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Dive into the findings on AI Overviews and Google Search. Is the promise of growing web traffic being fulfilled? The post Testing Google’s Post-AIO Traffic Claims 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. At $179.99 (down from its original $299.99), the 27-inch Samsung Odyssey G55C curved gaming monitor is one of those deals that feels tempting on specs alone. SAMSUNG 27-Inch Odyssey G55C Series QHD 1000R Curved Gaming Monitor $179.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $299.99 Save $120.00 Get Deal Get Deal $179.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $299.99 Save $120.00 It’s got a 1440p resolution, a 1000R curve that pulls you into the action, a 165Hz refresh rate with FreeSync and G-SYNC compatibility to keep screen tearing to a minimum, and features like Samsung’s Virtual Aim Point and Contrast Enhancer adding a little extra gaming flair without overcomplicating the experience. On paper, that’s more than enough for casual and mid-tier gamers. That said, it’s not without its issues. If you’re sensitive to input lag or picky about motion clarity, the G55C might leave you wanting more. Fast-paced games show noticeable blur and smearing, especially with dark transitions, and the input lag at 165Hz and 60Hz can reportedly feel sluggish (oddly enough, gameplay feels snappier at 120Hz). Additionally, the backlight strobing feature, meant to reduce motion blur, introduces ghosting and can’t be used with VRR on. HDR is supported, but you’ll want to keep expectations in check—it gets bright enough to fight off some glare, but not enough to deliver meaningful HDR performance. It works decently with consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, but you’ll have to tweak settings to avoid compatibility hiccups with 4K and HDR signals. You also won’t find any USB-C ports or a USB hub here, and there are no built-in speakers either. Plus, its narrow viewing angles mean once you move off to the side or stand up, the picture quality takes a hit—so it’s not ideal for couch co-op or multitasking with someone else. But for solo gaming on a budget, especially if you're playing slower-paced or story-driven games, it delivers a big screen with immersive visuals and decent contrast. If you're considering alternatives, the Dell G2724D Gaming Monitor makes a good case for itself with similar specs, but it comes at a higher price point of $314. View the full article

Government insists on retaining policy despite senior Labour figures blaming it for local election lossesView the full article

Negotiations accelerated after The President’s imposition of global US tariffsView the full article

The The President administration’s layoffs across the federal workforce have already left tens of thousands of employees without jobs or on indefinite leave. But many federal agencies have since been instructed to make even deeper cuts to their workforce. In total, at least 12% of the 2.4 million workers employed by the federal government could be impacted, according to the New York Times. For many workers, the sweeping cuts have upended the stability that federal jobs long promised. They also significantly impact women and people of color, effectively making them another attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts—something that has been a priority for the The President administration. The diversity of federal agencies An analysis by the National Women’s Law Center takes a closer look at how these job cuts are chipping away at the diversity of the federal workforce, which has historically mirrored the demographics of the overall U.S. workforce. As of September 2024, nearly half of federal workers (46%) were women and about 41% were people of color. (Since the administration took down current demographic data on the federal workforce in March, the NWLC analysis draws on data from September 2024.) Among the agencies that have been ordered to further reduce headcount, women accounted for an even higher percentage of their employees relative to the overall federal workforce, according to the NWLC. The administration wants to cut 80,000 employees from the Department of Veterans Affairs, for example, where women comprise 64% of the workforce. The Department of Education’s workforce, of which 63% are women, has already been slashed in half—and President The President is striving to shutter the agency altogether. Proposed layoffs at a number of other cabinet departments and agencies where women and people make up the majority of the workforce could impact tens of thousands of employees. Black workers, for example, account for 36% of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, as compared to 18% of the overall federal workforce. Latinos and Indigenous workers, too, are employed at higher rates by certain federal agencies that have been marked for layoffs, relative to the overall workforce. How probationary workers are affected The The President administration has targeted probationary workers, in particular, who are not entitled to the same rights as federal workers with tenure. Probationary workers are typically in their first year of service or have recently been promoted to a new role. They also lack the protections that other federal workers have against being fired without cause. Nearly 25,000 of these workers have reportedly been fired; some were temporarily reinstated in response to court orders, but a new ruling in April granted The President the ability to fire them yet again. Probationary workers are often younger and earlier in their career, but they’re also more likely to be women: The NWLC reports that half of probationary employees across the federal workforce are women, but in certain departments, well over 60% of them can be women. The same is true among people of color, who make up 46% of probationary workers overall and a far larger percentage of those workers at specific agencies like the Treasury Department and the Social Security Administration. The benefits of a federal job Beyond offering a measure of job stability, federal roles are often a source of solid benefits that are harder to come by in the private sector, like 12 weeks of paid parental leave. Federal jobs also offer greater salary transparency and narrower wage gaps, mitigating the pay inequities that are more likely to impact women and people of color in the workplace: As of September 2024, women in the federal workforce were paid 95 cents for every dollar that men earned, a stark contrast from the 83 cents per dollar earned by women across the U.S. workforce. (The NWLC found that some departments had even narrower gender wage gaps prior to the recent layoffs.) View the full article

Google introduces AI Max for Search, expanding query reach, adaptive creative, and better controls to boost performance while maintaining transparency for advertisers. The post It’s Official: Google Launches AI Max for Search Campaigns appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Hot on the heels of Oura’s AI Advisor, another app feature from the smart ring company is leaving beta and becoming available to all users: meal logging. But this isn’t just another calorie tracking app—Oura’s Meals feature provides feedback on what you’re eating and when, without judging you for how much. Oura Ring 4 $349.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg Get Deal Get Deal $349.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg Glucose tracking is also coming to the app, and Oura has announced a partnership with Dexcom to sell the Stelo continuous glucose monitor, which can be purchased without a prescription. If you use the Stelo monitor, you can view some glucose statistics in the Oura app, including how your blood glucose responds to the meals you track. How Oura’s meal tracking worksOnce you have the Meals feature enabled (it’s rolling out to everyone today, the company says), just tap the plus sign in the lower right corner and select “Log a meal.” The simplest way to log a meal is to take a photo of your food, but don’t worry if you forget until your plate is clean. You can tap “Text input” at the bottom to type in a description of what you ate, or select one of your recent meals if you’re repeating something you ate within the past few days. The app takes a few seconds to think, and then it tells you what it believes you ate. (You can correct it if it’s wrong—more about that below.) Then it gives you some text feedback about your meal and a little section of statistics judging whether the meal was high or low in protein, fiber, and other factors—mostly macronutrients, but also how “processed” the meal was. The feedback encourages you to eat more protein and vegetables, without getting negative about your choices, and I appreciate that. Oura says in its press release: “Oura’s guidance avoids penalizing food choices, instead presenting non-judgmental insights that help members make informed choices based on their health objectives, whether that’s improving energy levels, maintaining metabolic health, or enhancing dietary balance.” The advice is gentle and the results are usually correct Credit: Beth Skwarecki Oura’s conclusions about what’s in a food photo have usually been correct for me, but sometimes it misses an ingredient—for example, it might log a “rice and beans bowl” but not notice that there was also chicken in the mix. The description might suggest that I could include protein next time. As I said earlier, this is no big deal, because you can correct this at the bottom of the screen. Scroll down and you’ll see a list of the ingredients or components of your meal. You can remove components that weren’t actually there and add anything that the AI missed. I found this process quick and easy. In a few taps, the app would then tell me that I did a great job getting both protein and fiber in my meal, and the stats would look correct. The text feedback on the meals is sometimes helpful, but at other times is too vague and generic to be of any real use. The few shreds of cabbage in my rice bowl contain anthocyanins? I don’t actually care. Garlic was valued in ancient civilizations for its medicinal properties? Great, that’s super important to know when I’m logging some garlic bread as a snack. I do sometimes enjoy that it suggests a way I could improve the meal next time—usually by adding some veggies or protein—but when I do log a meal with veggies and protein, it then just suggests that I might want to have the meal with “extra veggies” next time. I loved seeing a graphic of my meal timing Credit: Beth Skwarecki I’ve been disorganized with my eating lately, sometimes snarfing down snacks throughout the day and not sitting down to a real dinner until late in the evening. I know that late meals can affect my sleep, and that mealtimes are important for setting your body’s clock. So I was delighted to see that Oura tracks the time of meals as well as their content. Each meal I log is shown on a circle that represents my day. My sleep times and wind-down (bedtime) hours are shown in blue and green, respectively. There’s a yellow dot for each meal I logged today, and a yellowish area showing the times I normally eat. Right now, the app judges my mealtimes as “irregular.” Harsh, but true. I can see on the circular graphic just how late I’ve been eating. Where Oura’s Meals feature falls shortThe functions of the Meals feature seem to work quite well, but so many functions are missing. For example, I can only see that nice graph of meal timing after I log a meal! There’s no way to access it just to take a peek. I tried asking the AI Advisor about my meal patterns, and it describes them to me in text, but says it can’t generate graphs or images to share with me. I also wish I could see a summary of how I’m doing on protein, fiber, level of processing, and the other factors Oura tracks. But again, these only show up when you log a meal, and aren’t available otherwise. The Advisor will describe them to me in broad terms (“Your meals show balance, but your fiber and added sugar trends stand out”) but I hoped for better. Another feature it’s missing—which I’m actually OK with—is that it doesn’t seem to care how much food you’re eating. It doesn’t know how many grams of protein I’ve eaten, and certainly has no clue about the number of calories. On the one hand: excellent. I don’t need another app assuming that I want to lose weight or making me measure everything as I log it. “Yes, that’s rice” is so much easier to tell the app than “I ate exactly 205 grams of rice.” But on the other hand, the recommendations would make more sense if the app had a sense of balance. Did I eat a lot of chicken breast and a small amount of candy today, or the other way around? Those would be drastically different eating patterns, worth giving drastically different advice. View the full article

Instacart is launching a new stand-alone app called Fizz, designed for groups to order snacks and drinks ahead of parties for a flat $5 delivery fee. The platform, developed in collaboration with the hugely popular event invite app Partiful, enables partygoers in the 30 U.S. states where alcohol delivery is legal to add items to a shared cart from nearby participating grocery stores. Instead of splitting the bill, each user is prompted to pay only for what they’ve added, with an option to include a tip for the shopper. Back in February, Instacart’s chief product officer, Daniel Danker, approached Partiful CEO Shreya Murthy about partnering on the app. The teams began development in earnest in March, with Danker crediting artificial intelligence and mutual enthusiasm for the app’s rapid progress. “There aren’t a lot of consumer apps being built these days, and there aren’t a lot of people solving some of these really core needs for customers in a simple and delightful way,” Danker tells Fast Company. Murthy says she was intrigued by the opportunity to address the common challenge of figuring out what to bring to a party—and finding time to pick it up. “Think about the last time you went to a house party. There was probably this implicit social expectation for you to bring a bottle of wine or a pack of beer,” Murthy says. “As for me, as a guest who would go to parties, that was actually kind of annoying because I’d forget. . . . And I can’t show up to this party empty-handed. “We basically productized BYOB,” she adds, referring to “bring your own bottle.” Instacart is one of the biggest players in the gig economy. It went public in September 2023, and its shares have risen nearly 57% since then. Partiful, launched in 2020, has also seen rapid growth—it reported a 600% increase in user activity in 2024 and was named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies of 2025. Fizz incorporates Partiful’s web-friendly design, meaning users don’t need to download the Fizz app to place orders. Party hosts can either start a cart and share the link in a group chat or create a typical Partiful invite and toggle the “group order” option to generate a shared cart on the event page. Guests can then add their items and see what others have selected. Each person pays for their share, while the host schedules the delivery and pays the $5 fee. Fizz orders will be fulfilled by Instacart shoppers. Danker notes that the more items in a cart, the more shoppers will earn. He also anticipates higher tips due to the low delivery fee. “If people didn’t feel like they spent a bunch on fees,” he says, “then they feel really generous when it comes to the tips.” View the full article

Lucas Kraft’s friends knew him as the guy who always had an antacid. His recovery from bulimia left him with gastrointestinal damage, which made him reliant on over-the-counter digestive medicines. But they were also filled with chemicals that didn’t mesh with his health-conscious SoCal lifestyle. Luckily, his brother Noah had an eye for predicting where consumer interests are headed. He founded Doppler Labs, the buzzy 2010s startup hoping to create an in-ear computer, three years before Apple launched their AirPods. Doppler Labs was too early, but Wonderbelly—the brothers’ digestive health brand—has been right on time with its focus on clean ingredients and opposition to existing giants of OTC medicines. In the late 2010s, clean beauty was already surging. Whole Foods and Erewhon were on the rise, but they were siloed within wealthy communities. But a new and growing swatch of health obsessives—both within and without Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement—has put Wonderbelly in an unusually dominant position. The superstores came knocking: First Target, then CVS, and now Walmart. Wonderbelly products now feature prominently at 2,500 Walmart stores nationwide via a fleet of endcaps. These offerings include reworked packaging as well as a debut multisymptom product designed to compete with Pepto-Bismol. Noah contrasts Wonderbelly—which is sold as an OTC product with health claims that are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration—with the $53 billion supplements market. “Supplements are the Wild West. They are unregulated, so when you take a supplement, it’s hard to determine whether it works or is a placebo,” he says. “As an FDA-regulated OTC medicine . . . credibility is key. Growing the the old-fashioned way Medicine moves slower than Noah’s native tech world. The brothers incorporated Wonderbelly in 2021, before spending two years deep in product development. (Noah got antsy in this period, so he made an app to track digestive health.) When the company’s clean Tums alternative was ready in April 2023, Target was immediately on board. The retailer asked to place Wonderbelly in 2,000 stores, but the Kraft brothers needed more time, eventually agreeing to 650. Even that pared-back retail presence was important to Wonderbelly’s vision to build its brand credibility the old-fashioned way—in brick and mortar. “People buy medicine as a bottom-of-funnel product,” Noah says. “You go into your supermarket, you’re picking up bananas, and you grab some Tums. It is not the sort of thing where you go to someone’s website like you do with Casper.” With more stores, Wonderbelly brought more products. For the company’s CVS launch, it debuted a clean Gas-X alternative. Now, with Wonderbelly’s new placement in Walmart, it’s rolling out a clean Pepto-Bismol challenger. Wonderbelly intentionally positions itself against these name brands; it’s not interested in customers shopping for generics. Even the store placement matters—the company isn’t interested in selling in Whole Foods or Sprouts, because they don’t carry Tums. “We don’t want to sit next to apple cider vinegar,” Noah says. Wonderbelly’s bet is that, when given the choice between a chemical-filled name brand and a cleaned up alternative, the premium customer will choose it instead. The strategy has been lucrative. While he declined to disclose specific financials, Noah notes that the company hit profitability in April. As of April 2024, Wonderbelly was valued at about $53 million, according to market insight tool PitchBook—a number that Noah confirmed is still roughly accurate. Jeff Behm, Wonderbelly’s VP of sales, points out that the company will double its sales year over year, having reached 100,000 points of distribution. (It helps that the company is incredibly slim: Wonderbelly has 12 employees, and Noah has no desire to hire more.) The Walmart launch is poised to skyrocket sales by introducing 2,500 colorful endcaps nationwide. Walmart has a different customer, than the deep-pocketed shoppers that frequent the likes of Erewhon and similarly priced boutique grocers that dominate the “clean” space. So Wonderbelly created a new, cheaper $9.99 version of its antacid—with fewer tablets—to meet Walmart’s “everyday low prices” mandate. It seems to have paid off: Looking at the first-week data from the brand’s soft launch, Noah says sales are where he expected them be after three months of a concerted marketing push. “Customers are familiar with these legacy brands, and they’re going to stay connected to these legacy brands,” says Kristin Piper, Walmart’s vice president of wellness merchandising. “Some customers are looking for innovation, like [what] Wonderbelly is bringing to the space.” Navigating a MAHA minefield The Krafts grew up in Los Angeles, where their mother enforced a clean regime. Lucas describes a house full of “alternative brands that always tasted so much worse.” That includes drinking imitation milk at age 5. Noah points out that they weren’t allowed to drink Diet Coke. The brothers have mostly carried this clean ethos to their adult life, leading Lucas to count the ingredients on the back of his medicine bottles. Though Wonderbelly’s antacid has six ingredients to the average of 20 in Tums, that model of ingredient numbering can be reductive, especially in medicine, where some foreign chemicals are crucial to the product’s transportation around the body. So Wonderbelly makes its definition even clearer: non-GMO, vegan, free of artificial dyes, sweeteners, talc, titanium dioxide, parabens, and gluten. The siblings’ timing with Wonderbelly couldn’t have been better. The consumer wellness market skyrocketed coming out of the pandemic. “Clean beauty,” once a miniscule portion of the makeup market, is now valued at more than $8 billion. Consumers are buying Oura Rings and drinking kombucha. It’s also not lost on the Krafts that their product appeals to a broad enough consumer base to include those buying into the “Make America Healthy Again” movement. “We strongly believe in science, but we also align heavily with a lot of the things that the MAHA movement is pushing for,” Lucas says, adding that he and his brand are still positioned for people eating food that can upset their stomachs. “Antacids usually don’t come after you’ve had a big meal of kale salad.” MAHA’s reach is also broad, and has spurred actions that range from Sweetgreen eliminating seed oils in its food to the state of Utah banning fluoride in drinking water against prevailing medical consensus of the element’s public health benefits. As a result, the Krafts have had to be somewhat judicious about who they associate the brand with. “There have been several instances where we’re talking to someone and then we go to their socials, and we’re like, ‘Thanks for the support. Please don’t mention our company name,’” Noah says. View the full article

Google Ads today announced AI Max, a new tool to reach untapped queries and tailor ads with a single click. Rolling out globally in beta later this month, Google said AI Max integrates its most advanced targeting and creative tools into Search campaigns. Smarter matching. Broad match and keywordless tech help advertisers tap into high-performing queries they may have otherwise missed. Google AI learns from existing keywords, creative, and URLs to identify new opportunities. Real-time creative adaptation. New “text customization” (formerly “automatically created assets”) creates headlines and descriptions tailored to a user’s query – adapting on the fly to match emerging intent. Final URL expansion sends users to the most relevant landing page. Granular controls: Locations of interest let advertisers target users based on geographic intent at the ad group level. Brand controls allow the inclusion or exclusion of specific brands. Enhanced reporting includes clearer data on search terms, headline performance, and asset KPIs like spend and conversions. By the numbers. Initial tests of AI Max have delivered positive results (especially for large household brands), according to Gooogle data: Advertisers using AI Max have seen up to 14% more conversions at a similar cost-per-acquisition. For those still relying mostly on exact and phrase match, the lift can hit 27%. L’Oréal reported 2x higher conversion rates and 31% lower costs by tapping into net-new search queries with AI Max. Australia-based MyConnect used AI Max to boost leads by 16% while cutting cost-per-action by 13%. Why we care. AI Max helps go beyond traditional keyword strategies, giving the potential of bidding on untapped group of high-intent searches not being currently reached. It also dynamically customizes ad creative in real time, increasing relevance and conversions without adding complexity. With PPC managers who manage large accounts across several clients, it could serve as a fast, low-effort way to scale results and stay competitive as search behavior evolves. Bottom line: Google wants advertisers to move beyond traditional keywords, and AI Max is the new on-ramp to that goal, with automation, adaptability, and actionable insights leading the way. View the full article

A bipartisan group of President Donald The President’s critics is launching a new organization, dubbed the Cost Coalition, to highlight The President’s struggle to control rising costs in the early months of his new presidency. The group expects to be especially active ahead of upcoming elections in Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, according to preliminary plans shared with The Associated Press this week ahead of a formal announcement. The Cost Coalition will push its message through a combination of paid advertising, social media, press interviews and on-the-ground events with small business leaders, veterans and the faith community. Terry Holt, a former spokesperson to former President George W. Bush and former House Speaker John Boehner, both Republicans, is serving as a senior communications adviser along with Andrew Bates, a former spokesperson for former President Joe Biden, a Democrat. “In 100 days, Donald The President put the best-performing economy in the world on a crash course toward recession. The President’s tariffs—the biggest middle class tax hike in modern history—are making everyday prices skyrocket and wreaking havoc for businesses large and small,” Holt and Bates said in a joint statement. “Next up are grossly inflationary tax cuts for the wealthy that will only saddle future generations with staggering debt. Whether you’re a Republican, Democrat, or anything else, Donald The President’s agenda is an economic crisis threatening your livelihood and standard of living.” The new group enters a political landscape already packed with powerful voices fighting to shape the national conversation little more than 100 days after The President began his second term. The Republican president vowed to “end inflation” on Day 1, but he has focused more on immigration, culture wars and exacting revenge against his political adversaries while launching a global trade war that has pushed some costs higher and threatens to send the U.S. economy into recession. The President late last week said on his social media platform that there is “NO INFLATION” and claimed that grocery and egg prices have fallen, and that gasoline has dropped to $1.98 a gallon. That’s not entirely true: Grocery prices have jumped 0.5% in two of the past three months and are up 2.4% from a year ago. Gasoline and oil prices have declined—gas costs are down 10% from a year ago—continuing a longer-running trend that has continued in part because of fears the economy will weaken. Inflation did drop noticeably in March, an encouraging sign, though in the first three months of the year it was 3.6%, according to the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge, well above its 2% target. The Cost Coalition will be led by a team of veteran operatives who played key roles for Kamala Harris’ unsuccessful presidential campaign: Republican strategist Austin Weatherford, the leader of “Republicans for Harris”; Rev. Jennifer Butler, Harris’ national faith and engagement director; Libby Jamison, the Harris campaign’s national director of veteran and military family engagement; political strategist Leslie Gross, a veteran of the Obama-Biden administration; and George Holman, who served in the Biden administration. A spokesperson declined to say how the new group will be funded, except to say it has “seed contributions” from some large donors in both parties and will also rely on grassroots donations. As a project of the American Values Alliance, the organization will be set up as a nonprofit with a hybrid political action committee. As such, it won’t have to publicly disclose all of its funding sources. —Steve Peoples, AP National Politics Writer View the full article

If you receive an email about your Social Security statement, proceed with caution: According to a new report from Malwarebytes Labs, hackers are impersonating the Social Security Administration (SSA) to trick people into installing a remote access tool and handing over full control of their devices. The SSA is no stranger to phishing scams—the Office of the Inspector General put out an alert last month warning the public of fraudulent emails purporting to include Social Security statements that in reality led to fake websites. How the Social Security phishing scam worksThe current attack is the work of a phishing group known as Molatori. It begins with an email that appears to come from the SSA with the message, "Your Social Security Statement is now available" and a prompt to download an attached document. The supposed statement is actually a ScreenConnect client, which grants remote control of the affected device. ScreenConnect is a legitimate remote support platform for IT pros to help users configure systems and resolve technical issues by allowing the same access as if they had your device in hand. Once hackers have control of your computer via ScreenConnect, they can use it for anything from installing malware to transferring files to accessing sensitive data, like bank and financial account information, all without your knowledge. Financial fraud is believed to be the main objective for this campaign, but as always, stolen data can be used for identity theft or sold to other malicious groups. As Malwarebytes Labs describes, this scheme is hard to identify in part because the phishing emails originate from compromised WordPress sites with legitimate domains. The email body may also be sent as an image rather than text, making it harder for filters to detect it as malicious. How to protect yourselfAll of the common cautions for avoiding phishing scams apply here. Do not click on links or download or open files or attachments sent via email, especially if the message is unsolicited. Go directly to the company's or organization's website to locate important documents and verify communication. Attacks that come from compromised (but legitimate) domains can be trickier to catch, so be especially wary of anything you're instructed to download, click, or fill out from an email. If you are unsure whether an email or message is real and safe, Malwarebytes also suggests copying some of the text into a search engine to determine if it is part of a known phishing campaign. View the full article

Beleaguered pharmacy chain Rite Aid has officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after weeks of media reports suggesting that it was on the cusp of doing so. The bankruptcy is Rite Aid’s second in two years, and it leaves a lot of questions for both customers and employees, including whether stores will be closing, if there will be layoffs, and what happens to customers’ prescriptions. Here’s what you need to know about Rite Aid’s second bankruptcy. Why did Rite Aid file bankruptcy the first time? Rite Aid originally filed for bankruptcy in 2023. It emerged from the process less than a year ago, in 2024, with the hopes of being in a better financial position and on more resilient footing. But with its second bankruptcy filing yesterday, those hopes seem to have been dashed. To understand why Rite Aid is once again filing for bankruptcy, it helps to understand why the company originally filed for bankruptcy in 2023—something Rite Aid has laid out in detail in documents it filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court in the District of New Jersey today. Rite Aid cited multiple factors that necessitated its 2023 bankruptcy filing, including: “suboptimal lease portfolio” of underperforming stores elevated labor costs increased costs from “shrink” (theft) lower credit limits more restrictive payment terms from vendors reduced demand for its non-medication “front end” products “The lack of such inventory,” Rite Aid said, “gave rise to a vicious cycle: high-margin front-end sales declined due to insufficient inventory, and lagging sales depleted liquidity and caused vendors to tighten trade terms even further.” The company’s 2023 bankruptcy was meant to help the struggling pharmacy chain address the financial issues caused by these problems. But that’s not the way things have played out since, which has led to the company filing its second bankruptcy this week. Why is Rite Aid filing for bankruptcy again? In a court document, Rite Aid said that its “post-emergence business plan was based on data-driven projections (and extensive discussions with vendors) that Rite Aid’s front-end vendors would return to their less restrictive prepetition payment terms” as well as assurances from select capital providers that the company would be provided with the needed letter of credit facilities—all of which the company said “was crucial to Rite Aid’s recovery.” But the filing goes on to say that “Those assurances were broken.” Rite Aid said that the letters of credit it did obtain were “materially less than expected” and that many vendors didn’t end up relaxing the more restrictive payment terms to the anticipated levels. Pile on macroeconomic pressures to this and Rite Aid said that “The combined effect of lower-than-expected liquidity from the letter of credit facilities, inventory challenges, strained vendor relations, lower consumer spending, and competitive pressures has ultimately left the Company with insufficient liquidity to operate its business and service its debt obligations in the ordinary course.” Thus, it’s second bankruptcy filing this month. What’s happening with Rite Aid prescriptions? Of course, many customers will be concerned about what will happen to their prescriptions during the bankruptcy process. In a letter to customers dated May 5, Rite Aid said that one of its paramount priorities during the bankruptcy process is to ensure that customers’ pharmacy needs are not interrupted. Rite Aid says that a majority of its stores will remain open “for the next few months” and that during that time pharmacy services “including prescriptions and immunizations” will remain available. In other words, for a few months at least, most customers should be able to still get their prescriptions filled at their local Rite Aid store. However, the company also stated that it’s “working to facilitate a smooth transfer of customer prescriptions to other pharmacies.” This is most likely in preparation for inevitable Rite Aid store closures or sales. Are Rite Aid stores closing? Some already have, and more closures in the months ahead are almost a certainty. According to documents Rite Aid that filed with the court, these 11 locations have already closed or will close soon: Poughkeepsie, NY Redmond, WA Sunnyside, WA Craigsville, VA Costa Mesa, CA Harrisburg, PA Keene, NH Ridgewood, NY Kutztown, PA Neptune, NJ Halifax, PA Rite Aid also says that customers can keep an eye on which stores are open using its online store locator tool. The locator currently states that Rite Aid has 1,240 locations in the United States across 15 states. What’s happening to Rite Aid employees? It is thought that Rite Aid’s bankruptcy will see some store locations closed, while other stores will be sold to other entities that may seek to keep the stores running in some fashion. Indeed, in a press release confirming its bankruptcy plans, Rite Aid CEO Matt Schroeder said that he was “encouraged by meaningful interest from a number of potential national and regional strategic acquirors.” But inevitably, layoffs are to be expected, as Schroeder said that one of the company’s priorities was “preserving jobs for as many associates as possible.” Yesterday, Bloomberg reported that an internal letter was sent by Schroeder to employees that the company will begin cutting jobs at its corporate offices in Pennsylvania. What will shopping at Rite Aid be like while this is happening? Although the company says most stores will remain open for the next few months, expect to notice changes before then. In a letter to vendors, the pharmacy chain said, “At this time, Rite Aid has generally stopped purchasing goods and services, except for those that it believes are essential to supporting this process.” Customers should also be aware that Rite Aid has posted a banner on its website stating that as of June 5, the company will no longer honor Rite Aid gift cards and will no longer accept returns or exchanges. View the full article

If you’re sensing the world right now is becoming more and more unhinged, you’re not alone. Fortunately there’s a podcast poking holes in your subject of choice, whether that be diet culture, science journals, airport books, or Bill Maher specifically. With research and often a sense of humor, these shows break down some of the messages we are getting online, in the news, and across all sorts of media, explaining why you’re not crazy, it isn’t you, and why some of the systems we have right now (looking at you, capitalism) are broken. Normal Curves Credit: Normal Curves Normal Curves is kind of like a science book club—on every episode, stat-savvy friends (and professors) Regina Nuzzo and Kristin Sainani help make sense of academic journals that have made their way to mainstream and pop culture. Examples include The Sweaty T-Shirt Study, which said you could find a perfect mate by smelling their sweat, and the The Red Dress Effect, which said that women in red were sexier. They’re the ones you can count on to dissect the data, challenge the claims, and arm you with tools to assess scientific studies on your own. Diabolical Lies Credit: Diabolical Lies Is tradwife TikTok confusing the heck out of you? Wondering why capitalism feels like a scam wrapped in a vibe? Allow me to introduce you to Diabolical Lies, your new favorite rabbit hole. Hosted by Katie Gatti Tassin and Caro Claire Burke, this long-form (episodes are upwards of three hours long) podcast is part cultural critique, part political roast, and fully addictive. Katie and Caro named their show Diabolical Lies to poke fun at something Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker in a speech, that “it’s the women who have had the most diabolical lies told to you,” suggesting that feminism is the source of our unhappiness. Katie and Caro point their fingers at capitalism, patriarchy, and white supremacy, instead. They hold everything, from the yassification of Christian nationalism to the myth of the girl boss, all to the fire while making you laugh, think, and maybe (probably) get a little mad. Corporate Gossip Credit: Corporate Gossip If you think the best true-crime is white collar crime, you might want to tune into Corporate Gossip, which is all about the shady stuff that happens in board rooms and business deals. Hosts (and siblings) Becca and Adam Platsky use tons of research and storytelling to tell the truth behind eBay, the WWE and Vince McMahon, Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX, Enron, and more. The topics are serious, but the vibe is casual and often hilarious. Oddly Specific Credit: Oddly Specific Meredith Lynch (who you may recognize from TikTok) has one foot in pop culture and the other in politics—and her show represents that. Oddly Specific features a bit of everything, from the problem with dollar stores to the prison industrial complex. Experts come on to cover things they’re passionate about, and Meredith has a good way of explaining the basics of the subject at hand, exposing its problems, and helping you understand why it matters to you, your wallet, and your everyday life. Bad Therapist Credit: Bad Therapist If you’ve ever side-eyed an Instagram carousel telling you to “cut off anyone who drains your energy,” there’s a chance you’ve been served some therapy speak. Fortunately, the podcast Bad Therapist is here to help. Psychotherapist Ash Compton and journalist Rachel Monroe are pro-therapy, but they are also pro-skewering the bad actors who use pop psych cliches and weaponize wellness to make a living from it, usually taking advantage of people who actually need real help. Whether they’re dissecting therapeutic communes, conversion therapy, or life coaches, all roads lead to grifting. Along the way, you’re always in for some history, cultural analysis, and humor. If Books Could Kill Credit: If Books Could Kill You know those best-selling books—the ones that often promote miracle diets, pop psychology, pseudo-science, and reskinned versions of The Secret—sold at the airport that seem to take the country by storm, one book at a time? Michael Hobbes (original co-host of You’re Wrong About and co-host of Maintenance Phase) and Peter Shamshiri host If Books Could Kill, a podcast about those books and how they shape our culture and ruin our minds. (There is actually an entire episode dedicated to The Secret.) Together they point out the lack of citations, vague references, and fear-based marketing you find in every page. Episodes swing from hefty (the episode on Liberal Facism) to lighter and silly (there’s a great one on Who Moved My Cheese?). The Dream Credit: The Dream Seasons one and two of The Dream are about multilevel marketing schemes and fraud in the wellness industry, but the show has since been turned into a weekly interview show. Its episodes now focus on a myriad of subjects, but they're all generally about critiquing the people, industries, and concepts that make "the American Dream" unmanageable. Hosted by This American Life alum Jane Marie, episodes cover the MAHA movement, abortion bans, cults, divorce, and more. Jane Marie is a top-notch storyteller and interviewer—even episodes that feel heavy have a lightness to them. 5-4 Credit: 5-4 Hosted by Peter Routhier (If Books Could Kill), Rhiannon Brown, and Michael F. Vecchione, 5-4 provides a funny, liberal perspective on the rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court, often illustrating how much SCOTUS totally sucks. Always from a progressive point of view, each episode analyzes and discusses a single Supreme Court decision, providing an accessible and engaging way for listeners to learn about the high court’s biases surrounding hot-button issues like affirmative action, gun rights, and campaign finance. It clears the fog from our court system and clarifies how often the Supreme Court perpetuates unjust outcomes for marginalized groups. Knowledge Fight Credit: Knowledge Fight Dan Friesen and Jordan Holmes keep close tabs on Alex Jones so you don’t have to. Each week on Knowledge Fight they review recent clips from Jones’ Infowars programming and try to make sense of it all. They go deep (and some of the content is dark) but Dan and Jordan are funny enough to make it both a wild ride and an enjoyable listen. There’s no better way to learn about conspiracy theories than to study the people steeped in them, and this show is like Cliff’s Notes for the source of many of the wildest theories taking hold of America. Maintenance Phase Credit: Maintenance Phase When Michael Hobbes left You’re Wrong About, he put his energy into Maintenance Phase, a show he co-hosts with Aubrey Gordon that explores and critiques popular health and wellness trends and products. With tons of notes and a lot of rage-laughter, Michael and Aubrey run through the the worst diets, exercise trends, supplements and beauty products, and “nutrition” books, and evaluate whether they are actually effective or if they are based on misleading or harmful information. (It’s almost always the latter.) If you hate the BMI, were led astray by the food pyramid in the ‘90s, or roll your eyes every time your friend goes on and on about their latest cleanse, you’ll appreciate their myth-busting efforts. I Hate Bill Maher Credit: I Hate Bill Maher Comedian Will Weldon hates Bill Maher so much that he created an entire podcast about it. Every episode of his show, I Hate Bill Maher, is a takedown of Bill Maher in general, but specifically his TV show Real Time and his podcast Club Random, episode by episode. Will is dead set on pointing out some of the superficial, misogynistic, and transphobic things Bill has said, as well as how lazy some of his comedy can be. He’ll even dip back into old episodes of Real Time to prove how much Bill’s opinions have changed over the years. (Not much.) Some call it petty, some call it a public service. Listen to the Emma Arnold episode—Will interviews her about the time she got to tag along on Bill’s annual New Year trip to Hawaii. View the full article

Generative AI is changing how people search. The most effective SEO strategies aren’t just AI-enhanced – they’re AI-native. Many SEO teams are moving away from manual tasks and siloed tools toward intelligent, automated systems that learn from data and scale performance across every stage of the search journey. From content creation to site architecture and real-time monitoring, AI is now deeply embedded in many winning SEO strategies. Here are 10 cutting-edge ways to leverage AI for enterprise-level SEO success in 2025 – and stay ahead in a game that’s changing faster than ever. 1. Automating SEO tasks with AI agents AI in SEO is no longer just about writing prompts – it’s about training intelligent agents to run entire workflows on your behalf. AI agents act like digital assistants that can: Take action. Make decisions. Execute multi-step SEO tasks across your tech stack. All this without constant human oversight. This is especially powerful for large, complex websites where scalability and speed are essential. What these agents can do Connected to your browser, APIs, and SEO tools, these agents can be programmed to carry out recurring SEO processes, such as: Monitoring Google Search Console for indexing errors or drops in impressions. Generating schema markup for newly published pages. Crawling competitor sites and reporting on changes to structure, content, or keyword focus. Flagging performance anomalies (e.g., slow-loading pages or broken internal links). Running in the background, AI SEO agents save hours of manual work and alert you only when human input is needed. While there’s no single out-of-the-box solution today, the components are all available, ready to be adapted and integrated into your SEO workflow. An AI SEO workflow using LangChain LangChain allows you to orchestrate multiple AI agents across a single, end-to-end SEO system. Here’s how it might work: Prioritize URLs: Pull top-priority URLs from your sitemap, CMS, or GSC API, such as newly published pages or those with traffic drops. Agent 1 – Index checker: Uses the GSC URL Inspection API to check indexing status and log crawl outcomes (e.g., “Discovered – not indexed”). Agent 2 – Crawl log analyzer: Retrieves log or crawler data to identify crawl errors, response codes, or low-frequency crawling. Agent 3 – Pattern interpreter: Uses a model like GPT-4 or Claude to analyze crawl and index data, cluster similar issues, and suggest likely causes (e.g., thin content, blocked resources). Agent 4 – Fix generator: Suggests SEO fixes like updating canonical tags, adding internal links, adjusting robots.txt, or refreshing sitemaps. Agent 5 – Deployment layer: Pushes validated fixes to a GitHub staging branch or CMS via API, with optional human review. Agent 6 – Recheck and report: Re-evaluates impacted URLs after deployment, summarizes performance changes, and identifies what still needs attention. LangChain handles the orchestration, memory, and sequencing between agents – turning your AI tools into an intelligent, modular system. For large-scale SEO, that’s a game-changer. Dig deeper: 6 easy ways to adapt your SEO strategy for stronger AI visibility 2. Powering content hubs with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) RAG enables large language models (LLMs) to pull from your own data, instead of just relying on web-scale training, to generate brand-safe, deeply relevant content at scale. RAG combines: Retrieval: Pulls relevant information from your proprietary sources (e.g., customer reviews, support docs, search logs). Generation: Uses that data to create or enhance content that’s optimized for SEO and aligned with your brand voice. SEO applications Use RAG to build intelligent content hubs with sources like: Internal search queries. Sales enablement materials. Product data. Customer feedback. Support center documentation. For example: A SaaS company can convert help articles into long-tail landing pages. An ecommerce brand can generate conversion-optimized product content based on real customer language. RAG can also help you generate personalized content variants based on top-performing historical pages, user segments, or seasonal trends, keeping content relevant and high-performing. 3. Preparing your content for AI-powered search experiences With the rise of Google’s AI Overviews and other AI-powered SERP features, more users are finding answers without ever clicking a link. As brand demand and top-of-mind awareness (TOMA) remain as important as ever, this means that SEO strategies must evolve to account for zero-click search visibility – and AI can help. To remain visible, your content needs to be AI-readable – clear, complete, and optimized for selection by generative systems like AI Overviews. How to optimize for generative search Simulate AI summarization: Ask tools like GPT-4 or Claude: “How would you summarize this page for someone asking about [topic]?” Improve semantic clarity: Ensure your content is well-structured, answers common questions, and mirrors natural search language. Refine snippet-worthiness: Make your opening lines punchy and clear – perfect for excerpting in AI summaries or featured snippets. Use tools like Perplexity, Claude, or Bing Copilot: These tools can act as proxies for testing how AI systems interpret and present your content. Dig deeper: How to optimize your 2025 content strategy for AI-powered SERPs and LLMs 4. Optimizing images and text together with multimodal AI As search becomes more visual, image SEO is becoming just as important as text. New vision-language models (VLMs) – like GPT-4V and Claude 3 Opus – can analyze images and help optimize them alongside content. How VLMs enhance image SEO Assess image clarity (i.e., is the visual informative and on-brand?). Auto-generate alt text and captions. Align images with key topics, products, or entities. Create custom thumbnails or social previews. Generate image schema markup to enhance visibility in image search. Dig deeper: How to create images and visuals with generative AI 5. Building topical authority through entity mapping AI can now help you see your site the way Google does – as a network of topics and entities, not just pages and keywords. By analyzing your content with large language models, you can map: How well your site covers important entities (like people, places, categories, or concepts). Where you may be falling short. How to apply Identify core entities (e.g., authors, categories, brands). Audit coverage. (Are key subtopics underrepresented?) Compare against competitors. (Spot content gaps or authority weak points.) Build or refine topic clusters. (Add, update, or interlink pages to boost depth and relevance.) This strategy helps improve semantic coverage, which is essential for building topical authority in the age of E-E-A-T. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. Business email address Sign me up! Processing... See terms. 6. Using AI to improve UX and conversion for SEO Great SEO doesn’t end with rankings – it hinges on how users engage with your content. Bounce rate, time on page, and conversion behavior all influence performance. How to scale UX analysis with AI Collect anonymized behavioral data: Use tools like Clarity or Hotjar to gather: Heatmaps. Scroll depth. Click patterns. Rage clicks and drop-offs. Feed data into an AI model: Upload screenshots, session summaries or logs to GPT-4V or other models to identify: Poor CTA placement. Navigation issues. Missing trust signals. Summarize by page type or device: Generate insights like, “Blog pages show high scroll drop-off before the internal links section. Consider moving related articles higher to improve engagement signals.” Automate monitoring Run this monthly, compare to SEO KPIs, and prioritize fixes that improve both UX and search performance. 7. Smarter internal linking with AI-powered clustering Internal linking is one of the most powerful – and most neglected – levers in SEO, especially for large, enterprise-level sites. AI can automate internal linking across large sites by grouping semantically related pages – not just matching keywords. Use AI to: Cluster related pages (e.g., all articles on Victorian literature or guides about rare books). Automatically suggest relevant internal links for each page based on topic similarity. Prioritize links to high-value pages to strengthen PageRank flow and authority signals. Enforce distribution rules (e.g., each pillar page should receive no fewer than 10 incoming links). This improves crawlability, semantic structure, and user navigation – all of which impact ranking and engagement. 8. Scaling schema markup with generative AI Structured data helps unlock rich SERP features – but managing schema at scale is time-consuming. Generative AI makes this process faster, smarter, and scalable. Use AI to: Generate JSON-LD for pages (e.g., FAQ, Product, Review, HowTo). Identify missing or broken schema through audits. Recommend schema types based on page content. Automate deployment via CMS or GitHub integration. 9. Creating microcontent with AI to maximize SERP visibility Not all SEO wins come from long-form content. Often, it’s the microcontent – like meta descriptions, FAQs, Q&A, or People Also Ask answers – that helps sites stand out in search results. AI can help generate this short-form content quickly and at scale. Use it to: Summarize long articles into clear, concise answers suitable for featured snippets. Generate multiple versions of title tags and meta descriptions to test and optimize. Preemptively answer People Also Ask questions that appear around your target queries. Refresh microcontent regularly to stay aligned with changing search behavior. Optimized for every clickable (and non-clickable) element on the SERP, microcontent is less about ranking and more about expanding visibility and presence across all key touchpoints. 10. Real-time SEO monitoring with AI SEO of 2025 is not a set-it-and-forget-it task, but a system that needs constant oversight. AI can now act as a 24/7 watchdog, alerting SEO teams to issues the moment they arise. AI monitoring can: Track changes in sitemaps or robots.txt that could affect crawlability. Watch for sudden drops in impressions, clicks, or key rankings. Spot trends like content cannibalization or unexpected deindexing. Flag page performance degradation (e.g., Core Web Vitals). Use AI not only to detect issues, but also to explain what’s wrong and help prioritize fixes. This kind of real-time monitoring can help respond faster, reduce risk, and maintain momentum, especially on large, complex sites where problems can go unnoticed for weeks. Dig deeper: How to track visibility across AI platforms Using generative AI to streamline your SEO efforts As AI transforms search into a more conversational, visual, and context-aware experience, SEO must evolve in step. From content creation to technical optimization, tasks once manual and reactive are now intelligent, adaptive, and ongoing. Staying ahead means embracing this shift, not just reacting to it. View the full article

Here is a weird one - doing a site command and Google presenting an AI Overview summary of the results. In this case, the AI Overview was dead wrong - which is not all that uncommon - but why show an AI Overview here? View the full article

Google is now sending emails to business owners when a Google Business Profile information edit was rejected. The email subject line says "A recent information edit was rejected," and then it tells you more details on why and allows you to read the policy and then appeal the decision.View the full article

For the past week or so, news publishers from Brazil have not been happy with Google. It seems that Google Discover is broken for a lot of Brazilians, showing irrelevant content to users and searchers, and not showing content from the typical publishers based in Brazil.View the full article

We've seen variations of Google's popular products section in the search results show both article and video content reviews. But now we are seeing another format for it, one that even links to laptop reviews from 55 years ago, a good ten years before the Osborne 1 hit shelves.View the full article

Faceted navigation enhances ecommerce UX but poses SEO risks. Learn how to manage filters without harming crawl efficiency or indexing strategy. The post Ask An SEO: How To Implement Faceted Navigation Without Hurting Crawl Efficiency appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Google is testing a new ad groups interface for the Google Ads Search campaigns console. This seems to be a simpler interface with fewer options than the current version.View the full article

Pinterest fans are nothing if not loyal. Many have spent years—sometimes decades—carefully curating boards filled with wedding inspiration, home decor ideas, fashion, and more. Now users are logging in only to find themselves locked out of their accounts without warning, with all their pins gone. Frustrated users have taken to platforms like X and r/Pinterest to vent. The comment sections on Pinterest’s official Instagram and TikTok pages are flooded with pleas from angry users demanding answers. “I had a beautiful Pinterest board with over 26,000 of the most beautiful images and my account was just permanently banned,” one user posted on X. “Pinterest you will be dealt with.” Another, who reportedly lost an account they had maintained for seven years, wrote, “I feel like my library of Alexandria has been burned down.” For creatives, Pinterest isn’t just for fun—it’s also a professional tool. “It’s the industry standard to present a moodboard before any project goes into action, and the sheer amount of valuable references I’ve lost out on since being banned is hard to describe,” wrote one Reddit user. “I’ve had to postpone shoots and scramble to reassemble projects. Years and years of curating down the drain and multiple projects stuck in limbo.” Those who’ve lost accounts claim they’ve done nothing wrong. “I made a new account, didn’t even add anything yet. Get an email saying I’m banned/suspended,” one user posted on X. “I try to dispute it and your typical bot responds saying there’s nothing it can do.” Others are now afraid to even open their accounts for fear of what they might find. Many are pointing the finger at AI. Pinterest’s Help Center states that it uses AI in “improving content moderation,” a system it has relied on for years to enforce its Community Guidelines. Like many platforms, Pinterest uses a mix of AI and human review. A Pinterest spokesperson tells Fast Company: “Pinterest has long-established public Community Guidelines that clearly outline what is and isn’t allowed on the platform. We’re committed to building a safer and more positive platform, and enforce these policies rigorously and continuously. Users who believe their account may have been deactivated mistakenly may submit an appeal.” For some, that response doesn’t cut it. Instead, they’re exploring legal action, seeking “recovery for the damages users have suffered, which may include financial compensation.” These damages include direct financial losses from Pinterest ad campaigns or traffic, as well as “emotional distress.” View the full article

Jerry Dischler, the almost 20 year Google executive, is reportedly leaving Google a year and a half after he stepped down from that position. Jerry Dischler was involved in a lot of the Department of Justice negativity around Google's ad business, which may or may not be related to him stepping down in 2023 and now reportedly leaving Google in 2025.View the full article

Six years ago, Google dropped some of its search tools date filters and then added new operators for before: and after: that let you filter content by specific dates. Well, six years later, that feature is still in beta.View the full article

TikTok hashtags aren’t a one-way ticket to virality — but they can absolutely help boost visibility. When done right, TikTok hashtags help categorize your content, enable the algorithm to understand what your content is about, and boost your discoverability through TikTok SEO. In this article, we’ll explore everything there is to know about TikTok hashtags: What are TikTok hashtags? Why you should use hashtagsHow to find the right TikTok hashtagsHow to use TikTok hashtags properlyPlus, I’ll share a curated list of 250 trending TikTok hashtags — organized by industry to help you reach the right audience and grow your presence. What are TikTok hashtags?TikTok hashtags are keywords or phrases preceded by a “#” symbol – usually in the video caption – that help categorize content on the platform. Examples of how hashtags appear in the TikTok app When you use hashtags for TikTok videos, you help the algorithm understand what your content is about and put it in front of the right community. Using relevant hashtags also makes your content searchable. Your video will pop up when someone searches for the keywords you used in your hashtag. Users interested in a topic will often even follow hashtags related to it — like #BookTok or #MomsofTikTok. This allows them to stay up-to-date on the latest conversation on the subject. 5 benefits of using hashtags on TikTokIncorporating TikTok hashtags in your marketing strategy has plenty of benefits. Here are a few: 1. Boost visibility of your videosAdding hashtags for TikTok videos helps the TikTok algorithm understand what your content is about and put it in front of the right people. This is especially true for trending hashtags — TikTok pushes content with the most trending TikTok hashtags in its video caption. The more you use them, the more you increase your chances of landing in the relevant audience’s For You Page (FYP). 2. Build a communityHashtags create communities around specific interests. Using hashtags for TikTok – esepcially niche ones — allows you to join the conversation and find your tribe. Hashtag challenges, for example, help you understand and participate in your industry's trends. #icebucketchallenge, anyone? 3. Improve TikTok SEOTikTok is a search engine too. Just like Google, it relies on certain pieces of information to place content into the most appropriate categories, better organizing and surfacing them for searchers. Hashtags are another helpful piece of the puzzle for the algorithm, a way to better optimize your videos for search (SEO). They can help you make sure your video gets in front of the right people. 4. Get content ideasWhen you search for specific hashtags, you can find other TikTok videos on the topic. This helps you understand what resonates with your target audience and find unique content ideas. 5. Increase your viral potentialTrending hashtags are often tied to a particular platform-wide trend, like hashtag challenges or trending formats. If you participate in these trends and challenges, using the right hashtags increases your chances of going viral on TikTok and reaching a broader audience. How to find the right TikTok hashtags for your posts?There are many ways to find the best TikTok hashtags for your posts. Here are three popular ones: 1. Use the TikTok Creative CenterThe TikTok Creative Center is one of the best free tools for finding trending hashtags for TikTok and in your industry. Navigate to "Trends" → "Hashtags" in the Creative Center, and you’ll see a list of popular TikTok hashtags on the platform. These are the trending hashtags of the last seven days. You can also see specific hashtags for TikTok related to your industry. Filter using the “Industry” option – TikTok has organized its content into 16 industries. You can also filter to view the trending hashtags of the last 30 or 120 days, too. My favorite feature is that you can dive deep into a specific hashtag’s performance by clicking “See analytics.” Here, you’ll find: How many posts are associated with the hashtagHow the user interest has evolved for the hashtag over timePopular video examples that use the hashtagAudience insights of TikTok users who use those hashtags (age, related interests, and regional popularity)Trending creators who have used the hashtagRelated hashtags that pair well with the current hashtag This lets you gain insights into using specific hashtags and forming a cohesive hashtag strategy. For example, you can monitor how interest in a hashtag fades or rises over time, spotting hashtags you can use for evergreen content. It can also help you spot whether tapping into a hashtag or trend will help you reach the right people. For example, if 18-24-year-olds are your ideal customer (or follower), creating content around #X is a great idea. If you’re looking to capture a slightly older crowd, it’s probably best to look elsewhere. 2. Use a hashtag generatorThere are various hashtag generators in the market that can help you find the best hashtags to go with your post. For example, the Ahrefs AI hashtag generator for TikTok asks you to share a snippet and shares hashtags that fit the bill. The problem with using a hashtag generator is its reliability: You have to verify if the hashtags the tool provides are actually popular on TikTok. These tools also rarely help you find trending hashtags or discover viral TikTok hashtags. Still, it can be a useful jumping-off point if you already have a video or post in mind. ⚡Looking for hashtags for Instagram? Buffer’s free Instagram hashtag generator has you covered. Get a curated list of hashtags tailored to your content, tone, and audience, all in seconds. →3. Manual searchThe last way to find the best hashtags for your strategy is a bit manual — it involves going on hashtag searches of your own. AKA, using TikTok like a search engine. Type something broad related to your industry in the search bar. For example, if you’re hunting for fashion hashtags, type “fashion ideas.” If you’re searching for niche fashion hashtags, search for something more specific, like “sustainable fashion.” Once you get the results, analyze the hashtags other creators use. Do many creators use the same hashtags? Note it down – using it might help boost your brand visibility, too. If a creator appears repeatedly for your relevant hashtags in your industry, study their hashtag use — which TikTok trends they participate in, which hashtags they use on TikTok the most frequently, and how many hashtags they use. Think of this like a mini competitor analysis. This will help you: Get a list of different hashtags you can useIdentify the top TikTok hashtags in your industryUnderstand your target audience’s expectationsThe manual method of finding the best hashtags for your strategy might be a bit tedious, but it’s the best way to ensure you use relevant hashtags that boost engagement. Top 250 TikTok hashtags of 2025 (so far)The above methods are handy when you have the time to jot down and organize your hashtag library. But for when you’re short on time, use this list to find popular hashtags for TikTok, specifically in your industry. 15 popular TikTok hashtagsThese are general hashtags for your video content. They aren’t tied to a niche or any specific subject, so use them when you’re just starting out or experimenting with your video content. 1. #fyp 2. #viral 3. #tiktok 4. #foryou 5. #funny 6. #viral 7. #duet 8. #smallbusiness 9. #trending 10. #explore 11. #foryoupage 12. #trendingvideo 13. #tiktokcreator 14. #contentcreator 15. #tiktokchallenge Top 20 hashtags for TikTok in apparel and accessoriesTikTok mixes retail hashtags under the umbrella of ‘apparel and accessories.’ Note that many popular hashtags are related to a season, such as spring or summer. If you’re reading this in winter or fall, find retail hashtags on TikTok that fit this new season. 1. #spring 2. #springfashion 3. #springtok 4. #summervibes 5. #summer2025 6. #prom 7. #promdress 8. #tiktokshoprestock 9. #ootdfashion 10. #ootdinspo 11. #lululemon 12. #tiktokfashion 13. #onlineshopping 14. #affordablefashion 15. #shoplocal 16. #gymoutfit 17. #womenfashion 18. #fashionfinds 19. #newarrivals 20. #activewear Top 10 TikTok hashtags for TikTok in kids and maternityThese are the best TikTok hashtags for parenting creators and small businesses who market to parents. 1. #babies 2. #boymomlife 3. #toddlers 4. #toddleractivities 5. #ivfjourney 6. #auntiesoftiktok 7. #granddaughter 8. #momoftwo 9. #pacifier 10. #newbornlife Top 25 beauty hashtags on TikTokTikTok often lumps together self-care hashtags and beauty hashtags on the social network. You’ll find a plethora of branded hashtags on this list, too. If you’re a creator, this means the products from these brands are a viral success and may be worth trying for your audience. 1. #pedicure 2. #hairinspo 3. #toothpaste 4. #ingrowntoenail 5. #tanning 6. #hydration 7. #springnails 8. #teethwhitening 9. #glam 10. #nailartist 11. #cosmetics 12. #viralproducts 13. #nighttimeroutine 14. #tartecosmetics 15. #tarte 16. #ultabeauty 17. #cosmetology 18. #pixiecut 19. #easyhairstyles 20. #menshair 21. #cream 22. #affordablemakeup 23. #products 24. #naturalmakeup 25. #nailsofinstagram 15 best TikTok hashtags in educationThese are impactful hashtags in the education industry. You’ll also notice a few ‘job’ and ‘writing’ related hashtags since they’re quite popular in the niche. 1. #jobs 2. #space 3. #graduation 4. #studytok 5. #factory 6. #elemantaryschool 7. #premed 8. #studytips 9. #studyhacks 10. #jobrating 11. #writingcommunity 12. #research 13. #preschoolteacher 14. #publicspeaking 15. #creativewriting 15 best TikTok hashtags in financeSome hashtags here are timely and news-related (like the tariffs one). Before using any hashtag, always check the latest results to ensure it isn't outdated. 1. #trading 2. #tariffs 3. #contentcreation 4. #stockmarket 5. #inflation 6. #daytrading 7. #businesstips 8. #workfromanywhere 9. #sidehustlejob 10. #innovation 11. #wealthbuilding 12. #management 13. #businesstips 14. #automation 15. #smallbusinesstips 30 best TikTok hashtags in food and beverageThere are more hashtags for the food and beverage industry than any other category on this list. New trends keep emerging on this list as the seasons change, too (like #margarita in the summer). You’ll also notice a few branded hashtags like Crumbl of Crumbl cookies. 1. #chicken 2. #crumbl 3. #banana 4. #goodfood 5. #foodphotography 6. #weeknightdinner 7. #watertok 8. #hiddengem 9. #pastry 10. #matcha 11. #icecream 12. #dubaichocolate 13. #cookies 14. #eggs 15. #brunch 16. #fastfood 17. #coffeetime 18. #traderjoes 19. #coffeelover 20. #cakes 21. #chocolatecoveredstrawberries 22. #lunchtime 23. #drinktok 24. #pancakes 25. #sweettreat 26. #dessert 27. #chips 28. #fruits 29. #margarita 30. #foodiefinds 15 best TikTok hashtags in gamingGaming hashtags are often related to specific games — like Minecraft. These TikTok viral hashtags update frequently as new games release, so keep an eye on that. 1. #minecraft 2. # invincible 3. #brainrot 4. #cookierunkingdom 5. #sololeveling 6. #textstory 7. #giveaway 8. #minecraftmemes 9. #gamingcommunity 10. #dungeonsanddragons 11. #idkwhatimdoing 12. #multiplayer 13. #peppapig 14. #indiegames 15. #narutoedit 10 top TikTok hashtags in health and fitnessThese are the best hashtags in the health niche. The list below contains evergreen hashtags, so you don’t have to worry about using outdated hashtags here. 1. #wellness 2. #gymtok 3. #fitness 4. #workout 5. #bodybuilding 6. #training 7. #health 8. #mentalhealth 9. #healthtips 10. #nutrition 15 best TikTok hashtags in home improvementThese are the best hashtags for any house-related content — whether that’s gardening, showing your home essentials, or furniture. 1. #gardening 2. #garden 3. #plants 4. #furniture 5. #mirror 6. #landscape 7. #gardentok 8. #plantsoftiktok 9. #springcleaning 10. #architecture 11. #mold 12. #clay 13. #backyard 14. #gardening101 15. #homeessentials 10 best TikTok hashtags in household productsHousehold products, while similar to home improvements, often contain time-sensitive hashtags of whatever’s popular at that moment. It also often has holiday-themed products, like #eastercrafts on this list. The most popular hashtags in this category keep shifting as new products gain popularity. 1. #paper 2. #ribbonrose 3. #kidscrafts 4. #moneybouquet 5. #eastercrafts 6. #crochetflowers 7. #favoriteflower 8. #craftwithme 9. #paperflowers 10. #junkcaseinspo 10 best TikTok hashtags in entertainmentTikTok viral hashtags in entertainment often include artist names who have released new music or any entertainment industry-related news that’s time-sensitive. Like with household products, you need to refresh the most popular hashtags more frequently than other categories. 1. #rapper 2. #undergroundmusic 3. #concerts 4. #viraledit 5. #popmusic 6. #tvseries 7. #soundcloud 8. #yellowjackets 9. #chrisbrown 10. #band 15 best TikTok hashtags in the pet industryPet-related hashtags are often about a specific animal, like dog lovers or cat lovers. But there are also often hashtag challenges going on that you could participate in with your pet. Find these trending hashtags on the TikTok Creative Center. 1. #dogsoftiktok 2. #bunny 3. #chickens 4. #catlovers 5. #doglovers 6. #pug 7. #daycare 8. #naptime 9. #treats 10. #poodle 11. #adoption 12. #blackcatsoftiktok 13. #sunbathing 14. #cattoys 15. #fosteringsaveslives Top 10 sports hashtags on TikTokSports hashtags are often dynamic depending on what’s going on in the sporting industry. For instance, many of the hashtags below are about a specific football league and match. If you’re practicing social listening — or you’re a sports fan — you’d already know about what games are on, and, by extension, the trending topics on TikTok. 1. #baseball 2. #voleyball 3. #golf 4. #mlb 5. #softball 6. #barcelona 7. #realmadrid 8. #track 9. #championsleague 10. #fishinglife 10 best TikTok hashtags in electronicsElectronics hashtags on TikTok are usually about specific gadgets and not that time-sensitive. But when there’s a new release of an electronic item, it might become a trending hashtag as everyone reviews/unpacks it. 1. #portable 2. #phonecharger 3. #magnetic 4. #bluetoothspeaker 5. #phoneaccessories 6. #phonemount 7. #magsafe 8. #wirelessheadphones 9. #techgadgets 10. #fastcharging 11. #comfyfit 15 best TikTok hashtags in travelTravel content is often about place hashtags — like Japan or Washington DC, but here are a few general ones about traveling. 1. #beach 2. #beachvibes 3. #vacationmode 4. #beachday 5. #waltdisneyworld 6. #epicuniverse 7. #sunsets 8. #cherryblossom 9. #hikingadventures 10. #park 11. #capri 12. #zoo 13. #beachlife 14. #poolparty 15. #kidssactivities 10 best TikTok hashtags in transportationHashtags relevant in this category often include names of vehicles or accessories related to vehicles. 1. #biketok 2. #surron 3. #ebike 4. #caraccessories 5. #cinematic 6. #jeeplife 7. #carshow 8. #sportscar 9. #carenthusiast 10. #dashcam How to use TikTok hashtags: 7 best practicesTikTok hashtags are often a missed opportunity. Here’s how to use them properly to maximize their potential: 1. Mix popular and niche hashtagsThere are popular hashtags with millions of posts, and then there are niche hashtags that aren’t that crowded. My advice? Use a mix of both. Famous hashtags will boost visibility and reach a broader audience; niche hashtags will ensure you establish authority in your niche and build a social media community. For example, if you’re a food creator, #foodie would be a popular hashtag, and #weeknightrecipes would be a niche one. 2. Don’t use more than five hashtags per postIt’s tempting to add hashtags to fill the caption character limit. But you don't need quantity when finding hashtags for TikTok. In fact, adding too many hashtags can appear spammy and put off your audience. Instead of adding as many hashtags as possible, add between three and five quality hashtags to your TikTok content. Mix popular hashtags with niche ones, as mentioned earlier. 3. Steer clear of irrelevant hashtagsDon’t use generic hashtags like #foryoupage too much. They dilute the authority of your TikTok profile. It’s better to use more relevant, niche-related hashtags that reflect the topics of your TikTok content. Using irrelevant hashtags can also hurt your overall performance as the algorithm gets confused about your niche. 4. Use a hashtag manager to store your hashtagsSaving, organizing, and using hashtags can be challenging. But you don’t have to create sections in your Notes app to copy-paste or remember them by heart. It’s time-consuming and clunky. What if you had a hashtag manager built into your social media management tool? In Buffer, the hashtag manager helps you store and organize your hashtags. For instance, if you want to create a new category of hashtags to promote a sale, you can create a new group for it. Or you can categorize hashtags into your content pillars. Now, when you’re scheduling your TikTok content, Buffer will open the hashtag manager and in one click, you can paste all the hashtags you have stored. Pro tip: You’re not limited to storing hashtags in this tool! You can use it to save essential links or common CTAs you use often. Make it easy for yourself to implement your hashtag strategy by signing up for Buffer. 5. Monitor trending TikTok hashtagsBy now, you know how TikTok hashtags work and how quickly their relevance can fade. Keep an eye on the TikTok Creative Center to monitor trending hashtag challenges and use them where relevant. The algorithm loves trending content, too, so this will boost your performance. 6. Create a branded hashtagCreating a branded hashtag gives you the opportunity to boost brand visibility and recall. You can even start using your own hashtags for sales, promotions, unique offers, or influencer partnerships. The only thing to remember is to ensure your own hashtags are easy to remember and catchy so more and more people get latched onto them. 7. Measure hashtag performanceMonitor your TikTok analytics to find which hashtags boost your reach the most and double down on them. If you have multiple sets of hashtags, notice which ones drive the most engagement. Hashtags can’t save a poor post, but they can increase the reach of an excellent oneHashtags aren’t the key to going viral. But if you create engaging content that your audience resonates with, they can increase the number of new people you reach. I hope the best practices and list of hashtags helped you understand which hashtags you can use and how. Do you have any favorite hashtags that I missed? Comment below! View the full article