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Google is officially retiring Call-Only Ads, with creation ending in February 2026 and full sunset by February 2027. Advertisers relying on phone leads will need to transition to Responsive Search Ads with Call Assets. How to prepare: Switch campaigns to Responsive Search Ads with Call Assets. Enable call reporting and set call conversions as a primary goal. Use smart bidding, like Maximize conversion value, for better ROI. Link your Google Business Profile for location-based relevance. Restrict calls to business hours to avoid wasted leads. Why we care. Call-Only Ads have been a go-to for businesses that rely on direct phone calls, especially in local services. Their removal means marketers must rethink lead-generation strategies to keep call volume steady. Between the lines. Proactive migration is key—waiting until 2027 could mean disrupted lead generation and performance drops. What’s next. Advertisers have 16 months to transition. Google has published new help pages with step-by-step guidance on migration and performance optimization. The bottom line. Phone calls aren’t going away, but the format is. Success will depend on how quickly advertisers adapt call strategies into a responsive, AI-optimized ad ecosystem. First seen. These updates were first spotted by PPC News Feed founder Hana Kobzová. View the full article

Google Analytics is making it easier for businesses to compare themselves against industry peers by expanding its Benchmarking feature to include 20 new unnormalized metrics, such as New Users and Total Revenue. How it works. Google Analytics estimates benchmark ranges for absolute numbers by multiplying a peer group’s normalized metric by your property’s active user count. For example, benchmarks for Engaged Sessions are calculated as: Peer group’s engaged sessions per active user × your active users. Details: Benchmarks are offered in percentiles (25th, median, 75th) to show performance ranges. Peer groups are determined by industry categories, based on setup data and property signals. Data is encrypted, aggregated, refreshed every 24 hours, and only available when enough peers qualify. Why we care. Until now, benchmarking was limited to normalized data (percentages and ratios). By adding absolute numbers, businesses can see how their raw performance stacks up against competitors—while still accounting for traffic differences through estimation models. What’s next. With broader benchmarking, businesses can go beyond vanity metrics to identify strengths, spot weak points, and take targeted actions—whether that’s boosting acquisition, improving engagement, or optimizing monetization. The bottom line. Google Analytics is giving marketers a more realistic, apples-to-apples way to see if they’re lagging, leading, or keeping pace with competitors in their industry. View the full article

Gusty weather drives huge amounts of wind power into the gridView the full article

After revolutionising the music industry, the streaming mogul is stepping back but not giving upView the full article

The move will deprive the Fed of key statistics and further dent America’s global economic leadershipView the full article

In a rapidly changing retail landscape, small businesses are seeking innovative ways to meet customer demands and enhance their shopping experiences. PayPal’s recent announcement regarding updates to PayPal Honey introduces a game-changing tool that could help small enterprises bridge the gap between discovery and purchase, leveraging AI to streamline the customer journey. According to a PayPal release dated September 30, 2025, the new capabilities of PayPal Honey aim to optimize the purchasing process for consumers who utilize AI tools. This technology is particularly useful as 61% of U.S. adults now engage with AI tools, and nearly half are enthusiastic about how AI can enhance their online shopping experience. As small business owners navigate this trend, understanding the implications of these updates could greatly benefit their operations and sales. PayPal Honey enhances user interactions by transforming AI-driven product inquiries into seamless buying experiences. When a consumer asks an AI chatbot for recommendations on items like “the best televisions that are 55 inches or larger,” PayPal Honey’s extension displays product options filtered by real-time pricing, merchant choices, and exclusive offers. This feature aims to reduce the time customers spend hunting for product information, thus minimizing potential sales drop-offs. Mark Grether, Senior Vice President and General Manager of PayPal Ads, highlighted the urgency of this evolution, stating, “We’re witnessing the dawn of agentic commerce, where AI fundamentally reshapes how people discover and buy products.” By incorporating PayPal Honey into their shopping experience, small businesses can create an environment where consumers are more likely to complete their purchases instead of getting lost in a labyrinth of options. The launch of these features coincides with a dramatic rise in AI-generated traffic to retail sites, which has surged by an astounding 1,200%. However, this increase does not guarantee conversions. PayPal Honey’s functionality aims to enhance the link between AI product recommendations and actual purchases, which may provide merchants an edge in a competitive market. The extension of PayPal Honey is designed to offer smart shopping recommendations—including price comparisons and personalized offers based on shopping patterns. This feature not only elevates the customer experience but also allows merchants to attract more traffic from engaged consumers who are ready to make purchases. For small business owners, this can translate to increased sales as PayPal Honey automatically surfaces additional shopping options, ensuring customers have access to a broader range of products, including those from major retailers that AI recommendations might overlook. Implementing this technology can give small businesses a unique selling proposition, appealing to the modern consumer’s desire for comprehensive, effortless shopping experiences. Working with PayPal Honey could also enhance advertising effectiveness, allowing small businesses to better utilize data insights for targeted marketing efforts. By connecting with PayPal’s expansive network, businesses may drive improved engagement rates through personalized offers that resonate with their consumer base. However, as with any technological advancement, there are potential challenges associated with integrating AI-enhanced shopping experiences. Small business owners should consider the necessary investments in technology, training, and marketing to effectively implement tools like PayPal Honey. Moreover, ensuring a cohesive experience between in-store and online shopping may require additional resources. These updates to PayPal Honey will be rolled out at no cost to existing and new users in the U.S. just in time for Black Friday and the holiday shopping season. New users can download PayPal Honey through joinhoney.com, making this an opportune moment for small businesses to get onboard with the latest in agentic commerce. As the retail ecosystem continues to evolve, small business owners looking for actionable strategies should consider the implications of integrating AI-driven tools like PayPal Honey into their operations. By leveraging these advancements, they can offer enhanced customer experiences while driving sales and building lasting relationships with their consumers. For further details, you can refer to the original announcement by PayPal here. Image via PayPal This article, "PayPal Honey Simplifies AI Shopping with Instant Product Discovery Tools" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

In a rapidly changing retail landscape, small businesses are seeking innovative ways to meet customer demands and enhance their shopping experiences. PayPal’s recent announcement regarding updates to PayPal Honey introduces a game-changing tool that could help small enterprises bridge the gap between discovery and purchase, leveraging AI to streamline the customer journey. According to a PayPal release dated September 30, 2025, the new capabilities of PayPal Honey aim to optimize the purchasing process for consumers who utilize AI tools. This technology is particularly useful as 61% of U.S. adults now engage with AI tools, and nearly half are enthusiastic about how AI can enhance their online shopping experience. As small business owners navigate this trend, understanding the implications of these updates could greatly benefit their operations and sales. PayPal Honey enhances user interactions by transforming AI-driven product inquiries into seamless buying experiences. When a consumer asks an AI chatbot for recommendations on items like “the best televisions that are 55 inches or larger,” PayPal Honey’s extension displays product options filtered by real-time pricing, merchant choices, and exclusive offers. This feature aims to reduce the time customers spend hunting for product information, thus minimizing potential sales drop-offs. Mark Grether, Senior Vice President and General Manager of PayPal Ads, highlighted the urgency of this evolution, stating, “We’re witnessing the dawn of agentic commerce, where AI fundamentally reshapes how people discover and buy products.” By incorporating PayPal Honey into their shopping experience, small businesses can create an environment where consumers are more likely to complete their purchases instead of getting lost in a labyrinth of options. The launch of these features coincides with a dramatic rise in AI-generated traffic to retail sites, which has surged by an astounding 1,200%. However, this increase does not guarantee conversions. PayPal Honey’s functionality aims to enhance the link between AI product recommendations and actual purchases, which may provide merchants an edge in a competitive market. The extension of PayPal Honey is designed to offer smart shopping recommendations—including price comparisons and personalized offers based on shopping patterns. This feature not only elevates the customer experience but also allows merchants to attract more traffic from engaged consumers who are ready to make purchases. For small business owners, this can translate to increased sales as PayPal Honey automatically surfaces additional shopping options, ensuring customers have access to a broader range of products, including those from major retailers that AI recommendations might overlook. Implementing this technology can give small businesses a unique selling proposition, appealing to the modern consumer’s desire for comprehensive, effortless shopping experiences. Working with PayPal Honey could also enhance advertising effectiveness, allowing small businesses to better utilize data insights for targeted marketing efforts. By connecting with PayPal’s expansive network, businesses may drive improved engagement rates through personalized offers that resonate with their consumer base. However, as with any technological advancement, there are potential challenges associated with integrating AI-enhanced shopping experiences. Small business owners should consider the necessary investments in technology, training, and marketing to effectively implement tools like PayPal Honey. Moreover, ensuring a cohesive experience between in-store and online shopping may require additional resources. These updates to PayPal Honey will be rolled out at no cost to existing and new users in the U.S. just in time for Black Friday and the holiday shopping season. New users can download PayPal Honey through joinhoney.com, making this an opportune moment for small businesses to get onboard with the latest in agentic commerce. As the retail ecosystem continues to evolve, small business owners looking for actionable strategies should consider the implications of integrating AI-driven tools like PayPal Honey into their operations. By leveraging these advancements, they can offer enhanced customer experiences while driving sales and building lasting relationships with their consumers. For further details, you can refer to the original announcement by PayPal here. Image via PayPal This article, "PayPal Honey Simplifies AI Shopping with Instant Product Discovery Tools" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

A comedy festival in the capital of Saudi Arabia has provided golden material for comedians who declined the offer on principle—or would’ve done, if they’d received an invite in the first place. The debut Riyadh Comedy Festival, running Sept. 26 to Oct. 9, bills itself as “the biggest comedy festival in the world.” In the line up of more than 50 comedians, some like Bill Burr and Pete Davidson, whose firefighter father was killed in the 9/11 attacks, came as a shock and disappointment to fans. The irony is also not lost that many of these same comics, who have publicly railed against cancel culture and preached about freedom of speech, sold out to a regime that allegedly provided a list of deal terms for appearing at the event, including forbidding any criticism of religion or the Saudi royals. Online, fellow comedians quickly jumped on the bit. “Sometimes in order to fight the power, you need to be paid by the power,” quipped comedian Vinny Thomas, who often goes viral for his social media skits. New York-based comedian Gianmarco Soresi wrote on X: “If you do the Riyadh Comedy Festival and don’t tell a joke that gets you imprisoned by the monarchy then what was even the point of having The President on your podcast?” Shaan Baig, who regularly posts impressions on TikTok, offered one of comedian Aziz Ansari. “At first I was like oh noooo,” he says. “But then they showed me the money and I was like, um, who cares about dead journalists? Get me to the desert.” Representatives for Ansari, Burr, and Davidson did not respond to request for comment at the time of publication. Marc Maron, host of the WTF podcast, joked that it was easy for him to “take the high road on this one” given he was not asked to perform. He also questioned how the festival would be promoted. “From the folks that brought you 9/11,” he riffed in a stand-up bit posted to Instagram last week. “Two weeks of laughter in the desert, don’t miss it.” Jokes aside, Human Rights Watch called on the performers who chose to partake “to publicly urge Saudi authorities to free unjustly detained Saudi dissidents, journalists, and human rights activists,” suggesting that the Saudi government is using the festival “to deflect attention from its brutal repression of free speech and other pervasive human rights violations.” But, as comedian Zach Woods said on Instagram: “Name one comedian who hasn’t whored themself out to a dictator.” View the full article

Below, Michelle “MACE” Curran shares five key insights from her new book, The Flipside: How to Invert Your Perspective and Turn Fear into Your Superpower. Michelle spent over a decade as a fighter pilot and served as the Lead Solo Pilot for the Thunderbirds, the U.S. Air Force’s elite demonstration team. She has nearly 2,000 hours of F-16 flying time and flew combat missions in Afghanistan. Known for her upside-down maneuvers, she has inspired audiences at airshows and flyovers like the Super Bowl, Daytona 500, and Indy 500. What’s the big idea? Mace spent years operating in high-pressure environments, from combat situations to performing high-speed maneuvers in front of millions of people. But what also came with that career were the moments behind the scenes of self-doubt, the struggle to find her identity, the near misses, and the mental battles that came with the job. Much of what she learned to persevere and triumph as a fighter pilot applies to winning at life. 1. Your inner critic is just a voice, not a verdict. When I was a young, inexperienced fighter pilot, I lived with this constant fear that I didn’t belong and wasn’t good enough. I’d walk into a briefing room and feel like everyone else had it together. Meanwhile, I was hyperaware of everything I said and did as I tried to live up to my idea of what the perfect fighter pilot was. This voice lives in all of us—that inner critic—telling you that you’re not ready, not enough, or don’t have what it takes. It may sound a whole lot like the truth, but that voice is often just fear in disguise: fear of being seen, fear of failing, or fear of finally succeeding and not knowing what to do with it. I had to learn that my inner critic wasn’t a signal to stop. It didn’t mean I was in the wrong place. It was a sign that I was pushing into something that mattered—something that was difficult, but worth doing. I used to think that courage would show up, make me feel ready, and then I’d act. But courage comes after the action. So, when that inner critic chimes in, pause, acknowledge it, and then take one small, bold step despite it. Courage isn’t the absence of doubt. It’s action in the presence of it. “It was a sign that I was pushing into something that mattered—something that was difficult, but worth doing.” I didn’t get rid of my inner critic. I just stopped letting it drive. Even now, it still shows up before big decisions or at the start of new chapters, but I’ve learned to recognize its tone. It’s never curious. It’s never kind. It always speaks in absolutes: you’ll never, you can’t, you shouldn’t. When I hear that voice now, I take it as a clue, not a command. It’s a sign that I’m stretching into something that matters. 2. One minute, one hour, one month. During an airshow in Columbia, I was flying my Thunderbird jet at 400 miles per hour, just a couple of thousand feet above a forest. Suddenly, I saw a flash of light, heard a loud thud, and felt the jet shake. I had just hit a bird. Later, I’d find out it was a vulture with a six-foot wingspan, but in that moment, all I knew was that this was serious. I didn’t know how bad the damage was. Was the engine okay? Would the aircraft keep flying? My adrenaline spiked, but I didn’t panic. I fell back on a mental checklist that we drilled from day one in training: Maintain aircraft control (don’t make it worse). Analyze the situation (what do I know?). Take proper action (what can I do about it?). First, I focused on flying the jet, checking my instruments, and communicating with the rest of the team. Not fixing, but assessing, then acting. I still use that same process when things go sideways in life, but I translate it like this: What do I need to do in the next one minute, one hour, and one month? One minute: pause, breathe. Just let yourself feel it. Ground yourself in your body. One hour: analyze, gather facts. Get support. One month: adjust your habits, actions, and mindset. Whether it’s a breakup, a layoff, or a deal falling through, you don’t need to solve everything all at once. When a bird hits your jet or life just hits you hard, start with the next minute because how you respond in small windows determines how you navigate the big ones. That bird strike could have gone very differently. If I had let panic set the tempo, I could have turned a bad moment into a catastrophic one, and I think we do that in life, too. We try to sprint through things that need a steady walk. When something goes wrong, don’t just ask, What should I do? Ask what matters most in this moment? What can wait, and what can I shift long-term? That’s how you lead yourself through pressure—not perfectly, but with purpose. 3. Wiggle your toes. Air refueling is when one airplane takes gas from another while flying alongside each other at over 300 miles per hour, thousands of feet in the air. It is a skill that requires practice and finesse, and it is stressful to learn. As a newbie pilot with little experience attempting this task, I was tense. My hand was going numb and I was gripping the stick like it owed me money, and every time I got close to the position where our airplanes would actually touch, I’d overcorrect, become unstable, and be told to back up and try again. After one particularly bad flight, my instructor gave me this piece of advice: “Mace, when you get close, don’t forget to wiggle your toes.” It sounded silly considering we were trained combat pilots flying $30 million aircraft, but on the next flight, I gave it a try. As I felt the stress build, I consciously moved my toes inside my boots, and it worked. That tiny movement disrupted the tension in my body. It made me breathe, relax, and refocus. “When pressure rises, your instinct might be to grip tighter, but sometimes the best move is to loosen your hold.” Wiggling my toes became a ritual, and not just in the jet, but anytime. Stress made me want to control everything too tightly. When pressure rises, your instinct might be to grip tighter, but sometimes the best move is to loosen your hold. Try wiggling your toes. It’s a physical disruptor. It breaks the stress spiral. It buys you a moment to respond with intention instead of reacting under duress, and sometimes that’s all you need to regain control, not by force, but by presence. 4. Call signs are earned, not chosen. In the fighter pilot world, we have nicknames that we refer to as call signs, and you do not get to pick yours. It’s given to you, usually after a mistake you made as a young pilot. Mine came during basic fighter maneuvering. I got so focused on the wrong thing that I accidentally broke the sound barrier—I was supersonic when I wasn’t supposed to be, and didn’t even realize it. I didn’t even understand what had happened until after we landed and watched the cockpit recordings during our debrief. Not long after, I was officially named Mace (an acronym for “MACH at circle entry”). This wasn’t a compliment. It was a reminder of a rookie mistake, and I honestly felt a lot of shame around it. Then I thought about how every single pilot in my unit had a call sign, even the most respected, the best, the most experienced. I realized that when you’re doing something hard, no one gets by unscathed, and it wasn’t perfection that led to success, but persistence. Our identities are often shaped by how we recover from missteps, not how we avoid them. That moment became part of my growth. I eventually owned it. I learned from it, and I flew smarter because of it. You might not get to control how every chapter of your story starts, but you do get to decide how it ends. I used to carry so much shame around that call sign, but then I realized it meant I was in the game. You don’t get a call sign if you’re sitting on the sidelines. You get one by showing up, getting it, and still coming back for more. All the people I looked up to had a moment they’d rather forget. Confidence doesn’t come from never falling. It comes from proving to yourself that you can rise after you do. 5. What’s your go/no-go criteria? In aviation, we use the concept of go/no-go decisions. This is something you decide before the mission ever begins, not when things are falling apart. Before every flight, especially ones that push limits, you set your criteria. If the weather drops below a certain level, no go. If fuel hits this mark, go home. If the system isn’t functioning, abort the mission. Why? Because once you’re in the air, the variables increase, and so does the pressure. You’re emotionally invested, and that’s when people make poor decisions. They press forward toward an objective and into danger because they’re already in motion. A great example from mountaineering is summit fever, when a team pushes ahead because that summit is so close, even though they’ve already passed their turnaround time. Go/no-go keeps you honest and calm so that when chaos hits, you don’t have to figure it out. You just follow the plan. “You’re emotionally invested, and that’s when people make poor decisions.” I’ve used this concept in my personal life. Whether business, relationships, or big goals, I try to set my limits and values before investing time, money, and energy. What am I willing to compromise on? When will I walk away or shift course? This is where the sunk cost fallacy kicks in. We tell ourselves that we’ve already come this far and invested too much to quit now, but that logic traps us in bad decisions. The time, energy, or money you’ve already spent is gone. What matters is whether continuing is still aligned with your values, safety, and mission. Go/no-go protects you from doubling down just to justify your investment. It gives you a way to honor your effort without letting it dictate your future so that when things deviate from the plan, you don’t have to scramble to find clarity. Bold doesn’t mean reckless, and quitting isn’t the same as failing. Draw those go/no go lines before you need them because decisions made in calm are what guides you in chaos. This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission. View the full article

It beats an org chart and here’s why. By Jody Grunden Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud Go PRO for members-only access to more Jody Grunden. View the full article

It beats an org chart and here’s why. By Jody Grunden Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud Go PRO for members-only access to more Jody Grunden. View the full article

Plus three ways to help clients see the value. By Hitendra Patil Client Accounting Services: The Definitive Success Guide Go PRO for members-only access to more Hitendra Patil. View the full article

Plus three ways to help clients see the value. By Hitendra Patil Client Accounting Services: The Definitive Success Guide Go PRO for members-only access to more Hitendra Patil. View the full article

For the ladies of the Las Vegas Aces and the Phoenix Mercury, it’s time to leave it all on the court. The 2025 WNBA finals start tonight (Friday, October 3) at 8 p.m. ET. Notably, this is the first year that the WNBA finals are a best-of-seven games format. The Aces may be favored to win, but don’t count out the scrappy Mercury squad. Let’s take a deeper look at how these two teams got here, their strengths, and how to tune in. A season and playoffs recap The WNBA consists of 13 teams, with the top eight moving onto the postseason playoffs. This year, the Minnesota Lynx, Las Vegas Aces, Atlanta Dream, Phoenix Mercury, New York Liberty, Golden State Valkyries, Indiana Fever, and Seattle Storm got the chance to battle it out in a bracket-style tournament consisting of three rounds, including the finals. In the regular season, the Aces went out on a high note, winning their last 16 games. The team traveled a bumpier path to the finals and fought hard to earn their spot. In Game 5 of their semifinal series, the women defeated the Indiana Fever in overtime, 107–98. Coach Becky Hammon joked, “Our road has been broken. It’s been a twisty, windy one but here we are,” as ESPN reported. The Aces are no strangers to the finals, having participated in four of them in the last six years. They were victorious in 2022 and 2023, becoming the first team since the Sparks to win back-to-back championships. On the other side of the coin, the Phoenix Mercury entered this season with almost all new players. This roster thrived in the playoffs as the underdogs. They first took on defending champions New York Liberty and came out victorious. Next, they defeated No. 1 seed Minnesota Lynx. The franchise has not won a championship since 2014, but was present in the 2021 battle. Coach Nate Tibbetts embraced the team’s darkhorse standing. “No one has had expectations for us except ourselves,” he mused, according to to ESPN. “The pride and the togetherness for such a new group, it’s pretty impressive.” Strengths and weaknesses Each team has their own unique power plays and pitfalls. The Aces’ greatest assets come in a trio. Center A’ja Wilson, guard Jackie Young, and guard Chelsea Gray are at the top of their respective games. They have experience winning two previous championships together and have helped mentor newer player NaLyssa Smith. The Aces will also have the home court advantage for games 1, 2, 5, and 7 because they are the higher seeded team. A potential Achilles’ heel is relying too much on their star players. Wilson and Young can’t score all the points themselves. They need backup from their teammates, and without it might not get the results they so desperately want. Their opponents have their own set of advantages and vulnerabilities. Phoenix is on a roll, and this momentum could help them win it all. They are not afraid to go all-in. Their defense is going to have to continue to bring the heat to defeat the Aces, just like they did against the Lynx. A failure to do so might just end up in a loss. Travel searches to Phoenix and Las Vegas skyrocket Fans are preparing for an epic showdown and appear willing to travel to see it live. This is evident in data from Booking.com, the WNBA’s official travel partner. The site has seen a 103% increase in travel searches for Phoenix for October 8-10, and 166% increase for October 15, Booking.com shared with Fast Company. Aces fans have also gotten in on the action, with Las Vegas searches increasing 67% for October 3-5 and 127% for October 17. Overall, searches for Las Vegas sustained increased searches during the entire series. How can I watch or stream the WNBA finals? If you can’t make the trip to see the players in person, never fear. To see game 1 of the 2025 WNBA finals, tune into ESPN at 8 p.m. ET. You can also catch the action on ESPN.com and the ESPN app, but you will need a traditional pay-TV subscription to watch it this way. The easiest way for cord-cutters to see it all is to sign up for a live-TV streaming service, including: Hulu+Live TV Fubo Sling TV YouTube TV. The entire series will be broadcast across ESPN and ABC. Below is the full WNBA finals schedule, per the WNBA’s website. If one team dominates the first four games, the last three could be unnecessary. Game 1: Mercury at Aces (Friday, Oct. 3, 8 ET, ESPN) Game 2: Mercury at Aces (Sunday, Oct. 5, 3 ET, ABC) Game 3: Aces at Mercury (Wednesday, Oct. 8, 8 ET, ESPN) Game 4: Aces at Mercury (Friday, Oct. 10, 8 ET, ESPN) Game 5: Mercury at Aces (Sunday, Oct. 12, 3 ET, ABC) Game 6: Aces at Mercury (Wednesday, Oct. 15, 8 ET, ESPN) Game 7: Mercury at Aces (Friday, Oct. 17, 8 ET, ESPN) View the full article

Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding my work at Lifehacker as a preferred source. Much has been said about Comet, Perplexity's web browser, not just because of its AI features, but also because of its paywall. Early access was initially reserved to a waitlist of Perplexity Max users, a subscription that costs $200 per month, before Perplexity opened up access to Perplexity Pro users, who only need to pay $20 per month. Still, seeing as most web browsers are free to use, I imagine most people still shied away from trying Comet because of the price. If that sounds like you, there's good news. On Friday, Perplexity made Comet available to anyone who wants to try it for free. You don't need to subscribe to any Perplexity plan, nor do you even need a Perplexity account—though the company has some features tied to those who sign in. Comet is built on Chromium, so if you're coming from Chrome, or another Chromium browser like Edge, you'll be able to jump right in. Installing Comet is as easy as any other web browser: just head to Perplexity's website, and choose "Download Comet." Even setting up the browser feels familiar, as you can import another Chrome profile, choose a profile pic, and set a name. But of course, the real advertised advantage here is the AI assistant. Like other AI-powered browsers, Comet has a built-in chatbot you can talk to about whatever it is you want—particularly the web pages you happen to be browsing. But Comet's AI is agentic, which means you can ask the AI to do things for you. If you ask it to take you to a specific website, it will (though I'm not sure that's any faster than simply typing in the site by hand). If you ask it to open a specific link on the page, you can see the bot take over the page, and choose the URL you asked for. For example, I asked the assistant to open Lifehacker, then asked it to click on our article "How to Browse the Dark Web." It did both of these things, and even offered a summary of the dark web piece. But Perplexity says you can also request more complex tasks: According to the company, the assistant can draft emails on your behalf, build websites, make purchases, create citations, add to your calendar. There's even a voice mode, as with other AI bots like ChatGPT or Gemini, so you can talk to the browser if you want to. I'm still not sold on the idea that injecting agentic AI into my web browser is what I need to better experience the internet. Maybe I need to spend some time with Comet to experience that "future." But seeing how often the tech still makes mistakes—not the mention the untapped security risks—I'm not sure I want to hand off all of my browsing tasks to AI just yet. Still, if you're interested, you can give it a go without spending a dime. View the full article

Mobile landing pages convert 8% worse than desktop despite 83% traffic share. New data reveals how simple fixes recover lost conversions. The post New Report Reveals An 8% Mobile Landing Page Conversion Gap appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

It’s the Friday open thread! The comment section on this post is open for discussion with other readers on any work-related questions that you want to talk about (that includes school). If you want an answer from me, emailing me is still your best bet*, but this is a chance to take your questions to other readers. * If you submitted a question to me recently, please do not repost it here, as it may be in my queue to answer. The post open thread – October 3, 2025 appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

The ongoing government shutdown prevented the Bureau of Labor Statistics from releasing its September jobs report Friday, but job growth appears to be softening. The lack of reliable government data comes as the Federal Reserve mulls further interest rate cuts. View the full article

U.S. technology company Nvidia and Fujitsu, a Japanese telecommunications and computer maker, agreed Friday to work together on artificial intelligence to deliver smart robots and a variety of other innovations using Nvidia’s computer chips. “The AI industrial revolution has already begun. Building the infrastructure to power it is essential in Japan and around the world,” Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang said, hugging his Fujitsu counterpart Takahito Tokita on stage. “Japan can lead the world in AI and robotics,” Huang told reporters at a Tokyo hotel. The companies will work together on building what they called “an AI infrastructure,” or the system on which the various futuristic AI uses will be based, including health care, manufacturing, the environment, next-generation computing and customer services. The hope is to establish that AI infrastructure for Japan by 2030. It initially will be tailored for the Japanese market, leveraging Fujitsu’s decades-long experience here, but may later expand globally, and will utilize Nvidia’s GPUs, or graphics processing units, which are essential for AI, according to both sides. The two executives did not outline specific projects or give a monetary figure for planned investments. But exploring a collaboration in AI for robots with Yaskawa Electric Corp., a Japanese machinery and robot maker, was noted as a possible example. AI will be constantly evolving and learning, they said. Fujitsu and Nvidia have been working together on AI, speeding up manufacturing with digital twins and robotics to tackle aging Japan’s labor shortages. Tokita said the companies were taking a “humancentric” approach aimed at keeping Japan competitive. “Through our collaboration with Nvidia, we aim to create new, unprecedented technologies and contribute to solving even more serious social issues,” said Tokita. Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama —Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer View the full article

US president warns militant group that ‘all HELL . . . will break out’ if it does not sign up to his dealView the full article

Even without the marquee data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics — which won't be published on Friday due to the government shutdown — a number of private-sector indicators out in recent days pointed to sluggish hiring, limited layoffs, modest pay gains and easing demand for workers in September. View the full article

For small businesses engaged in international trade, the speed of transactions often makes the difference between smooth operations and stalled cash flow. Visa has taken a noteworthy step towards enhancing this aspect with the introduction of a new stablecoin prefunding pilot through Visa Direct. Announced at SIBOS 2025, this initiative aims to revolutionize cross-border payments, improving both efficiency and flexibility for businesses of all sizes. Chris Newkirk, President of Visa’s Commercial & Money Movement Solutions, emphasized the urgency of this upgrade. “Cross-border payments have been stuck in outdated systems for far too long,” he stated. This new pilot not only promises quicker transactions but also unlocks liquidity, making it particularly beneficial for small businesses navigating the complexities of international payments. The introduction of stablecoin prefunding directly addresses longstanding issues in cross-border payments, including high costs and delays. For decades, businesses have had to “park” large amounts of capital in traditional fiat currencies before making payments, tying up resources that could otherwise be utilized for growth. Key Benefits Unlocked Liquidity: By allowing businesses to prefund Visa Direct with stablecoins, companies can avoid the burdensome practice of holding substantial fiat balances in advance. This shift will keep capital active while still ensuring that necessary payouts are managed efficiently. Modernized Treasury Operations: Through this accelerated system, businesses can settle payments within minutes rather than waiting days. This acceleration enables more responsive liquidity management, a crucial factor in today’s fast-paced markets. Reduced Volatility: Stablecoins offer a stable settlement layer, minimizing exposure to the fluctuations often seen in local currencies. This aspect is particularly relevant for small businesses that might not have the financial bandwidth to hedge against currency risk. Practical Applications The pilot scheme will primarily cater to banks, remitters, and financial institutions. However, small business owners can also benefit indirectly. A more streamlined process often leads to faster transaction times and potentially lower fees, translating to cost savings for business owners needing to send payments across borders. When conducting international business, smaller enterprises often deal with multiple currencies, each with its own unique hurdles. The predictability offered by stablecoin transactions can help reduce the complexities associated with currency conversion fees and waiting periods before funds are available. It’s important to note that while the payouts can be prefunded in stablecoins, recipients will still receive their payments in local currencies. This maintains the traditional structure of international transactions while enhancing the back-end efficiency. Potential Challenges While the prospect of using stablecoins for prefunding offers multiple advantages, small business owners should proceed with caution. The pilot is currently limited to select partners, suggesting that not every business will be immediately eligible for these benefits. Expectations should be managed as Visa plans to expand the initiative over the coming years. Furthermore, although stablecoins aim to provide stability, their acceptance and regulatory environment can vary significantly depending on the jurisdiction. Small business owners may need to stay updated on local regulations concerning cryptocurrency transactions to avoid potential legal pitfalls. The digital landscape is evolving rapidly, and keeping pace with these changes will require diligence. Small business owners will benefit from thorough research and possibly engaging financial advisors familiar with the implications of adopting stablecoins in their payment processes. Visa’s initiative is set to potentially reshape how small businesses manage international payments, lending them the agility needed in a globally competitive market. More information regarding Visa’s new stablecoin pilot can be found in their official press release here. As financial technologies continue to evolve, small business owners would do well to stay informed and prepared for these changes, ensuring they leverage the tools that can drive efficiency and growth in their operations. Image via Envato This article, "Visa Direct Unveils Stablecoin Pilot for Instant Global Payments" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

For small businesses engaged in international trade, the speed of transactions often makes the difference between smooth operations and stalled cash flow. Visa has taken a noteworthy step towards enhancing this aspect with the introduction of a new stablecoin prefunding pilot through Visa Direct. Announced at SIBOS 2025, this initiative aims to revolutionize cross-border payments, improving both efficiency and flexibility for businesses of all sizes. Chris Newkirk, President of Visa’s Commercial & Money Movement Solutions, emphasized the urgency of this upgrade. “Cross-border payments have been stuck in outdated systems for far too long,” he stated. This new pilot not only promises quicker transactions but also unlocks liquidity, making it particularly beneficial for small businesses navigating the complexities of international payments. The introduction of stablecoin prefunding directly addresses longstanding issues in cross-border payments, including high costs and delays. For decades, businesses have had to “park” large amounts of capital in traditional fiat currencies before making payments, tying up resources that could otherwise be utilized for growth. Key Benefits Unlocked Liquidity: By allowing businesses to prefund Visa Direct with stablecoins, companies can avoid the burdensome practice of holding substantial fiat balances in advance. This shift will keep capital active while still ensuring that necessary payouts are managed efficiently. Modernized Treasury Operations: Through this accelerated system, businesses can settle payments within minutes rather than waiting days. This acceleration enables more responsive liquidity management, a crucial factor in today’s fast-paced markets. Reduced Volatility: Stablecoins offer a stable settlement layer, minimizing exposure to the fluctuations often seen in local currencies. This aspect is particularly relevant for small businesses that might not have the financial bandwidth to hedge against currency risk. Practical Applications The pilot scheme will primarily cater to banks, remitters, and financial institutions. However, small business owners can also benefit indirectly. A more streamlined process often leads to faster transaction times and potentially lower fees, translating to cost savings for business owners needing to send payments across borders. When conducting international business, smaller enterprises often deal with multiple currencies, each with its own unique hurdles. The predictability offered by stablecoin transactions can help reduce the complexities associated with currency conversion fees and waiting periods before funds are available. It’s important to note that while the payouts can be prefunded in stablecoins, recipients will still receive their payments in local currencies. This maintains the traditional structure of international transactions while enhancing the back-end efficiency. Potential Challenges While the prospect of using stablecoins for prefunding offers multiple advantages, small business owners should proceed with caution. The pilot is currently limited to select partners, suggesting that not every business will be immediately eligible for these benefits. Expectations should be managed as Visa plans to expand the initiative over the coming years. Furthermore, although stablecoins aim to provide stability, their acceptance and regulatory environment can vary significantly depending on the jurisdiction. Small business owners may need to stay updated on local regulations concerning cryptocurrency transactions to avoid potential legal pitfalls. The digital landscape is evolving rapidly, and keeping pace with these changes will require diligence. Small business owners will benefit from thorough research and possibly engaging financial advisors familiar with the implications of adopting stablecoins in their payment processes. Visa’s initiative is set to potentially reshape how small businesses manage international payments, lending them the agility needed in a globally competitive market. More information regarding Visa’s new stablecoin pilot can be found in their official press release here. As financial technologies continue to evolve, small business owners would do well to stay informed and prepared for these changes, ensuring they leverage the tools that can drive efficiency and growth in their operations. Image via Envato This article, "Visa Direct Unveils Stablecoin Pilot for Instant Global Payments" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Our system is a mess but experts have already set out what would make it coherent, efficient and equitableView the full article

AI has infinitely sped up the hype cycle in marketing. So when the term “vibe marketing” came onto the scene, you may have rolled your eyes for a moment before you said, “I have to try this.” In basic terms, vibe marketing means using AI to run entire marketing workflows. Usually, this involves a combination of: Vibe coding: No-code AI tools where you type what you want (e.g., “Build me a landing page”), and the tool spins it up AI agents: Always-on assistants that handle background tasks, like checking your inbox for leads or updating your CRM And whether or not they consider themselves “vibe marketers,” many teams are already doing this. In a survey of marketing teams doing $100m+ in revenue, GrowthLoop found that more than a third of those teams use AI to optimize campaigns or predict customer behavior. And those embedding AI into their processes report more effective strategies. So, is vibe marketing the next wave of marketing methodology? Or just more AI hype? In this guide, we’re diving into real-world case studies that show how marketers are using AI in their daily workflows. Plus, we’ll test the hype against reality based on my own experiments and the perspective of industry experts. Vibe Marketing vs. Traditional Marketing With vibe marketing, things like campaigns, segmentation, and competitor analysis can happen in the background. So you can focus more on creative work and strategy. Here’s how it stacks up against traditional marketing: Task Traditional Marketing Vibe Marketing Campaign creation Weeks of strategy, briefs, handoffs, and approvals Concepts, landing pages, and emails drafted in hours Audience segmentation Manual data exports and persona-building AI builds real-time dynamic segments Competitive analysis Manual research on competitor websites, social feeds, reports Automated data scraping and AI summaries Performance reporting Hours compiling data into slides Real-time dashboards + plain-English insights This all sounds incredible, and it’s all technically possible for marketing teams today. But here’s the catch: AI workflows are still clunky and experimental. Hootsuite reports that while 83% of marketers say their AI budgets have increased, 4 in 10 companies waste at least 10% of their AI budget on tools that didn’t deliver. Bottom line: Don’t expect AI workflows to run your marketing overnight. Sometimes building them takes longer than doing the task manually (I learned that firsthand — more on that later). So, what does vibe marketing look like when it does work? 6 Examples of Vibe Marketing in the Wild Vibe marketing can seem like a vague concept. But when we talk about using AI to automate social listening workflows, follow up with inbound leads, or run competitive analysis, all of a sudden this ambiguous concept takes on real-world meaning. We’ll see six examples of brands using vibe marketing in their daily workflows. Plus, how you can copy these ideas into your own strategy. 1. Build Enterprise-Level Campaigns Without Reliance on Technical Teams The biggest slowdown in most campaigns isn’t the marketing work itself. It’s the wait for other teams to deliver what you need. At the job site, Indeed, those delays stretched to an average of 3.5 months per campaign. Even simple requests — like defining an audience segment — meant analysts had to pull data from their warehouse. Then, engineers had to reformat it before marketing could use it. With vibe marketing, the team broke that bottleneck. They used the AI platform GrowthLoop to turn raw customer data into ready-to-use segments. Now, their team can type a plain-English prompt (e.g. “nurses in the U.S. who searched jobs in the last 30 days but haven’t applied”) and instantly generate that segment. Launch times dropped from months to weeks — an 8x speed boost. Instead of waiting a whole quarter to get in front of job seekers, the team can now react to hiring needs in almost real time. Try It Yourself: If you’re on an enterprise team already using a data warehouse tool, GrowthLoop’s makes it easy to type a goal, generate audiences, and send them directly into campaigns. On the other hand, let’s say you keep customer data in a CRM or spreadsheet — names, emails, recent purchases. With a tool like Clay, you can import those leads and use the built-in AI to enrich them with more data. Then, you can create campaigns that automatically go out based on that enrichment. For example, when a company has received funding in the last three months, they can be automatically added to a campaign. In seconds, you’ve got a list ready to target. What makes this powerful isn’t just faster data access. It’s the AI layer that turns raw information into something marketing can actually act on, without waiting on anyone else. 2. Automate Social Listening Workflows Getting a lot of mentions on social media is great — until it isn’t. Some social media managers can spend hours every day sifting through comments and posts that tag the brand. More than just being a tedious task, this is completely unsustainable. Which is exactly what Webflow’s two-person social team realized. Between Reddit, X, YouTube, and forums, they faced 500+ daily mentions. But only a handful actually needed a human reply. Finding those few was like looking for needles in a haystack. So, they built an AI workflow to do the sorting for them. The system scans every mention, tags it by sentiment and urgency, and pushes the important ones straight into Slack. Out of 500+ daily posts, the team now sees just 10–15 that matter most — and responds within the hour. Further reading: 6 Best Social Media Management Tools (Tried & Tested) Try It Yourself: Pick one high-volume channel — maybe Reddit, X, or even a busy community forum. Use a tool like Gumloop or Apify to pull in mentions of your brand. Then, run them through an AI categorizer to flag sentiment and urgency. Start small, check the tags for accuracy, and only then scale to other platforms. Note: To take this workflow a step further, add a tool like ManyChat or Yuma.ai to generate automated responses to posts and DMs. Entrepreneur Candace Junée did this and saw a 118% increase in leads while saving 15 hours per month answering Instagram DMs. 3. Create On-Brand Content Assets Ever tried to turn a 40-page technical document into a blog post or campaign copy? The content is there, but shaping it into something clear — and in your brand’s voice and style — takes time. At Pilot Company, with multiple sub-brands and channels to manage, that challenge multiplied. Writers spent hours summarizing technical docs into usable briefs. Designers waited for copy that matched the right tone before prototypes could move forward. And inconsistencies crept in across brands. So, the team used Jasper to help build consistency in style and tone. They used the tool’s summarizer to condense long technical documents into actionable outlines, and the brand-voice model to keep messaging aligned across sub-brands. Designers could even pull realistic placeholder text without waiting on writers. The result: Each team member saved 3–5 hours a week, freeing them up for strategy and storytelling instead of slogging through documents. Try It Yourself: With a tool like Jasper, you can add specific instructions about your brand voice, audience, and even include source material to show what great content looks like for your brand. Then, you can use it to create copy and content for entire campaigns. You can also use tools like Notion AI, Claude, or ChatGPT to turn long documentation into campaign content. Start by inputting your brand voice, style, target audience, and any other details that might be useful. Then, upload documentation and ask the AI to turn it into specific pieces of content. Test the tools to find your favorite. Make sure to give specific instructions on what kind of output you’re looking for. Use AI to generate briefs, draft first passes, or speed up design prototypes — and reserve human time for the creative polish. Useful resource: How to Use AI for Writing Exceptional Content 4. Follow Up with Inbound Leads On paper, 500+ inbound marketing leads a day looks like a dream for a small agency. But for Tiddle, a six-person influencer agency, it was a nightmare. They were buried in the flood of messages, with only a few that were worth pursuing. Sorting through the noise ate up 6–8 hours a day — time that should’ve gone into client campaigns and outreach. Instead of hiring more staff, they brought in AI. Using Lindy, every inbound email was screened automatically. Low-quality offers were politely declined, while promising ones were flagged and routed to the right person. If terms weren’t a fit, the AI could even suggest counteroffers. The team went from slogging through hundreds of emails to focusing only on the 10–15 real opportunities that mattered. That shift freed up 40–60 hours per week. As Tiddle’s CEO, Mike Hahn, says, “Every deal we’ve closed in the last few months came from Lindy surfacing the right conversations.” Try It Yourself: Pick one channel where inbound volume is overwhelming (email, DMs, LinkedIn). Define the “must-haves” for a qualified lead (budget, offer type, brand fit), then use a tool like Lindy or Clay to screen and tag incoming requests. You can even set up conditional logic so the tool can change how it responds based on specific conditions. Note: Small companies aren’t the only ones making use of AI for inbound leads. Ariel Kelmen, president and CMO of Salesforce, recently said that they use AI agents to handle interactive follow-ups with leads. And those agents manage the first 80% of the conversation. 5. Build Hyper-Personalization for Your Ideal Customer Profiles “Hi [first name]…” personalization doesn’t cut it anymore. But manually tailoring every message to your ideal customer profiles (ICPs) is impossible to scale. Oren Greenberg, a solo marketing consultant, faced this problem. And since there was no system that fit his ideals of hyperpersonalization, Oren built his own. He coded a workflow in Replit that filtered a 50,000-company dataset, excluded existing contacts, and generated outreach tailored to each company’s stage and challenges. The result: outreach so specific it only makes sense for the intended recipient. Pro tip: Hyper-personalization works only if you deeply understand your ICP — AI can’t do that thinking for you. But once you know who you’re selling to, it can scale bespoke messaging in ways you couldn’t manually. Try It Yourself If you’re a highly technical person with the skills and know-how to recreate something like this in a vibe-coding tool, then by all means have at it. For the rest of us, using a tool like Clay is a fast path to get 80% of the way there. Start by defining your ICP. Then use Clay to pull in business data, filter it against your ICP criteria, and enrich it with extra context. With that data in place, you can add an AI-powered column that drafts personalized outreach for each prospect. Run a pilot batch of 50–100 and iterate until the system feels like true one-to-one messaging. 6. Run Competitive Analysis New marketing roles often start with 30-60 days of slow discovery. Who are the real competitors? What do customers actually care about? What language do they use? Semrush’s former VP of Brand Marketing Olga Andrienko found a way to shortcut that process. Before Day 1 at a new job, she suggests running an AI-powered competitive analysis. Pull your site and the top competitors’ pages, transcribe the most-viewed YouTube reviews, and mine Reddit and forums for repeated complaints. Then, feed that into an AI summarizer to surface frequent feature praise or criticism and real customer phrasing. Tools like Google Opal or Gemini help cross-link those insights into a positioning map. The payoff: You walk in Day 1 with a prioritized punch list. Try It Yourself: Whether you’re stepping into a new role, launching a campaign, or scoping out a new market, the same workflow applies. First, pick your brand and three competitors. With a scraper tool like Apify, get your website copy and grab a handful of top YouTube reviews and forum threads. Then, feed those into a tool like Claude, Gemini, or ChatGPT to summarize and analyze the data. Extract the top five pains and language customers use, and sketch a one-page positioning map you can bring to meetings. That way, you start your campaign with clarity — not uncertainty. Further reading: Why Competitor Analysis Matters My Disastrous Vibe Marketing Experiment (What I Learned the Hard Way So You Don’t Have To) Giving you examples is great, but I wanted to put all this to the test and see if I could build a usable AI workflow for myself. (Spoiler: It did not go well.) Goal: Save time replying to LinkedIn comments without losing my voice. Constraints: Something I could test immediately, for free, and that would actually be useful. Method: Build a workflow that scrapes comments, learns my style, and drafts replies I could approve before posting. Time spent: 4+ hours 1st Attempt First, I created an account in PhantomBuster, a tool that automates actions on social platforms like LinkedIn. Then, I connected my LinkedIn account and set up the “LinkedIn Post Commenter and Liker Scraper” tool. I asked it to retrieve only comments from my LinkedIn posts from recent days, which it did successfully. Next, I created a new “Scenario” in Make, a no-code automation and AI agent tool, and added PhantomBuster as the start of that workflow. Then, I built a Make AI Agent that would draw from my previous posts to learn my voice.. I added that Make AI Agent into the workflow, giving it instructions to analyze the comments scraped by PhantomBuster and produce a reply. And finally, I added Google Docs as the final output. The idea was to create a document where I could see both the original comment and the AI-generated reply. The whole workflow ran successfully, which I took as a win and closed up shop for the night. But when I opened my laptop the next day to check all the wonderful replies my new AI buddy had written for me, all I found was this lovely Google Doc: Still undeterred, I decided to try something different. 2nd Attempt Along the same lines, I wanted to build an automated AI workflow that would scrape content from LinkedIn that I’m interested in. Then, write comments in my voice and style using my existing content as a foundation. I used a similar workflow: PhantomBuster to scrape the content, Make AI Agents to analyze and write comments, and getting the final output in a Google Sheet. Unfortunately, that gave me the exact same result (only this time in spreadsheet format, woohoo!): What especially irked me was that the automations themselves were running successfully. But I still had no output. So after more than four hours of work (and a lot of back-and-forth with ChatGPT), I finally gave up. Could I have figured out this AI workflow eventually? Yes, I have no doubt. But at that point, how much time would I be saving? Does a little time saved on writing comments justify spending hours building an AI workflow (and what should’ve been a relatively simple one, at that)? Here’s what I learned from this experiment: If you’ve been secretly feeling a little skeptical about vibe marketing, you were right The folks building vibe-coded apps and AI workflows in five minutes have years of practice. The rest of us can’t expect the same speed. The tools that are currently available for vibe coding and AI automations aren’t ready yet for the average user to just jump in and build If someone with a background in tech (me) struggled so much with a simple workflow, imagine the challenge of something more complex And while it’s true that others are seeing success with vibe marketing (like the examples that we saw above), there are also clear downsides. It’s Not All a Bed of Roses: The Caveats of Vibe Marketing Vibe marketing is like any new marketing buzzword: We all love to join in the hype, even if we don’t quite get it. The problem is, the hype can obscure reality. After running my own experiments, I also talked with other experts in the field. What emerged was a clear pattern — vibe marketing is powerful, but the gaps between promise and practice are real. It’s Harder Than It Looks The idea that you can tinker around with AI for five minutes and produce a usable workflow just isn’t feasible for the majority of us. And yet, that’s the promise we’re seeing over and over again: This all sounds great, but we’re marketers: We know better. Simple automations? Sure. But robust, real-world systems usually need engineering support or serious AI chops. Without that, you risk fragile prototypes that break the first time they’re stress-tested. Oren Greenberg, the AI marketing consultant we talked about earlier, told me: “The level of hype is out of this world. Vibe coding is cool, and there are a few people who’ve built a nice small business out of it. But it’s mostly the vendors who are minting cash.” Here’s the point: Don’t get swept up in the hype. Check the source. The Infrastructure Is Messy AI workflows look slick in a demo. But in practice, you have to plug into your marketing stack. And that’s where things get complicated. For example, you might build the perfect AI agent to score inbound leads, only to realize that your CRM can’t accept the data the way you need. As Austin Hay, Co-Founder of Clarity and MarTech teacher at Reforge, noted in a recent interview: “Everyone’s excited about unstructured data, but unstructured data is useless when it needs to play nice with structured systems.” For traditional marketing teams, this means your AI workflows may not play well with your company’s established martech systems. And if your tech’s API documentation is outdated (or worse, nonexistent), it will be nearly impossible to vibe code your way to integrations between existing tools. AI Can’t Invent Outside its Datasets Another misconception around vibe marketing is that you can throw any messy, undefined problem at an AI agent and it will figure it out. The reality is less glamorous. AI thrives on patterns it’s seen before. Point it at a well-scoped, repeatable task, and it shines. But ask it to invent outside of its training data — or solve a fuzzy, novel problem — and you’ll end up with loops, errors, and wasted hours. Speed Only Works When You Know Where You’re Going AI can help you move fast. But if you don’t know what metrics matter and where you want your workflows to lead, faster will just mean getting lost sooner. Marketers who succeed with vibe coding are the ones who define the finish line first. AI then becomes a vehicle to reach those goals faster, not a substitute for setting them. Kevin White, Head of Marketing at Scrunch AI, put it this way in a recent interview: “AI multiplies the abilities of people who already know their craft. Treat it as a force multiplier for your expertise rather than a substitute for it.” Vibe Marketing Tools Free Up Time…But for What? As more marketers build AI workflows and vibe code their way to productivity, a philosophical question arises: why? AI workflows and automations free up time (when they work). But, what are we freeing up time for? By eliminating the busywork, we’ve saved only the most demanding tasks for ourselves. And while creating and strategizing may be what we enjoy most, it’s impossible for most people to do that kind of mentally-taxing work for eight hours straight. Eric Doty, the one-man content team at Dock, explained it like this: The questions to ask: Are we automating the right things? Are we automating for the right reasons? And how are we using the time saved? How to Know if Vibe Marketing Is Right for You and Your Business You may be a marketer in a traditional team with limited resources and a lot of big ideas to execute on. Or, you might be a solo marketer looking to reduce busy work. Either way, you’re probably looking at AI as a solution to increase productivity. Even if you worry it’ll steal the humanity from your campaigns. Still on the fence? Here are six questions you can ask yourself. Answer honestly, and you’ll have a better view of whether now is the right time to start vibe marketing: Question If Yes… If No… Do I have repetitive, well-documented tasks I do weekly? Automation can free you up for strategy and creativity. Not much to gain from automation yet. Am I clear on what “better” looks like for my role/business? You can scale the right things. Risk scaling noise — get specific first. Do I have at least a small dataset (calls, reviews, CRM notes)? AI can pull real insights from your data. Start gathering data before building workflows. Would freeing up 5–10 hours/week change my impact? Probably worth experimenting with. Savings may not move the needle yet. Do I have time/patience to refine AI outputs? You’ll get compounding returns over time. Vibe marketing may feel like a distraction. Do I have brand guardrails for AI outputs? Safer to create external-facing content. Build your identity/messaging first. The goal here isn’t to pass/fail. It’s to spot whether now is the right time to lean into automation. And whether you’ll get a meaningful return. As Lauren Wiener of Boston Consulting Group said: “In conversations with CMOs, it’s clear that GenAI has become a core part of how modern marketing teams operate. What separates the winners is a commitment not just to scaling the technology, but to empowering the people who use it. Those CMOs investing in tools and talent are the ones rewriting the playbook.” Ready to Try Your Own Vibe Marketing Experiment? Vibe marketing isn’t snake oil. But it’s not a silver bullet, either. The hype can make it feel like anyone can vibe code and automate their way to a marketing edge. But the reality is far more nuanced. The marketers getting real value from vibe marketing are the ones with strong fundamentals, clear goals, and often a layer of engineering support behind them. For the rest of us, the takeaway is simple: Vibe marketing is worth experimenting with, but it won’t replace strategy, judgment, or hard-won expertise. Ready to explore more specific AI tools? Check out our guide to AI marketing platforms. The post Vibe Marketing: Hype, Reality, and Real Case Studies appeared first on Backlinko. View the full article