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BONUS CHECKLIST: Five questions to evaluate yourself. By Martin Bissett Business Development on a Budget Go PRO for members-only access to more Martin Bissett. View the full article

Back in January, State Farm announced that it was canceling its plans to run a Super Bowl commercial due to the impact of the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. “Our focus is firmly on providing support to the people of Los Angeles,” the company said in a statement at the time. But now the company is taking its Super Bowl work and bringing it to another pillar of its advertising calendar, March Madness. The spot stars Jason Bateman as . . . Bateman, a less-than-adequate substitute for Batman. Created by agency HighDive, the spot also has Grammy-winning artist SZA, popular streamer Kai Cenat, and content creator Jordan Howlett (aka Jordan the Stallion). Last week, Cenat made an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to tease the spot. State Farm CMO Kristyn Cook says March Madness is a huge part of the culture, and a perfect time to use humor to get an important point across. “I think today, more than ever, it may seem like insurance companies are all the same, but when it comes to coverage, having insurance is not the same as having State Farm,” says Cook. Over the past few years, State Farm has dominated headlines for dropping insurance policies in the areas hit hardest by the fires, due to the risk of extreme weather. It wasn’t the only insurance company to do so, but State Farm was hit hardest by the backlash. Now, the brand is putting on a full-court press as a strong sports marketer to counter the criticism. “Our consistent investment in sports is all about aligning [with] our business strategy, and that’s about how we reach large, engaged audiences,” says Cook. “We want to create that emotional connection with fans. And so you see us doing that, whether it’s in our sponsorships or the creative that we deliver.” Cook says that it’s important for the brand to ask people to really compare its record and services to other options. “Our category is very competitive,” says Cook. “It’s important for us to highlight the difference, and the timing couldn’t be better from a business standpoint. If it feels bold, it was meant to be. Because we feel it was important for people to understand the core message of the campaign.” View the full article

Google has made it much easier to find the answers we seek without navigating to various websites, but that has made it much harder to do business for media companies and other creators. And this new era of artificial intelligence-powered search will reshape the future of the internet, according to Matthew Prince, cofounder and CEO of Cloudflare. Cloudflare has a unique vantage point because it counts content creators and artificial intelligence companies among the more than 20% of the internet that sits behind its network. Driven by a mission to build a better internet, the San Francisco-based company is invested in finding a solution that works for all players involved. “The search-driven business model of the internet isn’t going to be the business model of the internet going forward,” Prince said Sunday during a discussion at the Fast Company Grill at SXSW. “And to the extent that we can help figure that business model out, I think it is existential for us as a business, but it’s actually existential for the internet itself to figure out a new business model.” After ChatGPT was released to the public in late 2022, Prince recalled how publishers and content creators began to increasingly identify AI companies as their biggest villain. And because the current dynamic of AI systems crawling these websites for information doesn’t provide any incentive for original content creators to churn out new content, that’s a problem for everyone—including Cloudflare. “If people aren’t creating original content, that’s the gasoline that fuels these engines, so you need to have that original content,” Prince said. Prince proposed a three-step possible solution. First, it’s important to create scarcity so creators don’t give away content for free; then if creators have the tools to identify when AI systems are crawling their websites, they’ll have control over which of those systems can access this information; and finally, the process should be monetized with a rate card in which content creators dictate how much it costs to crawl their pages. Evolution of a ‘better internet’ That Cloudflare is now thinking about the information ecosystem online is indicative of how much the internet has evolved since the company’s founding in 2009. Even the name was a nod to the major internet issues of that time: creating a firewall in the cloud. Whereas an encrypted internet was once the table stakes, Prince said, the standard has now become post-quantum resistant encryption. And looking ahead, Cloudflare’s mission to help build a better internet could mean protecting customers against Chinese hackers or making sure they’re fairly compensated for the content they create, he added. And he has an even more ambitious goal to make sure that information online continues to be available to all who need it. “My utopian vision of the future is that we get to a place where humans get content for free and bots have to pay a lot for it,” Prince said. “I can afford to sign up for a bunch of paywalls, but I really do worry about the kid in Rwanda who’s brilliant, but today has much less access even though there’s just as much information out there.” View the full article

Google’s AI Mode competes with Deep Search, shifting how users find information. See how this impacts search traffic, SEO, and the future of online research. The post Deep SEO: The Potential Impact Of AI Mode And Deep Search Models appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Treasuries surged and investors boosted their bets on Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts Monday as fear of a economic slowdown took hold across US markets. View the full article

Organizations talk about wanting innovation, but most aren’t willing to create the right conditions for it. We celebrate disruptors, bold thinkers, and game-changing ideas—but the way most organizations actually run makes creativity nearly impossible. Leaders ask, “How do we encourage creativity?” But the real question is: “How do we keep it alive in a world that values efficiency over exploration?” Efficiency kills creativity, but not how you think Most discussions around creativity killers focus on rigid hierarchies, tight deadlines, and risk-averse cultures. While these are barriers, the deeper, more insidious problem is the cult of efficiency. Organizations optimize for productivity, predictability, and speed—often at the expense of curiosity and imagination. Creativity, by its very nature, is inefficient. It requires space for ambiguity, exploration, and even failure. Yet, in many workplaces, the pressure to deliver immediate results leaves no room for the wandering that leads to breakthrough ideas. I have seen this firsthand in my work as a leadership advisor. In my early career in finance and strategy, I was conditioned to optimize every process for efficiency. However, I also saw that some of the most groundbreaking solutions came not from speed but from leaders and teams who embraced deep exploration. When I transitioned to coaching executives, I noticed a pattern: Those who created intentional space for creative thinking—whether through unstructured brainstorming, cross-disciplinary conversations, or reflection—were the ones who consistently led innovation. Yet, too often, creativity was treated as an afterthought, which happened only in scheduled “innovation sessions” rather than an ongoing practice. Toyota revolutionized manufacturing with Lean principles, but their greatest innovation—the hybrid car—wasn’t the result of efficiency. It was born from experimentation and long-term thinking. Similarly, Steve Jobs’s most groundbreaking ideas didn’t emerge from staring at spreadsheets but from deep, unstructured contemplation—something many leaders today would dismiss as unproductive. The paradox is clear: efficiency is necessary for execution, but it is the enemy of exploration. When efficiency becomes the dominant priority, creativity suffocates. Creativity thrives under purposeful inefficiency To sustain creativity, leaders must resist the impulse to manage it like a process and instead design for it like an ecosystem. Creativity flourishes in environments where friction exists—not in the form of bureaucratic red tape but in the form of intellectual collisions, differing perspectives, and permission to explore the unknown. This is what I call deliberate inefficiency—an approach where slowing down actually accelerates long-term innovation. Organizations that optimize solely for speed often end up producing predictable, incremental solutions rather than true breakthroughs. Throughout my career, I have worked with executives who struggled to break out of the cycle of busyness. One executive I coached, a brilliant strategist at a global biotech company, was feeling stagnant. His days were packed with back-to-back meetings, leaving no time for the deep thinking required for innovation. We worked together to redesign his schedule, blocking time for curiosity-driven exploration and structured white space for creative thinking. Within months, his team started generating novel ideas that reshaped their approach to R&D. What changed wasn’t their ability to be creative—it was their permission to be creative. The leaders who truly champion creativity do not see themselves as managers of ideas but as orchestrators of creative conditions. They assume three essential roles: the Curator, the Gardener, and the Alchemist. The Curator gathers diverse perspectives and fosters creative collisions, much like Pixar’s Braintrust, where raw, unpolished ideas are challenged in an environment of candid yet constructive feedback. The Gardener protects ideas when they are still fragile, allowing them to take root before they are subjected to scrutiny. Great ideas are often killed too early simply because they don’t look fully formed. The Alchemist combines seemingly unrelated elements to create unexpected breakthroughs—think of how Apple blended technology and design to reinvent entire industries. When leaders embrace these roles, they shift from controlling output to facilitating creative breakthroughs. How to design for creativity Creativity can’t be sustained through one-off initiatives like brainstorming sessions or innovation sprints. The most creative organizations embed creativity into their structural DNA. They don’t wait for inspiration to strike; they engineer the conditions where it can thrive consistently. I have helped organizations shift from ad-hoc creative efforts to more structured creativity ecosystems. One company I worked with struggled with stagnation because they relied too much on periodic brainstorming sessions. We introduced mechanisms that embedded creativity into their daily workflows—things like interdisciplinary collaboration spaces, regular storytelling forums where employees could share unconventional ideas, and scheduled “curiosity breaks” where teams could step away from execution to reflect and explore. The impact was profound: teams started developing ideas that had been dormant for years, and the organization saw a measurable increase in both engagement and breakthrough thinking. The best creative cultures recognize that innovation isn’t about having more ideas; it’s about creating the right conditions for meaningful ideas to emerge. This requires shifting from a culture of efficiency-driven execution to one that prioritizes exploration. It means rewarding curiosity, not just execution—encouraging questions, not just answers. It means fostering a culture where failure is viewed as a necessary part of the learning process, not a career-ending mistake. And it requires carving out white space for deep work and reflection, because creativity does not happen in relentless busyness—it happens in the pauses between intense periods of focus. The leaders who will thrive in the future won’t just be efficiency experts—they’ll be the ones who know how to protect and nurture creativity. They will recognize that innovation isn’t about simply having more ideas but about fostering the right conditions for meaningful ideas to emerge. This means prioritizing exploration as much as execution, rewarding curiosity as much as results, and carving out space for deep thinking amid the daily grind. The most innovative organizations won’t wait for creativity to strike; they’ll build the ecosystems that allow it to flourish. View the full article

Whenever I ask readers what the number one thing holding them back from traveling is, I almost always get the same answer: money. This problem — and how to overcome it — is my most asked question. “Matt, I don’t know how to afford travel. Help!” I have answered this question in a plethora of posts, emails, tweets, and Facebook posts. Long-term readers might even be getting sick of me discussing this subject because it is one I talk about so much. But I know no matter how often I address this question, it will come up again. Since this question comes up so often, I like to constantly remind people of this fact: You do not need to be rich to travel. There are plenty of ways to travel on a budget (and for free) — you just need to be willing to get creative. Traveling the world with little or no money sounds like an impossible dream. But it is possible. It’s not glamorous, but it’s possible. It should be said that there are some expenses you shouldn’t compromise on (like travel insurance) but there are tons of ways you can travel the world on a budget — including plenty of ways you can actually travel for free. In this post, I’m going to show you two things: How to travel cheap How to travel for free With the right budget and the right mindset, you can make your travel dreams a reality. Even if you don’t earn a lot or you have debt, there are still plenty of ways to go overseas (I still had debt when I went on my first trip around the world). They may not be fancy or luxurious, but if travel is your priority then you can definitely make it happen! Ready to kick-start your budget travels and save money? Just click on either of the links below to jump directly to that section! 1. Get a Job Overseas Not making enough money at your job? Working at a job you hate? Why not get a job overseas? There are plenty of opportunities in the world as long as you aren’t picky. After all, this isn’t a career you are starting — it’s just a way to earn money for travel. Here are some popular (and easy to find) jobs you can get when you travel: Au pair – An au pair is a live-in caregiver who helps a host family look after their kids. In exchange, you get free room and board and a small salary. You can read this post for more info on being an au pair. Bartender – It’s always 5 o’clock somewhere, so if you have the skills then this is an easy job to move overseas. It’s also an easy job to get under the table if you decide to go that route. If you don’t have the skills to tend bar, consider being a dishwasher or busser. Hostel worker – Hostel workers rarely stick around for long, which means there is always a demand for new help. It’s a great way to meet other travelers while adjusting to a new location. Three websites that can help you find hostels to volunteer at are Worldpackers, Workaway, and HelpX. Waitress/waiter – There are tons of seasonal restaurants around the world (and around the US) that need extra help during the busy tourist months. If you have experience, this is an easy job to find abroad. Dive instructor – If you have your certification, this is an easy job to travel with as dive instructors are needed everywhere. Best of all, these jobs are usually in picturesque tropical locations! Tour guide – If you’ve got a knack for history and don’t mind speaking in front of groups, this is the perfect job for you. It’s also usually a cash job, which means you get your tips directly. Cruise ship worker – This is a much more formal position than the ones above, but it’s a great way to travel. The hours are long, but there’s something to be said about living at sea! Seasonal worker at ski resorts – Instructors, restaurant staff, hotel staff, lifeguards — ski resorts need all sorts of staff to keep things moving, making this a goldmine for the overseas traveler (as long as you don’t mind the snow!). Yacht worker – While the hours can be long, you can make great money working for the rich and famous on their yachts. Best of all, you’re usually in some pretty amazing destinations! Yoga instructor – If you have the skills (and certification), teaching yoga abroad is an easy way to make some spending money. While you might need to know the language, there are yoga studios in pretty much every city in the world. Working overseas often gets discounted as an option because it seems hard to do. It’s not. Just be open. These jobs don’t require advanced degrees or a lot of work experience either. Are you going to get a high-paying office job? No. Will you get a shitty, low-wage job that will pay all your travel bills? Yep! I’ve met people from all walks of life, both from Western and non-Western countries, funding their travels this way. It’s an easy, fun way to lengthen your travels, deepen your experience, and make a little money so you can keep on traveling. READ MORE ABOUT WORKING OVERSEAS: 15 Ways to Find a Job and Work Overseas 2. Teach English Overseas One of the best ways to make money for travel is to teach English overseas. You can make a lot of money teaching — I replenished my travel funds while teaching in Thailand, and I have had friends leave South Korea with tens of thousands of dollars in the bank. All you need is the ability to speak English fluently and a TEFL degree, depending on the country you work in. If you have a college or university degree, you’ll be able to make more money and apply for better positions though it’s not necessary for many countries. Additionally, there are many websites and services out there that allow you to teach virtually. As long as you have a great Wi-Fi connection, you can help people learn English from anywhere in the world! Italki is one of the most popular online platforms. READ MORE ABOUT TEACHING OVERSEAS: The Best TEFL Courses for Teaching English Abroad The 9 Best Places to Teach English Overseas Can You Teach English Abroad Without a TEFL? 3. Go WWOOFing and Work on a Farm WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. It’s a platform that allows you to work on a farm in exchange for free room and board. It’s a great way to see a destination in-depth while allowing you to commune with the great outdoors. You have to pay to get to the farm, but once you are there, everything else is covered! It definitely will help you travel cheap as well as have a unique experience and meet lots of cool people. WWOOF has opportunities available in 130 countries around the world, with over 12,000 hosts and 100,000 WWOOFers. Some of the most popular destinations for WWOOFers are Portugal, France, Italy, Costa Rica, Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii. This post can give the complete low down on how to travel and work around the world with WWOOF. 4. Use the Sharing Economy Use the sharing economy to find cheaper accommodation, quirky tour guides, rideshare options, and home-cooked meals with local chefs. You can bypass the traditional travel industry with sharing economy websites and gain access to locals using their own assets and skills to become small tourism companies with cheaper prices. Moreover, locals know where to find deals. They know which supermarket is cheapest, which stores offer the best sales, and where to find the hole-in-the-wall restaurants and bars with the tastiest food at the lowest prices. Talking directly to them gives you access to that knowledge. Here are some of my favorite websites: BlaBlaCar – A ride-sharing app that connects you with drivers who have extra seats in their car (primarily for medium and long distances, and mainly in Europe). EatWith – Platform that connects you with local cooks serving private meals. RVShare – This website lets you rent RVs and camper vans directly from locals. Turo – A car sharing marketplace that lets you rent vehicles from locals. Campspace – This platform lets you camp on private property. Properties range from basic tent plots to luxurious glamping and RV stays. Trusted Housesitters – Connects you with locals with whom you exchange pet and house sitting services for free accommodation. 5. Cook Your Own Meals The best way to save money on the road is to cook all your own meals. While in Stockholm, I spent $60 USD for a week’s worth of groceries instead of an average of $15 USD per meal eating out! That’s a savings of $150 USD! I’ve done the same thing in dozens of countries all around the world — especially in expensive destinations like Iceland where eating out can really destroy your budget. If you are staying in hostels, book accommodation that has a kitchen so you have space to cook. If you’re Couchsurfing or using Airbnb, your host will probably have a kitchen. No kitchen? Pack your own container and cutlery and make some sandwiches and salads on the go. Not every meal requires a stove, right? Just because you are traveling doesn’t mean you need to eat out every meal. You won’t ruin your trip to Paris if you decide not to eat out one day! There’s simply no reason to be spending lots of money on food on your trip! READ MORE ABOUT SAVING MONEY ON FOOD WHEN YOU TRAVEL: How to Eat Cheap Around the World How to Eat Around the World on a Vegan Diet 6. Get Rail Passes Rail passes (like the Eurail Pass in Europe or the JR Pass in Japan) are a great way to save money when it comes to train travel. If you’re traveling around the region for a while, rail passes will likely be much cheaper than just booking individual trips. If you are booking individual trips, booking ahead of time can usually save you about 50% of the cost of a train ticket. However, that fixes you to a set timeline. If you don’t want to be tied into a fixed schedule, rail passes can save you a lot of money while giving you the flexibility you need. I’ve saved hundreds of dollars in Europe doing this! READ MORE ABOUT RAIL PASSES: A Complete Guide To The Eurail Global Pass A Complete Guide to the Japan Rail Pass 7. Sleep in Large Dorms Large hostel dorm rooms are the cheapest paid accommodation out there. The bigger the dorm, the cheaper it will be. While a 4-6 bed dorm might give you more privacy, a 12-18 bed dorm is going to be a bit cheaper. In the long run, this will add up. As long as you’ve got earplugs and a sleeping mask, opt for the bigger dorm to keep your budget intact! In a large dorm, you’re almost guaranteed to have some snorers. If earplugs don’t quite do the trick, download an app like Rain Rain, which plays rain sounds on a loop. You can set a timer so they stop playing after an hour or two, helping you ignore the noises of the dorm while you try to fall asleep. Spotify also has all kinds of rain and white noise playlists too. For discounts on hostels in Europe, check out HostelPass. This card gives you up to 20% off hostels throughout Europe. They’re constantly adding new hostels too. I’ve always wanted something like this and am glad it finally exists! (Use code NOMADICMATT for 25% off your membership.) READ MORE ABOUT HOSTELS: 11 Expert Tips on Picking a Good Hostel 6 Ways to Avoid a Bad Hostel My Favorite Hostels Around the World Want to travel the world for free? Download my free guide to points and miles and learn how to master the one thing all travel experts do to save money and get free flights and accommodation! Enter your info below to get the guide sent to you right away: Get the free guide 8. Use Student and Other Discount Cards Are you a student, teacher, or under 26? Welcome to the world of 50%-off attractions and a plethora of discounts! Get a student/teacher/youth card and save big while you’re abroad. Even if you’ve recently graduated, chances are you can still get by with your expired ID card (as long as it doesn’t have an expiry date). Always ask if there are discounts available for students or youth as this is an easy way to save tons of cash as you travel around! Museums, galleries, and other major tourist attractions usually have discounts (especially in Europe). It never hurts to ask! (There are also often discounts for senior travelers and veterans as well, so always ask!) 9. Get City Tourist Cards If you plan on seeing a lot of sights in a city, you should get a city tourism card. These will offer you discounted and/or free access to the major attractions and museums, as well as free public transportation. I saved over $100 USD with the London pass, $80 USD with the Paris Museum card, $50 USD with a Helsinki card, and tons more with other city tourism cards. They are an amazing way to save money on attractions that not enough people use. Just head to the local tourism office to find out what cards are available. They can help answer all your questions and make sure you save as much money as possible. Not every city has them, but most major destinations do and you’ll save a lot of money if you plan on seeing the major sights. 10. Capitalize on Your Skills Need some cash? Use Craigslist (operates in 70 countries), TaskRabbit (mainly in the US and Canada, though also in Italy and Spain), or Gumtree (UK-based) to find paid odd jobs, like assisting people who need a few things done around the house. It’s a way to make money when you travel without committing to a long-term job. Additionally, if you have a skill, sell it. Offer haircuts to other travelers, busk for money, provide online services like editing, graphic design, or consulting. It’s never been easier to work online. As long as you have Wi-Fi you can make money. The sky is the limit here — get creative! 11. Get Free Flights! Collecting points and miles is the #1 way I’ve been able to afford so many flights and hotels over the years. By using a travel credit card for regular spending on groceries, restaurants, and shopping, I’ve been able to earn free flights and hotel stays — all by spending money I was going to spend anyway! These days, there are tons of ways to earn free flights. Simply sign up for a few travel credit cards, collect miles, and then fly for free. Most cards offer sign-up bonuses of 50,000 points (or more) — which is often enough for a free round-trip flight right there. And if you sign up for both an airline card (e.g., a United credit card) and a general rewards card, you can combine the two point balances and get a cheap flight faster. There’s even a card now — The Bilt Mastercard®– that lets you earn points on your rent! Collecting points and miles isn’t only for Americans either (though US residents have the best options). Canadians can collect points too, as can folks from Australia and New Zealand and the UK. READ MORE ABOUT POINTS & MILES: Points & Miles 101: A Beginner’s Guide The Ultimate Guide to Points & Miles How I Earn 1 Million Frequent Flier Miles Each Year The Best Travel Credit Cards 12. Stay for Free There are many services that connect travelers with locals who are willing to let them stay with them for free. Using these sites, you will never have to pay for accommodation. I’ve used this service dozens of times over the years and always meet amazing people. Sometimes you get a room, sometimes a couch, sometimes an air mattress, but it’s always free. These websites not only save you a TON of money but also get you off the tourist track and into the local life. Win-win! Here is a list of websites to use for free accommodation: Couchsurfing Servas BeWelcome Warmshowers 13. Hitchhike Hitchhiking is a free way to get around that is relatively safe and quite common in many parts of the world, including Central America, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. I’ve hitchhiked in more than a handful of countries (and I know solo female travelers who have done the same!). Sure, it has a bad reputation in North America, but with some common sense and a bit of patience, you can hitchhike almost anywhere — saving you tons of money in the process! Here are a few basic tips to help you get started: Use a sign – Make a clear sign that lets people know where you’re heading. That will help drivers decide if they can help. Look presentable – Wear clean clothing, smile, and don’t obscure your face with something like sunglasses. People want to see who they are picking up. Check the laws – Hitchhiking is illegal in some places. Always check the laws to make sure it’s ok to do where you are. Take precautions – Note the license plate of anyone who picks you up and text it to a friend. Chances are you won’t need it but it’s better to be safe than sorry! Keep your valuables on you – Don’t leave any valuables in your bag if it goes in the trunk in case it gets left in the car (or stolen). Consult Hitchwiki – Hitchwiki is the #1 hitchhiking resource there is. Always consult it before you hitchhike to pick up tips and ensure you’re hitchhiking in a safe place. READ MORE ABOUT HITCHHIKING: 14 Ways to Safely Hitchhike Across the United States What I Learned Hitchhiking Around China A Lesson in Kindness While Hitchhiking through Iceland 14. Take Free Walking Tours Want to learn about the city, get your bearings, and see the major sights? Take a free walking tour. You can find them in most major cities — just ask the local tourist office, your hostel staff, or Google “free walking tour (city name).” You’ll get a solid introduction to the city while also getting access to a local guide you can ask questions to. I always start my visits to a new city with one. Just be sure to tip your guide at the end (that’s how they get paid). This page has a list of all my favorite walking tours around the world broken down by city. 15. House Sitting & Pet Sitting If you’re on a tight budget, you can pet and house sit for fellow travel lovers when they go on their own vacations! In exchange, you’ll get free accommodation while you’re watching their home and pets (animal care is involved 99% of the time). You can sign up for one of the sites below to start house sitting, allowing you to stay in one destination for a while without having to pay for accommodation. Everyone’s account is verified and has reviews so you know you won’t get cheated. This is a great way to travel long-term, with an important added bonus: you get a kitchen to cook your food (which saves you even more money!). You will also often get access to a vehicle and sometimes will be left a tip or free groceries. It’s generally people who are well enough off that they can afford multi-month vacations, so you’re usually in pretty nice homes and apartments too! The best website for this is Trusted Housesitters. You can read this post to learn more about how to start house sitting. 16. Use Your Social Network Does your colleague have a relative in Spain? Or maybe you have a distant cousin who lives in New Zealand. Or maybe a childhood friend of yours is working down in Brazil. These days, we have a vast social network of friends and family that stretches across the globe. Don’t hesitate to use that! Ask your co-workers and friends if they know anyone where you’re going. Get your mom to ask her co-workers and friends, too. Using your social network can be hugely helpful in traveling the world. You never know who knows who! ***By implementing a variety of these tips, you’ll be able to travel for relatively little money. With a little planning and some creativity, you can travel the world for cheap. Because if I can do it, you can do it too! Whether it’s two months, two years, or just a two-week vacation, travel doesn’t need to cost a ton. The key is to get out of the mindset that you must travel in the typical manner of simply booking a flight and a hotel. Using out-of-the-box, nontraditional ways to travel can lead to big savings. But it all starts with a change in mindset. From there, with some patience and practice, you’ll be able to make your travel dreams a reality — without breaking the bank! Stop paying full price for travel! Download my free guide to points and miles and learn how to use points and miles for free travel! It's how all the pros travel so much! In this guide, I'll show you: How to Pick a Credit Card How to Earn Up to 10x Miles on Your Spending How to Redeem Your Points And a Ton of Other Money Saving Tips! Get the guide How to Travel the World on $75 a DayMy New York Times best-selling book to travel will teach you how to master the art of travel so that you’ll get off save money, always find deals, and have a deeper travel experience. It’s your A to Z planning guide that the BBC called the “bible for budget travelers.” Click here to learn more and start reading it today! Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner. It’s my favorite search engine because it searches websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is being left unturned. Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as it consistently returns the cheapest rates for guesthouses and hotels. Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are: SafetyWing (best for budget travelers) World Nomads (best for mid-range travelers) InsureMyTrip (for those 70 and over) Medjet (for additional evacuation coverage) Want to Travel for Free? Travel credit cards allow you to earn points that can be redeemed for free flights and accommodation — all without any extra spending. Check out my guide to picking the right card and my current favorites to get started and see the latest best deals. Need a Rental Car? Discover Cars is a budget-friendly international car rental website. No matter where you’re headed, they’ll be able to find the best — and cheapest — rental for your trip! Need Help Finding Activities for Your Trip? Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace where you can find cool walking tours, fun excursions, skip-the-line tickets, private guides, and more. Ready to Book Your Trip? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel. I list all the ones I use when I travel. They are the best in class and you can’t go wrong using them on your trip. The post How to Travel Cheap: 16 Ways to Travel for Cheap or Free appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site. View the full article

Saving your passwords in your browser—like Chrome or Firefox—provides an easy way to access logins when you need them on websites, and having a safe place to keep strong, unique passwords is better than, well, not. However, browser password managers aren't necessarily the most secure nor the most convenient for filling password or payment fields in apps, nor do they come with features included with third-party password management tools, like encrypted storage or dark web monitoring. If you're transitioning away from your browser's password manager or simply want to remove credentials you no longer use, here's how to delete saved passwords in the most popular browsers. How to delete saved passwords from ChromeChrome allows you to remove saved passwords one by one or mass delete all data stored in Google Password Manager. To delete individual logins, open your settings via the three vertical dots in the upper right corner of the browser window. Select Passwords and Autofill > Google Password Manager. (You can also go through Chrome > Settings > Autofill and passwords > Google Password Manager.) Click the arrow on the credential you want to remove to open the record and select the Delete button. To delete everything at once, select Settings from the Google Password Manager left-hand menu and hit the Delete data button next to Delete all Google Password Manager data followed by Delete on the pop-up message to confirm. (This feature was recently identified by Android Authority as coming soon but seemed to be available already at the time of writing.) Chrome on mobile doesn't have a mass delete button yet, but you can remove individual passwords or select multiple passwords at once. In the Chrome app, hit the three horizontal dots in the bottom nav bar and open Password Manager. Click Edit to select the passwords you want to remove, and click Delete. To turn off password saving, toggle off Offer to save passwords and passkeys in your Google Password Manager settings. How to delete saved passwords from FirefoxTo manage and delete saved passwords on Firefox, tap the three vertical lines to open the menu panel and click Passwords. Select an entry and click Remove to delete it, or click the three horizontal lines in the upper right corner and click Remove All Passwords. On mobile, you can individually delete within the login record or select multiple credentials to delete at once by tapping Edit on the main password list. To disable password saving and management in Firefox, go to Firefox > Preferences/Settings > Privacy & Security and go to the Passwords section. Uncheck Ask to save passwords (or Save Passwords toggle on mobile). How to delete saved passwords from SafariThe process for removing saved passwords from Safari will depend on whether you have macOS Sequoia with the new Apple Passwords app. If you do, passwords can be deleted in the app by selecting the login and going to Edit > Delete either in the record or from the main menu bar. Or select all using Command + click and drag and drop to the Deleted folder. You can view deleted items for 30 days before they are permanently removed. In the mobile app, you can select one or more passwords and hit Delete. Note that Passwords now functions more like a third-party password manager than other browsers. Otherwise, for macOS Sonoma and earlier, go to Safari > Settings > Passwords, sign in with your password or Touch ID, select the website you want to delete the password for, and click Delete Password or Delete Passkey. You can also turn off password saving in the Passwords app under Passwords > Settings > Save passwords. Select Do Not Ask When Signing In from the drop-down menu. How to delete saved passwords from EdgeTo delete saved passwords in Microsoft Edge, go to Settings and more > Settings > Privacy, search, and services. Under Clear browsing data, tap Choose what to clear > Passwords > Clear now. If you want to turn password saving off, instead of selecting Privacy, search, and services, go to Profiles > Passwords > Settings and toggle off Offer to save passwords. How to delete saved passwords from OperaOpera allows you to delete saved passwords individually or in bulk. Open Settings, tap Advanced in the left navigation bar, and click Privacy & Security. To remove all passwords, click Clear browsing data > Advanced, select the Passwords and other sign-in data box, and click Clear data. To delete passwords one by one instead, go to Autofill > Passwords, click the three-dot menu, and hit Remove. To turn off password saving, toggle Offer to save passwords off at the top of this same screen. View the full article

Have you been hit by a 5xx server error in Google Search Console? 500 errors are an HTTP status code that indicates you messed up something and need to start a late-night debugging session. 500 errors are offensive. I can only compare it to eating fermented shark in Iceland – something you’ll want to spit out almost immediately. 500 server errors create a poor user experience and can reduce your crawl budget. If they persist, Google may start ignoring your site altogether. Your website should be commitment-worthy. If you’re an SEO professional, you’ve likely stayed up until 3 a.m. with coffee and your DevOps team trying to fix a 500 error. You’ll want to keep reading. I’ll spare you the suspense and admit – it’s usually not a quick fix. How do I fix ‘Server error (5xx)’ in Google Search Console? 1. Review all the pages under Server error 5xx report First, I manually reviewed all the pages flagged in the Google Search Console Server error (5xx) report. To access the report, go to Google Search Console > Pages > and look under the section Server error (5xx). If the list is extensive, you’ll want to export it to a CSV, Google Sheets, or Excel file to determine a URL structure pattern. It may only impact a specific subdomain or subfolder. 2. Inspect the URLs in Google Search Console Once you’re in the Google Search Console error report, click the magnifying glass icon to inspect the URL in Google Search Console. After you inspect the URL, you can confirm if it’s listed in your XML sitemap. Start with the pages listed in your XML sitemap that are serving 500 errors. These are your priority pages. 3. Go to the crawl stats report in Google Search Console Next, go to Settings > Crawl stats report in Google Search Console. This report shows the crawl request breakdown. Ideally, you’d see less than 1% of server errors (5xx) listed. 4. Analyze server logs If you’ve got a good relationship with your dev team, you likely have access to server logs. If you don’t, I understand your struggle. It’s the developers’ natural defense mechanism not to give access to their domain. The moment you get access to server logs, it feels like a kid at Christmas. Server log files show all the requests made by search engine crawlers. Server logs give you access to all different kinds of gifts like: How often a user visited your site. Time of day. Pages of your website with the most crawl requests. Users who receive the 500 server error. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. Business email address Sign me up! Processing... See terms. 5. Update plugins (if using WordPress) If you’re using WordPress, check your outdated plugins. These can be culprits of 500 server errors. You can either update the plugin or disable it. Just be sure to backup everything before messing around with plugins. 6. Investigate .htaccess file If you’re using a CMS like WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace, the .htaccess file is created automatically. If you’re using a more sophisticated angle of web development, check your .htaccess file for any recent configuration changes. If you see any changes, save a copy of the new one and revert to the old version. 7. Go back to the most recent server update If you recently updated your server, there may be some configuration changes that caused something wonky to happen. While you and Dev dive into the issue, revert the most recent server update until you identify the root cause. 8. Reach out to your hosting provider I mistakenly hosted my first-built website on GoDaddy in a shared hosting environment. It caused weekly outages on my site. Eventually, I migrated off of GoDaddy and into a private hosting environment. It saved me hours of work. 9. Upgrade your server It may be time to ditch your current server and upgrade to a more efficient server with more memory and processing power. What is a 500 server error? 500 server error is a server-side error caused by your website’s server. This means Google cannot access or index your page. Server-side errors are a “it’s not me, it’s you” type of scenario. 500 server error response code cheat sheet Here are a few common 500 server errors and how to address each. 501 – Not implemented: Your server is outdated or has a virus. 502 – Bad gateway: Your server is overloaded or there was an outage – or connectivity issues. Try accessing the page in Incognito mode. If it still doesn’t work, flush your DNS cache. 503 – Service unavailable: The error is likely temporary and will resolve itself. But to be sure, check to see if your server is down. If not, increase your server resources and disable your CDN and plugins. 504 – Getaway timed out: This signals a temporary glitch in your connectivity or your server is overloaded. Always contact your hosting provider. Then, check your server logs. You can also temporarily disable your CDN and check plugins. 509 – Bandwidth limit exceeded: This means your server is having a bandwidth issue. Contact your hosting provider to upgrade your server. Then, compress your website content and minify your code. 524 – Timeout occurred: The connection between your browser and the server is slow. Check your server memory usage and determine if you need to upgrade your server. Then, compress your website content and minify your code. What if Google Search Console reports a 500 error, but my site is working? First, double-check that you’ve cleared your cookies and cache files from your browser. If you’re still seeing the error, this could be a 503 error, As mentioned above, a 503 error is when your server is overstuffed like a dumpling with crawl requests. Your server can’t handle the number of requests. In this situation, consider upgrading your server. Consult your dev team before starting to maintain that solid relationship. This is a temporary and quick solution. In the long run, you’ll want to identify uncompressed files and begin compressing them. Don’t fall into the ‘Server error 5xx’ trap in Google Search Console with overloaded servers or poor configuration If you’ve come across a “Server error 5xx” in Google Search Console, you know how frustrating it can be. These errors are outdated and unwelcome – like finding a stack of VHS tapes at a flea market. But 500 server errors can be dangerously unassuming. Don’t make the mistake of avoiding it. You can’t ignore these errors. It’s one of those impossible errors like washing cigarette smell off your hands. Grab some booze for a late night with your dev team if you want your website to be meant for search engine consumption. Let your SEO instincts kick in. Eventually, you’ll develop a vested interest in fixing your 500 server errors. View the full article

With views of current finances among the poorest Americans already near the lowest in 14 years, tariffs are set to add more pressure by making many everyday items even pricier. 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 $144.95, down from a steep $349.99, the Sony SRS-XG300 is at its lowest price ever, according to price-trackers. That’s a massive drop for a speaker that bagged PCMag’s Best Speaker of the Year 2022 and its Editor’s Choice award. Plus, free shipping is included for everyone, and if you're a Prime member, it’ll be at your doorstep in a day. Sony packed this one with plenty of features, starting with its IP67 rating, which makes it fully waterproof and dust-proof. Poolside splashes, a bit of dust at the beach, or just a rowdy party setup—this outdoor speaker is equipped to handle it all. It also has a built-in USB-A port that lets you charge your phone in a pinch and an aux input (so you're not stuck with just Bluetooth). It's claimed to have 25 hours of battery life, but like all speakers, that depends on how loud you go. Sony SRS-XG300 $144.95 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $349.99 Save $205.04 Get Deal Get Deal $144.95 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $349.99 Save $205.04 When it comes to sound, you get two front-facing woofers and tweeters that push out a frequency range of 20Hz to 20KHz, with passive radiators (with LEDs around them for a little extra flair), adding a deep low end. If you want to dial up the thump even more, a Mega Bass button lets you do just that without distorting, even at higher volumes. However, while the highs stay crisp, the mids reportedly take a bit of a backseat (something to consider if you’re into detailed vocal clarity). Its Bluetooth 5.2 support keeps the connection stable, and with support for AAC, LDAC, and SBC codecs, streaming quality is solid. Android users also get Google Fast Pair for quick setup, but there’s no AptX support, which might be a letdown for those looking for top-tier wireless audio. On the plus side, if you have other Sony speakers, you can sync them for a multi-speaker setup via the app. Speaking of apps, the SRS-XG300's companion app gives you a bit of EQ control, though it’s pretty basic, and you can't save custom presets (but at least it remembers your settings), notes this PCMag review. If you're considering alternatives, you might want to check out the JBL Charge 5 ($119.95, down from $179.95). View the full article

Trend driven by rents rising faster than house prices as landlords leave the marketView the full article

Japanese automaker Nissan’s chief executive, Makoto Uchida, is stepping down after the company reported dismal financial results. Nissan Motor Corp. said in a statement Tuesday that Ivan Espinosa, who is now the company’s chief planning officer, will take Uchida’s place, effective April 1. Espinosa, who joined Nissan in 2003, has spent much of his Nissan career in Mexico and Southeast Asia, overseeing product planning including the drive toward electric vehicles. “I sincerely believe that Nissan has so much more potential than what we’re seeing today,” Espinosa told reporters, while stressing that he needs time to come up with details for a turnaround. He stressed his love for Nissan, noting he has developed a deep understanding of what makes the company unique and valuable. Nissan said the company leadership needed to be “renewed” to achieve long-term growth. Uchida, who remains as a director, expressed confidence in Espinosa as “a real car guy,” and stressed he was handing over the baton of leadership to better unify company ranks. “I am confident that Nissan will definitely make a comeback,” he said, appearing at the hastily called news conference with Espinosa. Speculation about Uchida’s future was rife after he called off talks last month with Japanese rival Honda Motor Co., announced late last year, to set up a joint holding company to integrate its businesses. At the time, he told reporters the focus of the talks had changed to making Nissan into a Honda subsidiary, which he denounced as unacceptable. He also said their strategic partnership to realize synergies on specific projects like electric vehicles and other research will continue. Nissan is projecting a loss of 80 billion yen ($540 million) for the full fiscal year through the end of this month. When asked about talks with Honda and other possible partnerships, Espinosa declined comment, saying he needed more time. During Uchida’s more than five years at Nissan’s helm, sales faltered, including in key markets like the U.S. and China. Uchida also earlier announced the company was slashing 9,000 jobs. It’s a sad turn for the maker of the Z sportscar, loved by auto buffs around the world, and the Leaf electric car, a pioneer in that sector that launched in 2010. Uchida joined Nissan in 2003, job-hopping from major Japanese trading company Nissho Iwai, and worked with Nissan’s alliance partner Renault SA of France before overseeing Nissan’s China operations. Nissan was rescued from near bankruptcy by Renault in 1999. In 2018, Carlos Ghosn, the former superstar executive sent in by Renault, was arrested by Japanese authorities on various financial misconduct charges, including under-reporting his compensation. He later fled Japan for Lebanon. Nissan’s tarnished corporate image after the Ghosn fiasco was a major challenge, Nishida said. So were the COVID-19 pandemic and broader shifts in the auto industry. Apart from Uchida’s departure as chief executive, Nissan announced other sweeping managerial changes, including giving an expanded role to Guillaume Cartier, its chief performance officer, in global marketing and customer experience. Eiichi Akashi, corporate vice president of the Vehicle Planning and Vehicle Component Engineering Division, was named chief technology officer, succeeding Kunio Nakaguro. Teiji Hirata, a corporate vice president, will become chief “monozukuri” officer and executive officer, responsible for manufacturing and supply chain management, replacing Hideyuki Sakamoto. Jeremy Papin, the chief financial officer, was also appointed to be an executive officer. There was no change for Stephen Ma, who serves as chairperson of Nissan’s management committee in China. Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@yurikageyama —Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer View the full article

Arena is expected to cost at least £2bn and be the ‘centrepiece’ of a major regeneration projectView the full article

The Coalition for Financial Ecosystem Standards, a fintech group co-founded by Sima Gandhi, is publishing guidelines for how banks and others can assess them. View the full article

Installing a bunch of applications at once on Windows can be annoying. You need to find the installer packages, download them, then run them all, one after another. It requires spending a bunch of time clicking though menus and checking boxes. But you don't have to live this way. Linux users have long used package managers to accomplish this with far greater ease—as have some Mac users. Using a package manager, you can type a single command to install as many different applications as you want. And, it turns out, Windows comes with a package manager. It's called Winget. You can try it right now—just open PowerShell, which you can find in the start menu or by right-clicking the Windows logo and clicking "Terminal." Type winget search followed by the application you want to install. In most cases, you should be delivered a list of options. Credit: Justin Pot In the above example I wanted to install Steam, so I ran the command winget search steam. I got a long list of results, mostly because there are a bunch of applications that include the word "steam." The second column, labeled ID, tells me the exact name I need in order to install the package in question. After finding the application I want, I can install it with a command. In this case, I type winget install Valve.Steam and hit enter, and Winget will take it from there. Credit: Justin Pot After I type that command, Winget downloads Steam and automatically runs the installer for me. Note that if you're not using an administrator PowerShell, you will be prompted by to give installation permissions. You can launch PowerShell as an administrator by right-clicking the Windows logo on the taskbar and clicking "Terminal (Admin)". Alternatively, you can use sudo for Windows. That caveat aside, you can use these commands to install any of almost 8,000 applications. And it gets even better, because you're not limited to installing one application at a time—your command can include as many apps as you want, and winget will install them all. Credit: Justin Pot Bulk install a bunch of programs with hep from winstall.appYou could look up the ID name for every application you want to install as described above, but there's a website that makes the process a lot easier for you—winstall.app. It's basically a directory for Winget that allows you to select as many applications as you want and copy a single command you can use to install them all in one go. Credit: Justin Pot Winget can also run updates, delete programs, and moreWinget can do more than just install applications. You can also use it to update all of the software you've installed using it. First, type winget update to see a list of all the applications that need updates. Next, type winget update --all to install all the listed updates. You can also remove applications using Winget too: type winget remove followed by the package name of the application you want to remove—for example, winget remove Valve.Steam. There's a bit more Winget can do, including downloading installers without running them (winget download) and exporting your current list of packages so you can reuse it on another devices (winget export). Learn more by checking out the official Winget documentation from Microsoft. View the full article

In the last few months, I’ve seen a lot of confusion around Meta Ads’ health restrictions – frightened health marketers and scare tactics from some uncool people. This article aims to set the record straight. Meta Ads 2025 health restrictions: Context and regulations Meta is doing its best to comply with regulations (think HIPAA in the U.S., etc.) to avoid fines. Make sure you’re not sharing protected health information (PHI) directly or indirectly with Meta. First, let’s remember that ad networks have always scrutinized health-related advertisers—not just Meta Ads. Granted, they are not a Special Ad Category, but they’re close to it. The upside? Meta provides all the information you need but it’s scattered. So, I’ve done my best to summarize it below: “You must not share […] with Meta […] data that is based on or includes, directly or otherwise, health […] information about people, including information defined as sensitive under applicable laws, regulations and industry guidelines […] Examples of data that are not approved for sharing include […] information about an individual’s physical or mental health, such as: Diseases, medical conditions and injuries, sexual and reproductive health, mental health and psychological states […]” – “About prohibited information,” Meta Business Help Center This is basically Meta saying they don’t want to collect data that could imply a user has a specific medical condition, as that user did not provide consent. Specifically, tracking the purchase of a hair loss product and sending it back to Meta Ads is not OK because it strongly suggests private health information about Meta’s users. By blocking tracking on sensitive health-related websites, Meta is reducing the risk of storing and using health data without user consent. Meta goes on: “While Meta’s systems are designed to filter out potentially prohibited information they detect, you are ultimately responsible for the data you share with Meta. You are in the best position to ensure your integration does not send prohibited information to Meta. Meta’s systems are not a substitute for your own compliance mechanisms.” – “About prohibited information,” Meta Business Help Center In other words, Meta Ads will restrict your account if it detects it’s putting them at risk. How Meta Ads’ restrictions system work Tracking, optimization, and reporting limitations will apply if an account is restricted. Meta Ads has started rolling out a three-tier restrictions system for health and wellness advertisers to enforce these rules. Core setup Impacted items include: Ad delivery: Cannot share custom parameters and URL parts with Meta. As a result, custom audiences may decrease and stop working altogether if they rely on those. Ad content: Adding items to a catalog via Meta Pixel may no longer work. Reporting: Information may be unavailable in Meta Events Manager and other surfaces (e.g., sampled activities and the test events tool). Tracking: Automatic advanced matching may not be available. Restriction on certain standard events This level prevents the account from optimizing toward mid- and lower-funnel events (add to cart, purchase, etc.). However, upper-funnel events (landing page view, view content, etc.) and custom events are still available. Full restrictions “We [Meta] may fully restrict all events in specific regions or all regions. In these circumstances, Meta Business Tools cannot be used for campaign optimization where restrictions are in place.” – “Understand data sharing restrictions based on data source categories,” Meta Business Help Center In other words, an account hit with full restrictions will no longer be able to use bidding algorithms. It would be forced to rely on: Old-school targeting. Trimmed reports. ToFu optimization events. Other limited capabilities. You don’t want this. Note that the above may vary across different countries or regions – or could be applied globally. It depends on local regulations. If one of your accounts is hit with restrictions, segment your impression and conversion data to pinpoint where you’re most affected. Then, refer to the relevant regulations. Who’s impacted by Meta Ads restrictions? If you’ve been following closely, you’ll understand that the impact varies dramatically depending on whether you sell supplements, run a telemedicine platform, develop a fitness app, work as a wellness coach, or operate a personal injury law firm. The good news is that: In-app lead generation advertisers will not be impacted (beyond Core Setup). ToFu/brand campaigns are not affected. Even if you sell health and wellness products directly on your website, there are a couple of obvious solutions (which we’ll dive into below): Ensure you don’t send PHI-like data to Meta Ads. For example, remove your Meta Ads pixel from your patient portal. Turn Standard Events into Custom Events with coded names so Meta Ads cannot differentiate between a purchase and a page view. However, there’s bad news: If your account is even remotely related to health and wellness, expect some restrictions – or the joy of appeals. (We all know Meta is super easy to deal with, right?! ) Some restrictions will apply no matter what. But look on the bright side – it’s not (yet? ) a Special Ad Category. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. Business email address Sign me up! Processing... See terms. Meta Ads restrictions: Solutions and workarounds (Disclaimer: I co-founded Quantads, an agency that partners with many health clients. However, I don’t claim to be an absolute expert on this topic – because, honestly, who can? These changes are still recent, and there’s plenty of room for interpretation and experimentation. The solutions below are based on our experience and our interpretation of Meta’s documentation.) Step 1: Act fast Being stuck in Core Setup isn’t ideal, but Full Restrictions? That’s a nightmare. You don’t want to get there. If you’ve received multiple notifications that the data you’re sharing may violate the Meta Business Tools Terms, don’t wait. Act now! Delays are not documented, so this should be your top priority. Check the Settings tab in Meta Events Manager to assess the damage. In the example screenshot below, only Core Setup (so far!) has been activated. Step 2: Audit your data sources and pipelines In-platform notifications In Meta Events Manager, check the Diagnostics tab for notifications stating that prohibited information has been removed from your data. If flagged, investigate which data caused the issue and fix it immediately. Remember: “Meta’s systems are not a substitute for your own compliance mechanisms.” Pixels Review the specific pages where your Meta Pixel is placed. Assess whether those pages – or their URLs – contain data that might be considered prohibited. If necessary, remove the Meta Pixel from those pages. Events Name your custom events/conversions so they do not reflect, imply, or reference any prohibited health-related information. Review custom and offline events. You can block specific events in Meta Events Manager if adjusting them takes too long. First-party data One of the worst implementations I’ve seen was a Meta Ads pixel placed on a patient portal. That’s a huge mistake because a patient portal contains first-party data. Instead, those advertisers should have used their CRM to send offline conversions (with coded event names). Don’t make that mistake – integrate with your CRM. Additional considerations for Meta Ads compliance Once you’ve handled the above, you should be in a solid position. However, a few “evergreen” best practices are worth mentioning. Review ad copy and landing pages Restrictions can be triggered indirectly by ad copy and landing page content. While I understand that website content can be tough to change, advertisers need to ensure they do not name specific health conditions (as this indirectly provides Meta with PHI). Generally, you also don’t want to “make people feel negatively…” For example: OK: “Better mental health awaits.” Not OK: “Do you suffer from bipolar disorder?” Diversify channels This might seem obvious, but I’ve seen far too many health advertisers who think Meta Ads is the only viable channel. Because they’ve focused so much on Meta in the past, they’ve created a self-fulfilling prophecy. Meta Ads is a fantastic platform. But putting all your eggs in one basket is a terrible idea, especially now. Expanding to paid search, display, video, Pinterest, TikTok, X, etc. is crucial for long-term stability. Staying compliant with Meta Ads guidelines Meta Ads’ 2025 health restrictions make compliance more critical than ever. Meta is tightening policies to avoid handling protected health information. Failure to adapt could result in tracking, optimization, and reporting restrictions – or even full account limitations. Make sure to: Act fast if you receive compliance warnings. Audit your Meta Pixel implementation. Avoid sending health-related data (directly or indirectly). Use coded event names where necessary. Review ad copy and landing pages to prevent unnecessary flags. Diversify your channels to reduce reliance on Meta Ads. Staying ahead of these changes will help protect your campaigns, maintain performance, and continue effectively reaching your audience. View the full article

Google sent out an email to advertisers yesterday about changes coming to Google Tag Manager. Specifically, Google Tag Manager will send events before loading a Google tag and Google calls this a "small change" that "will not harm measurement performance."View the full article

A new study from Columbia Journalism Review showed that AI search engines and chatbots, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT Search, Perplexity, Deepseek Search, Microsoft Copilot, Grok and Google's Gemini, are just wrong, way too often. I have said this time and time again, when I see an AI Answer, at this point, I just skip over it because I know I cannot trust it and this proves that.View the full article

A new data report from Rand Fishkin at Sparktoro says that Google Search has seen 21.64% growth in searches year over year. This comes after his study that showed 1/3rd of Google searchers don't search all that much.View the full article

As the economist Milton Friedman once said, “Only a crisis—actual or perceived—produces real change.” Humanity has of course been faced with countless crises, leading to profound and often unexpected change. These crises define and differentiate generations and leave lasting impacts for years to come. In 2020, a crisis that would change everything hit the world seemingly overnight. Everyone remembers where they were the day the world shut down. Offices stood empty. Cars, previously stuck in traffic on daily commutes, sat parked in driveways. Trains and buses ran empty, if at all. The bustle of Times Square turned silent and Broadway went dark. As smog cleared from cities like Los Angeles and Mumbai, people started to see views lost for decades. Billions of meetings switched to virtual platforms. For many people across the globe, work would never be the same again. Even before COVID-19, the rapid rate of transformation in the workplace was extraordinary. In the 1970s there were typewriters, landline phones, and filing cabinets. In the ’80s, the fax machine became an office staple. Before long, some lucky people got their hands on a mobile phone. Then, the “information superhighway” arrived, and with it, email, social media, cloud storage, and collaboration software became the new normal. Desktop technology gave way to mobile working. Digital natives were the majority; digital nomads were on the rise. There were apps for everything. Flexible working and work-life balance became hot topics. But, in many ways, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a devastating period for so many people across the globe, has been remarkable. It has compressed the impact equivalent to all the changes of the previous half a century into a few short years and it has been to the great benefit of both companies and their people. The office as a digital construct With rapid advancements in technology, where work is conducted is no longer confined to a singular place. The workplace is now a digital construct. The office is on the cloud, and people are increasingly linked by technology. All the information, resources, and connectivity that billions of us need to do our jobs are distilled into a single portable device and people can now use an app to find their workplace—for the hour, the day, or the week. This shift is radically transforming how and where people work, and a company’s head office no longer has the monopoly on where work can take place. As a result, hybrid and more flexible ways of working have become more common for a significant proportion of white-collar workers, with companies enabling their employees to work across multiple locations. Stanford University Professor Nicholas Bloom’s groundbreaking research has shown that hybrid working is very profitable for firms. His compelling findings have highlighted that hybrid working has no negative effect on productivity while significantly reducing costly employee turnover. This is why some 80% of Fortune 500 companies embrace hybrid working for managers and professionals. The office isn’t dead Over the past few months, there has been a lot of news about more rigid Return-to-Office (RTO) mandates and how they’ve been gaining significant momentum amongst companies of all sizes. The trend is unmistakably taking place with companies prioritizing time for their teams to collaborate in person on a regular basis. However, where and how people work is actually far more nuanced than a binary choice between working from a traditional city center office or from home. There’s a third option: working out of a local coworking space or office, near to home, with other like-minded people. In fact, most white-collar employees are working from a combination of all three of these locations and this is evident in our network at IWG, with our centers in the heart of the suburbs and local communities showing the strongest increase in demand from across the network, while cities also continue to thrive. Better for the bottom line and better for the planet A very clear advantage of today’s hybrid revolution is a reduction in costs, for businesses and employees alike. Independent research from Global Workplace Analytics reveals that reducing their traditional property footprint by adopting hybrid working enables companies to realize average annual savings per employee of $11,000. The financial implications of more localized work are also sizable for employees. Research conducted by IWG and Development Economics has shown that workers could save as much as $30,000 per year if they switch from commuting to a city center daily to working locally four days a week. This is particularly relevant for younger, lower-paid workers facing the challenging combination of student debt and the stubbornly high cost of living. Even these wins fade into insignificance when compared with the savings that reduced commuting will make to the environmental price our planet is paying for those who are able to reduce their commutes and work closer to home. Businesses can also cut energy usage by a fifth (19%) because of the more efficient use of office space or by providing teams access to flexible workspace. Furthermore, International Workplace Group research conducted with sustainable development consultancy Arup has shown that a hybrid working model that combines a local flex space and home produces fewer carbon emissions than any other permutation of working. The study found that, in cities in both the U.S. and the U.K., the reduction in emissions brought by this model could be as high as 90% in the U.S. (Atlanta) and 80% in the U.K. (Glasgow). The productivity gains of hybrid working and tackling proximity bias The recent shift to more flexible ways of working has resulted in some instances of what academics describe as “proximity bias”. This is when business leaders and senior managers treat workers who are physically closer to them more favorably, stemming in some instances from an outdated assumption that those who work remotely are less productive than those who work from a company’s headquarters. All business leaders should remember that what your people are doing and how you’re managing them are by far the most important factors in performance and productivity. If work isn’t being carried out effectively, it’s not the fault of the location. It’s generally the fault of management not making job expectations clear or setting good KPIs. Those problems will be the same whether your teams are sitting 10 feet away from you, or a local office or even 1,000 miles away. A number of convincing studies—including those conducted by Professor Bloomm—have shown productivity increases (3% to 4%) and reduced quit rates (35%) as a hallmark of hybrid working. International Workplace Group’s own research with business leaders backs up these findings. In a recent survey of more than 500 business leaders in the U.S. and the U.K., more than 6 in 10 cite improved productivity as one of the key business benefits, while 7 in 10 CEOs highlight that employee happiness has increased through the adoption of hybrid working. Looking to the future When nearly 20 years ago, I first made a comment about the rise of hybrid and more flexible ways of working, I could have never predicted the precise forces that would bring it about. In years to come the COVID-19 pandemic will rightfully be seen as having one of the most transformative impacts on the world of work as any other event in the past 100 years. It compressed the impact equivalent to all the changes of the previous half a century into a few short years. We are now seeing companies rapidly learn how to manage dispersed workforces using the latest technology and new management techniques while improving the happiness and the work-life balance of their teams. I can safely say that the office will always play a crucial role in corporate life. Headquarters have evolved to become hubs of creativity and connection, with intentional spaces and activities to maximize collaboration. At the same time, companies are increasingly empowering their teams to stay productive by working closer to home in workspaces near where people actually live. These permanent shifts are providing incredible momentum for the flexible workspace sector. We are seeing the most rapid growth we have experienced in our 35 years of operations. All of this confirms the reality. The office isn’t dead—and never will be—it’s just moved to a much more convenient place. 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Google is testing a new shopping ad format. This format expands product listings available within a store, shows the products with larger images and product details and then lets you swipe through a carousel of those items.View the full article

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Is your SEO career at risk in the era of AI? Find out how to excel and make an impression in this new SEO landscape. The post Ask An SEO: How Can You Distinguish Yourself In This Era Of AI Search Engines? appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article