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It's been four days since Disney's channels disappeared from YouTube TV, and some subscribers are receiving a surprise hidden away in their account settings: Over on Reddit, there are reports that some users are able to claim $10 credits on their next six monthly bills, though it's not entirely clear if this is intended as a make-good for the streamer's Disney troubles. The credit doesn't seem to be showing up for everyone, but has been redeemed by YouTube TV subscribers at Tom's Guide. Google has yet to make any announcements about the credit, and that based on a post to the YouTube X account, it appears to be entirely separate from the $20 credit the company previously promised subscribers if Disney channels remain off YouTube TV for an extended period. (That particular credit is apparently still pending, with YouTube telling subscribers to expect "an email with more details in the coming days.") It's possible that the $10 credit is entirely unrelated to the Disney debacle, although the timing is suspect, and this isn't the first time a mysterious credit has popped up for YouTube TV subscribers after a public controversy—9to5Google writer Ben Schoon wrote about claiming a similar credit back in June, after YouTube TV raised its prices. Regardless of the reasons behind it, here's how to check if you're eligible for the new $10 YouTube TV credit on your own account, and how to claim it on your next six bills (a total savings of $60). How to claim YouTube TV's new $10 creditAccording to the Reddit users as well as Schoon's reporting from the last time this happened, you can only claim the credit through a web browser on a desktop or laptop computer, which might explain why some users aren't seeing it. Using said desktop browser, log into your YouTube TV account, click on your profile picture in the top-right corner, and click on Settings. Click on Membership, and finally Manage. If you're eligible for the discount, you'll see it here. Click Redeem to claim it. Note, again, that even when you follow these steps, you may not see the discount, at least judging by reports from the Reddit community. Currently, it's unclear how it's being distributed. I've reached out to Google for more details and will update this post when I hear back. When will I get my YouTube TV credit?If you don't see an offer to claim the new $10 credit on your YouTube TV account, you're not totally out of luck: Per YouTube's post to its X account, a $20 credit is currently being planned if Disney's channels don't return to the service soon. The company said it will send out emails with more details shortly, so keep an eye on your inbox for info on how to claim it. It's possible those emails may also have more clarification about this $10 credit, which could help those who aren't seeing it redeem it as well. View the full article

How do you say yes when you have no idea how to deliver? My cofounders and I built Moment Factory by saying yes to projects most people thought were impossible. Long before the technology existed, we designed interactive concerts, illuminated night walks through forests, and towering LED installations in airports. Every project started with the same challenge: Finding the path to make the impossible possible. The unknown isn’t unique to our industry. Every creative team faces it—startups launch apps no one knew they needed, architects design spaces no one had imagined, chefs invent dishes no one had tasted. At the beginning of every project, you don’t know the outcome or what discoveries lie ahead. But uncertainty is where creativity begins. After 25 years and more than 600 creations, we developed a framework to help teams navigate uncertainty. We call it The Journey Into the Unknown, structured around four tools: The Map, The Crew, The Ship, and The Compass of Amazing. It builds a shared language, aligns teams, fosters trust, and keeps everyone moving forward together. Next time a project feels impossible, let this framework guide your journey into the unknown. THE MAP No explorer started with a complete map of undiscovered territory. At first, your map will be messy, incomplete, and full of gaps. The key is to start with the fragments of information you have and let them guide you in an initial direction: the context, the brief, the timeline, the budget, the objectives, the audiences, and your initial assumptions and ideas. Each small step uncovers something new. Every decision and experiment adds layers of detail, gradually revealing the direction and shape of the map. Progress is not linear, but each step should bring a clearer sense of the path ahead, and that’s the Map in action: by trusting this process, we could zigzag through decisions and discover our breakthrough moment. THE CREW Your team is your Crew. Once you have your Map, you need to cast your Crew carefully. A strong team is a multidisciplinary mix of great talents—chosen with intention and purpose. The right individuals, with the right expertise and the right mix, kept as lean as possible, supporting one another and sharing knowledge across disciplines, are what makes the work come alive. Picture the classic standoff: Creatives could spend years conceptualizing ideas and exploring every possibility, while production teams push for specifics—timelines, budgets, roadmaps. The creative says, “It needs to feel more magical.” The producer responds, “What’s that going to cost?” This tension isn’t a flaw—it’s the balance that keeps the Ship upright. You need both the dreamers and the builders, and when they align, when they understand each other’s reality, breakthrough work becomes possible. THE SHIP The Ship carries the Crew and the tools for the journey. Each project requires a different ship to carry your Crew and their tools from concept to execution. For some missions, a mothership with support vessels is essential; for others, a small, fast, agile craft is enough. The right ship will have the fuel, speed, and capacity suited to the journey, carrying just the right team to get the project across the finish line. THE COMPASS OF AMAZING The Compass of Amazing is your instinct. Everyone has a creative instinct shaped by past experiences. It’s a guide, like one you’d bring on a trip, helping you decide your next move. Every journey into the unknown is made of thousands of small decisions—and its success depends on the accumulation of good ones, never just one. Following your Compass often means making choices that aren’t obvious and trusting a hunch, even when it feels risky. Take John Lennon during the recording of Strawberry Fields Forever: He had two very different takes—one with a Mellotron, the other with brass and strings. Rather than choosing one, he trusted his instinct that combining them could create something extraordinary. It was a technical challenge, but that intuition produced a groundbreaking result that changed how records were produced. Using your Compass is about recognizing intuitive moments just like Lennon did. When you pitch an idea and the whole room leans forward, that’s your Compass pointing true north. If that feeling disappears, stop, feel, and realign to chart a new course from there. SAY YES TO THE UNKNOWN Every impossible project will be a rollercoaster of excitement, fear, doubt, and hope. Embrace it. These feelings aren’t obstacles; they’re part of the creative process. When a project lands in front of you, ask yourself: “Does it feel exciting?” and “Does it align with my values?” If the answer is yes, be courageous and boldly step forward. Your Map will gradually reveal itself, your Crew will rise to the challenge, your Ship will take shape, and your Compass of Amazing will guide your decisions. Fear will inevitably surface along the way. When it does, remember past moments of uncertainty and how they ultimately unfolded. The journey into the unknown is always a dance between chaos and order. A certain amount of chaos is essential—it sparks discovery and creativity—but too much becomes dysfunction and stifles imagination. The creative process flows from uncertainty to clarity, and it is in that delicate balance that ideas ignite, projects take shape, and something truly remarkable emerges. Sakchin Bessette is the cofounder and executive creative director of Moment Factory. View the full article

Benjamin Houy shuts down Lorelight, arguing AI search doesn’t need stand-alone GEO tools. The decision sparks debate over measuring assistant visibility. The post GEO Platform Shutdown Sparks Industry Debate Over AI Search appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Prosperity will come from attracting global AI innovatorsView the full article

One year after Donald The President retook the White House and set into motion a dramatic expansion of executive power, the Republican president figures prominently in state and local elections being held Tuesday. The results of those contests — the first general election of The President’s second term — will be heralded by the victors as either a major repudiation or resounding stamp of approval of his second-term agenda. That’s especially true in high-profile races for Virginia and New Jersey governor, New York City mayor and a California proposition to redraw its congressional district boundaries. More than half of the states will hold contests on Tuesday. Here’s a look at some of the major statewide and local races on the ballot: Governors: New Jersey and Virginia In New Jersey, Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli are the nominees to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. Sherrill is a four-term U.S. representative and former Navy helicopter pilot. Ciattarelli is a former state Assemblyman backed by The President. In 2021, Ciattarelli came within about 3 percentage points of toppling Murphy. In Virginia, Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Democratic former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger look to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. While Spanberger has made some efforts to focus on topics other than The President in stump speeches, the president remained a major topic of conversation throughout the campaign, from comments Earle-Sears made about him in 2022 to some of his more polarizing policies, such as the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill tax and spending cut measure and the widespread dismissal of federal workers, many of whom live in northern Virginia. The President was scheduled to participate in telephone rallies for the candidates on Monday night. As the only gubernatorial races held in the year following a presidential election, the contests have long served as the first major test of voter sentiment toward the party holding the White House. In every race for governor since 1973, one or both states have elected a governor from a party different than that of the sitting president. New York City Mayor The race to lead the nation’s largest city features Democratic state legislator Zohran Mamdani, independent candidate and former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa. Mamdani’s comfortable victory over Cuomo in the June primary generated excitement from the party’s more progressive wing and apprehension among the party establishment. Party leaders like Gov. Kathy Hochul and U.S. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries eventually endorsed the self-described democratic socialist months after he won the nomination. The winner will replace outgoing Mayor Eric Adams, who initially sought renomination as a Democrat. After losing the primary Adams opted to run as an independent, but dropped out of the race in September and eventually endorsed Cuomo. In February, the The President Justice Department asked a court to drop corruption charges against Adams because the case impeded The President’s “immigration objectives.” The President later said he’d like to see both Adams and Sliwa drop out of the race in an effort to defeat Mamdani. California Proposition 50 California voters will decide a statewide ballot measure that would enact a new congressional map that could flip as many as five Republican-held U.S. House seats to Democratic control. Proposition 50, championed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, is in response to a new Texas map that state Republicans enacted in August as part of The President’s efforts to keep the U.S. House under Republican control in the 2026 midterms. The Texas plan, which could help Republicans flip five Democratic-held U.S. House seats, has sparked an escalating gerrymandering arms race among states to pass new maps outside of the regular once-a-decade schedule. Pennsylvania Supreme Court Control of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will be at stake when voters cast Yes or No votes on whether to retain three justices from the high court’s 5-2 Democratic majority. Partisan control of the court could have major implications for the 2028 presidential race, since justices might be asked to rule on election disputes, as they did in 2020. Spending on Tuesday’s contests is on track to exceed $15 million as Republicans have campaigned to end the majority and Democrats have responded. If all three justices are ousted, a deadlock in the confirmation process to replace them could result in a court tied at 2-2. An election to fill any vacant seats for full 10-year terms would be held in 2027. Other notable contests VIRGINIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Republican incumbent Jason Miyares seeks a second term against Democrat Jay Jones. Much of the fall campaign has focused on text messages suggesting violence against political rivals that Jones sent in 2022. TEXAS-18: Sixteen candidates hope to fill a vacant congressional seat previously held by the late Democratic U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner. STATE LEGISLATURES: Control of the Minnesota Senate and Virginia House of Delegates is at stake, while New Jersey Democrats defend their 52-28 General Assembly majority. BALLOT MEASURES: Maine voters will decide statewide questions on voting and a “red flag” law aimed at preventing gun violence. Texas’ 17 ballot measures include constitutional amendments on parental rights and limiting voting to U.S. citizens. Colorado and Washington also have statewide measures on the ballot. MAYORS: Detroit, Pittsburgh, Jersey City and Buffalo will elect new mayors, while incumbents in Atlanta, Minneapolis and Cincinnati seek another term. Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2025 election at https://apnews.com/projects/election-results-2025/. —Robert Yoon, Associated Press View the full article

Google has added a new user agent to its help documentation named Google-CWS. This is the Chrome Web Store user agent that is a user-triggered fetchers. More details. Google posted about the new user agent over here, it reads; “The Chrome Web Store fetcher requests URLs that developers provide in the metadata of their Chrome extensions and themes.” What are user-triggered fetchers. A user-triggered fetchers are initiated by users to perform a fetching function within a Google product. The example provided by Google was “Google Site Verifier acts on a user’s request, or a site hosted on Google Cloud (GCP) has a feature that allows the site’s users to retrieve an external RSS feed. Because the fetch was requested by a user, these fetchers generally ignore robots.txt rules. The general technical properties of Google’s crawlers also apply to the user-triggered fetchers.” Why we care. If you see this user agent in your crawl logs, you now know where it is from. The Chrome Web Store fetcher requests URLs that developers provide in the metadata of their Chrome extensions and themes. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Back in October, I wrote about how I wanted to get a mini label printer during Amazon Prime Day so I could beef up my resale game. I am a woman of my word, and the printer arrived two short days later, immediately allowing me to print out the shipping labels I need for all the packages I sell on Poshmark. This isn't a necessary upgrade for any reseller, especially not someone who is casually just flipping their own clothes and goods online, as most resale platforms—Poshmark included—provide the option for you to simply show the USPS worker a QR code on your phone, which triggers the label to print at the post office. But having access to my own printer has sped up and made my process so much more efficient. Yes, I could continue printing my labels at the post office, but it was slower and more confusing that way, particularly when mailing multiple packages at once. Here are three reasons having my own printer has been better. My label printer saves me timeWhen I wrote about the deals in October, I was considering getting a fancy, name-brand printer, but ended up going with the Vretti, a cheaper option at around $70, instead. I reasoned that this way, I could see if it actually benefitted my little side business before investing more money. If it didn't work, I could resell it and recoup my minimal spend. If it did work, I could resell it, then use the earnings to upgrade to the heavier-hitting one. Amazingly, the Vretti started proving its worth immediately. The first thing I noticed was how much time I saved. In the past, I would gather up the items that had been sold on a given day, put them all in a bag, take them to the post office, and then pack them—right there in public—into their mailing envelopes, which I had to procure at the post office itself. Then, I'd get into the line with my giant bunch of packages, wait who-knows-how-long, and finally, show the agent the QR code assigned to each package, so they could scan them, print out the label, affix it to the package, scan that, then put it in a bin ready to be shipped out. This took me 30 minutes on a good day. With my label maker, I do most of that myself, since I also went ahead and bought some mailers. When an order comes in, I pack everything into a mailer, print my own envelope, walk over to the post office, and don't need to wait in line at all. I just set the labeled package into a special window and walk away. The part that takes the longest is the four-minute walk to the post office, but even that can be avoided if I set up a package pickup by my mailperson the night before. I'm militant about keeping my average shipping time low, so if an order comes through in the daytime, I try to get it out same-day, which means I rarely have the chance to schedule a next-day pickup from my own home. If I cared less about that, I could easily set all my labeled packages for at-home pickup and never walk to the post office at all, meaning each sale would take me nothing more than seconds to fix up. My label printer keeps me organizedSince I got this thing three weeks ago, I've made 26 sales. But because I typically sell bundles—or more than one thing at a time, offering a discount for bulk purchases—I've actually sold about 63 things within those 26 packages. Remember how I said that before I got my printer, I'd put everything in a bag and bring it to the post office, then pack it there? On days I had multiple bundles to ship out, that was tricky. I'd get confused about which item belonged in which mailer, have to write the contents on the mailer itself so I could remember which package corresponded with which QR code, and carefully coordinate with the attendant to make sure nothing got mixed up. Fortunately, I never mailed anyone the wrong order or made a major mistake—but it was time-consuming, annoying, and stressful. My label printer makes that a problem of the past. When an order comes in, I build it out immediately, pulling the right items from the shelf, putting them in a mailer, and labeling them instantly. Then, even if I wait to go to the post office until I have a few more packages to send out, there's no confusing what is what. My label printer makes me a more appealing sellerThis whole thing is very transactional and straightforward. I list my old clothes that don't fit anymore. Someone buys them. I get money. They get clothes. That doesn't mean there's no customer service involved here, although you can certainly be an impersonal, brusque seller if you want to be. I do prefer to send out cute packages that make the transaction feel a little more personal, though, and the printer helps me there, too. Because I can pack them in my own home and take my time with them, my packages are looking better and more bespoke than ever. I can write little messages on the label, take care to wrap goods in tissue paper, or otherwise spruce up my colorful mailers, all without someone in line behind me at the post office willing me to hurry up. View the full article

Project dashboards provide a clear, real-time overview of a project’s progress, performance and key metrics in one centralized location. It helps project managers and stakeholders quickly assess whether the project is on track by visualizing data such as timelines, budgets, resource allocation and task completion rates. By simplifying complex information into easily digestible visuals like charts and graphs, dashboards enable faster decision-making, improve communication across teams and enhance transparency throughout the project lifecycle. Many teams use Microsoft products to manage their projects, but does Microsoft Planner have a dashboard? The Microsoft Planner dashboard helps teams get a visual sense of progress, workloads and priorities across projects. What Is Microsoft Planner? Microsoft Planner is a task management tool that helps teams organize, track and collaborate on projects. It allows users to create plans, assign tasks, set due dates and monitor progress through visual boards and charts. Integrated with Microsoft 365, Planner makes it easy to share updates, attach files, and communicate within teams, promoting better coordination and productivity. Does Microsoft Planner Have a Dashboard? Many people wonder whether Microsoft Planner has a dashboard view. After all, dashboards are essential project management tools, providing a real-time visual summary of a project’s status. They help teams quickly understand progress, performance and potential issues. Most valuable project management software includes some sort of dashboard functionality. Dashboards are key for helping project managers monitor goals, make informed decisions and communicate updates to stakeholders. Short Answer: Yes, Microsoft Planner Has a Dashboard Microsoft Planner does have a dashboard, although it is technically called “Charts” in their software. It provides a visual summary of key metrics like task status and overdue items. With it, managers can see which tasks are in progress, which are falling behind and which have been completed, giving them the clarity they need to make adjustments quickly. The tool’s color-coded cards and buckets make it easy to scan for updates, review key deadlines and understand how work is distributed among team members. Beyond its visuals, the Microsoft Planner dashboard simplifies how teams stay aligned on shared goals. Whether planning short sprints or tracking department-wide initiatives, it offers a central space to manage collaboration and accountability. However, while Planner’s dashboard provides helpful overviews, many teams eventually need more flexibility, deeper reporting and broader integration to manage multiple projects efficiently—especially as their workloads and demands expand. /wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Microsoft-Planner-Chart-View.png Long Answer: Microsoft Planner’s Dashboard Lacks Key Project Management Features While the Microsoft Planner dashboard gives a quick overview, it’s limited in its ability to drill into complex metrics or handle multiple projects simultaneously. It’s best suited for simple task tracking rather than advanced portfolio oversight. For larger teams or organizations managing layered workflows, Planner’s dashboard lacks customization, automated reporting and integration depth, which makes it difficult to generate comprehensive insights across departments or cross-functional initiatives. What Is the Microsoft Planner Dashboard View? Microsoft Planner technically has a dashboard-style view via Charts, but if you’re looking for a comprehensive, organization-wide dashboard, you’ll be left looking for an alternative. Purchasing additional tools or dealing with integrations is frustrating, time-consuming and expensive. ProjectManager’s dashboard, by comparison, offers live data analytics that update instantly as teams log time, complete tasks or adjust resources. It features multiple project views such as Gantt, sheet, list and kanban, all feeding real-time data into dynamic charts that track cost, workload, time and task progress. Users can set baselines, forecast trends and generate automated reports powered by AI to provide a summary and recommendations. There is also a seamless Power BI integration. Because ProjectManager imports Microsoft Planner files directly, teams can upgrade to richer insights without losing prior work. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. /wp-content/uploads/2025/10/AI-Project-Insights-Lightmode-Dashboard-CTA.pngLearn more Key Features of the Microsoft Planner Dashboard View Now that we know what metrics are being monitored, let’s explore the features associated with the Microsoft Planner dashboard. They’re listed as follows. Visual Task Overview (Basic & Premium): Provides a quick visual summary of all plans and their task progress using color-coded charts. Built-In Charts (Basic & Premium): Includes pie and bar charts showing task distribution by status, bucket or assignee. Filter & Grouping Options (Basic & Premium): Allows filtering by user, due date, priority or label to focus on specific workloads. Integration with Microsoft 365 (Basic & Premium): Fully integrated with Teams, Outlook, To Do and Loop for consistent project visibility. Real-Time Updates (Basic & Premium): Instantly reflects changes made by team members across the workspace. Advanced Reporting via Power BI (Premium only): Enables deeper analytics and cross-plan reporting through Power BI datasets. Portfolio View (Premium only): Displays multiple plans in one dashboard, allowing managers to compare progress across projects. Timeline & Dependencies (Premium only): Adds schedule insights and visual task dependencies not available in the Basic version. Cons of Using the Microsoft Planner Dashboard for Project Management Although the Microsoft Planner dashboard offers useful visual tracking, it has limitations that make it less effective for advanced project management. Large teams or complex projects may require more powerful tools for analytics and reporting. Below are some of the main drawbacks of using the Microsoft Planner dashboard for project management. Lacks detailed reporting and analytics features Does not track dependencies between tasks Limited customization for dashboard views Cannot display data from multiple plans at once Offers no resource workload visualization Performance slows with large data sets Provides minimal export or sharing options Not ideal for long-term strategic tracking Related: 5 Free Excel Dashboard Templates How to Make a Microsoft Planner Dashboard with ProjectManager Microsoft Planner users looking for a dashboard with dynamic features can instead use ProjectManager. First, sign up for a free 30-day trial. There’s no credit card required, and you get plenty of time to explore the software. 1. Export for Microsoft Planner Project First, navigate to the board view in Microsoft Planner and export the plan as an Excel spreadsheet, CSV or MPP file. This captures all task data, deadlines and assignments so they are ready to import into ProjectManager. /wp-content/uploads/2024/10/ms-planner-pm-import-updated-2025.png 2. Select the File to Import Open ProjectManager and navigate to the Gantt chart and click the import icon. A popup will appear where you can select the file you exported from Microsoft Planner. Choose your Excel, CSV or MPP file to continue. /wp-content/uploads/2024/12/tab-imports-600x374.png 3. Choose Import Options Decide if you want to add the imported data to a project that exists or create a new one altogether. If adding the data to an existing project, select which one and choose whether to keep or replace the current project data. 4. Import the Data Into ProjectManager The next step is specifying whether you want to import all project information or only the task list. Choose your selection and click “next” to start the import process. 5. Customize Your Microsoft Planner Dashboard Once the import is ready, your dashboard is ready to use. You can view the imported data in any of our project views and add more data to ensure your team is aligned on progress. /wp-content/uploads/2022/10/import-success-prompt-600x294.png Free Project Dashboard Template Want to try a dashboard before buying one? Download our free Excel-based project dashboard template. It’s designed to provide a comprehensive overview of your project’s status. This template allows you to track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as task progress, workload distribution and budget adherence. Visual aids like pie charts and bar graphs enable project managers to quickly assess their project health and make informed decisions. The dashboard is structured to capture essential data points, ensuring that all critical project aspects are monitored effectively. /wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Project-Dashboard-template-UPDATE-600x262.png While the Excel template offers a static snapshot of project metrics, ProjectManager’s online platform enhances this by providing real-time data updates. By uploading your Excel data into ProjectManager, you can leverage dynamic dashboards that automatically refresh as project details change. This integration allows for continuous monitoring and more agile project management, ensuring that you’re always working with the most current information. For those seeking a more interactive and up-to-date project tracking experience, set up a free 30-day trial (no credit card necessary) and transitioning from the Excel template to ProjectManager’s platform can offer significant advantages. What Does the Microsoft Planner Dashboard Show? If you’re still interested in the Microsoft Planner dashboard, then it’s important to understand what metrics it tracks when managing projects. Below is a list of what users see when they open the tool. Task Status Overview (Basic & Premium): A pie chart showing how many tasks are Not started, In progress, or Completed. Task Distribution (Basic & Premium): Visual breakdowns by bucket, assignee, or label to understand task allocation. Due Date Insights (Basic & Premium): Highlights overdue, upcoming and completed tasks to track schedule performance. Individual Workload View (Basic & Premium): Displays each team member’s assigned tasks and their completion progress. Plan Progress Summary (Basic & Premium): Shows the percentage of tasks completed per plan. Cross-Project Portfolio Summary (Premium only): Aggregates data from multiple plans into a single executive-level dashboard. Power BI Integration View (Premium only): Connects data to Power BI dashboards for customizable reporting and trend analysis. ProjectManager’s Project, Team and Portfolio Dashboards Are Better Than the Microsoft Planner Dashboard ProjectManager offers live dashboards that automatically collect and display project data in real time, giving managers instant visibility into performance. Unlike the Microsoft Planner dashboard, which provides only basic task visuals, our dashboards track key metrics such as task progress, budget health and team performance across multiple projects. This unified view helps project leaders make informed decisions faster, ensuring every phase of work stays aligned with goals and deadlines. Visualize the Workload of Team Members in Real Time With ProjectManager, managers can see exactly who is overloaded and who has capacity using color-coded workload charts and team dashboards. This feature makes it easy to reassign tasks or balance workloads to avoid burnout. The platform supports resource forecasting, helping teams plan and optimize efficiency across departments, something the Microsoft Planner dashboard doesn’t provide at the same level of depth or clarity. /wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Team-Light-2554x1372-1.png Plan on Gantt Charts and Track Costs with Timesheets and Project Reports ProjectManager’s integrated timesheets and AI-powered reports give users precise insight into labor costs, project expenses, and financial performance. Every hour logged automatically feeds into reports and dashboards, providing real-time cost tracking without manual updates. Managers can monitor spending, compare planned versus actual costs, and identify financial risks early. This starts by scheduling tasks, resources and costs on robust Gantt charts that link dependencies, filter for the critical path and set a baseline to track progress in real time. /wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Gantt-lightmode-import-proof.png Pros of Using the Microsoft Planner Dashboard for Project Management The Microsoft Planner dashboard gives teams a visual way to monitor progress, track performance and manage workloads. It consolidates key project data into one place, helping managers identify bottlenecks and prioritize tasks efficiently. Here are the main advantages of using the Microsoft Planner dashboard for project management. Provides a quick visual overview of team performance Displays task status and progress at a glance Helps managers identify overdue or at-risk tasks easily Improves accountability with assigned task visibility Integrates well with Microsoft Teams and Outlook Encourages team collaboration through shared dashboards Allows filtering and grouping tasks by status or owner Supports real-time updates for accurate tracking Microsoft Planner Dashboard FAQs The Microsoft Planner dashboard raises common questions about its capabilities, compatibility and pricing. While it offers basic visualizations for tasks and timelines, it has limitations compared to more advanced project management tools. Can You Open MPP Files Using the Microsoft Planner Dashboard Feature? No, the Microsoft Planner dashboard cannot open or edit MPP files. MPP is a proprietary Microsoft Project format, so users need Project Online or Project Professional to view these files. Planner is limited to its own tasks and projects within Microsoft 365. Is Microsoft Planner Dashboard Free? Yes, Microsoft Planner is included with most Microsoft 365 business subscriptions, so there is no additional cost. However, it requires a paid Microsoft 365 plan to access the dashboard feature, and some advanced integrations may need higher-tier subscriptions. What Is the Difference Between Microsoft Planner Basic and Microsoft Planner Premium? Planner Basic provides core task management and timeline views, while Planner Premium adds enhanced reporting, workflow automation, and larger storage capacity. Premium is designed for teams requiring more advanced oversight, though it still lacks advanced resource management and customizable dashboards compared to professional project management software. Related Microsoft Planner Content There’s more than the Microsoft Planner dashboard. For readers who are curious what this replacement for Microsoft Project is all about can check out the links below. Some articles review the product, its Gantt chart and much more. How to Use Microsoft Planner: A Quick Guide Microsoft Planner Gantt Chart: How to Make a Gantt Chart In Microsoft Planner 11 Best Microsoft Planner Alternatives of 2025 (Free & Paid) Microsoft Planner Timeline: Key Features, Pros & Cons What Is Microsoft Planner Premium? Uses, Features and Pricing Microsoft Planner vs. Project: In-Depth Software Comparison ProjectManager is online project and portfolio management software that connects teams, whether they’re in the office or out in the field. They can share files, comment at the task level and stay updated with email and in-app notifications. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. The post Microsoft Planner Dashboard: Key Features, Pros & Cons appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

A reader writes: I found your site a few months ago after receiving an angry, almost violent letter from a former employee of mine. I used to own and operate a small bed and breakfast in a resort community. She was a maid, cook, and sometimes bookkeeper. I have always known that I’m a difficult person and would warn new employees that they were on probation for them to get to know me as much as for me to get to know them. I have always found those who can’t handle me to be weak or too sensitive. When I got her letter, I was shocked, angry, hurt, defensive, and ready for war. However, after taking some time to read through your past letters, I now don’t know how to feel or what to think. This employee worked for me for a little over six months and ghosted one day, never to be heard from again. She was a good employee and at first I thought she was one of the few who didn’t take my personality personally. At the time I received her letter and for years afterward, I found her to be childish, immature, angry, and emotional. Why not come to me to tell me she had a problem? But reading your blog has made me aware of the fact that I was probably considered an abusive boss — and to be honest, an abusive person overall. Her letter outlined bad treatment from me and how much it impacted her. She reminded me of almost every slight from the time I screamed at her for getting up out of her chair while I was training her on some software (she needed a pen to take notes and it annoyed me that she wasn’t ready to learn) to the time I reprimanded her for using what I found to be a too-small wad of paper towel to clean a mirror. She reminded me that I got upset at everything and anything. She called me petulant. She reminded me of guests I was unkind to by linking to bad reviews online. She told me she wishes her departure caused trouble for me. She told me I deserved the online hate from past guests of my B&B (I didn’t have a good reputation on Yelp). She told me it took a long time to get over how I treated her and sending me this letter was part of how she chose to heal. At first, I was very defensive. I wanted to write back and tell her she was a child, sensitive, and obsessive. That she must not have a fulfilling life if she felt the need to write to a long-ago boss. However, each time I consider writing back, I realize she can counter everything with fair evidence that I was, in fact, a monster to work for. She’s right. I’m not different now, but I am no longer working. I am retired and live in a different state. I no longer have reason or opportunity to treat people like I treated my employees and guests. I had to close my B&B after too many years of trying to make it work. If you were me, if you had made these mistakes and really were as bad as my old employee said, what would you do here? Would you write back to apologize? Ignore it and try to move on? It would be an act of incredible graciousness and growth to write back, thank her for her honesty, and apologize how you treated her. You could acknowledge that your initial reaction upon receiving her letter was defensiveness but you sat with what you she wrote and you see the truth in it, and you were indeed terrible to work for. You could tell her that you’re no longer managing anyone, and that you hope she has landed in a better place. And you could thank her for the self-reflection her letter prompted. Because it is a gift for someone to give you such an unvarnished look at yourself — and I also believe it is a gift to you from yourself that you were able to see the truth in it. You could have gone on feeling defensive and blaming the employee and thinking she was overly sensitive, but something in you pushed past that. Can you go a step further and really grapple with what you’ve realized? That could mean exploring why your natural default was to the type of behavior you described (for example, did you grow up with a parent who was hyper-critical and punitive and that was your model for how to relate to people? or in an environment where extreme control over every detail was the best way to survive, and you carried that onward after it was no longer serving you? did you learn growing up that anger was a default state of dealing with the world?) and what the impact of that has been on important relationships to you throughout your life … and what it would look like and feel like to do things differently. There can be incredible liberation in dropping your defenses, accepting feedback, and committing to doing things differently. If you don’t let yourself go into denial mode (which is a form of self-protection), it can even feel good to confront that stuff — not good like “eat your vegetables, they’re good for you” good, but good like chocolate is good. (Both, really, but people tend not to realize the almost physical pleasure there can be in facing hard things head-on in the service of moving toward a more peaceful place.) If you are willing to do that work, it can dramatically change the kinds of relationships you have in your life, the amount of peace and happiness you feel internally, and your day-to-day quality of life. Which is why I say you should write back and thank your former employee. What she offered you is a gift if you want to take it. She most likely didn’t intend it to be one, but it very much can be that if you choose. The post I was the abusive boss appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

The risk now is that well-intentioned landlords — the majority — find themselves caught in the crossfireView the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. When it comes to buying the best headphones at the best price, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra is at the top of the list for active noise-canceling (ANC), while also excelling in other important categories. Right now, the Bose QuietComfort Ultras are $329 (originally $429), matching the lowest price they've ever been, according to price-tracking tools. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Wireless Headphones with Spatial Audio, Over Ear Noise Cancelling Headphones with Mic, Up To 24 Hour $329.00 at Amazon $429.00 Save $100.00 Get Deal Get Deal $329.00 at Amazon $429.00 Save $100.00 Few other brands can compete with Bose's QuietComfort Ultra lineup when it comes to ANC. Apart from the headphone model, they also make some of the best ANC earbuds, both using the same tech. PCMag's "outstanding" review goes into detail on how the headphones do the best job at dialing back low-frequency rumbles, as well as lows and mids. Despite those plaudits, they're not perfect: Some high-frequency sounds still make it through the ANC technology (that's the case for all ANC headphones, though). But these headphones performed better at ANC than their other two main competitors, Apple AirPods Max and the Sony WH-1000XM5. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones launched in the fall of 2023 with many reviewers praising their overall quality, but earning complaints for their pricing, at almost half a grand. At their current discounted price, there is no better value for your money if you value top-tier ANC. Another great feature of the headphones is their transparency mode, meant to be used to allow you to better hear your surroundings (cars, bikes, or people around you) while wearing them. You can expect about 24 hours of juice with a full charge, or about 18 hours if you're using ANC. The accompanying app has a well-designed, customizable EQ. Our Best Editor-Vetted Early Black Friday Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 2 Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds — $169.99 (List Price $249.00) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $299.00 (List Price $349.00) Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Plus — $29.99 (List Price $49.99) Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam, White with Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen), White — $59.99 (List Price $99.99) Blink Video Doorbell Wireless (Newest Model) + Sync Module Core — $29.99 (List Price $69.99) Blink Mini 2 1080p Indoor Security Camera (2-Pack, White) — $27.99 (List Price $69.99) Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 with Ring Chime Pro — $149.99 (List Price $259.99) Introducing Amazon Fire TV 55" Omni Mini-LED Series, QLED 4K UHD smart TV, Dolby Vision IQ, 144hz gaming mode, Ambient Experience, hands-free with Alexa, 2024 release — $699.99 (List Price $819.99) Blink Outdoor 4 1080p 2-Camera Kit With Sync Module Core — $51.99 (List Price $129.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

In addition to voting in the highly anticipated mayoral race this November, New Yorkers will make another consequential decision this election day. They’ll also decide whether the city will begin holding elections only on even-numbered calendar years. While it may sound irrelevant, it’s an important yay or nay. The measure, as written in Ballot Proposal 6, would mean that off-year primary and general elections would begin taking place in the same year as the presidential elections. If New Yorkers voted for the proposal, it would be in line with what New York state has already been moving toward. Earlier this month, the Court of Appeals unanimously voted to uphold a law that moved many town and county elections to even-numbered years. Now, those in NYC will have to decide whether to follow suit. Why does this matter for New Yorkers? Proponents of the proposal say that it will increase voter turnout, given it streamlines elections. In New York, historically, odd-year elections bring about extraordinarily low turnout, which seems to be getting worse. In the last mayoral election, which took place in an odd-year (2021), only 23% made it to the polls. Even this year, with a high-profile mayoral election and turnout trending upward, some predictions say that only between 30 to 40% of New Yorkers will vote. And, according to a 2022 Citizens United report, the six largest U.S. cities that hold local elections in odd-numbered years see turnout between 10% to 38% for mayoral races. Meanwhile, the six largest cities that have their elections in even-numbered years see numbers between 50% and 75%. And 60% of New Yorkers voted in the presidential election. In addition to the potential for higher voter turnout, streamlining elections could also mean improving elections, as election officials can use the off-years for other essential tasks and save money. According to a 2024 report from the city’s Independent Budget Office, “if the City held on-cycle local elections, there would be fiscal year savings of approximately $42 million every other year.” The flipside While most New Yorkers are in favor of the proposal, some worry that shifting elections to even-numbered years could mean that during presidential election years, local issues don’t get as much attention. Likewise, ballots will have to cover more ground, meaning they could become much longer, and thus more confusing for voters. It could also mean that some voters only vote for the most consequential or high-profile races, a trend which has shown up in certain localities that have already begun to streamline elections. Still, according to Citizens United, “the evidence from the cities that consolidated elections and from New York City does not suggest that ballot drop-off is a significant issue.” View the full article

Flight delays continued at U.S. airports Sunday amid air traffic controller shortages as the government shutdown entered its second month, with Newark airport in New Jersey experiencing delays of two to three hours. New York City’s Emergency Management office said on X that Newark delays often ripple out to the region’s other airports. Travelers flying to, from or through New York “should expect schedule changes, gate holds, and missed connections. Anyone flying today should check flight status before heading to the airport and expect longer waits,” the social media post added. George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Chicago O’Hare were also seeing dozens of delays and one or two cancellations, along with major airports in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver and Miami, according to FlightAware. As of Sunday evening, FlightAware said there were 4,295 delays and 557 cancelations of flights within, into or out of the U.S., not all related to controller shortages. In July, before the shutdown, about 69% of flights were on time and 2.5% were canceled. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has been warning that travelers will start to see more flight disruptions the longer controllers go without a paycheck. “We work overtime to make sure the system is safe. And we will slow traffic down, you’ll see delays, we’ll have flights canceled to make sure the system is safe,” Duffy said Sunday on CBS’S “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” He also said he does not plan to fire air traffic controllers who don’t show up for work. “Again when they’re making decisions to feed their families, I’m not going to fire air traffic controllers,” Duffy said. “They need support, they need money, they need a paycheck. They don’t need to be fired.” Earlier in October, Duffy had warned air traffic controllers who had called in sick instead of working without a paycheck during the shutdown risked being fired. Even a small number of controllers not showing up for work is causing problems because the FAA has a critical shortage of them. The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday on X that nearly 13,000 air traffic controllers have been working without pay for weeks. Staffing shortages can occur both in regional control centers that manage multiple airports and in individual airport towers, but they don’t always lead to flight disruptions. According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, flight data showed strong on-time performance at most major U.S. airports for the month of October despite isolated staffing problems throughout the month. Before the shutdown, the FAA was already dealing with a long-standing shortage of about 3,000 air traffic controllers. —Barbara Ortutay, Associated Press View the full article

A predicted flight caused by democratic socialist mayoral candidate’s likely victory on Tuesday has yet to materialiseView the full article

A new generation of borrowers is emerging—and advisors need to be ready to serve them. By Rory Henry CFP®, BFA™ For CPA Trendlines Go PRO for members-only access to more Rory Henry. View the full article

A new generation of borrowers is emerging—and advisors need to be ready to serve them. By Rory Henry CFP®, BFA™ For CPA Trendlines Go PRO for members-only access to more Rory Henry. 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 Search new ad layout is driving accidental clicks on search ads...View the full article

Search is changing faster than ever – and 2026 may be the year it fully breaks from the past. Over the last year, AI has reshaped how people discover, decide, and convert, collapsing the traditional customer journey and cutting touchpoints in half. AI-powered assistants and large language models (LLMs) will handle roughly 25% of global search queries by 2026, per Gatner, replacing many traditional search interactions. We’re already seeing the effects. Traffic from LLMs is climbing at a hockey-stick pace, signaling a massive shift in how users find information. To stay competitive, marketers need to build strong content and experience flywheels, as answer engine optimization (AEO) and generative engine optimization (GEO) become critical priorities. Bruce Clay, founder and president of Bruce Clay Inc., predicted: “AI-powered search is expected to cause traffic to continue to drop for many sites, creating a disturbance in the force.” Adopting AI isn’t optional – it’s foundational. Yet most marketing systems weren’t designed to operate in an AI-first world. Disconnected tools and data silos make orchestration difficult and create inconsistencies that derail performance. To succeed in 2026, brands will need integrated, cross-functional, omnichannel systems that connect data, content, and customer experience. Building a resilient digital presence for 2026 Preparing a brand’s digital presence for an AI-driven world means rethinking data, tools, and customer experiences while presenting a clear, consistent brand story. The goal is to deliver personalized content and be ready for agentic experiences, where AI assistants act on behalf of users. This shift begins with the evolution of search itself. The biggest change is moving away from a simple query-and-response model to a more dynamic, reasoning-driven conversation. Traditional search was like a game of chess – discrete and predictable. AI search, on the other hand, is more like a jazz concert – continuous and fluid. The experience has shifted from browsing lists and visiting websites to receiving direct, synthesized answers. Instead of matching keywords to an index, AI uses query fan-out, which involves: Breaking queries into components. Analyzing multiple sources. Delivering a single, comprehensive answer based on consistent patterns. With AI, the traditional marketing funnel is shrinking. AI search can move directly from intent to conversion in minutes, dramatically accelerating the process. We’re already seeing three- to eight-times higher conversion rates from traffic originating in AI search. According to Crystal Carter, head of AI search and SEO communications at Wix: “Traffic from LLMs (like ChatGPT and Perplexity) is becoming increasingly distinct from Google search traffic, requiring separate optimization and analysis strategies.” New types of intents, like “generative” (e.g., “create an image”) and “no intent” (e.g., “thanks”), now make up almost half of all LLM interactions and don’t require a website visit. Search is becoming action-oriented. As AI systems start booking tables, making appointments, and completing purchases, even transactional journeys may no longer end on your website. Search ‘everywhere’ optimization: The new SEO For brands, the goal is no longer to be a single destination. It’s to be present wherever your audience is. That means becoming a trusted data source that powers the new, agentic ecosystem. AI systems prioritize clarity, consistency, and patterns, so channel silos must give way to a well-integrated, omnichannel approach. Ideally, AI agents should be able to access all your brand data and deliver complete, contextually accurate results based on user intent. As Bill Hunt, president of Back Azimuth Consulting, explained: “AI agents like ChatGPT will shift from answering questions to completing transactions. Both the Shopify connectors and feeds, as well as Walmart and Amazon saying they are Google killers. Being ‘callable’ through APIs and integrations will be as critical in 2026 as being crawlable was in 2010.” In this new paradigm, websites are evolving from sales destinations to data and information repositories – built not just for human visitors, but for AI systems that retrieve, interpret, and act on that data. Dig deeper. Search everywhere optimization: 7 platforms SEOs need to optimize for beyond Google 7 key focus areas shaping marketing and search in 2026 To compete in 2026 and beyond, brands must optimize for visibility across every relevant platform. Here are seven key priorities and emerging trends shaping the future of search and martech. 2026-focus-areas 1. Strengthen technical SEO foundations for AI retrievability The foundation of search is shifting from traditional crawlability to GEO. The core principle of GEO is retrievability – ensuring that high-quality content is not only discoverable but also easily accessible and understood by AI models. To prepare for this shift, your website should serve as a centralized data hub for your content and digital assets, enhancing the experience for both humans and AI systems. website-data-hub Make sure to grant access to AI crawlers in your robots.txt file, use server-side rendering (SSR) for core content, and adopt progressive indexing protocols like IndexNow, used by Bing. 2. Build localized visibility in AI-driven environments Local SEO has evolved – from data accuracy in its 1.0 phase, to profile completeness and engagement in 2.0, to personalized experiences in what’s now emerging as Local 3.0. AI models, particularly Google’s AI Mode, increasingly cite local business information from sources like Google Maps and online directories. That makes core local SEO practices – NAP consistency and Google Business Profile optimization – critical for maintaining AI visibility. Pages with robust schema markup also tend to earn higher citation rates in AI Overviews, reinforcing the importance of structured data for local relevance. Dig deeper: AI and local search: The new rules of visibility and ROI in 2025 Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. 3. Develop an AI-assisted content flywheel The biggest challenge today isn’t just creating content – it’s creating a connected experience. As companies integrate AI into their digital experience platforms (DXPs), the focus must shift from producing siloed assets to building a connected content flywheel. That begins with a deep understanding of who your customers are and what they need, allowing you to fill content gaps in real time and stay present at every critical touchpoint. DXPs are no longer static repositories. They’re evolving into intelligent, AI-native engines that proactively shape user experiences. The ideal platform uses AI to create quality content at scale, powering a flywheel that delivers personalized, efficient, and well-governed customer journeys. This is especially important for large brands and multilocation businesses, where updating hundreds of pages still requires manual, repetitive effort. Here are the key steps to creating quality content and building a content flywheel. Insights: Identify customer intent and content gaps Your content strategy should be guided by real-time customer needs. Use AI-powered tools to uncover the questions and challenges your audience is trying to solve. Then analyze your existing content to identify gaps where your brand isn’t providing the right answers. Creation: Develop deep, AI-structured content To create content that performs well in AI search, start by assessing AI visibility and user sentiment. Use AI to scale the development of deep, comprehensive content – always with a human in the loop. Since AI engines draw from text, images, videos, and charts, your content must be equally diverse. Just as important, it must be machine-readable so AI systems can synthesize and reason with it. Prioritize an entity-based SEO strategy to build topical authority, and use comprehensive schema markup to help search engines understand your brand and content context. Clearly structuring your data also prepares your site for advanced conversational search. It ensures visibility in the next generation of AI-powered answer engines and readiness for NLWeb, the open protocol spearheaded by Microsoft to make websites conversational. Dig deeper: Chunk, cite, clarify, build: A content framework for AI search Distribute Establish a human-in-the-loop workflow to review, update, and refresh content regularly, keeping it accurate, relevant, and effective in answering user queries. Publish from a centralized source to maintain consistency across owned channels, and adopt rapid indexing protocols like IndexNow to accelerate discovery and visibility. Monitor and iterate Continuously track visibility and performance within AI models by testing target prompts. Deploy an agile strategy – as you distribute content, monitor results, experiment with new approaches, and refine continuously, the flywheel becomes self-sustaining. Each cycle feeds fresh insights back into the system, helping your content strategy stay adaptable and build momentum over time. “AI search engines synthesize across ecosystems, not just pages. Marketing leaders must ensure their digital footprint works as a unified system, not isolated campaigns,” Hunt said. Businesses must maintain consistent, clear information across every channel. Traditional SEO is giving way to relevance engineering – a discipline centered on systematically creating and structuring content for semantic relevance. This approach helps brands navigate today’s increasingly complex query landscape. 4. Create a consistent, data-driven experience flywheel While the content flywheel attracts visitors, the experience flywheel converts them – a critical function in an era of zero-click searches. It operates on a continuous feedback loop. Strategy: Building an experience strategy starts with unified data from every customer touchpoint and channel. AI can segment this data to reveal audience expectations and friction points, helping shape a strategy grounded in real behavior. Experience: AI can then put this data to work – connecting audience intent, personas, desired outcomes, and business goals to generate predictive insights that drive personalized and agentic experiences dynamically. Conversion: AI also helps track the customer journey through the funnel across channels and touchpoints. Dynamic A/B testing and conversion rate optimization (CRO) can then be done at scale, tailored to audience segments and intent. Iteration: The goal isn’t perfection but agility. Monitoring performance alone isn’t enough – iteration matters. Use data to make real-time pivots, refining your strategy with every new learning. The experience flywheel becomes a self-reinforcing engine that continuously drives engagement, builds loyalty, and accelerates growth. 5. Use AI agents to orchestrate journeys and workflows As AI-driven search becomes increasingly agentic, it establishes a new standard for the seamless digital experiences customers expect. To meet this demand, brands must use journey orchestration and workflow automation powered by AI agents that guide users through connected, intuitive experiences. The key is to deploy specialized vertical AI agents trained on your business data. By orchestrating these agents across the customer journey, you can deliver hyper-personalized, omnichannel experiences. This is only possible if your website and systems are ready to interact with AI agents. For internal teams, AI agents also offer major opportunities to automate manual workflows across the entire marketing landscape. Dig deeper: How AI agents are revolutionizing digital marketing 6. Redefine KPIs for an AI-first performance model As AI satisfies user intent more directly within search results, traditional metrics like rankings and traffic are losing relevance. This shift means citation is the new rank, pushing teams to optimize content for retrievability rather than rankability. As metrics like click-through rate decline in importance, new success indicators are emerging – including LLM visibility score, AI citation count, share of voice, and sentiment. Success now depends on query diversity, or the ability to answer multiple related long-tail queries effectively. According to Ray Grieselhuber, CEO of Demandsphere: “Traditional metrics like impressions, clicks, and click-through rates are becoming much more difficult to rely on as KPIs. They are still useful to look at, but marketers should renew their focus on human behavior. Share of Voice is one of the best KPIs to measure this new behavior. Companies that ignore visibility in AI-driven responses risk ‘feeding that territory’ to their competitors.” 7. Integrate systems and data to power a unified marketing infrastructure A fragmented marketing tech stack with siloed tools creates inefficiencies and hidden costs. Data fragmentation and manual processes increase operational expenses and derail integration efforts. Shifting focus to an integrated marketing platform – and evaluating total cost of ownership – helps overcome these challenges. An integrated solution provides the consistency, clarity, and unified data needed to keep your digital presence adaptive and competitive. Dig deeper: Integrating SEO into omnichannel marketing for seamless engagement The next phase of search and the customer journey As we move into 2026, AI is not just another tool – it’s rebuilding the customer journey from the ground up. With AI assistants expected to handle a quarter of all search queries, the traditional marketing funnel is shrinking. The new landscape is defined by agentic, action-oriented interactions that can bypass websites entirely, demanding a fundamental strategic shift from every brand. To stay visible and relevant, businesses must evolve from being destinations to being trusted data sources for AI. That begins by fueling a content flywheel with deep, structured content accessible across every channel. Once this flywheel attracts an audience, an experience flywheel – powered by unified customer data and an integrated, AI-native platform – takes over to drive conversion through deep personalization. Ultimately, the brands that succeed will be those that embrace this new ecosystem. They’ll replace outdated metrics, such as traffic, with new KPIs focused on AI visibility, tear down silos through integration, and prioritize delivering seamless, omnichannel experiences. Thank you to Bill Hunt, Ray Grieselhuber, Bruce Clay, Crystal Carter, David Banahan, and Tushar Prabhu for their insights and contributions. 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John Mueller from Google posted an SEO tip and reminder for those who use cloud services, such as AWS, Azure, Google Cloud or others, to host images, videos or other content. John explained that you should probably verify those within Google Search Console. This will give you the ability to track the performance of those files in Google Search, including any debugging information when necessary. Of course, in order to do this, you need to be able to control the DNS and most give you the option to do that through DNS CNAME. So you can set up your DNS to control those files in that cloud environment. For examples, it can be images.domain.com or videos.domain.com and so on. The advice. Here is John’s post on this on Bluesky: If you’re using a cloud provider to host images / videos / other content, you can and should verify the host in Search Console, so that you’re aware of potential issues that affect Google’s crawling & indexing, & Safe Browsing. Use a DNS CNAME to the bucket, then verify with DNS. Using your own hostname (something like content.your-site.com) means you can verify it in Google Search Console to get crawl errors and malware alerts. You can verify using DNS verification… or just verifying your main domain. To do this, set up a CNAME entry for your domain name and point at your cloud provider’s bucket, eg “content.your-site.com” uses a CNAME for “your-bucket.clodstorage.com” (or “buckets.clodstorage.com”). Also, you will have to update all links in your site (ugh, I know). You need to update all the links within your site so that users only find your content with your new hostname. For bigger sites, this is a hassle, I know. Search & replace, then double-check by crawling the main sections of your site (all templates, all important URLs). Caveat: if you need to do this for images, and you care about Image search traffic, know that this will cause fluctuations in Google Images (images are often recrawled slower than web pages and need to be “re-processed” with the new URLs). It’ll settle down though. Bonus: if you use something like “content.your-site.com”, you can just verify the main domain with DNS in Search Console, and get all data for your website + the content hosted there in a single property in Search Console. AND THAT’S NOT ALL. IF YOU ORDER NOW, YOU ALSO RECEIVE the ability to migrate to another cloud storage provider without breaking a sweat. Map the CNAME to the new bucket (if the file URLs remain the same), use redirects (it’s your hostname). It’s not really your site unless it’s on your domain name.” Why we care. It is super common these days for websites to use numerous cloud hosting services and products. So it is totally possible that you are missing out on data, analytics and useful debugging details within Google Search Console for those services. Verifying them on Search Console should not be a big deal for your site’s administrator and should it should unlock a lot of useful information for you and your SEO team. View the full article

Much to the chagrin of mundane numbers like 35 and 192, 6-7 has taken over American culture. I assume that young people love 6-7 so much because 67 is the 19th prime number and the atomic weight of holmium, which is essential to samarium-cobalt magnets, but I can't say for sure. I can say 6-7 is everywhere—on TikTok, in memes, and now in the dictionary. And that's only one of the many confusing trends I'm explaining this week. I'll also tell you about Soulja Boy selling smart glasses, the sunglasses on your waist trend, and "Beez in the Trap" (Be-Beez in the trap...) Dictionary.com names "6-7" word of the yearThe Gen-Alpha brainrot slang word 6-7 has been named 2025's Word of the Year by Dictionary.com. "We're all still trying to figure out exactly what it means," Dictionary.com says on its website, adding, "perhaps the most defining feature of 6-7 is that it’s impossible to define. It’s meaningless, ubiquitous, and nonsensical." The dictionary site points out that 6-7 is generally annoying to adults while it bestows in-group status among children who use it; hitting a "six-seveeen" at exactly the right time marks you as a specific kind of person to other members of Generation A. The real question about 6-7 is how long can it keep going: Now that everyone, including the dictionary and HBO, is using your secret word, can it continue to be cool? Dictionary.com's runners-up for word of the year include "aura farming" a word that refers to a person who does something performatively cool; "clanker," a slur aimed at robots and AI agents pretending to be human; and "tradwife," a woman who believes in and practices traditional gender roles within marriage. (If you want to know the definitions of a whole slew of current slang that haven't made it to dictionary.com yet, check out Lifehacker's glossary of Gen Z and Gen Alpha Slang You Might Need Help Decoding.) Sam Altman just renames ChatGPT 6 to ChatGPT 6-7In a post on X on Friday, OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman said that GPT-6 will be renamed GPT-6-7. See? This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. Altman offered no other details, and it's probably just a joke in response to dictionary.com's word of the year choice. But it really makes me think 6-7 is over. How can so many extremely uncool people can keep using your buzzword before you have to get a new buzzword? Soulja Boy is selling AI smart glassesRapper Soulja Boy is 35 years-old, so he's more like Soulja Middle-Aged-Man, but the spirit of Soulja Boy is eternally youthful, especially when he does things like sell his own brand of "AI smart glasses." On a recent post on his Instagram account, Souljah invited everyone to "step into the future" and to "See the world in style" with smart glasses that promise "innovation meets drip." While other people are paying $800 for the latest Meta glasses, Soulja Boy's smart glasses can be yours for only $64.50. You won't get a display or a wrist-control for that kind of money. Instead, Soulja Boy glasses offer "hands-free music control, live performance enhancements, and seamless social media connectivity." I don't know what any of that means. Other awesome Soulja Boy merch you can buy: a $42 handheld game console and $20 Soulja Boy earbuds. Character.ai shuts down teen chatsIn a move that feels a lot like a response to recent lawsuits, leading AI chatbot platform Character.ai announced it will no longer allow anyone under 18 to have open-ended conversations with its chatbots. The platform boasts over 20 million users; officially, about 53% of them are between 18 and 24, and only 10% are under 18. But that's all self-reported ages with no verification, so it's impossible to know how many users are secretly children. My guess it's that it's a lot more than 10%—the platform's thing is letting people interact with user-created "characters" that are powered by AI models, and a quick look at the site suggests cartoon characters, memes, and rappers you've never heard of are very popular "characters" on the site. Plus, it's hard to see how something like this would hold the interest of anyone over a certain age. Either way, if you want to check out the kinds of troubling conversations children are having with chatbots, this report released in September from online safety advocates Parents Together Action highlights interactions like Rey from Star Wars giving a 13-year-old advice on how to hide not taking her prescribed anti-depressants from her parents, and a Patrick Mahomes bot offering a 15-year-old a cannabis edible. Troubling TikTok trend of the week: Sunglasses on waistTikTok seems like it's playing a perpetual game of whack-a-mole with unhealthy dieting content. Seemingly innocent hashtags like "what I eat in a day" are populated by videos of people who clearly don't eat enough, and TikTok fully banned the #skinnytok hashtag a few months ago. The latest trend is the "sunglasses on waist challenge," and it involves seeing if your sunglasses can fit around your waist. (Mine don't, but only because my head isn't gigantic.) There's nothing specifically harmful about it, I guess, but there's an implied congratulations if you can mange it, because it means you're extremely skinny. It's the kind of ban-evasion technique that highlights the difficulty of trying to ban ideas, even harmful ideas. They have a way of slipping out anyway. (Though for what it's worth, a number of "Sunglasses on waist" TikToks that show up on Google appear to have been removed, though it's unclear if the social media app banned them or the account owners took them down.) Viral video trend of the week: Beez in the TrapNicki Minaj's 2012 bop "Beez in the Trap" and 4 Non-Blonde's 1993 hit "What's Going on?" are both certified bangers in their own ways, but who could have guessed that they'd fit together well enough to inspire tens of thousands of meme videos on TikTok? But let me start with an explainer of "Beez in the trap." In this context, "beez" means "I am always," and "trap" used to mean a place where drugs are sold, but now means anywhere where money is made, like an office, so "I beez in the trap" means something like, "I'm always hustling to make money." Onto the meme videos: they works like this: Two people stand back to back. Person one passioantely lip-syncs the chorus of 4 Non Blonde's song, the camera rotates to person two, who chimes in with Minaj's less existentially angsty contribution to the mash up. It's one of those things that just works in a way that defies explanation. Look: Anyway, the trend caught on and famous people started doing it too, like The Kardashians: And Jimmy Fallon: I guess it isn't surprising that professionals at being like "look at me!" would glom onto an attention-getting trend, but I much prefer videos of normal people. View the full article

President Donald The President’s administration faces deadlines on Monday to tell two federal judges whether it will comply with court orders that it continue to fund SNAP, the nation’s biggest food aid program, using contingency funds during the government shutdown. The U.S. Department of Agriculture planned to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program starting Nov. 1 because it said it could no longer keep funding it due to the shutdown. The program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and is a major piece of the nation’s social safety net — and it costs about $8 billion per month nationally. The situation leaves millions with uncertainty about how they will feed themselves. Benefits will be delayed in November regardless of the outcome of the court cases because many beneficiaries have their cards recharged early in the month and the process of loading cards can take a week or more in many states. Democratic state attorneys general or governors from 25 states, as well as the District of Columbia, challenged the plan to pause the program, contending that the administration has a legal obligation to keep it running in their jurisdictions. Cities and nonprofits also filed a lawsuit. On Friday, judges in Rhode Island and Massachusetts ruled separately that the administration must continue to pay for SNAP. They both gave the administration leeway on whether to fund the program partially or in full for November. The USDA has a $5 billion contingency fund for the program, but the The President administration reversed an earlier agency plan to use that money to keep SNAP running. Democratic officials argue that the administration could also use a separate fund of about $23 billion. U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell in Providence, Rhode Island, said SNAP must be funded using at least contingency funds, and he asked for an update on progress by Monday. He said all previous work requirement waivers must continue to be honored. During the shutdown, the USDA has terminated existing waivers that exempted work requirements for older adults, veterans and others. In Boston, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani ruled the suspension was unlawful and said USDA has to pay for SNAP. Talwani ordered the federal government to advise by Monday whether they will use emergency reserve funds to provide reduced SNAP benefits for November or fully fund the program using both contingency funds and additional available funds. Advocates and beneficiaries say halting the food aid would force people to choose between buying groceries and paying other bills. The majority of states have announced more or expedited funding for food banks or novel ways to load at least some benefits onto the SNAP debit cards. To qualify for SNAP in 2025, a family of four’s net income after certain expenses can’t exceed the federal poverty line, which is about $32,000 per year. Last year, SNAP assisted nearly 42 million people, about two-thirds of whom were families with children. —Associated Press View the full article

Wall Street dealers expect Bessent to signal as soon as Wednesday, when his department releases a quarterly statement on debt sales, that issuance in the $30 trillion Treasury market will keep shifting in that direction. View the full article

Hi everyone, ​ While the job market is slow, it’s slow—and there’s only so much we can do about it. What we can do is keep trying and meet the next hiring surge as prepared as possible, whether that means learning new strategies to tackle those “small” problems or recognizing the quiet value in the skills you already have. What small step could you take to feel a bit more ready for when hiring picks up again? – Maja Our Favorite Articles 💯​Nick Fewings​/​Unsplash​The Unfiltered Guide to Getting Hired (Wellfound)Forget the clichés—this guide offers unconventional, honest advice from people who’ve been through the tech hiring trenches. 👉 ​Keep reading​. The Hidden Cost of Ignoring Small Problems (Inc.)Overlooking “minor annoyances” risks bigger issues down the line. Find out how to use small irritations as early warning signs for improvement. 👉 ​Learn more​. The Power of Boring Skills (Psychology Today)Your most unexciting skills: consistency, reliability, organization, might just be your strongest advantage. The things you take for granted are often what make you indispensable. 👉 ​Read on​. The Great Hiring Thaw (HR Dive)After a long slowdown, hiring is showing signs of recovery. ZipRecruiter data suggests more openings and cautious optimism, but also a more competitive environment for job seekers. 👉 ​Dive In​. This Week's Sponsor 🙌Too many emails? Declutter your inbox with Meco, your home for reading newsletters. Try it for free Remotive Jobs 💼Let's get you hired! These teams are hiring now: 💻 Engineering 👉 Senior Data Engineer at Proxify (Europe) 👉 React Native Senior Developer at Everbreed Systems, LLC (USA Only) Free Guides & Tools​Public Job Board​We curate 2,000 remote jobs so you don't have to! ​Find your remote job →​ ​Exclusive Webinar​3 Mistakes to Avoid When Looking For A Remote Startup Job (And What To Do Instead) ​Register for free →​ ​Job Search Tips​Looking for a remote job? Here are our tips to help you work remotely ​Check it out → Join the Remotive newsletter Subscribe to get our latest content by email. Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription. There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again. Email address Subscribe Powered by ConvertKit View the full article