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This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I am to be married next year and decided to send out save-the-dates early. I really like my coworkers and my boss and wanted to invite them to the wedding. When my boss received my save-the-date, they swung by my desk to congratulate me and we got to chit chatting. The conversation led to my boss asking to see a photo of my fiancé as they had never met before. I showed them a photo from my engagement and — It was like the smile literally slid off their face. I asked if they were okay, and all they said was: “Is this who you are marrying?” I was really confused and had a very bad feeling. I went home that night and asked my fiancé why on earth this person would react to his face in such a manner. My fiancé claimed to not remember them, but clearly he recognized them. After a huge argument, he revealed that he was a prankster in school and may have sometimes involved them in “pranks.” I’m not stupid, I can read between the lines. “Pranks” are only funny when everyone is laughing and based on my boss’s reaction, it was clear they never found these pranks funny. We had another huge blow-up and only when I threatened to walk out did he reveal the full extent of these pranks, all the while telling me “he wasn’t this person anymore,” etc. etc. The pranks were horrific, atrocious, and not funny. Once, on a dare, he and his friends took pictures of my boss in the gym locker rooms and plastered his naked pictures all over the school. This is just the least horrific thing him and his friends did. I’m disgusted that the man I love and want to spend the rest of my life with could ever be this person. I returned to office the next day and requested to meet with my boss. My boss wasn’t in the office, and in fact took the next two days off. When they returned to work, they did not really engage with me or even look in my direction. Now I am unsure what I should do. My engagement is almost over. There is no way I can marry my fiancé now that I know what he is capable of. I’m humiliated. I don’t have any friends who aren’t his friends too. My parents are telling me to move and find another job and marry my fiancé because he is rich and treats me well. I’m unsure of how to navigate the situation at work, given that my boss really doesn’t want to engage with me. Any advice you can offer about the personal aspect of this situation will also be really appreciated. First, full disclosure: something about this letter pings my “is this real?” alarm. Apologies to the letter-writer if it is; life is often stranger than fiction. But even if it’s not, it’s useful and interesting to talk about how to handle it if it turns out your boss has a history with someone important in your life. With that said… A lot of people were very different as adolescents than they are as adults. A lot of people behaved badly toward others in their youth but learned from it, regret their behavior, and have resolved to be better people now. The troubling part to me is less that your fiancé was an asshole in school and more that he’s minimizing it now. If he originally didn’t come clean because he was ashamed, that’s one thing (although still not great). But if his position is that these were just youthful hijinks and no real harm was done and you shouldn’t be upset about it now, that’s about his character now. And if the best argument your parents, who presumably know him, can come up with for staying with him is that he’s rich and treats you well … that’s really not good. (It’s also fairly insulting to you, as if that’s the pinnacle of what you could expect in marriage.) You said you’re humiliated, and you shouldn’t be. You learned something about your fiancé and decided to act on it before binding yourself to him for life. There’s nothing humiliating about that. If anything, there’s admirable strength in knowing that sending out save-the-dates doesn’t obligate you to move forward with an enormous decision that you no longer believe is right for you, something not everyone has the wherewithal to do.) As for the work stuff, you really have two options: 1. You can make a point of acting aggressively normal with your boss and just give him some time to get back to normal with you. Sometimes when you’re doing this it can help to go out of your way to find opportunities to have aggressively normal interactions, so that his most recent associations with you are normal work things rather than whatever was going through his mind when he saw that photo. Also, if you do call off the engagement, make sure your office (and therefore your boss) knows. 2. You can address it head-on. Set a meeting with your boss or raise it next time you’re one-on-one and say, “I saw the reaction you had to seeing Bob’s photo and when I asked him about it, he was evasive but I learned enough to understand he was a jerk in school. What I learned through this conversation about his character now was enough for me to call off the engagement. I’m sorry if that photo was an unexpected shock. I’ve always valued my working relationship with you and I hope we can move forward without letting him affect that.” I lean strongly toward #1. I have a high tolerance for awkward conversations if they’re in the interest of getting everyone on the same page, but there’s a very good chance that #2 won’t be necessary after some time goes by … although you could keep it in your back pocket to use if things aren’t back to normal a few weeks from now. View the full article

YouTube will change how mid-roll ads are placed in videos starting May 12. YouTube aims to improve the viewer experience and increase revenue opportunities for creators. How it works: YouTube allows creators to manually place ad breaks or let the platform auto-insert them. Creators will be able to combine manual and automatic ad placement, with YouTube’s system potentially overriding manual selections if it finds a more natural break. The new system aims to improve automatic detection, ensuring better placement while also offering a combined manual and auto option. A new feature will flag “interruptive” manual ad slots, allowing creators to adjust them. Why we care. The update will shift ad placements to more natural breakpoints, like pauses and transitions, instead of interrupting sentences or action sequences — potentially reducing viewer drop-offs. However, with it being an additional setting and not a replacement for the old setting, you should be ready to revert to the setting that works best for your campaign. The impact: YouTube’s tests found that channels using both auto and manual mid-rolls saw a 5% revenue boost compared to those using manual placements alone. Older videos (uploaded before Feb. 24) with manual mid-rolls will automatically get new ad slots at natural breakpoints. Creators can opt out of additional placements via YouTube Studio, but interruptive mid-rolls may lead to lower earnings after the update. What’s next. These changes suggest YouTube is betting big on its automated ad detection, nudging creators toward auto-placement for a more seamless experience — and more ad revenue. View the full article

Despite government vow to listen to business, changes to be published on Tuesday will favour employeesView the full article

Sales and profits slipped for Target during the crucial holiday quarter as customers held back on spending and the company said there will be “meaningful pressure” on its profits to start the year because of tariffs and other costs. The retailer beat most estimates, however, and shares rose slightly before the opening bell Tuesday. Target reported net income of $1.1 billion, or $2.41 per share, far better than the $2.26 that Wall Street was expecting, according to a survey by FactSet. That is down from the $1.38 billion profit the company reported in the same period last year, though the most recent quarter had one fewer week of sales. Revenue fell to $30.91 billion, from $31.9 billion, but that also beat expectations. Americans have been pulling back on spending and retailers face a lot of uncertainty in the year ahead. President Donald Trump’s long-threatened tariffs against Canada and Mexico went into effect Tuesday, pushing markets in Asia, Europe, and the U.S. lower, and setting up costly retaliations by the United States’ North American allies, not to mention China. China said Tuesday that it will impose additional tariffs of up to 15% on imports of key U.S. farm products, including chicken, pork, soy, and beef, and also expanded controls on doing business with key U.S. companies. Consumers have already been pulling back on discretionary spending because the costs of groceries have risen so sharply. That is an area where Target can be vulnerable because so much of its sales come from discretionary items like clothing, electronics purchases. Target said Tuesday that it expects sales to be flat in 2025, and that its earnings per share will be between $8.80 and $9.80. Wall Street had been projecting per-share earnings of $9.29 for the year. During the most recent quarter, comparable sales—those from stores and digital channels operating for at least 12 months—rose 1.5%. That was higher than the 0.3% gain during the third quarter. Target posted a 2% gain in the second quarter and a 3.7% drop in the first quarter. Speaking about the current quarter, Chief Financial Officer Jim Lee said that sales declined in February in part because of brutal weather across the U.S. But sales should pick up, Lee said. “We will continue to monitor these trends and will remain appropriately cautious with our expectations for the year ahead,” Lee said. —Anne D’Innocenzio, AP Retail Writer View the full article

Tariffs, the employment pool and requirements to tap financing are potential roadblocks that need to be addressed in order to increase new builds. View the full article

American desktop users perform 126 unique Google searches per month, on average, according to a new analysis of search behavior published by SparkToro co-founder Rand Fishkin. The median average was 53 Google unique searches per month. By the numbers. Here are some additional findings about American searchers, beyond the headline statistic: 34% conducted more than 101 searches per month. 36% conducted 21-100 searches per month. 30% conducted 1-20 searches per month. Google Search by vertical. A whopping 86.94% of Americans use Google.com (Google’s homepage search experience) to search. As for Google’s other vertical options: Images: 10.62% Video: 1.16% Maps: 0.64% (which “is almost certainly undercounted,” according to Fishkin) News: 0.38% Shopping: 0.23% Web: 0.04% As the study notes about this section: “This breakdown is looking at the searches that happen in those tabs/sections, not the ones that simply result in a click on a Google News or Shopping result that appeared in the default Google search tab.” Why we care. There’s been much speculation that AI tools and answer engines will negatively impact Google’s search dominance. However, this data confirms that Google’s search volume is still massive. Future updates to this study could reveal whether there is any truth to Gartner’s oft-cited prediction that traffic from search engines will fall by 25% by 2026. The intrigue. Hours before this report was published, we reported that Google processes more than 5 trillion searches per year. Datos’ estimate for the number of annual Google searches: 5.9 trillion. According to Fishkin: “Our math above puts the number at 5.9 Trillion, a little high, likely because Datos’ panel focuses on wealthier countries where more search activity per person is to be expected. Still incredible that they’d come out with numbers the day we publish that help back up the veracity of these results, and the quality of Datos’ panel.” About the data. Fishkin partnered with Datos (a Semrush company), which only tracks web browser activity. That means searches made within mobile apps (e.g., Google search, Google Maps) are excluded from this research. Only searches on Google.com and its five main vertical options were counted. The research. How Often Do Americans Search Google? Which Search Verticals Do They Use? View the full article

Almost half of Americans have considered or plan to move abroad to improve their happiness, according to a Harris poll published today. Specifically, the poll found that four in 10 Americans have at least thought about leaving the country within the next few years. And among Gen Z and millennials, almost one in five respondents reported “seriously considering” an imminent move. The results show that Americans are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the “American Dream” as the cost of essentials like rent, healthcare, and education continues to rise. Here are three main takeaways from the poll: Home ownership and cost of living are top of mind Per the new poll, 68% of Americans are in agreement about two key statements: “These days I feel like I am surviving instead of thriving,” and “Homeownership is no longer attainable for most American citizens.” Of those who said that they’d consider moving out of the U.S., 49% reported cost of living as their primary consideration. Dissatisfaction with the current political leadership ranked as the second highest concern. Sentiments around cost of living revealed in this poll are backed up by several recent reports. In early February, an update from the Labor Department showed that the consumer price index—an inflation barometer that considers essential costs like gas, groceries, and cars—was up 3.3% year-over-year, compared to the previous January. For the past six months, inflation rates have hovered above the Fed’s 2% target. Meanwhile, Zillow’s most recent Home Value Index found that, “As elevated mortgage rates dampen demand for home purchases, many potential buyers are staying renters for longer,” predicting a 3.7% rise in single-family rents for 2025. The current economic reality can be even more disheartening for families: Based on a recent analysis by the National Women’s Law Center, the average family would need to earn at least $180,000 annually in 2025 to comfortably afford the national cost of infant care. Who is more likely to be eyeing the exit? According to the new Harris Poll, these converging economic factors are more likely to push away younger, non-white, and LGBTQ+ Americans. While only 25% of Gen X and 26% of baby boomers said they’d considered moving abroad, 63% of Gen Zers and 52% of millennials said the same, respectively. Additionally, LGBTQIA+, Hispanic, and Black respondents were all more likely to consider moving. Dual citizenship is attractive for young Americans Younger Americans also expressed a greater desire than their older counterparts to obtain dual citizenship, with 66% of Gen Zers and millennials affirming that they were at least somewhat interested in pursuing it for travel freedom, economic opportunities, and better access to public services. The top 10 countries that Americans would consider moving to, in order, are as follows: Canada The U.K. Australia France Italy Japan Mexico Spain Germany New Zealand View the full article

Dress for the job you want, not the job you have - yes, seriously. The Disruptors With Liz Farr Go PRO for members-only access to more Liz Farr. View the full article

Dress for the job you want, not the job you have - yes, seriously. The Disruptors With Liz Farr Go PRO for members-only access to more Liz Farr. 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 posted new data that says they answer over 5 trillion queries per year...View the full article

SEO is a fast-moving, marketing-centric industry that will always keep you on your toes. If you’re just getting started, it can be overwhelming without a guide. There are many facets and specializations in SEO that come later in a career – local, technical, content, digital PR, UX, ecommerce, media – the list goes on. However, that level of specialization isn’t something a junior professional needs to focus on right away. Much like a liberal arts degree or an apprenticeship, a newcomer to SEO should first develop a broad understanding of the entire discipline before choosing a specialty. This article covers several ways to build that foundational knowledge of search engine optimization. 1. Start with the business Whether you’re in-house or at an agency, resist the urge to jump straight into “solution mode” when beginning an SEO project. Instead of immediately focusing on meta tags, keywords, backlinks, or URL structure, start by understanding the business itself. Here are some key questions to consider as you browse the website: What product or service is being sold? Who is the target audience? (If you’re in-house, who is your company trying to sell to?) Why does the company believe customers should choose them over competitors? (Common differentiators include price, unique features, or benefits.) If you have the time or opportunity, dig deeper by asking your boss or client these business-focused questions: What are the company’s goals and targets? What is the three- to five-year plan for the business? (Are there plans to launch new products or expand into new markets?) Who are the main competitors, and what are they doing? A sample of onboarding business questions from Building a Business Brain by FLOQ Academy Even without that level of detail, the first three questions provide a useful frame of reference for determining the best SEO approach. 2. Be curious, ask questions SEO now touches nearly every aspect of digital marketing. Because of that, SEOs often become social butterflies, regularly collaborating with other departments and specialties. I’ve been in SEO for 15 years now (which makes me feel old), but I continue to ask my clients questions every day. This field encourages curiosity, so rather than feeling frustrated by what you don’t fully understand, embrace being the one to ask the “dumb questions.” There’s no such thing as a dumb question, by the way. Dig deeper: How to become exceptional at SEO 3. Build from the foundations of SEO As mentioned earlier, SEO has many specializations. Some, like video or local SEO, are referred to as “search verticals.” If you’re new to the field, start with the basics: the website and how Google presents search results. Once you understand the business, try a simple exercise to analyze your site’s optimization. Open a key product, category, or service page in one window. In another, search for a term you think users would enter to find that page. Compare what appears in the search results with your own page and the pages that rank for that term. For example, in a search for “running shoes,” a few things stand out: The intent is somewhat mismatched. Nike’s category page targets users who are researching with intent to buy or are already planning a purchase. However, the search results display articles comparing different running shoes. Scrolling down, you might see an image carousel, a “Nearby Stores” section, and “People Also Ask” results. If I were a new SEO at Nike and assumed the “running shoes” category page could rank for the “running shoes” query, I would rethink that after reviewing the search results. If ranking for that broad term were a priority, I would create a running shoe comparison article featuring high-quality images of real people using the shoes – maybe even a video, if budget allowed. If your page aligns more closely with the search results, analyze the top-ranking pages and adapt successful elements to your own site. Do most of them have an on-page FAQ while yours doesn’t? A product video? Detailed specs? User reviews? Be critical and specific about what you can improve. (Never copy content directly.) At its core, SEO is about identifying what Google deems important for a given product or service, then doing it better than the competition. Many SEOs get caught up in tools and tactics and forget to examine the search results themselves. Break that habit early and make reviewing Google’s search results a key part of your research process. 4. Dabble in the technical side and build relationships with your developers Technical SEO is one of the more complex specializations in the field and can seem intimidating. If you’re using a major CMS, your technical foundations are likely solid, so today, much of technical SEO focuses on refinements and enhancements. While it’s important to develop technical knowledge, a great way to start is by building relationships with your development team and staying curious. Asking questions makes learning more interactive and immediately relevant to your work. Exploring coding courses or creating your own website can also help you develop technical skills gradually instead of all at once. Some argue that you can be a good SEO without technical expertise – and I don’t disagree. However, understanding a website’s inner workings, how Google operates, and even how large language models (LLMs) function can help you prioritize your SEO efforts. Code is Google’s native language, and knowing how to interpret it can be invaluable when migrating a site, launching a new one, or diagnosing traffic drops. Dig deeper: SEO prioritization: How to focus on what moves the needle Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. Business email address Sign me up! Processing... See terms. 5. Learn the different types of information Google shows in search results The way search results are presented today vastly differs from 10 or 15 years ago. Those who have been in the industry for a while have had the advantage of adapting gradually as Google has evolved. Newcomers, on the other hand, are thrown into the deep end, facing a wide range of search features all at once – some personalized, some not, and some appearing inconsistently. This can be challenging to grasp, even for experienced SEOs. Google has invested heavily in understanding user intent and presenting search results in a way that best addresses it. As a result, search results may include: Videos. Images. People Also Ask. Related Searches. AI Overviews. AI-organized search. Map results. Nearby shopping options. Product listings. People Also Buy From. News Building visibility for each of these features often requires a unique approach and specific considerations. These search result types are now industry jargon, so a glossary can help you learn SEO terminology. 6. Learn the different types of query intent classifications Google’s mission is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” As part of this, Google works to understand why people search for something and provides the most relevant results to match that intent. To do this, they classify queries based on intent. The Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines, a handbook Google provides to evaluators who manually assess website and search result quality, also touches on understanding user intent: “It can be helpful to think of queries as having one or more of the following intents. Know query, some of which are Know Simple queries. Do query, when the user is trying to accomplish a goal or engage in an activity. Website query, when the user is looking for a specific website or webpage. Visit-in-person query, some of which are looking for a specific business or organization, some of which are looking for a category of businesses.” When conducting keyword research, it’s helpful to analyze both your site and the queries you’re targeting through this lens. Many SEO professionals also use these broader, traditional intent categories, though they don’t always align perfectly with Google’s classifications: Informational: Who, what, when, where, how, why. Commercial: Comparison, review, best, specific product. Transactional: Buy, cheap, sale, register. Navigational: Searching for a specific brand. Rather than focusing solely on keywords, take a step back and consider the intent behind the search. Understanding intent is essential for SEO success. Dig deeper: Why traditional keyword research is failing and how to fix it with search intent 7. Do the research yourself before finding ways to use LLMs Your company may already have guidelines for using LLMs like ChatGPT or Claude for tasks such as keyword research, content creation, or competitor analysis. However, if you’re new to SEO, I strongly recommend completing at least one full project using tools like Google Search Console, Semrush, or Ahrefs without LLM support. While AI can speed up the process, relying on it too early has drawbacks: Slower learning curve: If an LLM does the heavy lifting, you miss the experience of making strategic trade-offs, such as choosing a low-volume, mid-competition keyword over a high-volume, high-competition one. Lack of instinct for accuracy: Without firsthand research experience, it’s harder to recognize when an LLM generates inaccurate information or pulls from an unreliable source. Reduced impact: Google is increasingly sophisticated in detecting “repetitive content.” Relying too much on LLMs for mass content creation could hurt performance, whereas a more focused, strategic approach might yield better results. While it may be tempting to jump straight into strategy rather than hands-on execution, senior SEOs develop their strategic mindset through years of practical work across different clients and industries. Skipping this foundational experience could make it harder to recognize large-scale patterns and trends. Dig deeper: Why you need humans, not just AI, to run great SEO campaigns Laying the groundwork for SEO success SEO offers endless opportunities once you master the fundamentals. If you’re just starting out, focus on these core areas: The business. The search results. User intent. Keep it simple. Stay focused. Be business-led. Build your SEO expertise on a strong foundation, and your career will grow from there. View the full article

President Donald Trump on Monday directed a “pause” to U.S. assistance to Ukraine as he seeks to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to engage in negotiations to end the war with Russia. The move comes just days after a disastrous Oval Office meeting in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance tore into Zelenskyy for what they perceived as insufficient gratitude for the more than $180 billion U.S. has appropriated for military aid and other assistance to Kyiv since the start of Russia’s invasion on February 24, 2022. A White House official said Trump is focused on reaching a peace deal and wants Zelenskyy “committed” to that goal. The official added that the U.S. was “pausing and reviewing” its aid to “ensure that it is contributing to a solution.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the assistance. The order will remain in effect until Trump determines that Ukraine has demonstrated a commitment to peace negotiations with Russia, the official said. The halting of military aid comes some five years after Trump held up congressionally authorized assistance to Ukraine as he sought to pressure Zelenskyy to launch an investigation into Joe Biden, then a Democratic presidential candidate. The moment led to Trump’s first impeachment. In the lead-up to the 2024 election, Trump vowed a quick end to the war in Ukraine, even once boasting that he could bring a halt to the fighting in one day. He has shown increasing frustration with Zelenskyy over the war while simultaneously expressing confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he has long admired, can be trusted to keep the peace if a truce is reached. Trump earlier on Monday slammed Zelenskyy for suggesting that the end of the war likely “is still very, very far away.” Zelenskyy had suggested it would take time to come to an agreement to end the war as he tried to offer a positive take on the U.S.-Ukraine relationship in the aftermath of last week’s White House meeting. “This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform, responding to comments Zelenskyy made late Sunday to reporters. Trump, at a White House event later Monday, referred to Zelenskyy’s reported comments and asserted the Ukrainian leader “better not be right about that.” Zelenskyy later took to social media in an effort to further explain his thinking. He did not directly refer to Trump’s comments, but underscored that it “is very important that we try to make our diplomacy really substantive to end this war the soonest possible.” “We need real peace and Ukrainians want it most because the war ruins our cities and towns,” Zelenskyy added. “We lose our people. We need to stop the war and to guarantee security.” Trump administration and Ukrainian officials had been expected to sign off on a deal during Zelenskyy’s visit last week that would have given the U.S. access to Ukraine’s critical minerals in part to pay back the U.S. for aid it has sent Kyiv since the start of the war. The White House had billed such a pact as a way to tighten U.S.-Ukrainian relations in the long term. Vance, in an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity that aired Monday evening, said European allies were doing Ukraine a disservice by not pressing Zelenskyy to find an endgame to the war. “A lot of our European friends puff him up,” Vance said. “They say, you know, you’re a freedom fighter. You need to keep fighting forever. Well, fighting forever with what? With whose money, with whose ammunition and with whose lives?” Democrats said the pausing of aid to Ukraine was dangerous and ill-advised. Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, who is cochair of the Congressional EU Caucus, said the decision “is reckless, indefensible, and a direct threat to our national security.” The Biden administration provided Kyiv with more than $66.5 billion in military aid and weapons since the war began. It had left unspent about $3.85 billion in congressionally authorized funding to send more weapons to Ukraine from existing U.S. stockpiles—a sum that had not been affected by the foreign aid freeze that Trump put in place when he first took office. “This aid was approved by Congress on a bipartisan basis—Republicans and Democrats alike recognized that standing with Ukraine is standing for democracy and against Putin’s aggression,” Boyle said in a statement. “Yet, Trump, who has repeatedly praised Putin and undermined our allies, is now playing political games with critical military assistance.” Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman, who served as counsel to House Democrats in the first impeachment inquiry against Trump, said the pausing of aid was “another extortion” of Zelenskyy. “This is the exact opposite of peace through strength,” Goldman said. “Instead, what it is is it’s another extortion of President Zelenskyy, illegally withholding aid in order to get President Zelenskyy to agree to a minerals deal.” Trump’s national security adviser said Zelenskyy’s posture during Friday’s Oval Office talks “put up in the air” whether he’s someone the U.S. administration will be able to deal with going forward. “Is he ready, personally, politically, to move his country towards an end to the fighting?” Mike Waltz said Monday on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.” “And can he and will he make the compromises necessary?” Waltz added another layer of doubt about U.S. support as other high-profile Trump allies, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Sen. Lindsey Graham, have suggested that the relationship between Trump and Zelenskyy is becoming untenable. Angela Stent, a former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council, said Putin is likely in no rush to end the war amid the fissures between Trump and Zelenskyy and between Europe and the U.S. about the way ahead. “He thinks Russia is winning. . . . And he thinks that as time goes on, the West will be more fractured,” said Stent, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. Trump on Monday suggested he hasn’t given up on the economic pact, calling it “a great deal.” He added that he expected to speak about the deal during his Tuesday address before a joint session of Congress. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican who cochairs the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, spoke with Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, earlier Monday about getting the mineral rights deal back on track. Key GOP senators also indicated before the announcement of paused aid that they see a path to put U.S.-Ukraine relations back on track. “We got to lower the temperature,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., “and get to a deal that’s economically beneficial and takes care of our interests as well as the interests of the Ukrainian people.” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican who is a close ally of Trump, said he believes the president and Zelenskyy can “move past it.” “Getting the minerals deal done is a first step,” Mullin said. After that, he said, Zelenskyy needs to be “realistic on what a peace deal looks like.” Associated Press writers Tracy Brown, Lolita C. Baldor and Marc Levy contributed to this report. —Aamer Madhani, Zeke Miller and Lisa Mascaro, Associated Press View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Two weeks ago, there was a blanket of snow across most of the country. That melted into what feels like an early spring, with occasionally clear days and warm(ish) weather. The irises and tulips have begun to emerge in some areas, the surest sign that planting season is around the corner. This is the time to get organized and get ready, because by the time we talk again in April, we will be in it. Start garden and lawn cleanup in MarchNow is the time to get out there and start your spring clean up. You don’t want to get rid of the leaves—there are still insects slumbering, and they will be until spring temperatures hit. But you can gently rake them into beds and clear your lawn. Grab your pruners and get rid of the dead wood you see around you on shrubs. If you didn’t hit your berry canes before now, this is your last chance to clear away the dead wood. Your blueberries are ready to get a good structural pruning, too. Give your large shrubs and small trees a final pruning; we’re at the tail end of when it’s acceptable to do so. For trees, remove branches aimed inward, or those that cross another branch. You want to create airflow. The same is true for your shrubs: If you’ve allowed your hydrangeas and lilacs to become woody, now is a good time to lighten them up by removing interior branches and those that aim inward, cross other branches, or are too close to the house. Clean up your water features like ponds and bubblers. They might have algae or too much nitrogen from leaves. Consider mosquito dunks to prevent a problem later this summer. Empty your bird boxes; birds don’t like a used space. Do a deep clean of all your bird feeders, so you’re not spreading disease amongst the local bird population, particularly this year given the status of the bird flu. While I am an ecolawn convert, it’s time to revive the green space, whether it’s clover or grass. Uncover it, and consider aerating it with an aerator, which you can rent or borrow. Then fertilize the lawn, and as soon as it’s warm enough, overseed it. For grass seed, you need 50 degree ground temps; for clovers, you need 40 degrees. Divide tubers and plan your bulbsNow that your irises and other tubers should be sending up small shoots, you can see precisely where they are and, if necessary, break them up. Tubers (ginger root is a tuber, and it looks exactly like iris tubers and others) are very hard to kill. You can dig them up and break them apart, or take a spade to them (shove it through the tuber to divide it). I have been known to take a serrated bread knife into the garden, shove it into the dirt and saw tubers apart but a good serrated hori hori will do the job, too. Even a small piece can be replanted. You should really never need to buy more irises; you have the ability to propagate as many as you need. With the exception of a few flowers like ranunculus, it’s too late to plant most fall-planting/spring-flowering bulbs, like tulips. But consider that when you plant tulips in fall, you have no idea what your garden looks like in spring. During this time of year, I take pictures every week of most of my yard, and try to pay attention to where I need more bulbs, which kinds of bulbs, what colors, etc. I take a lot of notes that I can reference in fall when I order bulbs and plant. You can plant ranunculus, which is a fall bulb, but is very forgiving on early spring planting. "Ranuncs," as they’re referred to by gardeners, are like small peonies and come in fantastic colors. Their tiny spider-like corms (like bulbs) are easy to plant; they don’t need a lot of depth, and since you’re planting them now, you can put them exactly where you need them to bloom. Soak them in room temperature water over night before planting, and then place them with the roots facing down. Prep the garden bedsThere are lots of ways we can get garden beds ready for spring if they’re not in use with your winter garden. First, clean up the beds. Chop all your dead crops down, but leave the roots in place to compost if you can. Cleaning up the top of beds, whether that’s leaves or branches, will mean less food for slugs and snails, since this is when you’re most likely to catch them before they repopulate. Go ham on slug traps right now. They don’t need to be complicated—shallow dishes of beer work really well. Get rid of the weeds, too, now, before they multiply. It will only get worse from here on out. Make sure you’re pulling them out entirely, no matter how small they are. You don’t have to till up your entire bed; in fact, many people believe doing so only brings weed seeds to the surface. You can use a broadfork to break up the soil just enough to allow your plants to grow healthy roots, without destroying the structures that have been established in the soil already, like healthy mycorrhizae. Speaking of which, you can add mycorrhizae to your beds to help create better soil health and structure, and now would be a good time to do so. If you’ve never tested your soil, do it now. Talk to your local nursery, extension office, or farm store about testing. You collect a little dirt, send it off, and they’ll let you know what your soil needs. Realistically, the most effective thing you can do in your garden is have really healthy soil with as few weeds as possible. Once the beds are clean and ready, consider two additional tasks. First: mulch. Mulch is great for stopping weeds, but it also protects plant roots to keep them moist and insulted from the weather. You can also consider getting low tunnels up at this point so you can get an early start on the season. Plant (or prune) rosesIf you have established roses, it’s pruning time. If you don’t, we’ve just started rose-planting season, and bareroot roses from all the big rose houses like David Austin are hitting nurseries now. Pay attention to the nursery instructions for planting bareroot roses: These frilly friends need fertilizer, good planting hole prep, and to be planted correctly in order to thrive. Fertilize these shrubs Camellias are about to bloom (mine has already started), and other large shrubs like azaleas and rhododendrons aren’t far behind. They benefit from ericaceous fertilizer, and now’s the time to dress them with it. You can pick up this acidic fertilizer at the local nursery. Plant spring crops as soon as the ground is workableIt's hard to believe the time is here, but if the nursery has spring crops, you can start adding them to your garden. Broccoli, cauliflower, kale, spinach, lettuce and radicchio is good to go in once the hard frost risk has passed. Pea seeds can go in, and sweet peas can get planted. I've seen multiple friends sketching out their summer garden the last week. It may still be chilly outside, but the season is soon upon us. Get outside and start digging; it'll be here in no time. View the full article

Is Chegg facing an inevitable decline due to AI? Discover the nuances behind its revenue drop and industry changes. The post CheggMate appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Traders added to bets on interest-rate cuts from the Federal Reserve amid concern about the impact of US trade tariffs on global economic growth. View the full article

Google Business Profiles has added a new QR code you can use to make it easier to get reviews on your Google local listing within Google Maps and Google Search. The QR code, when accessed, jumps the user directly to the add review form, so there is little distraction to read other reviews or difficulty finding the form. How to access it. You can access the new QR code on desktop by searching for your business, then clicking on “Ask for reviews” or by going to your reviews and clicking on “Get more reviews.” This can be found in your Google Business Profile within Google Search on desktop. What it looks like. Here is an example of my QR code for my business that I shared: What does it do. When you scan the code, you are taken directly to the add review form for that business. You can post this QR code in your store, add it to your website, email signature or other areas so your customers can quickly scan it and leave you a review. You can also just link to the page using the review link listed above the QR code. Why we care. Reviews on your Google Business Profile can help you stand out from your competitors. So you should aim to get more positive reviews from happy customers, whenever possible. Just make sure those reviews and how you obtain them comply with Google’s policies. View the full article

Search is evolving, and social platforms are now at the heart of discovery. Pinterest, in particular, has emerged as a powerful visual search engine, driving traffic and engagement for brands, bloggers, and businesses. Unlike traditional social media, which thrives on conversations and real-time interactions, Pinterest is built for intent-driven discovery – where users actively seek inspiration, ideas, and products. This presents a unique opportunity for search marketers. Pinterest users often arrive with high intent, making it an invaluable platform for organic visibility and referral traffic. To maximize discoverability, understanding how Pinterest search works along with SEO best practices is essential. This article breaks down: How Pinterest functions as a search engine. The key ranking factors that influence visibility. The best ways to optimize your content for discovery. How Pinterest works as a search engine At its core, Pinterest is more than just a social platform – it’s one of the original discovery engines. Unlike Instagram or Facebook, where content is driven by social interactions and chronological feeds, Pinterest prioritizes search intent and content relevance. Users come to Pinterest with a purpose: To find inspiration. To plan projects. To discover new ideas. More importantly, they arrive with intent – often high purchase intent – making them ready and willing to become customers of the brands they discover on the platform. Dig deeper: How Gen Z is redefining discovery on TikTok, Pinterest, and beyond Pinterest’s Smart Feed: How content is ranked Pinterest does not display content in simple chronological order. Instead, it uses a proprietary algorithm called the Smart Feed, which ranks and curates content based on user behavior, engagement, and search activity. Key factors that influence Pinterest rankings include: Relevance to the search query: Pinterest relies heavily on keywords in Pin titles, descriptions, board names, and even image alt text. Optimized content with clear intent performs better in search. Engagement metrics: Pins with high engagement (saves, clicks, and close-ups) signal value to Pinterest, increasing their likelihood of appearing in feeds and search results. Freshness of content: Pinterest favors newly created Pins over reshared or older content. Consistently uploading fresh, high-quality content boosts visibility. Pinner authority and board quality: The credibility of the account posting the Pin matters. Established accounts with well-organized, keyword-rich boards tend to have better visibility. Image quality and format: Pinterest prioritizes visually appealing, vertical images (2:3 aspect ratio) that encourage engagement. Clear, high-resolution images with compelling overlays perform best. Differences between traditional search vs. Pinterest search While Pinterest and traditional search engines like Google are search-capable platforms, their mechanics differ in several ways. Keyword research for Pinterest SEO Just like with traditional SEO, keyword research is the foundation of Pinterest SEO. Since Pinterest functions as a visual search engine, understanding how users search for content is essential to optimizing your Pins, boards, and profile. Unlike Google or Bing, Pinterest doesn’t provide exact search volume data. However, it offers valuable insights through autocomplete suggestions, the Pinterest Trends toolkit, and third-party tools. Conducting keyword research using Pinterest’s search bar One of the easiest ways to find relevant keywords is by using Pinterest’s search bar autocomplete feature. Here’s how. Start typing a broad keyword: Enter a general term related to your niche, such as “home decor.” Look at Pinterest’s auto-suggestions: As you type, Pinterest displays popular search queries based on previous user behavior. These suggestions indicate high-interest topics. Refine and expand keywords: Click on a suggested keyword to see additional related opportunities. This can help identify long-tail keyword variations. Example: Typing “summer outfit” might generate suggestions like “summer outfit ideas,” “summer outfit for vacation,” or “summer outfit aesthetic.” These variations can be valuable additions to your Pins and boards if you aim to rank for that type of query. Using Pinterest Trends for search volume and seasonality insights Pinterest Trends allows search and social teams to: Track rising and declining trends over time. Compare keyword popularity. Identify seasonal patterns to plan content accordingly. By analyzing search interest fluctuations, you can determine when specific topics gain traction and adjust your posting schedule to maximize visibility and engagement. To use Pinterest Trends: Visit trends.pinterest.com or access it from your Pinterest Business account. Enter relevant keywords to see interest over time and related trending searches. Identify peak times for specific topics (e.g., searches for “Halloween costume ideas” spike in September and October). Adjust your content calendar to publish content before peak trends to increase engagement. Example: If searches for “Christmas gift ideas” peak in November, start publishing optimized Pins for that keyword in September or October to gain traction before competition increases. Tools and methods to discover high-performing keywords In addition to Pinterest’s built-in search and trend tools, external resources can help refine your keyword strategy. Here are a few options: Pinterest Ads Manager: Provides keyword suggestions when setting up an ad campaign. Even if you’re not running ads, you can use it for organic research. Google Keyword Planner: While not Pinterest-specific, it helps identify related search terms that users may also search for on Pinterest. You can then verify these terms using Pinterest-specific tools. Buzzabout.AI: Helps analyze social media conversations around specific topics, offering insight into potential keyword opportunities. Dig deeper: SEO beyond Google: Building your brand on Reddit, Quora, TikTok and more Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. Business email address Sign me up! Processing... See terms. Optimizing Pins for search discovery Now that we understand keyword research and content trends, the next step is optimizing your Pins. Since Pinterest is a visual-first platform, the design, format, and metadata of your Pins play a crucial role in performance. Well-optimized Pins rank higher in search results and attract more saves, clicks, and engagement – fueling further algorithmic distribution. An Anthropologie pin that showcases several of our recommended best practices. Best practices for Pin design The visual appeal of a Pin directly impacts its discoverability and engagement. Follow these design best practices: Use the optimal image size: Pinterest recommends a 2:3 aspect ratio (1,000 x 1,500 pixels) to prevent cropping. Include clear text overlays: Readable text on images improves engagement and quickly communicates the Pin’s value. Maintain consistent branding: Use brand colors, fonts, and logos to establish recognition and build trust. Choose high-quality visuals: Bright, high-resolution images with minimal clutter perform best. Lifestyle and product images tend to receive higher engagement. Create fresh Pins regularly: Pinterest favors new content, so repurposing blog posts or redesigning Pins with updated visuals helps maintain visibility. Example: A food brand sharing a recipe should use a high-quality image of the dish, add a clear text overlay with the recipe name, and subtly place the brand logo in a non-intrusive spot. Dig deeper: Visual content and SEO: How to use images and videos in 2025 Writing optimized pin titles and descriptions Like traditional search engines, Pinterest relies on text-based metadata to understand and rank content. A well-crafted title and description with relevant keywords increases a Pin’s visibility in search results. Tips for title optimization Keep titles between 40–100 characters – concise yet descriptive. Front-load primary keywords at the beginning. Use an engaging hook to attract attention. Tips for description optimization Write detailed descriptions (up to 500 characters) incorporating primary and secondary keywords naturally. Use a conversational, engaging tone to encourage interaction. Include a clear call to action (CTA) when appropriate. Example: Pin title: “Best Morning Skincare Routine for Glowing Skin” Pin description: “Looking for a simple yet effective morning skincare routine? This guide covers the best products and steps for glowing skin. From gentle cleansers to SPF protection, discover the essentials for healthy skin. Save this Pin for your daily routine inspiration!” Analytics tools to monitor your performance Pinterest SEO doesn’t stop at keyword research and Pin design. Ongoing performance tracking is essential for refining your strategy. Pinterest’s built-in Analytics provides insights into: What’s working. What’s not. How to optimize content for better visibility and engagement. Additionally, Google Analytics offers deeper insight into Pinterest-driven website traffic and conversions. How to track performance using Pinterest Analytics Like traditional search, Pinterest Analytics helps measure content performance. Available for Pinterest Business accounts, it provides valuable data on Pin engagement, audience behavior, and trends. Key Pinterest performance metrics include: Impressions: The number of times a Pin appears in feeds, search results, or category pages. Saves (Repins): The number of times users save a Pin to their own boards. Saves signal value to Pinterest, boosting visibility. Outbound clicks: The number of times users click a Pin to visit your website. A high click-through rate (CTR) indicates effective content. Close-ups: The number of times users tap or zoom in on a Pin. A high close-up rate suggests interest but may indicate the need for clearer CTAs. Engagement rate: A combination of saves, clicks, and interactions that indicate a Pin’s overall effectiveness. Top tip: If a Pin has high impressions but low outbound clicks, test different images, headlines, and descriptions to improve engagement. If a Pin has low impressions, revisit your keyword strategy to ensure alignment with user searches. Using Google Analytics to track Pinterest’s impact While Pinterest Analytics tracks in-platform engagement, Google Analytics offers insight into Pinterest’s impact on website traffic and conversions. To track Pinterest referrals: Open Google Analytics and navigate to Acquisition > Traffic Sources. Filter by Referral Traffic and locate Pinterest as a source. Analyze bounce rate, session duration, and conversions to evaluate Pinterest’s role in driving valuable traffic. Final thoughts I’ve long been an advocate for a “search everywhere” approach – and Pinterest is proving why that strategy is essential. It’s clear that Pinterest is more than a social media platform. It’s a powerful discovery engine that lets you connect with an audience that is actively searching for inspiration and solutions. By applying familiar SEO techniques like keyword research and combining them with social-driven best practices – such as high-quality visuals and a strategic posting schedule – you can enhance discoverability and drive consistent traffic to your website. Whether you’re a blogger, ecommerce brand, or content creator, mastering Pinterest SEO gives you a competitive edge in today’s evolving search landscape. Dig deeper: Search everywhere optimization: 7 platforms SEOs need to optimize for beyond Google View the full article

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Like clockwork, every year, the U.S. housing market experiences a seasonal swing. It happens in both good years and bad. And while the seasonal trend may vary slightly by market (for example, snowbird markets), it remains fairly consistent across most housing markets. Here are three core components of the U.S. housing market’s seasonal effect—and what it means for buyers and sellers. 1. Existing home sales begin to rise heading into spring Seasonally speaking, U.S. existing home sales typically bottom out in January, then begin to rise month-over-month until peaking around June. That’s true even in an affordability constrained housing market, such as the current market. This trend is partly driven by families with children who prefer to buy in the spring so they can move and settle in before the next school year begins. Another factor is that some buyers wait for their tax refunds in early spring, using them to help with down payments and closing costs. In Northern and Mountain West markets, the rise in sales is also boosted by the fact that people waited for warmer weather before moving. Additionally, many home sellers are aware of the seasonal trend and choose to list their homes in spring to attract the largest pool of buyers, which boosts inventory, increases choices, and drives up transaction volume. (More on that below.) 2. New listings rise in the spring Knowing that many homebuyers begin their home searches in early spring, it’s also when many existing home sellers enter the market. On a seasonal level, new U.S. house listings typically bottom out in December, then begin to rise month-over-month until peaking around May. The annual upswing for new U.S. listings usually begins one month before the annual upswing in U.S. existing home sales. 3. U.S. home prices see the most upward pressure in the spring U.S. home prices experience the most upward seasonal pressure between March and July and the most downward pressure between September and January. As shown in the chart above, even during the home price crash from late 2006 to early 2012, U.S. home prices remained fairly steady during the spring months—only to resume plunging later in the year once the housing market moved into the seasonally soft fall window. In appreciating housing markets (like most of the Midwest and Northeast right now), homebuyers typically face higher prices if they wait later into the spring season. In contrast, in correcting housing markets (like pockets of Southwest Florida right now), buyers are often rewarded for waiting until the seasonal slowdown later in the year (when prices dip further) to make their purchase. View the full article

iOS users will find a handful of new emojis with an update to the 18.4 beta, including a "Face with Bags Under Eyes," which represents us all right now. The new characters were recommended for release in September 2024 with Unicode Emoji 16.0, though it typically takes designers for Apple (as well as Google, Samsung, and others) to interpret and create their versions of the new emojis and push them to users. The last round of characters rolled out with the iOS 17.4 update in March 2024 and included "Head Shaking Horizontally" and "Head Shaking Vertically," as well as a phoenix, lime, brown mushroom, and broken chain. What new emojis are coming to iPhone?These are the new emojis launching with iOS 18.4: Bags under eyes Fingerprint Leafless tree Root vegetable Harp Shovel Splatter On top of the standard emojis, some users can create any emoji they want using Apple Intelligence's Genmoji feature, which launched in beta with iOS 18.2 for iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPhone 16 series. To make an AI-generated emoji, switch to the emoji keyboard from any text field, tap the emoji, and enter the prompt for what you want to create. The next round of new emojis will come with Unicode 17, which is expected sometime in the fall and will make its way to Apple OS around this time in 2026. The proposed characters include hairy creature, distorted face, fight cloud, apple core, orca, trombone, landslide, and treasure chest as well as skin tone variations for several existing emoji. View the full article

After a year of development and months of testing, Sweetgreen’s “ripple fries” land in the salad chain’s roughly 250 locations today. “This is a way to show that you can come to Sweetgreen, eat a salad, and have a little bit of a permissible indulgence around fries,” says CEO Jonathan Neman during an interview at the chain’s Los Angeles HQ. Better known for its healthy salads than starchy sides, Sweetgreen’s embrace of the traditional fast-food staple is also bound to raise eyebrows, coming from a company that has long coveted the ubiquity of McDonald’s but long struggled with turning a profit from its higher priced healthy fare. (The company narrowed its net losses by 20% in 2024 to $90 million.) “I think it’ll spark some conversation,” Neman adds, smiling. And, of course, this being Sweetgreen, there’s a health-conscious twist: These fries aren’t fried at all, at least in the traditional sense. A DIFFERENT KIND OF FRY Where most fast-food french fries are dunked in deep vats of canola oil, the ripple fries, a name that Sweetgreen’s chief concept officer Nicolas Jammet says they plan to trademark, achieve their crisp exterior via another route. They’re tossed in avocado oil and potato starch, then “air fried,” or roasted at high heat inside an industrial convection oven. Each order comes with a choice of dipping sauces: a garlic aioli, which was recommended by a group of Sweetgreen customers, and a pickle ketchup, created in house. “We don’t think we’re really a ketchup brand,” says Sweetgreen head of culinary Chad Brauze. But after some experimenting—adding fistfuls of fresh dill and a little maple syrup to a batch of Sir Kensington’s ketchup, the team “fell in love with it.” Brauze, who previously worked in corporate kitchens at Burger King and Chipotle before joining Sweetgreen in 2023, has spent weeks training kitchen workers to make the fries. [Photo: Sweetgreen] Employees push each russet potato through a machine calibrated to slice them to a particular thickness, a process that takes about 25 minutes for 120 potatoes. Getting the right cut requires some practice, feeding one potato into the machine at a time under constant pressure. Brauze concedes that the cutting is a huge variable that, done incorrectly, could doom an entire batch. But it’s easy enough to master: During my time in Sweetgreen’s Los Angeles test kitchen, Neman’s 4-year-old son came for a visit and fed a few potatoes through the machine with reasonably minimal assistance. They’re cooked in batches every 30 minutes or so, and finished with salt and dried herbs. Jammet calls the end result “craveable,” a term common with fast-food execs describing menu items they hope will hook customers. This new side is no exception. And indeed, they taste similar to any other high-end french fry: a salty, crispy outside with a light and fluffy interior, but without the greasy aftereffect. (I absentmindedly finished a full container as we walked through the test kitchen and didn’t need to wipe my hands on a napkin afterward.) It’s a standard taste for fries, but an unusual taste for Sweetgreen, which traditionally gets all of its crunch from romaine greens, croutons, and the occasional tortilla chip. MORE THAN JUST A SALAD PLACE Ripple fries are a splashy addition from Sweetgreen, which has been trying to push beyond salad for years, introducing dinner-friendly “protein plates” in late 2023, and permanently adding steak to its menu last year. It’s all an effort to expand reach. “The idea is making sure that we can define Sweetgreen around the approach to food and the belief in the food system that we want to change,” says Jammet. “Not just like, ‘That’s a salad place.’” Sweetgreen has long touted its position as a kind of fast-food disruptor, offering high-quality food, made from scratch, sourced from ethical producers and free from additives like preservatives and food dyes. And it’s long appealed to the health-food set. In 2023, Neman announced Sweetgreen would work to reduce the amount of seed oil it used in its restaurants, and in January, it started promoting a limited-time, seed oil-free menu, which was received by some customers—incorrectly, Neman says—as a political move. President Trump’s controversial Cabinet pick to lead Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, has said Americans are being “poisoned” by seed oils. (Evidence suggests otherwise.) And during the early days of President Trump’s first presidency, Sweetgreen made green hats bearing the slogan, “Make America healthy again.” The catchphrase has since been adopted by Kennedy as a kind of rallying call to supporters that include online wellness influencers. A few weeks before Trump’s second inauguration, Neman posted a photo of himself in the hat on X, writing that he was “glad the long overdue discussion on food and health has gone mainstream.” Despite the fact that social media discussions of seed oil have reached a fever pitch, Neman believes people on both sides of the aisle are responding to Sweetgreen’s effort to reduce its use of the ingredient. The seed oil move “has nothing to do with politics,” he says. “Actually, at the time [of the announcement], we were hearing about it from customers on the other side of the political spectrum. We’re just listening to our guests.” [Photo: Sweetgreen] A ‘RIPPLE’ EFFECT Sweetgreen has spent months testing the fries in some of its 25 Los Angeles-area stores, but customer behavior has been unpredictable since January’s devastating fires. During the company’s most recent earnings call, chief financial officer Mitch Reback said that the fires “significantly disrupted operations” in Los Angeles, where stores make up nearly 15% of Sweetgreen’s revenue. “We know that people will attach it to their meal. The question is, will people come in more because of it?” Neman says. “Will it drive actual core transactions for us, or will it just drive ticket?” Ideally, the fries do both, encouraging existing customers to add onto their orders and drawing more people into Sweetgreen stores. While in-store traffic was up slightly in 2024, 2% for the year, Sweetgreen’s same-store sales growth of 6% is mainly attributable to price increases. A “craveable” menu item could be a good way to boost same-store sales and encourage repeat visits. In the meantime, the company is working on delivering more efficiencies for its customers and investors. Sweetgreen plans to open 40 new restaurants in the next year; half will be robot-assisted “Infinite Kitchens,” which can dispense fresh ingredients into bowls at a rate of up to 500 per hour, enabling restaurants to service online orders and walk-in customers more quickly. It will also retrofit a couple of existing restaurants with the automated tech, prioritizing the busiest locations. Sweetgreen is planning to enter new markets, opening locations in Sacramento, Calif., Phoenix, Ariz., and Cincinnati, Ohio. As his chain moves into new places and more mealtimes, Neman sees the fries as becoming something of a calling card—perhaps as iconic as the salads that started it all. “It’s the first time we have a truly signature side,” says Neman. “The other sides were fine, but now we have this staple. And they’re really addictive.” View the full article

Tesla’s sales of its China-made electric vehicles dropped 49.2% in February from a year earlier to 30,688 cars, the lowest since August 2022, as the U.S. automaker faces pressure from Chinese rivals in a relentless smart EV price war. Tesla, which makes its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in China, sold 93,926 Chinese-made vehicles worldwide in the first two months, down 28.7% year-on-year, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). January-February sales were distorted by the Lunar New Year holiday shifting from February last year to late January this year and due to a partial suspension of Model Y production for upgrade work. Still, Chinese rival BYD, with its Dynasty and Ocean series of EVs and plug-in hybrids, recorded a 90.4% increase in passenger vehicle sales to 614,679 units last month. BYD deepened a three-year-old price war in the world’s largest auto market last month with the launch of smart EVs — EVs equipped with advanced driving-assistance systems — starting at below $10,000. That prompted peers including Leapmotor and Geely to follow suit with affordable smart EV rollouts. Both Tesla models made in China are smart EVs. Tesla also exports its China-made EVs to markets including Europe, where sales plunged 45% in January. To increase the appeal of its aging models, Tesla made a long-awaited update to its autopilot software in China to enable city navigation in late February. It also kicked off deliveries of the revamped Model Y in its second-largest market. Model Y was the best-selling car in China itself in 2023 and 2024, although Chinese rivals have launched at least six models in the past year to take on Model Y. Tesla still benefits from a brand halo in China but analysts have said Xiaomi’s YU7 crossover to be launched later this year would be the strongest rival. Sales of the Onvo L60, which Nio launched in April to compete with Model Y and Toyota’s RAV4, fell to 4,049 units in February. Nio Chief Executive William Li expects the model will reach monthly deliveries of 20,000 units in March, which he is counting on to improve Nio’s profitability. —Qiaoyi Li, Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh, Reuters View the full article

If you have any vegetable products in your kitchen, you’ll want to be aware of the latest recall posted on the website of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The recall involves numerous vegetable products and fears that they could be a breeding ground for Clostridium botulinum bacterium, which can produce the deadly botulinum toxin. Here’s what you need to know. What’s happened? On March 3, the FDA posted the notice of a voluntary recall from AKT Trading Inc. of Torrance, California. The recall was initiated after the company discovered that some of the prepared vegetable products manufactured by Choshiya Honten Co., Ltd had the potential to harbor the Clostridium botulinum bacterium. That bacterium can produce a toxin called botulinum, which can lead to a botulism infection in a person who consumes it. The reason the recalled products have the potential to harbor the potentially deadly bacterium is because the required “Keep Refrigerated” statement was left off the packaging. If the vegetables are not refrigerated, it could enable the bacterium to grow. Which products are affected? According to the FDA notice, the following products with the brand name “Japanese Pickles,” packaged in 1 lb plastic bags, are included in the recall: SHIBA ZUKE PREPARED MIX VEGETABLES, JAN CODE (UPC): 4582207535128, Expiration date: 8/27/2025 AOKAPPA ZUKE PREPARED MIX VEGETABLES, JAN CODE (UPC): 4582207535135, Expiration Date: 5/14/2025 FUKUSHIN ZUKE PREPARED MIX VEGETABLES, JAN CODE (UPC): 4582207535142, Expiration date: 7/9/2025, 5/31/2025 SOFT TSUBOZUKE PREPARED MIX VEGETABLES, JAN CODE (UPC): 4582207535159, Expiration Date: 7/29/2025 RAKKYO ZUKE PREPARED VEGETABLES, JAN CODE (UPC): 4983673526021, Expiration Date: 8/1/2025, 7/1/2025 Additionally, the following product is also included in the recall: Brand name: CHOSHIYA Product name: ABURA-ITAME ZHASAI PREPARED SICHUAN VEGETABLE Container: 8.8oz. plastic bag JAN CODE (UPC): 4983673527325 Expiration date: 4/3/2025, 2/25/2025 The products were distributed at Tokyo Central / Marukai stores in California. The full details of the recalled products can be found here. This recall follows an earlier recall of prepared bamboo shoots. The details of that earlier recall can be found here. What is botulism? According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), botulism is a rare but serious disease. The condition is caused by a toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum and other related bacteria. There are five types of botulism, including foodborne botulism, and all are medical emergencies. Botulism occurs when the toxin attacks the body’s nerves. This can lead to a number of issues, including muscle paralysis and difficulty breathing. It can even cause death. The CDC says that any form of botulism is a medical emergency that necessitates an immediate visit to your doctor or emergency room. What are the symptoms of botulism? Symptoms can vary depending on what type of botulism a person has. The CDC says symptoms related to all forms of botulism may include: Difficulty swallowing Muscle weakness Double vision Drooping eyelids Blurry vision Slurred speech Difficulty breathing Difficulty moving the eyes Foodborne botulism symptoms may also include: Vomiting Nausea Stomach pain Diarrhea And symptoms of botulism in an infant may also include: Constipation Poor feeding Drooping eyelids Pupils that are slow to react to light Face showing less expression than usual Weak cry that sounds different than usual What do I do if I have the recalled products? Do not consume them. Instead, the recalled products should be discarded or returned to their place of purchase for a refund. Full details of the recall can be found here. Consumers who have more questions can contact AKT Trading Inc. at 310-715-2174 or email the company at info@aktusa.com. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you've been looking for a solid pair of workout earbuds that won’t slip out mid-burpee, the JBL Endurance Peak 3 is down to $39.95 on Woot (originally $99.99) this month (or until they sell out). That’s a steal for earbuds that scored an Editor’s Choice from PCMag for their workout-friendly design and secure fit. This deal includes a one-year JBL manufacturer warranty, and if you’re an Amazon Prime member, you get free standard shipping (otherwise, it'll cost you $6). JBL Endurance Peak 3 True Wireless Sports Headphones $39.95 $99.99 Save $60.04 Get Deal Get Deal $39.95 $99.99 Save $60.04 These wireless earbuds come with ear hooks that wrap snugly around your ears, ensuring they stay put even during the most intense sessions. And unlike some other hook-style earbuds, these reportedly don’t clash with glasses frames (an underrated feature for anyone who wears specs). That said, the ear hooks double as a power switch, turning off when the tips magnetically touch the body of the earpiece—that's useful in theory, but it can be frustrating if you’re just taking them out for a quick break. Also, the touch controls take some getting used to since the panels have a larger surface area than most earbuds. Sound-wise, JBL packs a punch with 10mm dynamic drivers that cover the full frequency range from 20Hz to 20KHz (with fully customizable EQ settings in the companion app), delivering a sound profile with strong bass that stays clear of distortion, even at top volume. If you’re an Android user, you’ll appreciate Google Fast Pair for easy setup, though the earbuds stick to basic AAC and SBC codecs—no AptX support here, notes this PCMag review. They do, however, boast an impressive IP68 rating, meaning they’re fully dust-proof and can survive full submersion in water for over 30 minutes. Rain, sweat, or a quick rinse under the tap? No problem. Battery life is another win, with JBL estimating 10 hours per charge, plus an additional 40 hours from the charging case (your mileage may vary depending on usage). So unless you’re planning to run an ultramarathon, you should be covered. Note: Woot does not ship these earbuds to Alaska, Hawaii, or PO box addresses. View the full article

President Donald Trump’s long-threatened tariffs against Canada and Mexico went into effect Tuesday, putting global markets on edge and setting up costly retaliations by the United States’ North American allies. Starting just past midnight, imports from Canada and Mexico are now to be taxed at 25%, with Canadian energy products subject to 10% import duties. The 10% tariff that Trump placed on Chinese imports in February was doubled to 20%, and Beijing retaliated Tuesday with tariffs of up to 15% on a wide array of U.S. farm exports. It also expanded the number of U.S. companies subject to export controls and other restrictions by about two dozen. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country would slap tariffs on more than $100 billion of American goods over the course of 21 days. Mexico didn’t immediately detail any retaliatory measures. The U.S. president’s moves raised fears of higher inflation and the prospect of a devastating trade war even as he promised the American public that taxes on imports are the easiest path to national prosperity. He has shown a willingness to buck the warnings of mainstream economists and put his own public approval on the line, believing that tariffs can fix what ails the country. “It’s a very powerful weapon that politicians haven’t used because they were either dishonest, stupid or paid off in some other form,” Trump said Monday at the White House. “And now we’re using them.” The Canada and Mexico tariffs were supposed to begin in February, but Trump agreed to a 30-day suspension to negotiate further with the two largest U.S. trading partners. The stated reason for the tariffs is to address drug trafficking and illegal immigration, and both countries say they’ve made progress on those issues. But Trump has also said the tariffs will only come down if the U.S. trade imbalance closes, a process unlikely to be settled on a political timeline. The tariffs may be short-lived if the U.S. economy suffers. But Trump could also impose more tariffs on the European Union, India, computer chips, autos and pharmaceutical drugs. The American president has injected a disorienting volatility into the world economy, leaving it off balance as people wonder what he’ll do next. “It’s chaotic, especially compared to the way we saw tariffs rolled out in the first (Trump) administration,” said Michael House, co-chair of the international trade practice at the Perkins Coie law firm. “It’s unpredictable. We don’t know, in fact, what the president will do.” Democratic lawmakers were quick to criticize the tariffs, and even some Republican senators raised alarms. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she’s “very concerned” about the tariffs going into effect because of her state’s proximity to Canada. “Maine and Canada’s economy are integrated,” Collins said, explaining that much of the state’s lobsters and blueberries are processed in Canada and then sent back to the U.S. The world economy is now caught in the fog of what appears to be a trade war. Even after Trump announced Monday that the tariffs were going forward, Canadian officials were still in touch with their U.S. counterparts. “The dialogue will continue, but we are ready to respond,” Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair said in Ottawa as he went into a special Cabinet meeting on U.S.-Canada relations. “There are still discussions taking place.” Shortly after Blair spoke, Trudeau said Canada would impose 25% tariffs on $155 billion Canadian ($107 billion U.S.) worth of American goods, starting with tariffs on $30 billion Canadian ($21 billion U.S.) worth of goods immediately and on the remaining amount on American products in three weeks. “Our tariffs will remain in place until the U.S. trade action is withdrawn, and should U.S. tariffs not cease, we are in active and ongoing discussions with provinces and territories to pursue several non-tariff measures,” Trudeau said. The White House would like to see a drop in seizures of fentanyl inside the United States, not just on the northern and southern borders. Administration officials say that seizures of fentanyl last month in everywhere from Louisiana to New Jersey had ties to foreign cartels. Damon Pike, technical practice leader for customs and trade services at the tax and consulting firm BDO, suggested the responses of other countries could escalate trade tensions and possibly increase the economic pressure points. “Canada has their list ready,” Pike said. “The EU has their list ready. It’s going to be tit for tat.” The Trump administration has suggested inflation will not be as bad as economists claim, saying tariffs can motivate foreign companies to open factories in the United States. On Monday, Trump announced that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the computer chipmaker, would be investing $100 billion in domestic production. Still, it can take time to relocate factories spread across the world and train workers with the skills they need. Greg Ahearn, president and CEO of The Toy Association, said the 20% tariffs on Chinese goods will be “crippling” for the toy industry, as nearly 80% of toys sold in the U.S. are made in China. “There’s a sophistication of manufacturing, of the tooling,” he said. “There’s a lot of handcrafting that is part of these toys that a lot of people don’t understand … the face painting, the face masks, the hair weaving, the hair braiding, the cut and sew for plush to get it to look just so. All of that are very high hands, skilled labor that has been passed through generations in the supply chain that exists with China.” For a president who has promised quick results, Ahearn added a note of caution about how quickly U.S. factories could match their Chinese rivals. “That can’t be replicated overnight,” he said. Gillies reported from Toronto. Associated Press writers Anne D’Innocenzio in New York and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report. —Josh Boak, Paul Wiseman and Rob Gillies, Associated Press View the full article

As frustration with corporate power grows under the oligarch-friendly Trump administration, Mozilla Firefox stands out more than ever for at least one defining trait: It isn’t owned by a giant tech company. “We’re independent and nonprofit,” Mozilla CEO Laura Chambers told Fast Company in an interview at Web Summit Qatar. “We’re the only browser not backed by billionaires.” But the nonprofit organization that broke Internet Explorer’s monopoly in Windows browsers 20 years ago isn’t counting only on “storytelling that we can do,” she added. “We’re also doing a lot of work on the product.” Features getting filled out The first of a set of new features that Chambers describes as intended to “help people navigate the Web more easily” should ship in March. One cribs from a clever feature that Microsoft’s Edge added almost four years ago: an option to display open browser tabs in a column running down the left side of the browser window instead of in a row spanning the top. Neither Apple’s Safari nor Google’s Chrome have seen fit to copy that since. A second sounds like the helpful quick-change tool Firefox offers to route a web search to the search engine of your choice: a sidebar tool that will let you switch between AI chatbots for quick queries that they can answer, hopefully without hallucination. Later in spring or summer, Mozilla plans to address a longstanding user request by shipping support for tab groups (for example, “recipes” or “shopping”) that you can create and then open or close as you need them. Safari in particular does this well, while Firefox users have had to install an extension to get a version of it. Another tab-management feature aimed at tab-overload victims like me (I had 76 open tabs open in this laptop’s copy of Firefox as I was writing this) will employ what sounds like on-device AI to organize tabs. Maybe more so than competitors like Google and Microsoft, Mozilla has been enlisting offline AI to avoid having to send any user data to the cloud. But it’s not always obvious when its new features work in that privacy-preserving way: I didn’t know that Firefox’s page-translation feature worked on-device until I saw Chambers bring that up in a panel at Web Summit’s Doha conference. “We should probably market that more,” Chambers admits. A role for regulation But Mozilla says it’s already seeing increased adoption of its browser—in Europe, where the EU’s Digital Markets Act requires designated gatekeeper platforms to open mobile-device app stores and system defaults to potential competitors. “In Europe, we grew Firefox share last year, which is the first time we’ve done it in a long time,” Chambers said. Mozilla credits the DMA’s “choice screen,” in which users pick a browser instead of having a system default waiting on their home screens, with goosing Firefox adoption in Android and iOS—by 29% in Germany and France since the DMA went into effect last March. The underlying numbers remain low in third-party estimates, however. Cloudflare’s automated tracking puts Firefox’s mobile share at 1.3% in France and 2.7% in Germany, although Mozilla argues that Firefox’s tracking-prevention measures suppress those user counts. In the U.S., Cloudflare has Firefox at just .8%. Firefox has historically had higher share on Windows and Mac computers, where Cloudflare credits that browser with a 7.6% share worldwide, 21.5% in Germany, 14.6% in France, and 7.1% in the U.S. But it’s in the U.S. where government antitrust action may threaten Mozilla directly. The antitrust case that the federal government and almost every state attorney general successfully bought against Google over its search business practices could lead to a ban on Google paying other browsers to keep its search engine the default. Chambers would rather not see things come to that. “The part that’s at risk is the U.S. revenue,” she said. “If our revenues were to be hurt through that, it would be much harder to sustain Gecko as an independent browser engine.” A little engine that could Gecko, the open-source software framework inside Firefox that displays and animates pages, is the only major rendering engine that both runs on Windows and macOS and is not a Google project like the Blink open-source engine inside Chrome (employed by such indie, non-billionaire browser developers as Brave and the Browser Co). But Gecko’s third-place standing after Blink and Apple’s WebKit can lead to sites blocking the browser—for example, Formula 1’s F1 TV brushes Firefox-using racing fans aside, telling them “please switch to an alternative browser.” Asked if life wouldn’t be easier for Mozilla if it adopted WebKit, also open-source, Chambers said Mozilla has considered it but passed. “It’s a lot of money and a lot of work to sustain an independent browser engine,” she said. “It also means we have a seat at the table with regulators,” allowing Mozilla to advocate for causes like privacy. In iOS and iPadOS, Apple requires all U.S. third-party browsers to use the WebKit framework included in those mobile operating systems, which limits how third-party developers can differentiate their browsers from Apple’s Safari. Where Chambers points to Firefox’s speed relative to Chrome and Edge on Windows and to Safari on Macs (she did not mention how Apple’s browser also regularly lets individual pages devour system memory), her sales pitch for Firefox on an iPhone or iMac gets more evanescent: “You’re supporting independent technology.” New ventures In the past, Mozilla has tried to diversify its revenue by selling such add-on subscription products as a VPN service and Relay, a tool to create relay phone numbers and email addresses that mask your real ones. It’s now reconsidering parts of that strategy, having already dumped some free-to-use services as Mozilla Social, its attempt to host a Mastodon instance. “We’re not dialing it back, we’re working on different ways,” said Chambers, adding that the company “pulled back spend a little bit” on promoting VPN, Relay and the Monitor data-breach-warning service. But last June, Mozilla also spent an unannounced sum to buy Anonym, an ad-tech firm founded to develop privacy-preserving online advertising systems that still let advertisers gauge what sales or other results came from their marketing efforts without snooping on individual shoppers. Chambers defends what might seem an unlikely alignment of a privacy-first browser with an adtech firm founded by former Meta executives as a way to keep online advertising alive in a way that web readers won’t resent. “The big technology that they use is differential privacy, which creates enough noise into the system so that it’s anonymous,” she said, mentioning both “some of the really big ad platforms” and companies in health and financial services (both sectors already subject to privacy regulation) are expressing interest. (Another Google antitrust case, the lawsuit brought the U.S. and most states against Google over its display-ads business, may help crack open that market for Mozilla.) This openness to new business models led Mozilla to write the terms-of-service document that Firefox had never had. The company posted those terms on Wednesday and then faced enough blowback that it posted a follow-up addressing user anxiety in a few areas, such as the removal of a pledge never to “sell” data that Mozilla apparently felt could not be made without risking conflict with some of the vaguer privacy statutes around the world. Getting people to accept online advertising systems that make enough money to allow subscription-free reading across the web remains complicated, even for a company with a solid track record on privacy. But for Mozilla to keep working on that, Chambers has a simpler request of regulators. “All that we ask for is that people are given a choice,” she said. “We don’t need it to be a preferential choice, they just need a choice. View the full article