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Find your community; find your people. The Disruptors With Liz Farr Go PRO for members-only access to more Liz Farr. View the full article

Find your community; find your people. The Disruptors With Liz Farr Go PRO for members-only access to more Liz Farr. View the full article

This week, there has been a lot of chatter in the weirder parts of the online world about the supposed discovery of a hidden complex of underground chambers beneath the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. It seems a team of researchers announced they'd used SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) to reveal a number of underground buildings beneath the Khafre Pyramid. This discovery could offer proof the ancient Egyptian civilization was far more advanced than is generally believed, and possessed technology that rivals our own. It could change everything we think we know about humanity itself! In other words, big if true. Spoiler: It's not true though. All signs point to the “discovery” being an especially elaborate example of pyramid-based misinformation, another in a long string of untrue claims about the ancient Egyptian monuments that never seems to end, because cranks just love making up stories about the pyramids. What was supposedly discovered under the Great Pyramids? I gotta give the “researchers” behind this "discovery" an A for effort. The supposed results of the SAR-based research were shared with the world at a press conference held in Bologna, Italy, on March 15, and it all looks very official. Here’s a video of the event: It’s in Italian, and there are no English translation available yet, so I’m relying on other people’s translation work, but the gist is that the GIZA Project involves a team of “researchers, historians, archaeologists, and technologists” using high tech imaging techniques. They say they've discovered five identical structures connected by “geometric pathways,” eight “structures resembling vertical wells, surrounded by descending spiral pathways,” and “two large cubic structures measuring approximately 80 meters per side at a depth of 648 meters” at the site of the Great Pyramids. The conference featured multimedia detailing the supposed discoveries, charts and graphs, people acting very serious, and all sorts of “this is real science!” frippery, so as you’d expect, the easily fooled were fooled, easily. Alex Jones touted this as “greatest archeological find in HISTORY.” Others wondered if the structures under the pyramids are part of a massive power plant, or maybe an ancient super weapon, or part of the “legendary Amenti,” a subterranean city “linked to ‘universal knowledge of humankind and its ultimate spiritual transformation.’” Or maybe the entire thing is nonsense and nobody discovered shit. Where does this new pyramid research come from?Many of the claims made in the press conference aren’t based on any published research, so it’s just people saying stuff in Italian, but the facts that can be checked are largely based on a research paper published in the journal Remote Sensing in 2022. Corrado Malanga and Filippo Biondi are listed at the top of a paper named “Synthetic Aperture Radar Doppler Tomography Reveals Details of Undiscovered High-Resolution Internal Structure of the Great Pyramid of Giza.” It’s a dense read, full of technical information and equations like this: Credit: Remote Sensing Don't bother plowing through it and checking the math: The paper’s most notable feature is that it’s not peer reviewed, so you can safely ignore it for now. No independent expert in imaging has looked at this paper in a serious way to determine if SAR could even work like this, and radar experts doubt you could penetrate 648 meters through limestone bedrock. No archeologists have substantiated these claims. Neither have any historians or sociologists. Bottom line: without peer review, there’s no reason to take this paper more seriously than you’d take wild claims made by a random person on a bus. And that’s the generous interpretation. A less generous view is expressed by established Egyptologist Dr. Zahi Hawass, who wrote on his Facebook: All this information is completely wrong and has absolutely no scientific basis… the claim that a radar was used inside the pyramid is false…These people who announced this wrong information, they used techniques that are not approved nor validated, the details announced would never have been seen by using this technique. Until actual scientists have a look at this research (and I wouldn’t hold my breath) it’s safe to file it under “pyramid misinformation,” a hearty mind-weed that’s been around forever and seems impossible to kill. But pyramid myths are at least fun, so here are some other common things people get wrong about them. Myth: The pyramids were built by slaves or aliensConspiracy theorists often argue that “mainstream” archeologists and historians shouldn't be believed because they have a compelling interest in rejecting new ideas to maintain the academic status quo. But until relatively recently, many historians, archeologists, and most of the general public believed the pyramids were built by slave labor—specifically by the Jews. This is probably because Egyptians enslaving Jews is mentioned in the Bible (though the pyramids are not) and because Greek historian Herodotu reported that slaves were building the pyramids when he visited in 450 B.C. Even though it challenged the orthodoxy of their field of study, archeologists uncovered new evidence and reexamined existing evidence to change the conventional wisdom. It turns out the pyramids were not built by slave labor, at least not as we understand slavery today. Instead, the archeological evidence suggests the the pyramids were built by around 20,000 Egyptians who were paid, well-fed, had the equivalent of medical care, worked seasonally, and even left graffiti behind bragging about how awesome their work crew was compared to the others. This evidence also helps us cross "aliens" off the list of potential pyramid-makers. (Giants didn’t build the pyramids either.) Myth: Ancient people could not have moved the pyramids' heavy stonesWe don’t know exactly how the stones they used to build the pyramids were moved into place, but we have evidence that the ancient Egyptians loaded the stones on barges, floated them down the Nile, then dragged them on sledges over pathways they’d made of of slaked lime or tafla, probably using water to reduce friction. No advanced technology or extraterrestrial help was needed, and there’s no evidence at all to suggest they were employed. A lot of people working together can accomplish great things, especially if they have all been given enough beer. Myth: Pyramids existing independently in different prehistoric societies is evidence of a common cultureFrom Mayan pyramids in Central America to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, many disparate ancient civilizations built pyramid-shaped monuments, leading some to suggest they had a common culture or there was an ancient means of communication between groups. Some think there’s something inherently “spiritual” in a pyramid’s shape. While some ancient civilizations did communicate and trade with each other, the main reason pyramids all look similar is the same reason sand castles all have a vaguely pyramidal shape: It's the most stable way to build anything upwards, no matter where your ancient civilization is located. Plot-twist: A real anomaly was discovered near the Great PyramidThis news was not breathlessly tweeted by Alex Jones, but in 2024, real scientists announced they’d discovered a mysterious structure under the royal graveyard near the Great Pyramid of Giza. Using ground penetrating RADAR and electrical resistivity tomography, researchers from Higashi Nippon International University and other institutions identified an L-shaped structure that is about 33 feet long and is buried 6.5 feet deep. Maybe that's not as impressive as a city-sized proto-battery under hundreds of meters of limestone, but beneath that there's a "highly resistive anomaly!" It's totally unknown, so you can pretend it's an alien spaceship if you want, but scientists think it's probably a mix of sand and gravel or “an air void.” It’s not an underground city or the remains of an ancient battery, but at least it’s real. View the full article

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Google rolled out AI Mode to more users...View the full article

For the first time in six years the Wi-Fi World Congress (WiFi NOW) is back in the heart of the Wi-FI industry. The post Wi-Fi World Congress USA 2025 @Mountain View: Big themes & big ideas – make your plans now! appeared first on Wi-Fi NOW Global. View the full article

Tesla’s market share in Europe continued to shrink in February as sales of the all-electric car maker dropped for a second month even as EV registrations overall on the continent grew. As competition grows and a slowdown in European economies hampers total car sales, Elon Musk’s battery-electric (BEV) brand has sold 42.6% fewer cars in Europe so far this year, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) showed on Tuesday. Tesla commanded 1.8% of the total market and 10.3% of the BEV market in February, down from 2.8% and 21.6% respectively last year. It sold fewer than 17,000 cars in the European Union, Britain, and European Free Trade Association countries, compared to over 28,000 in the same month in 2024. Tesla currently faces a number of challenges in Europe, ahead of the launch of its new Model Y midsize SUV this month. The EV maker has a smaller, aging lineup while traditional automaker rivals and new Chinese entrants alike continue to launch new, often cheaper electric models. Musk, the company’s CEO, has also stirred controversy by courting far-right parties in Europe, which has added to Tesla’s sales slump. “It will be interesting to see to what extent demand rebounds once the new Model Y hits markets across the region,” Felipe Munoz, Global Analyst at JATO Dynamics, said in a report on Monday. Overall, BEV sales in the same markets last month were up 26.1% versus February 2024, even as total car sales fell 3.1%, according to the ACEA. A growing interest in electric cars in the world’s second-biggest EV market is largely due to new EU emission targets and the launch of cheaper electric models, market experts say, but it is not enough to compensate for shrinking demand for petrol and diesel cars. “We continue to expect global auto volume essentially flat” this year, Citi analysts said in a note. An EU filing showed last week that Tesla had formed a pool to sell carbon credits to more than half a dozen automakers as they try to meet European CO2 emission targets which came into effect in January. While based on 2024 figures, analysts estimate that Tesla’s sales can more than compensate for those companies’ emissions, the situation might change if its sales continue to drop. The EU introduced the targets to help EV pickup in the bloc, but it is expected to approve on Tuesday a relaxation of those measures, to allow a three-year averaging of fleet emissions. While total new car registrations in the EU fell 3.4% in February, BEV sales jumped 23.7%, a second consecutive increase, while hybrid car (HEV) sales rose 19%. Electrified vehicles – either BEV, HEV or plug-in hybrids (PHEV)—sold in the bloc accounted for 58.4% of all passenger car registrations in February, up from 48.2% a year earlier. “2025 has started really brightly for Europe’s electric car market,” E-Mobility Europe’s Secretary General Chris Heron told Reuters. “We are seeing the early impacts from manufacturer plans to meet the EU’s scheduled CO2 limits”. Among Europe’s top-selling brands, Volkswagen and Renault’s sales rose 4% and 10.8%, respectively, from a year earlier in the EU, Britain and European Free Trade Association countries in February, while Stellantis’ sales fell 16.2%. Sales at SAIC Motor rose by 26.1% from a year earlier despite the impact of EU tariffs on Chinese-made EVs, while they were down 15% at Geely-owned Volvo. The market share of brands not accounted for by the ACEA, including BYD and other Chinese carmakers, rose to 2.5% from 1.5% a year earlier. Total car sales in Spain rose 11% year-on-year in the month, while they declined in other major markets, with registrations falling 6.4% in Germany, 6.2% in Italy, and 0.7% in France. —Alessandro Parodi and Greta Rosen Fondahn, Reuters View the full article

Carrier says customer satisfaction is high on its current direct service between London and PerthView the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Amazon’s Big Spring Sale, running from March 25 to March 31, doesn’t quite hit the same discount highs as Prime Day, but it’s still worth a look—especially if you've had your eye on big-ticket items or tech gifts. This is only the second time Amazon’s hosting the event, and unlike Prime Day, you don’t need a Prime membership to shop (that said, Prime members do get better deals). If you think it's worth it, a Prime membership starts at $14.99 per month, but if you're still on the fence about that kind of commitment, you can always sign up for a 30-day free trial, use it to shop the sale, and cancel afterward. If your kid’s been swiping your Kindle and you’ve thought it might be time to get them their own, this PCMag Editor's Choice-winning Kindle Paperwhite Kids (2024) is worth a look—especially now that it's at an all-time low price of $139.99 (down from $179.99), according to price-trackers. It’s not just a regular Kindle with a “Kids” sticker slapped on it or some dumbed-down screen with clunky interface. You’re getting the same seven-inch 300ppi display as the adult Paperwhite, but with a kid-friendly twist—a cute, colorful case in either Starfish or Cyber City, a two-year, worry-free guarantee (they break it, Amazon replaces it), and a six-month subscription to Amazon Kids+, which gives gives them access to a curated library of age-appropriate books, including Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and more. After the six months, the subscription auto-renews at $5.99/month plus tax, but you can cancel anytime. All-new Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Kids (16 GB) – larger 7" glare-free display – Kids read an average of 1+ hour per day with Kindle – Cyber City $139.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $179.99 Save $40.00 Get Deal Get Deal $139.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $179.99 Save $40.00 The screen of the Paperwhite Kids is warm-lit and adjustable, so it’s easy on the eyes, even during bedtime reading. The interface is distraction-free (there are no games or ads here) and designed to help kids build a reading habit without nudging them toward screen time, according to this PCMag review. Battery life stretches into multiple weeks, even with daily use, and there’s 16GB of storage, which is plenty of room for books, comics, and audiobooks (it supports Audible via Bluetooth). Additionally, the Paperwhite Kids comes with an IPX8 waterproof rating, so a juice spill or a poolside accident won’t end in tears. That said, it’s not the cheapest e-reader for kids, and if your child isn’t into reading yet, this might be overkill. But if they’ve already shown a love for books, this is a well-rounded, future-proof option that can grow with them. Shopping for tech? Lifehacker can help you make the right decision. Browse our tech reviews and head-to-head comparisons for everything from laptops and smartwatches to e-bikes and home gyms. Subscribe to our deals newsletter, Add to Cart, for the best sales sent to your inbox, or browse our best-of lists directly on Amazon, including: The Best Over-Ear Headphones The Best Wireless Earbuds The Best Adjustable Dumbbell Sets The Best Projectors View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Amazon's Big Spring Sale is back, running from March 25 through March 31. It’s basically Prime Day’s laid-back cousin—longer, with slightly less fanfare, but still a decent time to pick up things you've been eyeing for months. And no, you don’t have to be a Prime member, but the better deals go to those who are. Luckily, Amazon still hands out 30-day Prime trials like candy, so you can sign up now, grab the deals, and bail before paying a dime. If you’ve been waiting to upgrade your action cam setup, the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro just dropped to its lowest price yet, according to online price-tracking tools. The Adventure Combo is down to $369 from $449 and comes fully loaded with accessories—three extended-life batteries, a protective frame, multiple mounting options, a lens cover and protector, a battery case that doubles as a charger, and a 1.5-meter extension rod (handy for wide shots or selfie-style vlogging). DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro Adventure Combo, Action Camera 4K with 1/1.3" Sensor, 12h Extended Battery Life with 3 Batteries, Stabilization, Dual OLED Touchscreens, Mini Action Camera for Travel, Vlog $369.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $449.00 Save $80.00 Get Deal Get Deal $369.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $449.00 Save $80.00 It’s a lot, but it makes sense if you’re shooting outdoors for long stretches or need the flexibility of different angles and setups. It was named Best Action Camera of 2024 by PCMag, thanks to features like its 10-bit D-Log M for richer color grading, sharp HDR video, and a front OLED touchscreen that’s bright enough to use in direct sunlight. The sensor size is also a healthy 1/1.3 inch, which reportedly makes a difference when you’re shooting in low light. Plus, it’s waterproof up to 20 meters without a case, and its image stabilization handles chaotic movement surprisingly well—great for someone capturing rough terrain on a mountain bike or filming themselves surfing. Read an in-depth review of the DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro here. That said, if you’re more of a casual creator or don’t need all the bells and whistles, the Essential Combo is probably enough. It’s $319, down from $339, and includes just one battery and the core mounts, though it lacks the horizontal-vertical protective frame. Same camera, fewer accessories. For day trips, vlogging, or hobby shooting, it’ll do the job without cluttering your bag. Just keep in mind that battery life hovers around two to four hours per charge (depending on usage), so having only one battery might get frustrating fast if you’re planning to shoot all day. Still, it’s hard to argue with the performance packed into such a small body, especially at this price. Shopping for tech? Lifehacker can help you make the right decision. Browse our tech reviews and head-to-head comparisons for everything from laptops and smartwatches to e-bikes and home gyms. Subscribe to our deals newsletter, Add to Cart, for the best sales sent to your inbox, or browse our best-of lists directly on Amazon, including: The Best Over-Ear Headphones The Best Wireless Earbuds The Best Adjustable Dumbbell Sets The Best Projectors View the full article

Google lawsuits may change the search engine's dominance in search and ads. AI competition and political shifts could impact your traffic. Here’s what to know. The post Checking In: Where Are We With The Google Lawsuits? appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

23andMe, the genetic testing company that has collected data from more than 15 million customers, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is looking for a buyer. If you're one of those millions who has used 23andMe's DNA sequencing process, there are a number of serious privacy implications with a potential sale—and it's time to delete your data. How your privacy may be at riskIn a general sense, any time you give your data to a company, you cede some control over what happens to it. As 404 Media points out, in the case of 23andMe, this includes how your genetic information is analyzed, monetized, and secured, as well as whether it will be shared or sold (intentionally) or leaked or hacked (unintentionally). While 23andMe has stated that its bankruptcy filing "does not change how we store, manage, or protect consumer data," there's also no way to know what will happen to millions of users' genetic information in a potential buyer's hands. This presents a number of risks, according to privacy advocates interviewed by The Washington Post. 23andMe already suffered a data breach in 2023 in which hackers accessed the records of around 7 million customers, and users are now trusting a company navigating bankruptcy to keep their information secure going forward. 23andMe's privacy statement also leaves open the possibility of your data being sold or transferred to a buyer like an asset. If that buyer's privacy terms and practices differ, you're responsible for tracking those changes—and when is the last time you actually read a privacy policy? Organizations similar to 23andMe have shared users' genetic information with law enforcement, government agencies, and pharmaceutical and insurance companies, which opens a whole host of privacy concerns, from police using the data to identify suspects to insurers denying coverage based on genetic risk factors. Your genetic data is connected to your family members, so any invasions of privacy also extend to other people. 23andMe itself has collaborated with pharma companies like GSK, and other genetic databases have created similar partnerships after being sold to for-profit entities. How to delete your 23andMe dataAccording to a consumer alert from the California attorney general, there are a few steps you can take to protect your data from any potential privacy concerns. First, you'll want to delete your genetic data using the following steps: Log into your account on the 23andMe website. Go to Settings > 23andMe Data. Next to 23andMe Data, click View. Download your data if you want to keep a copy. Scroll to Delete Data and click Permanently Delete Data. Click the link in the confirmation email from 23andMe to finalize your request. You can also request that your test sample be destroyed under Settings > Preferences and revoke consent for your data to be used in research under Settings > Research and Product Consents. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Amazon’s Big Spring Sale is back for its second year, running from March 25 to March 31, and it’s basically a slower, longer version of Prime Day. The deals may not be as flashy, but the price drops are real—and you don’t need to be a Prime member to shop. That said, Amazon says Prime members will get access to better discounts and more options. If you’re not already subscribed, you can grab a free 30-day trial to take full advantage of the week-long event, then cancel before the billing kicks in. One of the biggest markdowns this week is on the Samsung 50-Inch QN90D 4K QLED TV, which is currently going for $899—almost $500 off its list price of $1397.99. That’s the lowest price it’s ever hit, according to price-trackers. Samsung’s QLED panels have always had a reputation for sharp visuals and punchy brightness, and the QN90D keeps that legacy going, especially with its Neo QLED tech, Quantum HDR+, and mini LED backlighting, which helps with contrast and HDR performance—blacks look deeper, highlights pop more, and you won’t be squinting during those darker movie scenes. Samsung 50-Inch QN90D 4K QLED TV (QN50QN90DAFXZA) $899.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $1,397.99 Save $498.00 Get Deal Get Deal $899.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $1,397.99 Save $498.00 The main trade-off here is the lack of Dolby Vision support—something Samsung has consistently skipped, and that hasn’t changed with the QN90D. If that’s your go-to HDR format, this TV might fall short. Additionally, while it does come with an ATSC 1.0 tuner for live TV, it skips ATSC 3.0, so you won’t get newer over-the-air 1080p or 4K broadcasts. For most people, that’s not a dealbreaker, but if you rely on an antenna instead of streaming, it’s worth keeping in mind. At 50 inches, this TV is best suited for a living room or bedroom where you’re sitting maybe six to eight feet away. It runs on Samsung’s Tizen OS, which can be a bit cluttered if you’re not used to Samsung’s smart TV interface, but it does support all the major apps out of the box, including Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+. You can also stream straight from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac using Apple AirPlay, and it also works with Miracast or WiDi if you want to mirror your Windows PC. Amazon Alexa is built in, and thanks to the far-field microphones, you can use voice commands without picking up the solar-powered remote. Gaming-wise, the TV's 120Hz refresh rate push up to 144Hz with VRR and supports AMD FreeSync Premium Pro. Additionally, with an input lag of just 2.9 milliseconds in game mode, you can expect smooth, responsive gameplay, according to this PCMag review. Shopping for tech? Lifehacker can help you make the right decision. Browse our tech reviews and head-to-head comparisons for everything from laptops and smartwatches to e-bikes and home gyms. Subscribe to our deals newsletter, Add to Cart, for the best sales sent to your inbox, or browse our best-of lists directly on Amazon, including: The Best Over-Ear Headphones The Best Wireless Earbuds The Best Adjustable Dumbbell Sets The Best Projectors View the full article

Crackdown comes after jailing of Istanbul mayor sparked biggest street protests in more than a decadeView the full article

Big Bear’s internet-famous bald eagles—Jackie, Shadow, and their three chicks—have been a source of joy for millions of people during these unprecedented times. Unfortunately, that did not protect our feathered friends from tragedy. During a harsh late winter storm, the eldest chick died after the couple worked so hard to nurture it. This heartbreaking loss was a reminder of nature’s brutality and the ability to persevere. Let’s take a look at the timeline of this tragic event, the internet’s reaction to it, and how fans are moving forward, including with a chance to give names to the two surviving chicks: What happened to the baby chick? The week of March 9, California’s Big Bear Valley received two feet of snow. On Thursday, March 13, Jackie and Shadow’s instincts kicked in, sensing the upcoming storm, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley (FOBBV), the nonprofit that manages the bald eagle live cams. Shadow delivered three fish, five sticks, and three piles of fluff to prepare. Sometime after the 6 p.m. feeding, Chick 1 passed. Jackie covered up her babies for the snowstorm and did her best to protect them. Shadow perched nearby. The cameras revealed Chick 1 was not present during the first feeding the following day. The exact details of the chick’s death are unknown, according to the nonprofit. Even though the webcam operates 24/7, camera angles have their limits. Camera 1 was also damaged in the storm, with the nightlight and audio features taking the brunt of it. BOBBV did not jump to an immediate conclusion. As observers of nature, the staff and volunteers have much practice being patient. The organization even dispelled several rumors that were widely circulated on the internet. After more of the snow melted and the body of the deceased chick was spotted, the organization made a formal announcement on Sunday. At first it was not known which chick passed as it was hard to tell them apart because they were so close in size. Time eventually revealed that it was the eldest eaglet known as Chick 1. “In the midst of the sadness, we want to honor the life of this chick for its courage in getting as far as it did and for the joy it brought to us in its short time here,” the nonprofit told its more than one million followers on Facebook and Instagram. Jackie and Shadow appeared to be affected by the loss. On Sunday, Shadow moved the body from the nest bowl to the side of the structure. Jackie removed it from the nest altogether. The couple, however, do not have much time to mourn because they are kept busy raising the other two chicks. Thankfully, these eaglets appear to be in good health and thriving. How fans have responded to the loss These bald eagles have a massive internet following, so fans were understandably devastated at this news. It seemed especially cruel since during the last couple of seasons the eggs didn’t hatch, despite Shadow and Jackie doing everything right. “I wonder if Jackie and Shadow can feel the love of the thousands of us rooting for them day after day,” one fan mused on Instagram. “She was so brave throughout that storm, holding on for hours despite the high winds and pelting snow. What a gift it has been to watch these devoted eagles.” Many teachers use the webcam footage in their classrooms and were now faced with the difficult task of breaking the news gently to their students in an age-appropriate manner. “So tomorrow is the first day back to school after spring break and I’m not quite sure how to handle that our third baby did not make it,” posted one Facebook user who identified herself as a Pre-K teacher in Alabama. “But I’m sure I will find the words and I’m sure that they will be sad, but will understand that that’s just part of life.” Death is part of life, but so is the resilience that Jackie and Shadow have demonstrated. If they can ride out the storms, so can we. One way to honor the feathered family is to band together in community and help FOBBV name the chicks. Eagle naming contest ends on Friday On Sunday March 23, FOBBV announced a contest to name the remaining chicks. The deceased chick formerly, known as Chick 1, will now be remembered as Misty. This moniker honors former FOBBV volunteer Kathi Misterly who died of cancer and is dearly missed by the organization. It is tradition for Jackie and Shadow’s offspring to be named through a contest. The nonprofit asks for a small donation for suggestions to help offset the costs of running the webcam. It is $5 for one name, $10 for three names, or $25 for 10 names. The organization asks for gender-neutral options as the sex of the eaglets is not known at this time. Additionally, it warns that offensive and obscene names will not be considered. The deadline to get your entries in is Friday, March 28, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time. All the acceptable monikers will be compiled and a computer will randomly make a list of finalists. While the world may seem more divided than ever, the enduring popularity of this family of bald eagles has proved that is simply not the case. These feathered friends have connected humans around the globe and inspired unity and compassion. If that same empathy were channeled into our daily interactions with each other, think of the larger ripple effect it would have on the political, social, and economic challenges of the world. View the full article

As Ankara’s future hangs in the balance, EU leaders must fill the void left by Washington and defend democracyView the full article

There was a time, not so long ago, that I was completely abusing my right to use boxed mixes. I made a crumb cake out of muffin mix, peach dump cake, very convincing black and white cookies, and a super tender boxed cake by adding too much oil and not enough egg. I’ve learned a lot from all this screwing around with boxed mixes (for science, of course). With the recent surge in egg prices and the rate of birthday celebrating as consistent as ever, I began to wonder if there was a way for folks to make boxed cakes without using up all of their precious eggs. Then I remembered, of course there is—you can skip them completely. It was when I was trying to manipulate boxed cake mix to make thick, soft black and white cookies that I made this crucial discovery: All boxed cake mix wants to be cake. I used Duncan Hines yellow cake mix and tried everything to change the batter. I took out the oil. I added only egg. I added just a few tablespoons of water. All of my attempts bubbled, spread, and puffed into full-blown cake. I ended up using muffin mix to come up with the right consistency for black and white cookies. If you think about it, this basic understanding (that cake mix will always become cake) is why we know dump cake works. For those unfamiliar with this casually named dessert, you simply dump fruit (canned or otherwise) into a casserole dish and sprinkle dry cake mix over the top. Even the scant liquid from simmering fruit is enough to moisten the dry cake mix and activate it. Boxed cake mixes, like those from Duncan Hines, Pillsbury, or Betty Crocker, are all designed to be nearly foolproof. You just need to add liquid—eggy or not—and it will become cake. Don’t get me wrong, in a side-by-side comparison (see one below) you’ll notice the difference in puff and color, but the flavor is consistently good. It’s really hard to screw them up to the point that they’re not delicious. I’ve been trying for years and I haven’t managed to make it taste bad. Changing the ratios, especially the oil, might actually give you a cake texture you prefer (more on that later). Two, one, or zero eggs all result in cakeI wanted to test out how far I could push cake mix so I did a Funfetti test. The batter, prepared with the manufacturer’s suggestions, takes a cup of water, half a cup of oil, and three eggs. I did a few iterations. One test with only a single egg and double the oil, one test with no eggs and double the oil, and one with the proper amount of oil but zero eggs. Left: no eggs and double oil. Center: no eggs and normal oil. Right: One egg and double oil. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann While the mixture properly prepared according to the package’s directions has more of a domed top than the other reduced-egg versions, absolutely all of them became fluffy, soft, delectable cake layers. I think the single egg and double oil cake was my favorite because the single egg was just enough of an emulsifier to support the extra fat. It wasn’t weighed down, but it was decadent and moist. Left: cake prepared according to directions. Center: cake with one egg and double oil. Right, Cake with no eggs and directed amount of oil and water. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann But I digress: The real victory here is that the cake with absolutely no egg was fantastic. It didn’t dome, which is actually preferable if you’re stacking layers for a cake with icing, the texture was fluffy and moist, and the flavor was as Funfetti as could be. There was no need to replace the egg with anything, by the way. No extra water. No banana. Just mix the indicated amounts of water and oil into the dry mix. Pour it into the pans and smooth out the tops. Keep in mind that you can do anything in between too. Add one egg. Maybe you have two leftover egg whites. A stray yolk lurking in your fridge? Toss it in instead of the suggested three whole eggs. Not all boxed mixes are as forgivingWhile boxed cake mix is completely fine without eggs, not all boxed mixes are as forgiving. I tried to skip the egg in boxed Ghirardelli walnut brownie mix and—ho boy. That was absolutely disgusting. I was surprised, honestly; I figured since there was only a single egg in the recipe, what harm could it do to skip it? Lots. I made six brownie bites—three with a no-egg mixture, and three with the batter prepared according to the manufacturer’s directions. You get three guesses which is which. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Eggs are an emulsifier after all, and it seems like brownie mix truly needs the help of that single egg to integrate the fats and yield a moist and ungreasy final product. Your brownie mix is not the place to skip eggs. Do that with boxed cake mix instead. View the full article

Otter, the AI-powered meeting assistant and transcription service, is introducing a new AI agent capable of answering spoken questions from meeting participants in real time. The AI can also perform tasks like scheduling follow-up meetings and assigning action items to the meeting record stored on Otter’s platform. When responding to questions, it can draw on both publicly available information for quick research queries and knowledge gained from previous company meetings. The AI will only provide answers based on meeting records that all current participants have permission to view, ensuring confidential information remains protected. [Image: Otter]The tool can also be connected to other sources of information, like company knowledge bases or customer-relationship management (CRM) software, and its abilities will only grow over time. “It’s some simple tasks, but pretty soon, it can do more and more complicated tasks,” Otter CEO Sam Liang says. Currently, the AI agent must be activated with a phrase like “Hey Otter,” similar to Alexa or Siri. In the future, though, it may also be able to chime in automatically—answering questions and offering information proactively, much like a human meeting participant would. The agent is being rolled out to all Otter users and is currently compatible with Zoom, with support for Microsoft Teams and Google Meet expected in the coming weeks. Otter, which recently announced it has reached $100 million in annual recurring revenue, is also rolling out other AI agents aimed at supporting sales teams. One of them, dubbed the Otter Sales Agent, can provide real-time guidance to salespeople during virtual meetings with customers, and can surface answers to product-related questions and suggest responses to customer objections on the fly. [Image: Otter]Once the meeting is done, the Sales Agent can assist with drafting follow-up emails to customers or entering data from the call into CRM tools. The tool is now available to Otter enterprise sales customers, with Otter’s team helping configure the agent using relevant product information from previous meetings and other data sources, Liang says. “Initially, we’ll provide white glove service to help them build the model,” he adds. “Gradually, it can become self-serve as well.” A third new AI agent—called the Otter SDR Agent (short for sales development representative)—can be embedded into websites to conduct interactive live demos of products. The goal is to give potential customers a glimpse at how products work and ask basic questions at any time, without waiting for a human sales rep (though the agent gathers user contact information for a follow-up call). [Image: Otter]The SDR Agent is already live on Otter’s website, demonstrating the company’s own features. Upon request, Otter can help set it up for customers to use to sell their own products. Otter, which first launched a chat-based AI assistant in 2023 to answer meeting-related questions and perform basic tasks, is likely to launch other AI agents geared at helping with other types of calls, including customer service, recruiting, marketing, and user research, perhaps with more launches as soon as this year, Liang says. And while plenty of other companies are building AI agents and assistants, Liang believes Otter has an advantage in meeting-focused domains, thanks to customers who’ve let the company use their meeting data for training. “A lot of users actually contribute some data to us, allowing us to use that to train,” he says. “We actually have the advantage to build the best conversational AI agent that can participate in meetings compared to some of the other AI [companies].” View the full article

How does adding coordinates to the EXIF data affect local rank? Our team wanted to find out. That’s why we recently conducted a 10-week study on the effects of geotagging for local rank. The geotagged images seemed to only affect the ranking for “near me” queries in the areas the EXIF data coordinates specified. Their impact on those queries in those areas was positive and statistically significant. However, the study also found that queries that mentioned specific towns saw a decrease in ranking during the same period. In other words, when EXIF data targeted Salt Lake City, Utah, the query [lawn care near me] saw a significant increase in rank. For the same targeted area, the query for [lawn care salt lake city utah] saw, on average, decreases in rank. The geotagging debate SEOs have argued for years about whether adding coordinates to image EXIF data (known as geotagging) affects a business’s Google Business Profiles (GBP) rank. The theory is that if a business owner or customer takes a photo from their phone and uploads it to a GBP, Google reviews the EXIF (metadata) of that image and uses the location of where it was taken as a ranking signal. Phones automatically use location details to input EXIF data on each photo taken from the device. It’s speculated that Google uses the EXIF location data before stripping it. On the surface, it makes sense. However, skeptics don’t believe Google does this. This is because this data can easily be manipulated using any free EXIF editor. Google’s John Mueller said it was unnecessary for SEO purposes, two years ago on Reddit. “No need to geotag images for SEO.” Mueller also told me he didn’t know much about what GBPs do, in February on Bluesky. Joy Hawkins, owner and president of local SEO agency Sterling Sky, performed a test on this in January 2024. She tested five GBP locations and saw no measurable increases over several weeks. A month later, consultant Tim Kahlert, CEO of Hypetrix, performed a test. He also concluded that “this tactic currently has no effect on local rankings.” These tests were better than nothing, but still weren’t enough. Plus, the sample sizes of the locations tested were quite small. Those who say geotagging works never post their data or case studies, only offering anecdotal evidence. Geotaggers aren’t publishing their tests and skeptics aren’t conducting them at scale. Google flip-flopping on their position doesn’t help either. It was time this test was done justice. Methodology and testing Our test included 27 of our lawn care business clients. All SEO efforts were paused for the sole purpose of this test. Every week on Tuesday and Thursday, we would post a client-owned image to their GBP (two images per week). We then selected two towns in their service area grid that needed improvement. We based these on a baseline report taken from Local Falcon at the beginning of the test period. We kept these towns moderately far apart to avoid any kind of bleedover. In this example, we might have selected “Little Falls” and “Garrisonville.” During the test period, coordinates would be added to the EXIF data of the images. On Tuesday’s image, we’d add the center of Little Falls. On Thursday’s image, we’d add the center of Garrisonville. We ran a report, monitored position changes, and charted them, every week For each location, we tracked three keywords. Following the example above, we tracked: “Lawn care garrisonville” “Lawn care little falls” “Lawn care near me” For [lawn care near me] we monitored how it affected position changes in both of the target towns. The control period Establishing a proper control period was crucial. The control period had to run for the same duration as the test period (five weeks). To establish consistency and isolate variables, we: Maintained the image posting schedule. This ensured adding images on different days didn’t influence rank. Stripped all EXIF data to ensure the only variables in the test period were the coordinates. Monitored the same keywords to set a baseline. Paused all SEO efforts for all 27 locations. We continued as normal when the control period ended. The only change was adding town #1’s coordinates to Tuesday’s image and town #2’s coordinates to Thursday’s image. Findings Most of what we found validated the skeptics’ statements. But that doesn’t mean we ignored the geotaggers. Service + city In our example, when images were geotagged with their coordinates, both Garrisonville and Little Falls saw decreases in rank for “lawn care garrisonville” and “lawn care little falls.” The conclusion? Geotagging had no impact whatsoever. Service + near me This one surprised me – and it had statistical significance. Garrisonville and Little Falls saw an overall increase in rank for [lawn care near me] queries. Service + near me (CoA) Local Falcon also produces reports on Center of Business Address. This monitors the rank of your target keywords where the business pin is actually located. The end result: EXIF data had no effect on the business’s actual location for “near me” queries. Ranking dropped a lot more when EXIF data was added to the images targeting different areas. Service + city (ATRP) Average Total Rank Position is the average position in the target area. This is seen if only adding images targeting those two areas affects the rest of the service area. The end result: There was no impact. When EXIF data was added for the full-service areas, the average rank of those areas decreased further. Service + near me (ATRP) The “near me” queries for ATRP yielded the same result as above. No impact, yet rankings plummeted further with geotagging. Service + city (SoLV) Share of Local Voice is another metric Local Falcon tracks. It shows how often a location shows in the top 3 positions of the map pack for the target queries. The results started to deviate from Center of Address and ATRP reports. However, not by much. The final result was that geotagged images had no impact. However, this time, the ranking didn’t continue to plummet during the test period. Service + near me (SoLV) We had the same results with “near me” queries on both images as we did with the [service] + [city] queries. Geotagged images had no impact here. Final thoughts Out of the seven metrics we looked at: Only one saw an improvement. Six had no impact. Of those six, four of them saw a decrease in rank when images were geotagged The last five metrics focused on the service area as a whole, not the specific areas where the EXIF data was pointing. I can draw one main conclusion from this: Although it helps the “near me” queries in those targeted areas, it hurts everywhere you don’t add geotagged images. The solution? Upload tons of images to every town in the area to combat that. But you’re going to run into two problems if you do this: Your GBP will be spammed with low-quality images for the sake of adding images. Wouldn’t it be better to just make sure the GBP is using good photos? Adding images for the sake of rank diminishes the user-facing quality. You’re still losing rank for queries that use the target city in the keyword. It’s a trade-off that only looks at one version of a search term. The other version appears to have negative consequences. For these reasons, our agency won’t geotag our clients’ GBP images. Instead, we’ll focus on things that have a greater impact on local rank. View the full article

Matthew Pennycook says decision to accept seats in O2 box is not ‘appropriate’ View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. I have a problem: My garden is a finite size. It will hold only so many trees, though I’ve been trying for years to squeeze in more. The solution might be a micro orchard, which provides distinct benefits. First, all the fruit on your trees is reachable (because nothing is as frustrating as a peach just out of your reach) because the trees are kept small and fruit is encouraged to grow close to the ground. That small stature of tree means you can pack more into a smaller space. Being able to have many trees instead of one allows you to diversify your harvest, or improve the pollination of one kind of fruit tree by having a few trees of the same kind instead of just one. With trees this small, you can more easily control pests and viruses. A tiny tree is much easier to spray than a fifteen-foot tree. To make this easier, there’s an ever increasing amount of cross breeding in fruit to make trees more compact and to create hardier breeds of fruit. You can now grow olives and citrus in the cold, or apples in the desert. Start by choosing the right root stockSomething you might not know about fruit trees we buy today is that almost none are grown from seed. Instead, a young branch from a fully grown fruit tree (a scion) is grafted to the young trunk of a completely unrelated tree (root stock) known to be particularly disease-resistant or weather-resilient, or very tall or very small. The scion will grow instead of the root stock, and you end up with a fruit tree that has the fruit of the scion and the characteristics of the root stock, like a dwarf nectarine. The most common reason people choose root stock is the height. To achieve a micro orchard, you’ll want to choose fruit trees grown on dwarf stock trees that won’t grow taller than ten or twelve feet, and there is a difference between dwarf and semi-dwarf, which is 12-15 feet and likely too tall for a micro-orchard. You’ll prune the tree to be even smaller than the full 8-12 foot height, but you want to start with a tree that is already primed to grow as small as possible. The taller of my dwarf peach trees still wasn't as tall as my shovel. Credit: Amanda Blum How to choose your fruit tree varietiesI spent this weekend at One Green World, a national retailer of fruit trees, shrubs, and vines. They have the deepest catalog of fruit trees I’ve seen, with almost a hundred varieties of pomegranate alone. I spoke to Matt Voedisch, a crew member of One Green World, about how to choose trees for a micro-orchard. I had room in my front yard for four trees to start. I’ve been studying mini or micro orchards for the last few months, and there seemed to be some common trends. Apples and pears were common, and given the variety available on stock, that made sense. Plums were popular, as were peaches. However, the truth is that any fruit would be appropriate, so long as it is available on dwarf root stock, and that variety is noted for your growing zone. This could include mulberries, cherries, olives, and even citrus. Voedisch encouraged me to consider medlar and persimmon, both excellent ideas, but I was focused on peaches and pomegranates. He guided me to an Eldorado and Bonanza peach, both of which are available nationwide. I couldn't get over how small these peach trees were—less than three feet with roots, but full of branches and buds. I chose two pomegranates of the Hydranar x Goulosha variety, and was able to see what they’d look like grown up, as one was planted on site. The Hydranar x Goulosha pomegranate, full grown, only stands five feet or less tall. Credit: Amanda blum When to prune fruit treesIn some videos, I’ve watched micro orchard gardeners march out of Home Depot with 8-foot fruit trees, and lop them to hip height in the parking lot to fit into their car and get started on the pruning. I appeared at One Green World with pruners, steeled to take this drastic step, but Voedisch encouraged patience. Particularly for stone fruit, spring is too wet for big cuts, he said. He suggested waiting for dry conditions this summer. Generally, plants are pruned while dormant, after fruiting or flowering. So the end of summer would be an appropriate time to prune your stone fruit and quince. For apples and pears, the appropriate time is fall or winter. Medlars get pruned in late winter or early spring. While these are general rules, it’s always a good idea to check in with a local nursery for guidelines on when to prune, given local weather conditions any particular year. How to start prune fruit treesUnderstanding how the nuances of pruning—particularly, the angle and location of the cut—affect tree growth will be the success of your orchard. As a general rule, never take more than a third of a plant or tree at once. In almost all cases for a micro orchard, your first cut is going to be to lop the plant at hip height, regardless of what is growing above that cut. You want cuts to be at 45 degrees, so the branch grows up out of that cut. Think of the cut like it is forming an elbow. Each cut creates branching, with new branches forming from the nearest growth point (spur) on the branch you cut. By cutting the main trunk of your tree, you’ll force the tree to form branches at that junction, which will grow horizontally, not vertically, and they will each grow more branches—and now the fruit that grows on those branches will be much lower to the ground. How to prune fruit trees over the long termAfter the initial lopping, successive years will be about helping your fruit tree maintain its shape and balance. You always want the center of the tree to be open and airy, allowing air flow, sunlight, and pollinators to move through. There’s a greater likelihood of illness when trees or plants have a lot of leaves or branches in crammed quarters, and the less fruit you produce, the bigger and tastier that fruit should be anyway. The first cuts each year should be to remove any branches that are directed inward, rather than outward. All the branches should be moving up and away from the center. Next, you’ll want to consider branches that cross other branches, which should be removed. Any small, dead branches should be cut away. Finally, on each tree, you want to establish three to four strong lead branches (leaders) that leave the tree balanced, with that big airy center. There are excellent videos on how to prune using this method. During the first few years, you’ll want to limit your fruit by plucking blossoms from the tree (so they can’t develop fruit), so the tree has time to develop strong roots and branches. Concerns about micro orchardsThere are some concerns about keeping trees this small, and they should affect where you plant and how you maintain your micro orchard. Dwarf stock often doesn’t have the same disease resistance as taller or regular stock. This can be negated somewhat by staying on top of spraying your trees with the appropriate treatments for your area. In the wet northwest, we treat stone fruit with copper to prevent leaf curl and other diseases, and this is made much easier by keeping the plants small. Another problem is that the roots will not be as deep and this will affect the stability of the tree. Micro orchards shouldn’t be used as wind shields in your yard, and you should consider staking the trees for stability. You’ll want to be diligent during pruning about maintaining balance in your trees to help with this problem. Good luck, trees. Credit: Amanda Blum On Saturday, I dug holes roughly three times the width and depth of the tree roots and plunked my new mini trees into the front yard. These trees are so small they won't need that initial hip height cut, but next year, I'll be pruning them to keep them petite and, hopefully, in two years, I'll be harvesting fruit from them. View the full article

Han Jong-Hee, a senior Samsung Electronics executive credited with elevating the company’s television business, died Tuesday, the company said. He was 63. Han, a co-chief executive who oversaw the company’s consumer electronics and mobile devices businesses, died at a hospital after being treated for a heart attack, Samsung said. Han joined Samsung in 1988 and spent most of his career in TV-related divisions, during which the company became the world’s leading TV manufacturer. He was appointed co-vice chairman and CEO in 2022. Samsung, one of the world’s largest technology companies, has dual strengths in components and finished consumer products. The company had separate CEOs for its two major business divisions, the other being computer chips, which are all under the broader leadership of third-generation corporate heir and chairman Lee Jae-yong. Jun Young Hyun, the semiconductor chief executive, will now take over Han’s duties as the company’s sole CEO, Samsung said in a regulatory filing. View the full article

Dive into the essence of community building in marketing and discover its impact on growth and brand loyalty. The post Community Building For Marketers: Finding Your Why appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

If you try to add a new business to Google Business Profiles today, you may run into difficulties. When you get to the screen where you add your phone number and website address, Google won’t let you proceed to the next step. It is unclear if there is an issue with phone numbers in general, which may be causing this bug, or not. But there are also businesses reporting their phone numbers are being removed and also rejected from their Google Business Profiles. More details. As noted, on this screen, the “Next” button, simply won’t take you to the next screen: Google product expert, Vinay Toshniwal, wrote in the Google Business Profile forums: I’ve come across several posts about users facing issues when creating a Google Business Profile—specifically where the “Next” button becomes unresponsive after entering the phone number and website details. Please note that I’ve already escalated this issue to the Google team. I’ll share any updates here as soon as I receive more information. Vinay Toshniwal also noted that phone numbers are disappearing from some Google Business Profile listings. Why we care. If you are trying to get a new business added to Google Business Profiles and run into this issue, you should know that this is impacting everyone. There seems to be a bug with Google where you cannot add new businesses right now. I suspect this will be fixed in the coming hours or days. View the full article

So, you landed a job—and you’re already way too good at it. Maybe you took it out of necessity, maybe it was meant to be temporary, or maybe you thought it would be more challenging than it is. Whatever the case, now you’re stuck wondering how to stay motivated in a role that doesn’t come close to tapping your full potential. The good news? You’re not alone—and you’re definitely not stuck. Being overqualified doesn’t have to mean being overlooked or underutilized. In fact, with the right mindset and a few smart strategies, it can be a surprisingly powerful launchpad for growth, connection, and future opportunity. We spoke to 10 professionals who’ve been there—and came out stronger. Here’s how they made the most of roles they were technically overqualified for, and how you can do the same. Cultivate cross-departmental relationships The strategy I’ve seen transform this situation for many people time and time again is to cultivate relationships across departmental lines deliberately. Your advanced perspective lets you spot opportunities others simply can’t see. Start by identifying colleagues in different teams whose work interests you. Drop by their desk or invite them for coffee with genuine curiosity about their challenges. Listen carefully as you’ll hear problems you’re uniquely positioned to solve. I once noticed one of our senior analysts was feeling underutilized. After we talked about cross-departmental networking, she connected with our marketing team and discovered they needed help interpreting customer data. Her advanced skills perfectly filled their gap, and her job satisfaction soared within weeks, if not days. This isn’t about showing off but finding pockets where extra skills create unexpected value while keeping intellectually engaged. People remember who made their work easier, and these connections often bloom into collaborative projects that perfectly match your capabilities. Susan Andrews, HR consultant, KIS Finance Engage in open conversations As a founder, I believe that keeping overqualified employees engaged goes beyond simply assigning more work. It’s about creating an environment where they feel challenged, valued, and genuinely supported. People stay in companies where they see a future for themselves, where their skills are recognized, and where their well-being is a priority. This is why open, ongoing conversations between leadership and employees are essential. Motivation isn’t one-size-fits-all. Some individuals thrive on new challenges and leadership opportunities, while others value better work-life balance, financial recognition, or deeper involvement in projects they truly care about. If we don’t take the time to ask and understand, we risk disengagement and ultimately losing great talent. Beyond these fundamental strategies, I also believe companies should explore creative and forward-thinking approaches to employee motivation. Retaining overqualified talent isn’t just about avoiding disengagement, it’s about turning their expertise into a competitive advantage for the business. Here’s how we can take it further: Allow employees to pitch and lead their own initiatives, whether it’s process improvements, new product ideas, or research that aligns with company goals. Giving them the autonomy to shape projects can be incredibly motivating. Involve senior or highly skilled employees in strategic discussions, external industry panels, or mentorship programs. Recognizing their expertise beyond their immediate role gives them a greater sense of purpose. When employees feel financially tied to the company’s success, they’re more invested in long-term growth. Offering stock options, profit-sharing, or performance-based incentives can help align their goals with the company’s vision. Instead of generic training, allow employees to direct their own professional growth. Sponsoring executive education, certifications, or even providing a “personal development budget” empowers them to grow in ways that matter to them. Some overqualified employees feel constrained by rigid structures. Offering hybrid work models, results-driven schedules, or even sabbatical opportunities can keep them engaged and refreshed. At the core of all this is a culture of trust, respect, and recognition. Employees who feel heard, empowered, and rewarded are the ones who will drive the company forward, not just in their roles, but as true contributors to its long-term success. Livia Oboroceanu, CEO and founder, Acadova Anticipate needs and be humble Long before I was a leader and organizational development consultant, I was completing my original nursing degree. One of the requirements was to complete a two-month stint working in the operating room. This stint began in fifth year, so we were reasonably knowledgeable by then. As a “beginner” nurse in the OR, my role was to be a “gofer”—to open packs, to fetch things that were needed, and to count used swabs to make sure nothing was left inside. Within a day, I had figured that it was going to be a pretty boring two months. So, I decided to pay deep attention and to figure out what was needed, before it was needed—to make it interesting by thinking ahead, not waiting for instruction. On my third day, I was rotated into the operating room of the chief surgeon whose scrub nurse was always the OR supervisor. For the rest of my two months, I was the OR supervisor’s gofer. If she was on duty, I was her right-hand man. She was feared by the other students, but I had a great relationship with her and we had fun. Two months later, as I stepped out into the big wide world, she gave me a glowing reference which opened incredible career doors, and I had learned more than I ever thought I would working in a mundane job! More than anything, I learned a few profoundly valuable life lessons! Motivation and contribution are a choice. Be humble even when you think you know it all. If all you take away is experience that’s okay, but you never know! Janet du Preez (MSc MOTI), leadership and organisational development consultant, Engagement Dynamics Create your own challenges One method that I would recommend is to create your own challenges rather than waiting for them to come to you. Being overqualified does not equate to sitting around idle. Put your skills to use by providing suggestions or streamlining processes that can be backed by your skills and what you know best about the business. For instance, if you notice inefficiencies in processes with data, you can design a more streamlined analytics dashboard that saves time and provides better insight to your team. This demonstrates you’re taking initiative and have leadership potential, and it keeps you engaged. By setting a new standard for yourself and stepping outside your formal job description to challenge yourself, you transform a situation that may be frustrating into a platform for making contributions and professional development. As I like to remind my staff, “Stagnation is a choice—challenge is progress.” Peter Bajwa, director of technical development, App-scoop Solutions Inc. Shift mindset to opportunity I believe that every experience is an opportunity for growth, even when you’re in a job where you’re overqualified. One key strategy to stay motivated and contribute meaningfully is to shift your mindset from frustration to opportunity—specifically by focusing on how you can add value while building skills for your next level. My tip: Treat it as a stepping stone, not a setback. Instead of seeing the role as beneath you, use it as a platform to sharpen leadership skills, expand your network, or master an aspect of the business you haven’t explored yet. I always encourage women to go beyond their job description—whether it’s mentoring colleagues, optimizing processes, or taking initiative on projects. I’ve seen many women, especially women of color, hesitate to take up space in roles that don’t challenge them enough. But I’ve learned that thriving in any job comes from owning your value and making strategic moves. If you position yourself as someone who elevates the team, opportunities—whether inside or outside the company—will come knocking. You may be overqualified, but you’re never above learning, leading, or leveling up. Sheena Yap Chan, Wall Street Journal bestselling author, SheenaYapChan.com Use the job as training ground I know that being overqualified for a job can feel frustrating, but it can also be an opportunity. One way to thrive is to treat it as a low-stress training ground, a place where you can build new skills without the pressure of a high-stakes role. A great strategy to stay motivated is to set a personal growth goal within the job. For example, if you’re in marketing but want to improve your data skills, use the extra time to master analytics tools like Google Data Studio or Power BI. You can apply what you learn to your current tasks, even if it’s not required, and provide insights your team wasn’t expecting. By doing this, you stay engaged, add value in a unique way, and build skills that will help you in your next big role. Plus, leadership might notice your initiative and create new opportunities for you within the company. The key is to treat every job as a stepping stone, no matter where you are in your career. Daniel Sanchez, cofounder and CEO, Influencity Approach the role as consultant One effective strategy to thrive in a job where you are overqualified is to approach the role as a consultant rather than just an employee. This mindset shift will help you see your role not as a limitation but as a platform for contributing meaningfully. Try going above and beyond your assigned responsibilities and offer to become a mentor to colleagues or, utilize your knowledge, delivering in-house workshops. By carving out an unofficial role for yourself, whether it’s as a team advisor, or a problem-solver, you can build influence and showcase your abilities. By approaching your role with the mindset of leaving a legacy through mentoring, or introducing new initiatives, you can ensure that your contributions have a lasting positive impact. In this way, being overqualified becomes a chance to create meaningful change while challenging yourself to grow. Emily Maguire, entrepreneur and career consultant, Reflections Career Coaching Invest energy in personal projects When a job doesn’t challenge you in the traditional sense, it can give you the freedom to invest energy elsewhere. Instead of feeling frustrated, see it as an opportunity to perfect work-life balance. Use the extra mental bandwidth to work on personal projects, network, or build a side business. This way, the job becomes a stable foundation that funds your bigger ambitions without draining you. I know someone who took a lower-level role after years in high-pressure management positions. With less stress, they finally had time to start an online business while still earning a paycheck. A year later, their side business grew enough for them to transition into full-time entrepreneurship. If you’re overqualified, it doesn’t have to be a limitation—it can be a stepping stone to something even better. Shane McEvoy, MD, Flycast Media Master specialized software tools When you’re overqualified, sometimes it’s best to just lean in and learn even more. Most industries have specialized software tools, and being an expert at them gives you an incredible competitive advantage against your peers vying for the same roles—it even opens up opportunities to consult other businesses later. Learn the depths of your given tool until you become a master at it. Then, share your knowledge. Start with your internal team—help train them, create guides or learning modules, and serve as the unofficial go-to support person. This will give you something to strive for and challenge yourself in a role that doesn’t bring enough of that naturally, and it opens up a whole world of opportunities later. In electrical contracting, for example, estimating software has a steep learning curve and is notoriously difficult to use. If someone learns all the shortcuts, how to create the most accurate bids, and how to troubleshoot any problems, they become invaluable. Andrew Bates, COO, Bates Electric Bide your time and save ideas Keep your head down and bide your time. I was in a position where I was overqualified before starting my own business. Your well-meaning suggestions may come across as threatening if you’re more qualified than your boss who might think you’re after their job. My mom advised me to save my ideas in a notebook. When I later started my business, I was able to successfully implement many of my own ideas to scale my business rapidly. Givona Sandiford, CEO and founder, Melospeech, Inc View the full article

AI-powered search is drastically changing the way people find information. For years, ranking well in Google and Microsoft Bing has been the foundation of search visibility. But as AI-driven search gains traction, is that ranking priority shifting or staying the same? We’re in an era of uncertainty we haven’t seen since the early days of SEO – when search engines rose and fell in a battle for relevance. Time will tell which AI answer engine wins the game. SEO is still relevant, but AI is rewriting the rules. This article will break down: Six AI search players to watch and how they source content. Market share and usage trends that show where search behavior is shifting. How AI answer engines still depend on traditional search engines. What businesses should do now to optimize for AI-driven search. Here’s what you need to know. AI models and real-time search Before we move forward, a quick note on how these AI platforms generally work. AI models are trained on data available up to specific cutoff dates. For instance, Google’s Gemini 2.0 Pro had a knowledge cutoff in August 2024, while OpenAI’s GPT-4o extended its training data up to June 2024. Yes, it can change daily. This means that for recent events or emerging trends, among other things, these models rely on real-time data retrieval rather than their internal knowledge base. In other words, their ability to provide accurate and up-to-date results is directly tied to their ability to access and process new information from the web. That is key. Another thing to note is that AI search engines can build their own web indexes. For instance, Perplexity AI’s PerplexityBot crawls the web directly, creating its own content database rather than relying on Google’s or Bing’s indexes. But even so, AI search engines can and do still rely on search engine results, too. Website owners who want to control how AI search engines access their content can manage these crawlers in their robots.txt settings. Now let’s discuss the different ways AI search engines are relevant to SEO today. Google: AI Overviews AI Overviews represented a huge shift in Google Search. Google’s AI-generated responses – powered by Google’s Gemini AI model – are designed to provide quick but comprehensive answers by pulling information from multiple sources. For SEO professionals, this introduced both opportunities and challenges. AI Overviews rely on Google’s search index to determine what information to present, but they also change how users interact with search results. How AI Overviews work Google’s Gemini 2.0 AI model powers AI Overviews, generating instant summaries for certain queries. AI-generated responses appear at the top of Google’s search results, often before traditional organic listings. Market share and adoption Google still dominates the search market, holding about 87.28% of the U.S. search market. With billions of searches per day, AI Overviews have the potential to reshape organic search traffic and user behavior. What this means for SEO Ranking in Google still matters – AI Overviews primarily pull from the search results. A study by Rich Sanger and Authoritas found that 46% of AI Overview citations come from the top 10 organic search results. Anecdotal data from my SEO agency suggests you need to be in the top 20 for a better chance of inclusion in AI Overviews. There are outliers, and some resources cited in AI Overviews will rank outside of what we would traditionally call “being ranked at all.” Inclusion in AI Overviews can boost clicks to the cited sources and, according to some research, harm performance for those that don’t show up. For instance, for transactional queries, webpages included in AI Overviews had 3.2 times as many clicks as pages that were excluded. For informational queries, webpages with a presence in AI Overviews had 1.5 times as many clicks compared to webpages excluded by AI Overviews. If your content doesn’t rank well in Google, it’s unlikely to appear in AI Overviews, reinforcing the need for strong SEO. There are many opinions on which tactics you need to succeed. I advocate continuing to stay the course with a strong SEO program with a balanced mix of technical SEO, on-page optimization and excellent content. Website owners can control whether their content is included in AI-generated answers. Google-Extended is an opt-out setting that allows websites to block Google from using their content for AI models like Gemini, while still allowing Googlebot to crawl their site for search rankings. Blocking Google-Extended won’t affect your rankings in Google Search, but it will stop Gemini from using your content in AI-generated responses. Take note: Research shows that inclusion in AI Overviews can be more volatile than the organic search results. Takeaway: AI Overviews aren’t replacing traditional search, but they are changing how search results are consumed. For now, the strategy remains the same: Optimize for Google Search, and AI Overviews will follow. Google: AI Mode In March 2025, Google announced AI Mode, an optional feature designed to offer a more AI-driven search experience. Unlike standard Google Search, where AI Overviews appear alongside organic results, AI Mode allows users to toggle into a search environment where AI-generated answers take center stage. Image credit: The Keyword blog, Google How AI Mode works A separate search option where AI-generated responses are more detailed, conversational, and visually enhanced. Reminiscent of Bing’s Copilot toggle. AI Mode “brings together advanced model capabilities with Google’s best-in-class information systems, and it’s built right into Search. You can not only access high-quality web content, but also tap into fresh, real-time sources like the Knowledge Graph, info about the real world, and shopping data for billions of products. It uses a ‘query fan-out’ technique, issuing multiple related searches concurrently across subtopics and multiple data sources and then brings those results together to provide an easy-to-understand response,” according to Google (announcement link above). Google told Search Engine Land that, like AI Overviews, AI Mode surfaces relevant links to help people find webpages and content, and that Google teaches the model to decide when to include hyperlinks in the response. For example, if it’s likely that users want to take action on a website (like booking tickets), then links would be useful. AI mode will also decide when to prioritize visual information, such as images or videos, for queries like how-to searches. What this means for SEO Google says that AI Mode “is rooted in our core quality and ranking systems, and we’re also using novel approaches with the model’s reasoning capabilities to improve factuality. We aim to show an AI-powered response as much as possible, but in cases where we don’t have high confidence in helpfulness and quality, the response will be a set of web search results.” AI Mode is now in testing. Whether it will impact click-through rates in the same way as AI Overviews remains to be seen. Takeaway: AI Mode signals an ongoing shift towards AI-dominated search results. For now, we can assume that the importance of ranking well in traditional search remains the same. Dig deeper. Google’s AI Mode: Here’s what matters for SEOs and marketers Google: Gemini Gemini is Google’s competitor to ChatGPT and other generative AI tools. Gemini functions as both an independent chatbot and the power behind AI Overviews in Google Search. Over the coming months, Google plans to upgrade virtually all Assistant-enabled devices – from phones to smart home gadgets – to use Gemini as the default assistant. This shift shows Google’s long-term commitment to AI as a core part of search and user interactions. How Gemini works Gemini pulls from Google search results and third-party content partners (for example, AP) to generate responses, integrating search rankings into its answers. Gemini can also personalize results based on a user’s Google search history, YouTube activity, and app usage, making responses adaptive rather than purely search-driven. Market share and adoption According to Statista, Gemini ranks No. 3 on the most downloaded gen AI apps globally as of January 2025, with approximately 9 million downloads. Similarweb data shows that the majority of users are aged 25 to 34 (approximately 30%), with the second highest usage among 18- to 24-year-olds at about 21%. Image credit: gemini.google.com analysis, Similarweb What this means for SEO Ranking in Google Search is still crucial, but there’s more. Gemini pulls from Google’s search index, but it also sources data from content partnerships. Consider content that’s optimized for natural language queries, structured data to help enhance context and education-focused content (where teaching something is front and center). When Gemini personalizes responses based on user history, visibility in Gemini answers may vary between users. For example, if a user frequently engages with a particular brand’s YouTube channel, Gemini might be more inclined to mention or draw from that brand’s content when that user asks a related question. Click-through rates from Gemini remain uncertain, as Gemini doesn’t always provide direct links. Gemini comes in third for referral traffic as compared to ChatGPT and Perplexity, according to one study. Takeaway: Visibility in Gemini means business as usual in terms of having an excellent site that can rank in Google Search, but it also adds complexity with Gemini’s AI-driven personalization and conversational search trends. Microsoft: Bing Copilot Bing was the first major search engine to integrate AI directly into its results, launching Bing Copilot (formerly Bing Chat) in February 2023. It’s no surprise Bing beat Google here, as Microsoft has been a big investor in OpenAI since 2019. How Bing Copilot works Powered by Microsoft’s Prometheus model, which builds on OpenAI’s GPT-4. Generates AI summaries based on real-time Bing search results and external data sources. AI-generated responses appear at the top of search results, sometimes before traditional web listings. You can also click on “Deep Search” for more in-depth AI-powered answers. These answers are also linked to sources found on the web. In addition, there’s a Copilot toggle in Bing for a more interactive, fully powered AI search mode. Market share and adoption Bing accounts for about 7.48% of the U.S. search market. While small compared to Google, it’s possible that Bing’s market share may grow more in the future due to its early adoption of AI-powered search and the reliance of other AI platforms on Bing results. What this means for SEO Unlike Google’s AI Overviews, Bing Copilot is more likely to cite sources outside the top-ranked pages, but ranking higher still increases the likelihood of inclusion. A study by Rich Sanger found that over 70% of URLs included in Bing Copilot summaries rank in the top 20 Bing search results. Bing may present a growing opportunity as AI search adoption increases. Takeaway: Bing may no longer be just an afterthought in many companies’ SEO strategies. You’ll want to continue to have a robust SEO program that takes into account ranking signals for Bing. OpenAI: ChatGPT Search ChatGPT search is OpenAI’s initiative to enhance traditional search by integrating AI-powered real-time web search into ChatGPT. It was initially launched as the SearchGPT prototype in mid-2024 and later integrated into ChatGPT, allowing users to access live search capabilities rather than relying solely on pre-trained knowledge. By October, OpenAI fully integrated SearchGPT into ChatGPT, enabling it to perform real-time web searches and provide more current, sourced information for user queries. This positioned ChatGPT search as a direct competitor to traditional search engines, offering users an AI-powered alternative to platforms like Google and Bing. But here’s the kicker: It still relies on search engine results. How ChatGPT search works Powered by a fine-tuned version of GPT-4o, post-trained using synthetic data-generation techniques. This includes distilling outputs from OpenAI’s o1-preview model, meaning some responses are AI-synthesized rather than directly retrieved from the web. SearchGPT pulls data from multiple sources, including third-party search providers like Bing and direct content partnerships that supply proprietary information. Market share and adoption ChatGPT is the most widely used text generation AI tool, holding nearly 20% of the global generative AI user share in 2023, according to Statista. ChatGPT’s weekly active user base doubled in six months, with 400 million weekly active users now relying on its search capabilities, according to TechCrunch. Image credit: “Leading generative artificial intelligence (AI) text tools market share of users globally in 2023,” Statista.com What this means for SEO Since SearchGPT relies on Bing’s indexing system, ensuring your content ranks in Bing is essential. Content not indexed by Bing is unlikely to appear in SearchGPT’s responses. Chatter in the SEO industry suggests that SearchGPT might favor trusted, high-ranking sources in Bing but that it also relies on sources outside the top rankings in Bing. SearchGPT’s responses can include clickable sources, potentially driving traffic back to a site. A study analyzing traffic data from 391 SMB websites found that ChatGPT’s referral traffic increased by 123% between September 2024 and February 2025, making it the largest referrer among AI-driven search engines during that period. Additionally, ChatGPT has been sending more traffic to education and technology sites, with more than 30,000 unique domains receiving referrals by November 2024. The conversational nature of ChatGPT is changing how users search and consume information. Continuing to emphasize helpful content can only make a website more competitive. In the early days of SEO, search engines were highly susceptible to simple manipulation tactics. Similarly, ChatGPT’s AI-powered search may be vulnerable to manipulation, with tests showing that it could be influenced to return misleading or biased results. Takeaway: ChatGPT could be the biggest threat to search engine usage. However, SearchGPT’s reliance on Bing means SEO strategies must prioritize Bing to improve the chances of being surfaced in AI-generated results as well. Perplexity AI Perplexity AI is an independent, AI-powered search engine that blends large language models with real-time web data to provide concise AI-powered responses with direct citations. The citations piece is probably one of the more compelling things about Perplexity. In an interview with Lex Fridman, Perplexity’s founder Aravind Srinivas said: “When I wrote my first paper, the senior people who were working with me on the paper told me this one profound thing, which is that every sentence you write in a paper should be backed with a citation, with a citation from another peer-reviewed paper, or an experimental result in your own paper. Anything else that you say in the paper is more like an opinion. “It’s a simple statement, but pretty profound in how much it forces you to say things that are only right. “We took this principle and asked ourselves, what is the best way to make chatbots accurate, is force it to only say things that it can find on the internet, and find from multiple sources.” Launched in late 2022, it has positioned itself as an alternative and direct competitor to traditional search engines like Google. How Perplexity works Perplexity AI operates as an independent search engine, actively crawling and indexing the web to provide real-time, AI-generated responses to user queries. Instead of building a massive index like Google’s, Perplexity prioritizes indexing high-quality, frequently searched topics based on user behavior. By focusing on trusted and helpful sources, it optimizes for accuracy and truthfulness while maintaining efficiency. Each response includes direct source links, differentiating Perplexity from AI chatbots that provide answers without attribution. Market share and adoption Perplexity reportedly had 15 million monthly active users by early 2024. While still small, Perplexity holds approximately 6% of the AI search market—and growing. Backed by investors like Jeff Bezos and NVIDIA, Perplexity’s valuation jumped from $500 million to $9 billion in under a year. What this means for SEO Perplexity relies on trusted sources from the web. This means you must have an authoritative presence on the web. One study showed that 60% of Perplexity citations overlap with the top 10 Google organic results. Other research indicates that Perplexity has a group of favored, authoritative sources on the web to pull from. Because Perplexity is an independent search engine, ranking factors will be different from Google or Bing. Content formatted in a certain way may have a leg up, including clear headings, well-organized sections and succinct answers like FAQs embedded in your content—all of which can be quickly understood and extracted by Perplexity’s model.​ While Perplexity links to sources, data suggests referral traffic is still quite low. Takeaway: Perplexity AI is another contender that could continue to gain traction in AI search and take users away from major search engines. It’s important to remember that it still relies on sources across the web, making an authoritative site with the right content optimized for AI an important step in visibility. The future of AI search and SEO While some predict that the rise of AI will reduce search engine volume significantly (Gartner predicts a 25% drop by 2026), the importance of having a reputable website with trustworthy, optimized content remains critical for the foreseeable future. Time will tell which AI wins the game. With many AI platforms facing legal challenges (like Google’s AI Overviews and Perplexity’s lawsuits), legal decisions will also likely shape the winners and how AI search ultimately operates. So, which AI search engine should you optimize for right now? I suggest gathering research on the potential for referral traffic and the audience demographics using the AI search engine. Does it align with your industry and business? For those AI search engines that require “extra SEO effort” on top of what you’re already doing, make sure it’s worth it. Track your referral traffic to see if any patterns emerge. We know that Google is the dominant search engine, so continuing to optimize for Google is key. The situation is not perfect, however. While some websites report clicks are up from things like AI Overviews, others are losing big time. For example, research shows that for queries where AI Overviews appeared in Google, organic CTR fell sharply from 1.41% to 0.64% year over year. Image credit: Seer Interactive On the other hand, a different study looking specifically at AI search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and others found that they send 96% less referral traffic to news sites and blogs than traditional Google Search. Emarketer data echoes this: Image credit: emarketer Some data already suggest a basic hierarchy of referral traffic coming from certain AI search engines. For example, one study found ChatGTP to be a clear winner in referral traffic overall, but things fluctuate based on industry. Image credit: “SMB websites see rising traffic from ChatGPT and other AI engines,” William Kammer, Search Engine Land Image credit: “SMB websites see rising traffic from ChatGPT and other AI engines,” William Kammer, Search Engine Land As we continue to see all this play out, we can relax knowing that the fundamentals of SEO are not going away. Yes, the approach may change, but the foundation is the same: Put the user first, make a great website that’s optimized for the platforms your target audience uses, and continue to adapt to the different ways you can remain visible in search. View the full article