unlimited cameras) to access cloud recordings and advanced detection for people, pets, vehicles, and packages. Without a subscription or hub, you are limited to live viewing and basic alerts. Battery life can stretch up to eight months in Low Power mode (or more with the included solar panel), but that setting captures snapshots instead of full video clips. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods 4 Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds — $139.99 (List Price $179.00) 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) Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Plus — $29.99 (List Price $49.99) Bose QuietComfort Noise Cancelling Wireless Headphones — $229.99 (List Price $349.00) Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ 64GB Wi-Fi 11" Tablet (Silver) — $159.99 (List Price $219.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

Asana’s built-in automation handles a significant portion of project management busywork. Rules assign tasks automatically when they’re created. Status changes trigger notifications to stakeholders. Due dates approaching prompt reminders without anyone manually setting them up. For teams working primarily within Asana, these features eliminate repetitive work that used to require manual effort. But project work rarely stays contained in a single tool. Engineering uses Jira. Sales works in Salesforce. Customer success operates from HubSpot. The product roadmap lives in a separate platform entirely. Asana’s automation works well for what happens inside Asana. The challenge emerges when workflows span multiple tools and the handoffs between them require visibility that Asana’s native features don’t provide. Understanding what Asana’s automation can and can’t do helps teams make informed decisions about when native features suffice and when external integration becomes necessary. What Asana’s workflow automation does Asana’s Rules engine enables trigger-action automation within the platform. When a specified event occurs, Asana automatically executes one or more actions in response. Available triggers include: Task created or added to a project Task moved to a specific section Custom field changed to a particular value Due date approaching or passed Task marked complete Subtask added Assignee changed Available actions include: Assign the task to a team member Move the task to a different section Update a custom field value Add a comment to the task Add the task to another project Set or change the due date Mark the task as a milestone Automation TypeWhat It HandlesExample UseTask routingAutomatic assignment based on criteriaNew bugs assigned to QA leadStatus updatesField changes trigger notificationsHigh priority tasks notify channelSection managementMove tasks through workflow stagesCompleted reviews move to approvalTemplatingApply standard fields to new tasksCustomer requests get standard fields The Rules Gallery provides pre-built templates for common workflows. Teams can also build custom rules combining multiple triggers and actions. For many internal workflows, these capabilities handle the automation needs without additional tools. Asana’s AI Studio, introduced more recently, adds intelligent automation. The system can suggest rules based on observed team patterns, automatically categorize tasks, and generate summaries. These AI features work within Asana’s existing automation framework rather than replacing it. The limits of native automation Asana’s automation operates within boundaries that become apparent as workflows grow more complex. LimitationImpactWorkaroundAction quotasHigh-volume teams hit limitsExternal automation toolsShallow conditionalsComplex logic requires multiple rulesBuild in external platformNo delaysCan’t schedule workflow pausesZapier or Make for timingSingle-project focusCross-project workflows manualIntegration platform Action quotas constrain usage. Starter plans include 250 automation actions per month. Advanced plans allow 25,000 monthly actions. Individual rules can trigger up to 20 actions per event. Teams with high task volumes or complex workflows can reach these limits, especially when automation runs on frequently modified tasks. Conditional logic stays shallow. Rules support basic if-then conditions, but nested logic isn’t available. You can’t build automation that says “if priority is high AND assignee is from engineering AND status changed to review, then do X.” Each condition requires a separate rule. No delay or scheduling within workflows. Rules execute immediately when triggered. There’s no native way to build in waiting periods. You can’t create a rule that waits 48 hours after task completion before sending a follow-up. Time-based triggers exist for due dates, but arbitrary delays in workflows require external tools. Cross-project visibility is limited. Rules work best within a single project. Workflows that span multiple projects, particularly when those projects have different structures or custom fields, require manual coordination or external integration. Reporting and analytics stay basic. Asana provides project dashboards and workload views, but advanced analytics like custom KPIs, formula-based metrics, or cross-project reporting require exporting data to external tools. When workflows span multiple tools The more significant limitation isn’t what Asana’s automation can’t do within Asana. It’s that workflows rarely stay contained in a single tool. Consider a feature development workflow. Product defines requirements in their roadmap tool. Engineering implements in Jira. QA tracks testing in a separate system. Customer success monitors in the CRM for customer communication. Asana might coordinate the overall project, but the actual work happens across multiple platforms. Asana’s native integrations offer partial solutions. Rules can trigger Slack notifications. Tasks can link to Google Drive files. Jira issues can appear in Asana. But these integrations are typically one-directional and shallow. A Jira ticket linked in Asana doesn’t automatically update when the Jira status changes. The Asana task becomes a static reference rather than a live connection. Teams needing deeper connectivity often look at options for Asana and Jira integration that maintain bidirectional updates. The result is manual synchronization. Someone has to check Jira, update Asana, notify stakeholders, and repeat the cycle for every status change. The automation that works so well within Asana breaks down at the tool boundaries. Tool BoundaryWhat BreaksManual Work CreatedAsana to JiraStatus updates don’t syncEngineers update both toolsAsana to CRMCustomer context stays siloedSuccess checks multiple systemsAsana to roadmapPriority changes require copyingPMs duplicate updatesAsana to supportEscalations need manual routingTickets get forwarded manually The overhead compounds with team size. Small teams can absorb the manual synchronization. Larger organizations with multiple departments, each in their preferred tools, find that coordination becomes a significant time cost. Research shows knowledge workers spend 62% of their time on repetitive work rather than skilled tasks. A meaningful portion of that time involves moving information between disconnected systems. The frustration isn’t just about time. It’s about information lag. When the product manager doesn’t know engineering finished a feature until days later because someone forgot to update Asana, decisions get made on stale information. The automation that’s supposed to keep everyone informed stops working at tool boundaries. Extending automation with integration External integration platforms address the gap between what Asana automates internally and what cross-tool workflows require. Trigger-action platforms like Zapier and Make extend Asana’s automation reach. When something happens in Asana, these tools can trigger actions in hundreds of other applications. A completed Asana task can update a Salesforce record, send an email through Gmail, and log a row in a spreadsheet simultaneously. The automation spans tools rather than staying within Asana. These platforms work well for one-directional workflows where Asana is the source of truth. Task created in Asana triggers record creation elsewhere. Task completed in Asana notifies external stakeholders. The logic flows from Asana outward. The limitation appears with bidirectional workflows. When changes need to flow both directions, trigger-action platforms require building multiple automations that can conflict. A Zap that updates Asana when Jira changes plus a Zap that updates Jira when Asana changes can create loops where updates ping back and forth indefinitely. True two-way sync requires a different approach. Rather than trigger-action pairs, integration platforms built for bidirectional sync maintain relationships between records across tools. An Asana task and a Jira ticket become linked objects. Changes in either system reflect in the other without triggering cascading updates or conflicts. Integration TypeDirectionBest ForTrigger-action (Zapier, Make)One-wayAsana as source of truthTwo-way syncBidirectionalCross-tool collaboration For teams where product management, engineering, and other functions work in different tools but need shared visibility, two-way sync between work management platforms provides the bidirectional data flow that trigger-action automation can’t replicate. Evaluating if native automation is enough The decision between native Asana automation and external integration depends on workflow patterns. Native automation likely suffices when: Most work happens within Asana External tools are reference-only (documents, files) One-directional updates to other systems work Team size keeps manual synchronization manageable Action quotas aren’t a concern External integration becomes necessary when: Multiple teams work in different primary tools Status and priority changes need to flow bidirectionally Manual synchronization consumes meaningful time Workflows span development, CRM, support, and project management Cross-project visibility matters for reporting Questions to assess your situation: How often do team members update multiple tools with the same information? If the answer is “regularly,” integration reduces that duplication. What breaks when synchronization lapses? If stale data causes problems, real-time sync matters more than batch updates. How much time goes to coordination that could be automated? Integration has a cost. That cost should be less than the manual work it eliminates. FactorFavors NativeFavors IntegrationTool countOne to two toolsThree or more toolsData directionAsana outwardBidirectionalTeam structureSingle teamCross-functionalChange frequencyOccasionalContinuousSync timingDaily is fineReal-time needed Making Asana work in a multi-tool environment Asana’s automation handles internal workflows well. The platform was designed for project management, and its automation reflects that focus. Rules, templates, and AI features address the coordination that happens within Asana projects. The challenge is that modern work doesn’t stay in one tool. Engineering, sales, support, and product management each have legitimate reasons for their tool choices. Forcing everyone into Asana creates resistance and workarounds. Accepting the multi-tool reality and integrating appropriately respects team preferences while maintaining visibility. The practical approach combines both strategies. Use Asana’s native automation for what happens inside Asana. Use integration platforms for what needs to cross tool boundaries. The combination provides comprehensive automation without forcing tool consolidation that teams will resist. This layered approach also scales better than trying to make one solution do everything. Asana’s native automation improves continuously as Asana adds features. Integration platforms handle the cross-tool complexity that Asana isn’t designed to address. Each component does what it’s built for. For teams coordinating between Asana and tools like Jira, Salesforce, or HubSpot, two-way sync platforms enable bidirectional data flow that keeps everyone working in their preferred environment while maintaining the shared visibility that effective collaboration requires. View the full article

Automation has long been part of the discipline, helping teams structure data, streamline reporting, and reduce repetitive work. Now, AI agent platforms combine workflow orchestration with large language models to execute multi-step tasks across systems. Among them, n8n stands out for its flexibility and control. Here’s how it works – and where it fits in modern SEO operations. Understanding how n8n AI agents are deployed If you think of modern AI agent platforms as an AI-powered Zapier, you’re not far off. The difference is that tools like n8n don’t just pass data between steps. They interpret it, transform it, and determine what happens next. Getting started with n8n means choosing between cloud-hosted and self-hosted deployment. You can have n8n host your environment, but there are drawbacks: The environment is more sandboxed. You can’t recode the server to interact with n8n workflows in custom ways, such as de-sandboxing the saving of certain file types to a database. You can’t install or use community nodes. Costs tend to be higher. There are advantages, too: You don’t have to be as hands-on managing the n8n environment or applying patches after core engine updates. Less technical expertise is required, and you don’t need a developer to set it up. Although customization and control are reduced, maintenance is less frequent and less stressful. There are also multiple license packages available. If you run n8n self-hosted, you can use it for free. However, that can be challenging for larger teams, as version control and change attribution are limited in the free tier. Your customers search everywhere. Make sure your brand shows up. The SEO toolkit you know, plus the AI visibility data you need. Start Free Trial Get started with How n8n workflows run in practice Regardless of the package you choose, using AI models and LLMs isn’t free. You’ll need to set up API credentials with providers such as Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic. Once n8n is installed, the interface presents a simple canvas for designing processes, similar to Zapier. You can add nodes and pull in data from external sources. Webhook nodes can trigger workflows, whether on a schedule, through a contact form, or via another system. Executed workflows can then deliver outputs to destinations such as Gmail, Microsoft Teams, or HTTP request nodes, which can trigger other n8n workflows or communicate with external APIs. In the example above, a simple workflow scrapes RSS feeds from several search news publishers and generates a summary. It doesn’t produce a full news article or blog post, but it significantly reduces the time needed to recap key updates. Dig deeper: Are we ready for the agentic web? Building AI agent workflows in n8n Below, you can see the interior of a webhook trigger node. This node generates a webhook URL. When Microsoft Teams calls that URL through a configured “Outgoing webhook” app, the workflow in n8n is triggered. Users can request a search news update directly within a specific Teams channel, and n8n handles the rest, including the response. Once you begin building AI agent nodes, which can communicate with LLMs from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and others, the platform’s capabilities become clearer. In the image above, the left side shows the prompt creation view. You can dynamically pass variables from previously executed nodes. On the right, you’ll see the prompt output for the current execution, which is then sent to the selected LLM. In this case, data from the scraping node, including content from multiple RSS feeds, is passed into the prompt to generate a summary of recent search news. The prompt is structured using Markdown formatting to make it easier for the LLM to interpret. Returning to the main AI agent node view, you’ll see that two prompts are supported. The user prompt defines the role and handles dynamic data mapping by inserting and labeling variables so the AI understands what it’s processing. The system prompt provides more detailed, structured instructions, including output requirements and formatting examples. Both prompts are extensive and formatted in markdown. On the right side of the interface, you can view sample output. Data moves between n8n nodes as JSON. In this example, the view has been switched to “Schema” mode to make it easier to read and debug. The raw JSON output is available in the “JSON” tab. This project required two AI agent nodes. The short news summary needed to be converted to HTML so it could be delivered via email and Microsoft Teams, both of which support HTML. The first node handled summarizing the news. However, when the prompt became large enough to generate the summary and perform the HTML conversion in a single step, performance began to degrade, likely due to LLM memory constraints. To address this, a second AI agent node converts the parsed JSON summary into HTML for delivery. In practice, a dual AI agent node structure often works well for smaller, focused tasks. Finally, the news summary is delivered via Teams and Gmail. Let’s look inside the Gmail node: The Gmail node constructs the email using the HTML output generated by the second AI agent node. Once executed, the email is sent automatically. The example shown is based on a news summary generated in November 2025. Dig deeper: The AI gold rush is over: Why AI’s next era belongs to orchestrators Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. n8n SEO automations and other applications In this article, we’ve outlined a relatively simple project. However, n8n has far broader SEO and digital applications, including: Generating in-depth content and full articles, not just summaries. Creating content snippets such as meta and Open Graph data. Reviewing content and pages from a CRO or UX perspective. Generating code. Building simple one-page SEO scanners. Creating schema validation tools. Producing internal documents such as job descriptions. Reviewing inbound CVs, or resumes, and applications. Integrating with other platforms to support more complex, connected systems. Connecting to platforms with API access that don’t have official or community n8n nodes, using custom HTTP request nodes. The possibilities are extensive. As one colleague put it, “If I can think it, I can build it.” That may be slightly hyperbolic. Like any platform, n8n has limitations. Still, n8n and competing tools such as MindStudio and Make are reshaping how some teams approach automation and workflow design. How long that shift will last is unclear. Some practitioners are exploring locally hosted tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, and others. Some are building their own AI “brains” that communicate with external LLMs directly from their laptops. Even so, platforms like n8n are likely to retain a place in the market, particularly for those who are moderately technical. Drawbacks of n8n There are several limitations to consider: It’s still an immature platform, and core updates can break nodes, servers, or workflows. That instability isn’t unique to n8n. AI remains an emerging space, and many related platforms are still evolving. For now, that means more maintenance and oversight, likely for the next couple of years. Some teams may resist adoption due to concerns about redundancy or ethics. n8n shouldn’t be positioned as a replacement for large portions of someone’s role. The technology is supplementary, and human oversight remains essential. Although multiple LLMs can work together, n8n isn’t well-suited to thorough technical auditing across many data sources or large-scale data analysis. Connected LLMs can run into memory limits or over-apply generic “best practice” guidance. For example, an AI might flag a missing meta description on a URL that turns out to be an image, which doesn’t support metadata. The technology doesn’t yet have the memory or reasoning depth to handle tasks that are both highly subjective and highly complex It’s often best to start by identifying tasks your team finds repetitive or frustrating and position automation as a way to reduce that friction. Build around simple functions or design more complex systems that rely on constrained data inputs. 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 SEO’s shift toward automation and orchestration AI agents and platforms like n8n aren’t a replacement for human expertise. They provide leverage. They reduce repetition, accelerate routine analysis, and give SEOs more time to focus on strategy and decision-making. This follows a familiar pattern in SEO, where automation shifts value rather than eliminating the discipline. The biggest gains typically come from small, practical workflows rather than sweeping transformations. Simple automations that summarize data, structure outputs, or connect systems can deliver meaningful efficiency without adding unnecessary complexity. With proper human context and oversight, these tools become more reliable and more useful. Looking ahead, the tools will evolve, but the direction is clear. SEO is increasingly intertwined with automation, engineering, and data orchestration. Learning how to build and collaborate with these systems is likely to become a core competency for SEOs in the years ahead. Dig deeper: The future of SEO teams is human-led and agent-powered View the full article

In a stretch of Louisiana with about 170 fossil fuel and petrochemical plants, premature death is a fact of life for people living nearby. The air is so polluted and the cancer rates so high it is known as Cancer Alley. “Most adults in the area are attending two to three funerals per month,” said Gary C. Watson Jr., who was born and raised in St. John the Baptist Parish, a majority Black community in Cancer Alley about 30 miles outside of New Orleans. His father survived cancer, but in recent years, at least five relatives have died from it. Cancer Alley is one of many patches of America — mostly minority and poor — that suffer higher levels of air pollution from fossil fuel facilities that emit tiny particles connected to higher death rates. When the federal government in 2009 targeted carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as a public health danger because of climate change, it led to tighter regulation of pollution and cleaner air in some communities. But this month, the The President administration’s Environmental Protection Agency overturned that “endangerment finding.” Public health experts say the change will likely mean more illness and death for Americans, with communities like Watson’s hit hardest. On Wednesday, a coalition of health and environmental groups sued the EPA over the revocation, calling it unlawful and harmful. “Not having these protections, it’s only going to make things worse,” said Watson, with the environmental justice group Rise St. James Louisiana. He also worries that revoking the endangerment finding will increase emissions that will worsen the state’s hurricanes. The The President administration said the finding — a cornerstone for many regulations aimed at fighting climate change — hurts industry and the economy. President Donald The President has called the idea “a scam” despite repeated studies showing the opposite. Growing evidence shows that poor and Black, Latino and other racial and ethnic groups are typically more vulnerable than white people to pollution and climate-driven floods, hurricanes, extreme heat and more because they tend to have less resources to protect against and recover from them. The EPA, in a 2021 report no longer on its website, concluded the same. The finding’s reversal will affect everyone, but “overburdened communities, which are typically communities of color, Indigenous communities and low-income communities, they will, again, suffer most from these actions,” said Matthew Tejada, senior vice president for environmental health at the Natural Resources Defense Council and a former deputy with the EPA’s office for environmental justice. Hilda Berganza, climate program manager with the Hispanic Access Foundation, said: “Communities that are the front lines are going to feel it the most. And we can see that the Latino population is one of those communities that is going feel it even more than others because of where we live, where we work.” Research shows the unequal harms of pollution, climate change A study published in November found more than 46 million people in the U.S. live within a mile of at least one type of energy supply infrastructure, such as an oil well, a power plant or an oil refinery. But the study found that “persistently marginalized” racial and ethnic groups were more likely to live near multiple such sites. Latinos had the highest exposure. The EPA, in that 2021 report, estimated that with a 2-degree Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) rise in global warming, Black people were 40% more likely to live in places with the highest projected rise in deaths because of extreme heat. Latinos, who are overrepresented in outdoor industries such as agriculture and construction, were 43% more likely to live where labor hour losses were expected to be the highest because of heat. Julia Silver, a senior research analyst at the University of California, Los Angeles’ Latino Policy and Politics Institute, found in her own research that California Latino communities had 23 more days of extreme heat annually than non-Latino white neighborhoods. Her team also found those areas have poor air quality at about double the rate, with twice as many asthma-related emergency room visits. Other research shows that Latino children are 40% more likely to die from asthma than white children in part because many lack consistent health care access. “What we’re risking with a rollback like this at the federal level is really human health and well-being in these marginalized groups,” Silver said. Experts say the disparate impacts will be significant Armando Carpio, a longtime pastor in Los Angeles, has seen firsthand how vulnerable his mostly Latino parishioners are. Many are construction workers and gardeners who work outside, often in extreme heat. Others live and work near polluting freeways. He sees children with asthma and elders with dementia, both linked to exposure to air pollution. “We’re regressing,” he said. “I don’t know how many years back, but all of this really affects us.” It is difficult to quantify how much more communities of color could be impacted by the finding’s revocation, but experts who spoke with The Associated Press all said it would be significant. “You will see statistically significant increases in excess morbidity and mortality when it comes to climate impacts and health impacts associated with co-pollutants” in communities of color, said Sacoby Wilson, a University of Maryland professor and executive director of the nonprofit Center for Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health INpowering Communities. Beverly Wright, founding director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice in New Orleans, said at least four Black communities in Cancer Alley no longer exist because of the expansion of industrial facilities. The repeal will bring more pollution, higher cancer rates, more extreme weather and the disappearance of more historic communities, she said. “It has us going in the wrong direction, and our communities are now at greater risk,” she said. The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment —Dorany Pineda and Seth Borenstein, Associated Press View the full article

Google is updating how it attributes conversions in app campaigns, shifting from the date of the ad click to the date of the actual install. What’s changing. Previously, conversions were logged against the original ad interaction date. Now, they’re assigned to the day the app was actually installed — bringing Google’s methodology closer in line with how Mobile Measurement Partners (MMPs) like AppsFlyer and Adjust report data. Why this helps: It should meaningfully reduce discrepancies between Google Ads and MMP dashboards — a persistent headache for mobile marketers reconciling two different numbers. Google’s default 30-day attribution window meant many conversions were being reported too late to be useful for campaign learning, effectively starving Smart Bidding of timely signals. Tying conversions to install date gives the algorithm fresher, more accurate data — which should translate to faster optimization cycles and more stable performance. Why we care. The change sounds technical, but its impact is significant. Attribution timing directly affects how Google’s machine learning optimizes campaigns — and a 30-day lag between ad click and conversion credit has long been a silent drag on performance. This change means Google’s machine learning will finally receive conversion signals at the right time — tied to when a user actually installed the app, not when they clicked an ad weeks earlier. That shift should lead to smarter bidding decisions, faster campaign optimization, and fewer frustrating discrepancies between Google Ads and MMP reporting. If you’ve ever wondered why your Google numbers don’t match AppsFlyer or Adjust, this update is a direct response to that problem. Between the lines. Most advertisers never touch their attribution window settings, leaving Google’s 30-day default in place. That default has quietly been working against them — delaying the conversion signals that machine learning depends on to make better bidding decisions. The bottom line. A small change in attribution logic could have an outsized impact on app campaign performance. Mobile advertisers should monitor their data closely in the coming weeks for shifts in reported conversions and optimization behavior. First spotted. This update was first spotted by David Vargas who shared receiving a message of this post on LinkedIn. View the full article

Figure hit by drop in government spending during federal shutdown is far below analysts’ expectationsView the full article

This week’s PPC Pulse covers Google’s new Meridian Scenario Planner and Microsoft’s hands-on Performance Max training updates. The post New Meridian Tool, Performance Max Learning Path – PPC 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. The 65-inch Samsung S95D TV is selling refurbished for $1,449.99 at Woot, compared to $2,247.95 on Amazon. The lowest tracked price for a new unit has been $1,997.99, so this undercuts that by a wide margin. As for its refurbished status, all it means is that it may show minor cosmetic wear, but it has been tested and cleared to work like new. 65-inch Samsung S95D TV $1,449.99 at Woot $2,247.95 Save $797.96 Get Deal Get Deal $1,449.99 at Woot $2,247.95 Save $797.96 This is a 4K OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10 and HDR10+ support. OLED means each pixel lights up on its own, so blacks look truly black and bright highlights pop without washing out the rest of the screen. PCMag gave it an “excellent” rating, noting its standout color and contrast. Samsung also pushes brightness higher than many OLEDs, which helps in rooms that aren't completely dark. For gaming, it is hard to fault. All four HDMI ports support 4K at 120Hz, and it can handle up to 144Hz variable refresh rate from a compatible PC. Input lag in Game Mode is measured at under one millisecond, so controls feel immediate. That said, there is no official AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync support. The TV runs Samsung’s Tizen smart platform, with major streaming apps like Netflix, Disney+, YouTube, and Apple TV built in. You can stream from an iPhone or iPad using AirPlay, and it supports cloud gaming services like Xbox Game Pass and Nvidia GeForce Now if you connect a controller over Bluetooth. On the downside, Tizen can feel cluttered. Basic picture controls sit deeper in the menus than they need to, and switching inputs requires a few extra clicks. It works fine once you get used to it, but it isn't the most intuitive system out there. There is also no Dolby Vision support, and the TV lacks an ATSC 3.0 tuner for next-gen over-the-air broadcasts. Also, its wireless connectivity is limited to Wi-Fi 5 instead of the newer Wi-Fi 6 or 6E standards. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods 4 Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds — $139.99 (List Price $179.00) 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) Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Plus — $29.99 (List Price $49.99) Bose QuietComfort Noise Cancelling Wireless Headphones — $229.99 (List Price $349.00) Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ 64GB Wi-Fi 11" Tablet (Silver) — $159.99 (List Price $219.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

You can put a lot of different things in fried rice, but certainly not glass. Unfortunately, that might be an ingredient in certain packages of Trader Joe’s chicken fried rice. Frozen food manufacturer Ajinomoto Foods North America is recalling more than 3 million pounds of chicken fried rice products due to potential glass contamination. The recall includes products with both Ajinomoto and Trader Joe’s branding. The manufacturer, based in Portland, Oregon, notified the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) after it received four customer complaints of glass in the rice. As of Thursday, February 19, no related injuries have been reported. Here’s what you need to know. USDA What products are affected? The recall concerns two types of frozen not ready-to-eat (NRTE) chicken fried rice. They were produced between September 8, 2025, and November 17, 2025, with each item containing establishment number P-18356 in its USDA inspection mark. Below are their full names and best-by dates: 1.53-kilogram cardboard packages with six bags of frozen “Ajinomoto Yakitori Chicken with Japanese-Style Fried Rice.” Their best by dates range from September 9, 2026 to November 12, 2026. 20-ounce (1 pound and 4 ounce) plastic bag packages with frozen “Trader Joe’s Chicken Fried Rice with stir fried rice, vegetables, seasoned dark chicken meat and eggs.” Their best by dates range from September 8, 2026 to November 17, 2026. Pictures of the impacted products are available here. Where and when was the product sold? Ajinomoto’s fried rice was exported exclusively to Canada and not sold in U.S. stores. The Trader Joe’s fried rice was sent to retail locations across the United States. What should I do if I have this product? The FSIS stresses that anyone who has this product should not consume it. Instead, the item should be thrown away or returned to the store. Fast Company has reached out to Trader Joe’s for comment and will update this post if we hear back. This is far from the first recall to impact Trader Joe’s. Products sold by the popular retailer have seen everything from rocks in cookies to risks of food-borne pathogens like listeria. View the full article

For the original iTunes version, click here. This week...View the full article

Cardio and strength training are both important, but it's easy to end up only doing one of those and conveniently forgetting to get around to the other. I’ve been on both sides of the fence. As a runner, I would go months without lifting a weight or doing any purposeful strength training, because who has the time? And in my more recent life as a lifter, I’d join in the joking about how more than 10 reps is cardio, har har. But here’s the truth: we all need strength training and real cardio. I think it’s easy to gravitate to one type of exercise because we find it fun or convenient. Then, when we feel like we’re sufficiently challenged, there’s no need to look further, right? I’m already an athlete, I remember thinking during both of my extreme phases. But both times, I was missing something. What strength training does for youMost obviously, strength training makes you stronger. That means you’re better able to lift weights, but it also means you build the strength reserves to do better in other sports. Strong legs to help you run up hills, for example. Strength training also means you’ll be stronger in everyday life, and chores like carrying groceries or shoveling snow will feel easier. Strength training can mean lifting weights, but it can also include other types of resistance training. It’s called “resistance” because you’re literally working against some kind of force. Maybe you’re working with dumbbells or resistance bands, or maybe you’re creating a force to resist with your own body, as in pushups or air squats. Our muscle mass decreases with age, but the more muscle you have to start with, the better off you’ll be. (There’s no such thing as “too old” to train, and in fact, the older you are the more important it is.) Loss of muscle, called sarcopenia, contributes to the likelihood of falls and fractures. Exercise slows and can possibly reverse that loss. So if longevity is one of your fitness interests, that's all the more reason to prioritize strength training. Strength training also helps bone health and joint flexibility. People who strength train also tend to have better balance and may have an easier time controlling their weight. What cardio does for youCardiovascular exercise includes steady-state endurance work like jogging, as well as interval training where you alternate between harder and easier work but keep moving the whole time. Ideally, you should do both kinds of cardio, since they each have slightly different benefits. If you're confused about which activities count as cardio, I have an explainer here. Think hiking, running, cycling, or gym machines like the elliptical. Cardio exercise is great for your heart health, as the name suggests. Regular cardio helps to reduce your blood pressure, reduce your “bad” cholesterol, and increase your “good” cholesterol. It may help you maintain a healthy weight, since burning more calories gives you a little more leeway for extra calories you might want to consume. Both cardio and strength training increase your insulin sensitivity, which is especially important if you have type 2 diabetes or are considered prediabetic. Besides those benefits, cardio also helps with the other activities you do. With better cardio fitness, you’ll be able to recover more quickly between sets of heavy lifting exercises, and you’ll have an easier time of everyday physical activities like yard work. You’ll also be able to enjoy yourself more if you end up doing physical activities for fun, like going on a hike or walking around a new city when you travel. How much cardio and strength training is enough?So now you know that lifting will benefit your ability to cardio activities, and cardio will benefit your lifting. There are also definitely activities that combine both. (If you do Crossfit, for example, or strongman training, you may well have most of your bases covered.) But for simplicity, the physical activity guidelines for Americans break out the two different types. These guidelines (which agree with those from other major public health organizations) suggest at least 20-30 minutes of strength training, at least twice a week. Most beginner lifting programs will have you work out three times a week, which is great. The minimum is two sessions for each muscle group, so if you prefer to do split your workout into upper-body and lower-body days, make sure you to two of each. If you work your full body in each strength training day, you only need two or three of those workouts per week. As you get used to strength training, you may want to do more—which is great, as long as you work up to it gradually. While you can do one-off videos or make up a routine out of exercises you like, you’re better off in the long run with a program that gives you a way to progress as you get stronger. There are some great listings of programs at the subreddits r/fitness and r/bodyweightfitness, if you’d like a few to choose from. For cardiovascular exercise, the recommended minimum is 150 minutes of light exercise like walking, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise. So if you take a 30-minute walk every weekday at lunchtime, you’ll meet the guidelines. If you use that time to run instead, you’ll exceed the guidelines within three sessions. While the guidelines use minutes of exercise, researchers have calculated that if you prefer step counting, 7,000 to 9,000 steps will get you in the right ballpark. Again, more is better, so long as you work up to it over time. I started working an evening walk into my routine one summer, and once the weather started to cool down I went for a lunchtime walk and an evening walk. Then, little by little, I replaced some of the evening walks with run/walk sessions, and eventually runs. I felt like my lifting sessions went better than they did before, but I was also happy to know I’m setting myself up for better health in the long term than if I just stuck with one type of exercise. View the full article

Data isn’t just a report card. It’s your performance marketing roadmap. Following that roadmap means moving beyond Google Analytics 4’s default tools. If you rely only on built-in GA4 reports, you’re stuck juggling interfaces and struggling to tell a clear story to stakeholders. This is where Looker Studio becomes invaluable. It allows you to transform raw GA4 and advertising data into interactive dashboards that deliver decision-grade insights and drive real campaign improvements. Here’s how GA4 and Looker Studio work together for PPC reporting. We’ll compare their roles, highlight recent updates, and walk through specific use cases, from budget pacing visualizations to waste-reduction audits. GA4 vs. Looker Studio: How they differ for PPC reporting GA 4 is your source of truth for website and app interactions. It tracks user behavior, clicks, page views, and conversions with a flexible, event-based model. It even integrates with Google Ads to pull key ad metrics into its Advertising workspace. However, GA4 is primarily designed for data collection and analysis, not polished, client-facing reporting. Looker Studio, on the other hand, serves as your one-stop shop for reporting. It connects to more than 800 data sources, allowing you to build interactive dashboards that bring everything together. Here’s how they compare functionally in 2026. Data sources GA4 focuses on on-site analytics. In late 2025, Google finally rolled out native integration for Meta and TikTok, allowing automatic import of cost, clicks, and impressions without third-party tools. However, the feature is still rigid. It requires strict UTM matching and lacks the ability to clean campaign names or import platform-specific conversion values, such as Facebook Leads vs. GA4 Conversions. Looker Studio excels here, allowing you to blend these data sources more flexibly or connect to platforms GA4 still doesn’t support natively, such as LinkedIn or Microsoft Ads. Metrics and calculations GA4’s reporting UI has improved significantly, now allowing up to 50 custom metrics per standard property, up from the previous limit of five. However, these are often static. Looker Studio allows calculated fields, meaning you can perform calculations on your data in real time, such as calculating profit by subtracting cost from revenue, without altering the source data. Data blending Looker Studio lets you blend multiple data sources, essentially joining tables, to create richer insights. While enterprise users on Looker Studio Pro can now use LookML models for robust data governance, the standard free version still offers flexible data blending capabilities to match ad spend with downstream conversions. Sharing and collaboration Sharing insights in GA4 often means granting property access or exporting static files. Looker Studio reports are live web links that update automatically. You can also schedule automatic email delivery of PDF reports for free. Enterprise features in Looker Studio Pro add options for delivery to Google Chat or Slack, but standard email scheduling is available to everyone. Dig deeper: How to use GA4 predictive metrics for smarter PPC targeting 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 Why you need Looker Studio Here’s where Looker Studio moves from helpful to essential for PPC teams. 1. Unified, cross-channel view of PPC performance You don’t rely on just one ad platform. A Looker Studio dashboard becomes your single source of truth, pulling in intent-based Google Ads data and blending it with awareness-based Meta and Instagram Ads for a holistic view. Instead of just comparing clicks, use Looker Studio to normalize your data. For instance, you might discover that X Ads drove 17.9% of users, while Microsoft Ads drove 16.1%, allowing you to allocate budget based on actual blended performance. 2. Visualizing creative performance In industries like real estate, the image sells the click. A spreadsheet saying “Ad_Group_B performed well” means nothing to a client. Use the IMAGE function in Looker Studio. If you use a connector that pulls the Ad Image URL, you can display the actual photo of that luxury condo or HVAC promotion directly in the report table alongside the CTR. This lets clients see exactly which creative is driving results, without translation. 3. Deeper insight into post-click behavior Reporting shouldn’t stop at the click. By bringing GA4 data into your Looker Studio report, you connect the ad to the subsequent action. You might discover that a Cheap Furnace Repair campaign has a high CTR but a 100% bounce rate. Looker Studio lets you visualize engaged sessions per click alongside ad spend, proving lead quality matters more than volume. 4. Custom metrics for business goals Every business has unique KPIs. A real estate company might track tour-to-close ratio, while an HVAC company focuses on seasonal efficiency. Looker Studio lets you build these formulas once and have them update automatically. You can even bridge data gaps to calculate return on ad spend (ROAS) by creating a formula that divides your CRM revenue by your Google Ads cost. 5. Storytelling and narrative Raw data needs context. Looker Studio allows you to add text boxes, dynamic date ranges, and annotations that turn numbers into narratives. Use annotations to explain spikes or drops. Highlight the so what behind the metrics. If cost per lead spiked in July, add a text note directly on the chart, “Seasonal demand surge + competitor aggression.” This preempts client questions and transforms a static report into a strategic tool. Dig deeper: How to leverage Google Analytics 4 and Google Ads for better audience targeting Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. Use cases: PPC dashboards that drive real insights These dashboards go beyond surface metrics and surface insights you can act on immediately. The budget pacing dashboard Anxious about overspending? Standard reports show what you’ve spent, but not how it relates to your monthly cap. Use bullet charts in Looker Studio. Set your target to the linear spend for the current day of the month. For example, if you’re 50% through the month, the target line is 50% of the budget. This visual instantly shows stakeholders whether you’re overpacing and need to pull back, or underpacing and need to push harder, ensuring the month ends on budget. The zero-click audit report High spend with zero conversions is the silent budget killer in service industries. Create a dedicated table filtered for waste. Set it to show only keywords where conversions = 0 and cost > $50, or whatever threshold makes sense for you, sorted by cost in descending order. This creates an immediate hit list of keywords to pause. Showing this to a client proves you’re actively managing their budget and cutting waste, or you can use it internally. Geographic performance maps For local services, location is everything. GA4 provides location reports, but Looker Studio visualizes them in ways that matter. Build a geo performance page that shades regions by cost per lead rather than traffic volume. You might find that while City A drives the most traffic, City B generates leads at half the cost. This allows you to adjust bid modifiers by ZIP code or city to maximize ROI. Dig deeper: 5 things your Google Looker Studio PPC Dashboard must have Getting the most out of GA4 and Looker Studio in 2026 To ensure success with this combination, keep these final tips in mind. Watch your API quotas One of today’s biggest technical challenges is GA4 API quotas. If your dashboard has too many widgets or gets viewed by too many people at once, charts may break or fail to load. If you have heavy reporting needs, consider extracting your GA4 data to Google BigQuery first, then connecting Looker Studio to BigQuery. This bypasses API limits and significantly speeds up your reports. Enable optional metrics Different clients have different needs. In your charts, enable the “optional metrics” feature. This adds a toggle that lets viewers swap metrics, for example, changing a chart from clicks to impressions, without editing the report each time. Validate and iterate When you first build a report, spot-check the numbers against the native GA4 interface. Make sure your attribution settings are correct. Once you’ve established trust in the data, treat the dashboard as a living product, and keep iterating on the design based on what your stakeholders actually use and need. 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 From reactive reporting to proactive PPC strategy Master Looker Studio to unlock GA4’s full potential for PPC reporting. GA4 gives you granular behavioral metrics; Looker Studio is where you combine, refine, and present them. Move beyond basic metrics and use advanced visualizations — budget pacing, bullet charts, and ad creative tables — to deliver the transparency that builds real trust. The result? You’ll shift from reactive reporting to proactive strategy, ensuring you’re always one step ahead in the data-driven landscape of 2026. Dig deeper: Why click-based attribution shouldn’t anchor executive dashboards View the full article

As the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games unfold, something is unmistakable: Women are driving the moment. They’re leading highlight reels. Headlining broadcasts. Powering the storylines fans are sharing and following in real time. From figure skating to freestyle skiing to hockey, women athletes aren’t a side stage to the Games—they are the main event. And the data backs up what we’re all seeing. In new international research from Parity and SurveyMonkey surveying nearly 12,000 adults across the U.S., Canada, the UK/Ireland, and Australia, women’s events are as popular as—or more popular than—men’s events in the majority of Winter Olympic sports. High-profile women athletes, including Lindsey Vonn, Eileen Gu, and Marie-Philip Poulin, account for 55% of named competitors fans say they’re most excited to follow. And 25% of adults who are excited about the Olympic Games plans to follow more women’s events this year than they have in the past. This raises a more nuanced question: If fans say women’s sports matter, why is the U.S. less emphatic about demanding equal treatment for women athletes? And why is the U.S. defining equality differently than the rest of the world? FANS AREN’T ASKING FOR PARITY, THEY EXPECT IT The most striking finding from the research isn’t just interest. It’s expectation. Across political affiliations and demographics, a majority of U.S. adults say it’s important that men and women athletes be treated equally at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. That includes everything from sponsorship investment and marketing dollars to media coverage, resources, and overall visibility. But here’s where the U.S. story gets complicated. When we compared attitudes internationally, Americans lagged behind their peers in the strength and depth of their conviction. In the UK and Ireland, nearly 80% of adults say equal treatment is important. In the U.S., that drops to 59%. And the real gap is among adults across countries who describe it as “very important” that men and women athletes are treated equally. That gap matters. At a time when women athletes are delivering some of the most compelling performances of the Games, that hesitation matters. In Canada, the UK/Ireland, and Australia, adults most often felt that equal funding support from their countries exemplified equality—a structural, institutional commitment that ensures women athletes have the same resources to train, compete, and win. In the U.S., however, the top measure wasn’t funding. It was the amount of media coverage. Globally, equality is viewed as an investment decision. In the U.S., it’s still often treated as a visibility problem. Across every country, equal rules or judging criteria and offering the same sports for men and women rounded out the top four ways to achieve equality at the Games. However it manifests, audiences want equality—and they expect brands to reflect that standard. Fifty-one percent of U.S. adults say Olympic and Paralympic sponsors should invest marketing dollars equally between men and women athletes. Yet 43% believe Olympic and Paralympic brands aren’t spending enough on women’s sports today. Consumers see the gap. And when expectations outpace action, trust erodes. THIS IS NO LONGER A “GROWTH BET,” BUT A GROWTH ENGINE For years, women’s sports were framed as something brands should support, after the audience showed up. That argument doesn’t hold anymore. The audience is already here. Women’s events are matching—and often exceeding—men’s in popularity. Women athletes are generating outsized engagement and cultural relevance. And younger fans, especially, expect brands to reflect their values. At Parity, we have the privilege of working with more than 1,400 professional women athletes, including hundreds of Olympians and Paralympians, and over 50 of our athletes are in action in Milan-Cortina. We consistently see that partnerships with women athletes drive stronger trust, deeper community connection, and more authentic storytelling. In a fragmented world where attention is scarce, trusted voices matter more than ever. Women athletes are some of the most credible and relatable storytellers in sports. Brands that recognize this are gaining share of heart, and share of market. THE GAMES ARE A GLOBAL STAGE—LEADERSHIP IS VISIBLE The Olympics and Paralympics aren’t just sporting events. They’re cultural mirrors and megaphones. They show the world what we value, and who we value. When coverage, sponsorship, and storytelling skew unequal, it sends a message. So does equal investment. Audiences outside the U.S. are expressing stronger expectations around gender equality. As the world’s largest sports and advertising market—and with the 2028 Summer Olympics coming to Los Angeles—the U.S. should be setting the standard, not trailing it. Especially when women athletes are already delivering some of the most electric moments of the Games. THE OPPORTUNITY Progress doesn’t require patience, it requires priority. Today, brands can choose to fund women athletes equally, tell their stories more prominently, and show up where fans already are. Because the audience has spoken. The momentum is real. The upside is obvious. And midway through these Games, one thing is undeniable: Women’s sports aren’t catching up. They’re leading. And it’s time for the rest of the ecosystem—especially here in the U.S.—to lead with them. Leela Srinivasan is CEO of Parity. View the full article

Google's John Mueller said that he discourages large sites from force indexing its pages to Google Search. He said on a comment on LinkedIn, "I strongly recommend not relying on trying to force indexing."View the full article

As I noted in my story yesterday about Google reviews dropping out, Google has updated the Google Business Profiles review policies, the Prohibited & restricted content section.View the full article

Google Ads is now displaying examples of how “Landing Page Images” can be used inside Performance Max (PMax) campaigns — offering clearer visibility into how website visuals may automatically become ad creatives. How it works. If advertisers opt in, Google can pull images directly from a brand’s landing pages and dynamically turn them into ads. Now when creating your campaigns, before setting it live, Google Ads will show you the automated creatives it plans on setting live. Why we care. For PMax campaigns your site is part of your asset library. Any banner, hero image, or product visual could surface across Search, Display, YouTube, or Discover placements — whether you designed it for ads or not. Google Ads is now showing clearer examples of how Landing Page Images may be used inside those PMax campaigns — giving much-needed visibility into what automated creatives could look like. Instead of guessing how Google might transform site visuals into ads, brands can better anticipate, audit, and control what’s eligible to serve. That visibility makes it easier to refine landing pages proactively and avoid unwanted surprises in live campaigns. Between the lines: Automation is expanding — but so is creative risk. Therefore this is a very useful update that keeps advertisers aware of what will be set live before the hit the go live button. Bottom line: In PMax, your website is no longer just a landing page. It’s part of the ad engine. First seen. This update was spotted by Digital Marketer Thomas Eccel who showed an example on LinkedIn. View the full article

Google sent out an email to some Google Ads advertisers about changes coming to Google Ads budget pacing for ad scheduling. These changes go into effect on March 1, 2026.View the full article

Hello again, welcome to Fast Company’s Plugged In, and a quick note: A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned a game I was vibe-coding using Claude Code, and said I would share it once I finished it. Here it is, along with more thoughts on the uncanny experience of collaborating with AI on a programming project. Late Show host Stephen Colbert and his network, CBS, are still at odds over why his planned interview with James Talarico, a Democratic candidate for a Texas U.S. Senate seat, didn’t air last Monday. In Colbert’s account, CBS lawyers forbid the broadcast after Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr said talk show interviews might trigger the FCC’s equal time rule, which requires broadcasters to give equivalent airtime to competing candidates if requested. For its part, CBS maintained that its lawyers didn’t quash the interview but rather informed Colbert of the equal-time issue. Either way, Colbert had a problem on his hands—but an easily solvable one. The Late Show simply put the interview on YouTube, which—like all streaming services—is not subject to the equal time rule. It’s since racked up more than eight million views, well over three times the typical live/DVR viewership of Colbert’s program in its classic form. For CBS, the incident was particularly touchy. Its parent company, Paramount Skydance, is currently trying to engineer a takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal that would require approval by the The President administration’s Department of Justice. Given that the FCC was already investigating ABC’s The View over a Talarico interview, Carr—the guy who managed to get Jimmy Kimmel knocked off the air for four nights last September—could have seized on a Late Show interview as a provocation. Bumping the segment to YouTube eliminated it as grist for his mill. (For the record, Carr claimed to be “entertained” by the whole affair.) Along with the The Presidenty intrigue, the Colbert-Talarico-Carr drama provides more evidence that YouTube has eaten TV—a topic I explored last October in an oral history titled, well, “How YouTube Ate TV.” Once Colbert concluded he couldn’t run the Talarico interview on his broadcast show, it’s tough to believe he spent much time figuring out where to put it. What about Paramount+, Paramount Skydance’s own streaming contender? Well, maybe, if Colbert had wanted to reach its 77.5 million subscribers. But releasing it on YouTube, which has two billion logged-in watchers a month, was the surest way to make the interview available to the largest possible audience. The fact that YouTube is now the U.S.’s largest video service, period, only makes the equal time rule—and its focus on media brought into homes by antennas—look more antiquated. It’s certainly possible to see noble intentions in the FCC mandate, which predates the agency’s 1934 establishment and happens to be almost exactly the same age as CBS. (Both will mark their respective centenaries next year.) Radio, the medium that inspired it, used public airwaves, was greatly constrained by available spectrum, and exerted tremendous power over political candidates’ ability to reach voters. So did TV, once it arrived in force in the late 1940s. But just a decade after that, the equal time rule was already regarded as counterproductive if not faintly ridiculous. A Chicago kook/perennial candidate named Lar Daly—who campaigned in an Uncle Sam suit—seized it to secure TV airtime in his 1959 campaign for mayor of Chicago. The following year, when he ran for president, he even forced his way onto The Tonight Show. His antics helped prompt Congress to carve out exemptions protecting many broadcasts from having to comply with the rule, including the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debates. By the 1980s, so many types of programming were exempt—including newscasts and news interview shows such as Meet the Press—that when the equal time rule came into play, it was often in edge cases such as stations choosing not to run old Ronald Reagan movies during his presidential campaigns. (Sorry, Bedtime for Bonzo fans.) As recently as 2006, the FCC told a California gubernatorial candidate that incumbent governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s appearance on The Tonight Show did not entitle him to equivalent time. (Carr’s recent stance that talk shows may be subject to the rule is at odds with that ruling.) Maybe there was an argument for the rule when streaming video did not yet exist, and even cable TV reached a minority of U.S. households. But according to the Pew Research Center, 78% of American households have broadband. Another study, from Nielsen, found that only 18% of homes had an antenna rigged up for over-the-air broadcasts, and that most of those also had access to streaming services such as Hulu and Netflix. That’s not accounting for people who watch internet video on a phone via a cellular connection. Bottom line: Very few people are watching broadcast TV solely because they don’t have other options. Indeed, it’s old-school TV that’s become a niche. Which helps explain why Paramount Skydance is so eager to scarf up Warner Bros. Discovery’s colossal back catalog but so disinterested in Colbert that it canceled his show. (The company maintains the cancellation was a prudent financial decision, not a token of goodwill to The President as his DoJ was preparing to sign off on Paramount’s merger with Skydance; regardless of the motivation, it’s a sign of traditional TV’s diminished relevance.) YouTube is hardly immune to government interference in its political content. On Wednesday, attorneys general from 16 states sent a letter to Alphabet Chief Legal Officer Kent Walker claiming it had censored videos from conservative political commentators such as Glenn Beck and Ben Shapiro. Still, as far as I know, nobody argues that anything resembling the equal time rule should apply on YouTube. Given that there are millions of YouTubers, it would hard to know where to start. But with millions of YouTubers of wildly different predilections posting videos to the platform, a powerful form of equal time is built in. Meanwhile, broadcast media’s control by a shrinking number of giant companies is a bigger problem than ever, and Carr doesn’t seem to care, at least as long as it might tilt in a The President-friendly direction. On Wednesday, he said he supports lifting an ownership cap on TV stations to allow the right-leaning media company Nexstar to acquire its rival Tegna. Carr will presumably continue to wield the equal time rule as a cudgel against The President critics, particularly if it leads media companies to obey in advance, as CBS seems to have done. I don’t discount the possibility of some future Democratic FCC chair abusing it in a similar fashion. But it’s nice to think that the mandate—which, in our lifetimes, always seemed both impotent and misguided—might continue to fade away along with the 20th-century forms of media that inspired it. You’ve been reading Plugged In, Fast Company’s weekly tech newsletter from me, global technology editor Harry McCracken. If a friend or colleague forwarded this edition to you—or if you’re reading it on fastcompany.com—you can check out previous issues and sign up to get it yourself every Friday morning. I love hearing from you: Ping me at hmccracken@fastcompany.com with your feedback and ideas for future newsletters. I’m also on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads, and you can follow Plugged In on Flipboard. More top tech stories from Fast Company AI’s biggest problem isn’t intelligence. It’s implementation Culture, workflows, and human habits may set the real pace of the AI economy. Read More → Viral sleuths are turning the Nancy Guthrie case into content True-crime enthusiasts are spreading theories, chasing clout, and complicating an active missing-person investigation. Read More → What it’s really like to use the ‘Tesla of induction stoves’ We tried testing Charlie, a sleek induction range that can outperform its gas counterparts. Read More → Palantir is caught in the middle of a brewing fight between Anthropic and the Pentagon The Defense Department is threatening to blacklist Anthropic over limits on military use, potentially putting one of its top contractors in a bind. Read More → New AI models are losing their edge almost immediately Competitors can now match state-of-the-art systems in weeks, raising fears about distillation and shrinking advantages. Read More → Meta patents AI that lets dead people post from the great beyond Meta’s latest patent outlines AI that could mimic dead users’ activity across Facebook and Instagram, but the company says there are no plans to use the technology. Read More → View the full article

As you know, OpenAI said they would release ads in ChatGPT and then about ten days ago, said the ads went live for a limited number of users. Since then, we have not seen reports of anyone seeing ads in the wild within ChatGPT until now.View the full article

Google may be testing a new ad unit named Sponsored Places. I think this is new, I mean, have any of you seen this before in the search results? Instead of it saying "Sponsored results" or a local pack with sponsored listings.View the full article

I stopped using press releases several years ago. I thought they had lost most of their impact. Then a conversation with a good friend and mentor changed my perspective. She explained that the days of expecting organic features from simply publishing a press release were long gone. But she was still getting strong results by directly pitching relevant journalists once the release went live, using its key points and a link as added leverage. I reluctantly tried her approach, and the results were phenomenal, earning my client multiple organic features. My first thought was, “If it worked this well with a small tweak, I can make it even more effective with a comprehensive strategy.” The strategy I’m about to share is the result of a year of experiments and refinements to maximize the impact of my press releases. Yes, it requires more research, planning, and execution. But the results are exponentially greater, and well worth the extra effort. Research phase You already know what your client wants the world to know — that’s your starting point. From there: Map out tangential topics, such as its economic impact, related technology, legislation, and key industry players. Find media coverage from the past three months on those topics in outlets where you want your client featured. Your list should include a link to each piece, its key points, and the journalist’s contact information. Also include links to any related social media posts they’ve published. Sort the list by relevance to your client’s message. Planning phase As you write your client’s press release, look for opportunities to cite articles from the list you compiled, including links to the pieces you reference. Make sure each citation is highly relevant and adds data, clarity, or context to your message. Aim for three to five citations. More won’t add value and will dilute your client’s message. At the same time, draft tailored pitches to the journalists whose articles you’re citing, aligned with their beat and prior coverage. Mention their previous work subtly — one short quote they’ll recognize is enough. Include links to a few current social media threads that show active public interest in the topic. Close with a link to your press release (once it’s live) and a clear call to action. The goal isn’t to win favor by citing them. It’s to show the connection between your client’s message and their previous coverage. Because they’ve already covered the topic, it’s an easy transition to approach it from a new angle — making a media feature far more likely. Execution phase Start by engaging with the journalists on your list through social media for a few days. Comment on their recent posts, especially those covering topics from your list. This builds name recognition and begins the relationship. Then publish your press release. As soon as it goes live, send the pitches you wrote earlier to the three to five journalists you cited. Include the live link to your press release. (I prefer linking to the most authoritative syndication rather than the wire service version.) After that, pitch other relevant journalists. As with the first group, tailor each pitch to the journalist. Reference relevant points from their previous articles that support your client’s message. The difference is that because you didn’t cite these journalists in your press release, the impact may be lower than with the first group. Track all organic features you secure. You may earn some simply from publishing the press release, though that’s less common now. You’re more likely to earn them through direct pitches, and each one creates new opportunities. Review each new feature for references to other articles, especially from the list you compiled earlier. Then pitch the journalist who wrote the original article, citing the new piece that references or reinforces their work. The psychology behind why this works This strategy leverages two powerful psychological principles: We all have an ego, so when a journalist sees their work cited, it validates their perspective. We look for ways to make life easier, and expanding on a topic they’ve already covered is far easier than starting from scratch. Follow this framework for your next press release, and you’ll earn more media coverage, keep your clients happier, and create more impact with less effort — while looking like a rockstar. View the full article

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand Wednesday to defend his company’s practices in a landmark trial that could determine whether social media companies can be held liable for alleged harms to children. But if the defendants lose, the implications could extend far beyond social media. The case centers on Meta and Google, with plaintiffs alleging that services like Instagram and YouTube are intentionally designed to keep users, especially kids, engaged—a dynamic they say can lead to harmful mental health effects, including addiction. The trial is widely viewed as a test case for roughly 1,500 similar lawsuits waiting in the wings. Meta and Google deny the charges, with Zuckerberg testifying on Wednesday that “I care about the well-being of teens and kids who are using our services.” If Meta and Google lose this case, it could change how people interact with their platforms. But the consequences may not stop there: The outcome could also have implications for other tech giants, as well as companies far outside the technology sector. More insurance claims for social media addiction? Insurance companies, for example, could see a rise in claims for digital or social media addiction treatment. For now, social media addiction is not recognized as an official disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR), the authoritative guide used to diagnose mental health issues. That makes specialized coverage rare, though insurers do pay for underlying mental health conditions caused or worsened by social media, such as anxiety, depression, or behavioral disorders. Still, the DSM-5-TR is published by the American Psychiatric Association, which has warned that “excessive, compulsive or out-of-control use of various types of technologies is an increasing area of concern.” Business experts say a legal victory by the plaintiffs could accelerate that shift, making digital addiction a more bigger factor for insurers and employers alike. “I think, depending on the outcome of this court case, that may give more credibility to the notion of digital addiction,” says David Schweidel, a marketing professor and the chair of Business Technology at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. “In an extreme scenario, social media could get labeled as the next Big Tobacco.” Insurance companies declined to comment on the trial and its implications, but some have already taken steps to shield their liability when it comes to social media clients. In 2024, Hartford Casualty and several other insurers filed suit in Delaware seeking declaratory relief that they were not legally required to cover Meta’s legal defense or any resulting settlements or damages in a consolidated California case alleging that social media platforms contribute to harmful behaviors in children. (That case is still pending.) And insurance companies may not be the only businesses to feel the ripple effects. If the jury finds that programmed algorithms are not protected by Section 230, the federal law that shields social media companies from liability over content posted by their users, it could expose many tech companies outside the social media industry to new legal risks. Streamers could feel the effects, too Streaming services that rely on autoplay to encourage binge-watching, or mobile games that lure players back with dopamine-triggering lock-screen alerts, could also find themselves on shakier legal ground. (The European Union, meanwhile, has opened a formal investigation into online retailer Shein that includes scrutiny of its “addictive design,” specifically gamified programs that reward shoppers with points and other incentives.) Even smartphone makers could be forced to make changes, such as giving users more control over notifications. Other companies across the business spectrum could feel the effects if a growing number of people begin seeking treatment for digital addiction. “Employers could potentially affected by severity of addition as well,” says Schweidel. “As the idea of treatment for digital addiction or social media addiction becomes more socially acceptable, people will be taking more time off work to get that treatment.” View the full article

Can a headline-making squabble with a client actually be good for a brand? This week’s dispute between the Department of Defense and Anthropic, a high-profile player in the super-competitive field of artificial intelligence, may be just that. The dispute involves whether the Pentagon, which has an agreement to use Anthropic technology, can apply it in a wider range of scenarios: all “lawful use” cases. Anthropic has resisted signing off on some potential scenarios, and the Pentagon has essentially accused it of being overly cautious. As it happens, that assessment basically aligns with Anthropic’s efforts (most recently via Super Bowl ads aimed squarely at prominent rival OpenAI) to burnish a reputation as a thoughtful and considered AI innovator. At a moment when the pros-vs.-cons implications and potential consequences of AI are more hotly debated than ever, Anthropic’s public image tries to straddle the divide. Presumably Anthropic (best known to consumers for its AI chat tool Claude) would prefer to push that reputation without alienating a lucrative client. But the underlying feud concerns how the military can use Anthropic’s technology, with the company reportedly seeking limits on applications involving mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. A Pentagon spokesman told Fast Company that the military’s “relationship with Anthropic is being reviewed,” adding: “Our nation requires that our partners be willing to help our warfighters win in any fight.” The department has reportedly threatened to label Anthropic a “supply chain risk,” lumping it in with supposedly “woke” tech companies, causing potential problems not just for Anthropic but for partners like Palintir. So far Anthropic’s basic stance amounts to: This is a uniquely potent technology whose eventualities we don’t fully comprehend, so there are limits to uses we’ll currently permit. Put more bluntly: We are not reckless. Not moving so fast that you break important things—like user trust, or civilization—is a message that’s of a piece with the official image Anthropic has sought to cultivate. The company was founded by OpenAI refugees who argued back in 2021 that the company was prioritizing monetization over safety. Its recent Super Bowl ads are the highest-profile example of this branding so far: directly mocking OpenAI for experimenting with advertising on its consumer-facing product ChatGPT, and presenting the results as a slop-dystopian mess. The spots were, as Fast Company’s Jeff Beer explained, a rare example of straight-up “ire slung at a category competitor.” They could arguably be the first salvo in a branding battle akin to Apple vs. Microsoft, with Anthropic seizing the role of righteous challenger. (OpenAI’s initial response included belittling Anthropic’s business, which just lends to the latter’s underdog pose.) As a brand image to shoot for, being the responsible AI player is an understandable goal. The technology has been divisive for years at this point, and lately that’s reached a crescendo. Seen by many as a threat to privacy, a job-killer, an environmental menace, and a source of endless misinformation and slop, it’s simultaneously touted by Silicon Valley elites and their intellectual brethren as an unprecedented boon to humanity. The only point of agreement is that the changes will be big and fast and pretty much unstoppable. And no matter how much you already believe that, there is some guy on X arguing that you still don’t really get it. No wonder there seems to be room for an AI company with a cautious message. Of course this is branding we’re talking about, and ultimately Anthropic is under the same marketplace pressures as its rivals. And its actual behavior hasn’t always been pristine. Notably it agreed last year to pay a record $1.5 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging its models trained on some 500,000 copyrighted books. Despite its Pentagon dispute, its technology is already intertwined with the American military, and was reportedly used in the recent U.S. capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro. And of course it may yet acquiesce to Pentagon demands. (According to Axios, Anthropic’s annual revenue is around $14 billion, and its Department of Defense deal is pegged at $200 million—not chump change, but not existential.) Still, the squabble is an occasion for Anthropic to demonstrate that its rhetoric and actions line up. At the very least, that could be good for its flagship chat tool Claude: Consumers tempted by AI hype but worried about its potential downsides may see Anthropic as the fledgling technology’s least-reckless major player. And given how divisive the AI category has become, that might count as a brand win. View the full article

Apparent network of companies using same server includes little-known group that has become country’s largest oil exporterView the full article

Even if you barely use AI, pretty soon you’ll be paying the price for it. Due to the demands of AI data centers, memory supplies are drying up for all kinds of devices, from phones and laptops to desktop PCs and game consoles. Three companies control nearly all the world’s DRAM production—Micron Technology, Samsung Electronics, and SK Hynix—and they’ve shifted production toward the type of RAM that those data centers run on. This comes at the expense of RAM for consumer electronics, resulting in a shortage that could last into 2028. It’s early days for the fallout, but what sounded like an abstract concern in 2025 is quickly becoming real, as electronics makers raise prices, delay new devices, and cancel products that aren’t essential to their businesses. To illustrate exactly how AI is sucking the life out of consumer electronics, here’s a running list of every device that’s being affected by the RAM crunch. I plan to update this list over time, so feel free to reach out via email or on Bluesky if you spot any more bad news. Price hikes Standalone RAM kits for desktop PCs were among the first products affected by the RAM crunch. For instance, a 32 GB RAM kit from Crucial that cost around $70 in July now sells for $324. Framework has repeatedly raised RAM prices for its repairable laptops, so a laptop with 8 GB of RAM now costs $90 more than it did in September. The Raspberry Pi 5 micro-computer with 16 GB of RAM now costs $205, up from $120 prior to December. Valve has discontinued the LCD model of its Steam Deck gaming handheld, effectively raising the starting price from $399 to $549 for the version with an OLED screen. Desktop PC maker CyberPower raised prices across all of its systems in December. Chinese phone maker Xiaomi raised tablet prices by $14 to $42 in December, and raised the price of its flagship 17 Ultra phone by about $76 over the previous model. PC makers such as Lenovo, Dell, HP, Acer, and Asus have all confirmed 15% to 20% price hikes in the months ahead, according to IDC. A Dell price list viewed by Business Insider showed price hikes for a range of laptops, including increases of $130 to $230 for Dell Pro and Pro Max laptops with 32 GB of RAM. It’s still a rumor for now, but sources tell Bloomberg that Nintendo is considering a price hike for its Switch 2 console. Delays Valve has indefinitely delayed its Steam Machine desktop/gaming system and its Steam Frame VR system, and has held off on announcing prices for either. Sources tell Bloomberg that Sony is considering a delay for its next PlayStation console until 2028 or even 2029. Sources tell The Information that Nvidia won’t release new graphics cards in 2026. This would be its first year in three decades without new GPUs for gaming. Disappearances Valve says its Steam Deck OLED gaming handheld will be “intermittently” out of stock due to memory and storage shortages. Intel reportedly scrapped its highly anticipated B770 graphics card, with memory shortages as a possible factor. In the burgeoning “ChiFi” audio gear scene, HiBy Digital suspended pre-sales of its latest digital audio player in December. Degradations In December, the market research firm TrendForce said to expect laptops and phones with less memory than earlier models as an alternative to price hikes. This could result in low-end phones with just 4 GB of RAM, and laptops once again returning to 8 GB of RAM as a baseline. What’s next? The list of affected companies is still missing some big names, partly because those companies are in better position to ride out the RAM shortage. Apple, for instance, negotiates long-term supply contracts well in advance for products like the iPhone, so it’s potentially bought itself more time than competitors. Lenovo, meanwhile, confirmed that it’s been stockpiling RAM to minimize disruptions this year. There’s also a chance that alternative suppliers could step in to blunt the impact. According to Jason England at Tom’s Guide, Acer is now looking into the smaller RAM providers that haven’t gone all-in on AI, and may see an opportunity to cater to consumer electronics in particular. But given that Samsung reportedly can’t even get extra RAM from itself for its forthcoming flagship phones, some adjustments seem inevitable even for the largest electronics makers. View the full article