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As traditional parties decline, vaccine scepticism has become one of the anti-establishment forces filling the vacuumView the full article

US tech giant expected to spend as much as $25bn on warehouse automation in broader efficiency driveView the full article

Officials from US, China, Japan, India and Brazil among those who will not attend this week’s meetings in Cape TownView the full article

Former Goldman Sachs banker Kirill Dmitriev is the Kremlin’s go-between with Gulf countries View the full article

Venture capitalists question who would use system designed to arrest slide of UK capital marketsView the full article

Salesforce and Google have announced a significant expansion of their partnership, integrating Google’s Gemini AI models into Agentforce and strengthening ties between Salesforce Service Cloud and Google Customer Engagement Suite. The move aims to enhance AI-powered customer service capabilities, providing businesses with more flexibility in deploying AI agents. With the integration of Google’s Gemini AI models, Agentforce agents will be able to process images, audio, and video, handle complex tasks using Gemini’s multi-modal capabilities, and leverage real-time insights from Google Search through Vertex AI. “Through our expanded partnership with Google Cloud and deep integrations at the platform, application, and infrastructure layer, we’re giving customers choice in the applications and models they want to use,” said Srini Tallapragada, Salesforce President & Chief Engineering and Customer Success Officer. Salesforce’s selection of Google Cloud as a major infrastructure provider will also allow enterprise customers to deploy Salesforce applications on Google Cloud’s AI-optimized infrastructure, streamlining operations with enhanced security and scalability. The integration between Salesforce Service Cloud and Google Customer Engagement Suite will introduce real-time voice translation, intelligent agent handoffs, personalized recommendations, and AI-driven conversational insights across multiple customer service channels. “Our mutual customers have asked us to be able to work more seamlessly across Salesforce and Google Cloud, and this expanded partnership will help them accelerate their AI transformations with agentic AI, state-of-the-art AI models, data analytics, and more,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud. Generative AI Expands Business Applications By integrating Gemini into Agentforce, Salesforce users will gain access to: Multi-modal AI capabilities – Agents can process and interpret text, images, and audio, enhancing automation in industries such as insurance and logistics. Expanded contextual memory – A 2-million-token context window allows AI agents to retain and reference extensive information, improving accuracy and efficiency. Real-time automation – AI-powered workflows will enable businesses to streamline complex processes, reducing operational costs. For example, an insurance provider could use Agentforce with Gemini to analyze damage claims, interpret photos, and respond to customer inquiries via text-to-speech, accelerating claim resolutions. The Salesforce Platform, including Agentforce, Data Cloud, and Customer 360, will now operate on Google Cloud’s AI-optimized infrastructure, offering businesses greater flexibility and security. Features such as dynamic grounding, zero data retention, and toxicity detection will be integrated through Salesforce’s Einstein Trust Layer. Additionally, Salesforce customers will soon be able to purchase Salesforce solutions directly from the Google Cloud Marketplace, simplifying procurement processes and expanding deployment options. The partnership reflects the increasing adoption of AI in enterprise solutions, with Salesforce estimating that agentic AI represents a $2 trillion market opportunity. As businesses seek to implement AI-powered automation and customer service improvements, Salesforce and Google’s collaboration aims to provide the tools needed to drive innovation and efficiency. With Salesforce’s AI platform running on Google Cloud, organizations will have access to advanced AI capabilities, secure infrastructure, and an expanded marketplace—positioning them to compete in an increasingly AI-driven business landscape. This article, "Salesforce Expands Google Partnership, Bringing Gemini AI to Agentforce" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Salesforce and Google have announced a significant expansion of their partnership, integrating Google’s Gemini AI models into Agentforce and strengthening ties between Salesforce Service Cloud and Google Customer Engagement Suite. The move aims to enhance AI-powered customer service capabilities, providing businesses with more flexibility in deploying AI agents. With the integration of Google’s Gemini AI models, Agentforce agents will be able to process images, audio, and video, handle complex tasks using Gemini’s multi-modal capabilities, and leverage real-time insights from Google Search through Vertex AI. “Through our expanded partnership with Google Cloud and deep integrations at the platform, application, and infrastructure layer, we’re giving customers choice in the applications and models they want to use,” said Srini Tallapragada, Salesforce President & Chief Engineering and Customer Success Officer. Salesforce’s selection of Google Cloud as a major infrastructure provider will also allow enterprise customers to deploy Salesforce applications on Google Cloud’s AI-optimized infrastructure, streamlining operations with enhanced security and scalability. The integration between Salesforce Service Cloud and Google Customer Engagement Suite will introduce real-time voice translation, intelligent agent handoffs, personalized recommendations, and AI-driven conversational insights across multiple customer service channels. “Our mutual customers have asked us to be able to work more seamlessly across Salesforce and Google Cloud, and this expanded partnership will help them accelerate their AI transformations with agentic AI, state-of-the-art AI models, data analytics, and more,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud. Generative AI Expands Business Applications By integrating Gemini into Agentforce, Salesforce users will gain access to: Multi-modal AI capabilities – Agents can process and interpret text, images, and audio, enhancing automation in industries such as insurance and logistics. Expanded contextual memory – A 2-million-token context window allows AI agents to retain and reference extensive information, improving accuracy and efficiency. Real-time automation – AI-powered workflows will enable businesses to streamline complex processes, reducing operational costs. For example, an insurance provider could use Agentforce with Gemini to analyze damage claims, interpret photos, and respond to customer inquiries via text-to-speech, accelerating claim resolutions. The Salesforce Platform, including Agentforce, Data Cloud, and Customer 360, will now operate on Google Cloud’s AI-optimized infrastructure, offering businesses greater flexibility and security. Features such as dynamic grounding, zero data retention, and toxicity detection will be integrated through Salesforce’s Einstein Trust Layer. Additionally, Salesforce customers will soon be able to purchase Salesforce solutions directly from the Google Cloud Marketplace, simplifying procurement processes and expanding deployment options. The partnership reflects the increasing adoption of AI in enterprise solutions, with Salesforce estimating that agentic AI represents a $2 trillion market opportunity. As businesses seek to implement AI-powered automation and customer service improvements, Salesforce and Google’s collaboration aims to provide the tools needed to drive innovation and efficiency. With Salesforce’s AI platform running on Google Cloud, organizations will have access to advanced AI capabilities, secure infrastructure, and an expanded marketplace—positioning them to compete in an increasingly AI-driven business landscape. This article, "Salesforce Expands Google Partnership, Bringing Gemini AI to Agentforce" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

PayPal has announced the launch of PayPal Open, a unified platform designed to streamline payments and financial services for businesses of all sizes. The new platform integrates all of PayPal’s merchant solutions under one system, allowing businesses to access payment processing, financial tools, and AI-driven insights through a single interface. PayPal Open aims to support businesses ranging from small enterprises to multinational corporations by simplifying commerce operations. With access to PayPal’s global network of up to 400 million active accounts, including 92 million active Venmo customers, merchants can leverage a broad consumer base to drive sales. “Our goal in developing PayPal Open is to create one unified commerce platform that supports the evolving needs of today’s merchants,” said Frank Keller, EVP, General Manager, Large Enterprise & Merchant Platforms Group, PayPal. “By partnering with PayPal, small businesses can seamlessly manage their cash flow with financial and payments solutions, while enterprise businesses can build custom solutions based on their unique business needs, PayPal Open will allow them to do so in one streamlined platform.” Key Features of PayPal Open The platform is designed to enhance commerce efficiency by offering: Payments Integration — Businesses can accept payments online and in-store through PayPal, Venmo, Fastlane, and Pay Later, while processing transactions through a single integration. Merchants can accept payments in over 140 currencies across more than 200 global markets. Growth Tools — Businesses can access financial resources, including lending solutions, business debit and credit offerings, and personalized commerce experiences powered by AI to attract and retain customers. AI-Driven Insights — Merchants can leverage AI-powered analytics to assess sales performance, identify trends, and optimize operations. PayPal reports that nearly 25% of global e-commerce transactions run through its platform, providing data-driven insights to enhance business strategies. PayPal Open also integrates with third-party commerce partners, allowing businesses to customize their payment infrastructure while maintaining access to PayPal’s security and fraud protection features. “PayPal Open will enable us to deliver innovation to our customers in the near-term while also preparing them for success in the future,” Keller said. “The platform will act as a framework where not only we, but others will be able to contribute solutions, ultimately providing these offerings to millions of merchants that are a part of the PayPal ecosystem.” PayPal Open will launch in the U.S. first, with expansion planned for the UK and Germany later in 2025. Additional markets will follow in 2026. This article, "PayPal Introduces PayPal Open, a Unified Payments and Growth Platform for Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

PayPal has announced the launch of PayPal Open, a unified platform designed to streamline payments and financial services for businesses of all sizes. The new platform integrates all of PayPal’s merchant solutions under one system, allowing businesses to access payment processing, financial tools, and AI-driven insights through a single interface. PayPal Open aims to support businesses ranging from small enterprises to multinational corporations by simplifying commerce operations. With access to PayPal’s global network of up to 400 million active accounts, including 92 million active Venmo customers, merchants can leverage a broad consumer base to drive sales. “Our goal in developing PayPal Open is to create one unified commerce platform that supports the evolving needs of today’s merchants,” said Frank Keller, EVP, General Manager, Large Enterprise & Merchant Platforms Group, PayPal. “By partnering with PayPal, small businesses can seamlessly manage their cash flow with financial and payments solutions, while enterprise businesses can build custom solutions based on their unique business needs, PayPal Open will allow them to do so in one streamlined platform.” Key Features of PayPal Open The platform is designed to enhance commerce efficiency by offering: Payments Integration — Businesses can accept payments online and in-store through PayPal, Venmo, Fastlane, and Pay Later, while processing transactions through a single integration. Merchants can accept payments in over 140 currencies across more than 200 global markets. Growth Tools — Businesses can access financial resources, including lending solutions, business debit and credit offerings, and personalized commerce experiences powered by AI to attract and retain customers. AI-Driven Insights — Merchants can leverage AI-powered analytics to assess sales performance, identify trends, and optimize operations. PayPal reports that nearly 25% of global e-commerce transactions run through its platform, providing data-driven insights to enhance business strategies. PayPal Open also integrates with third-party commerce partners, allowing businesses to customize their payment infrastructure while maintaining access to PayPal’s security and fraud protection features. “PayPal Open will enable us to deliver innovation to our customers in the near-term while also preparing them for success in the future,” Keller said. “The platform will act as a framework where not only we, but others will be able to contribute solutions, ultimately providing these offerings to millions of merchants that are a part of the PayPal ecosystem.” PayPal Open will launch in the U.S. first, with expansion planned for the UK and Germany later in 2025. Additional markets will follow in 2026. This article, "PayPal Introduces PayPal Open, a Unified Payments and Growth Platform for Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Bill would lead to large increase in government deficit, say independent analystsView the full article

Wealthy foreigners will be able buy ‘route to citizenship’ for $5mn, president says View the full article

The challenges businesses face today are increasingly unpredictable and interdependent. Traditional business structures were built for different times and different challenges. These models helped companies to scale and thrive in a more predictable world, where efficiency, clear hierarchies, and specialization were the keys to success. But as the world has evolved, so too have the conditions for innovation. In today’s fast-paced, globalized, and complex world, these outdated models actively hold teams back. Silos trap expertise—preventing the flow of fresh ideas—rigid hierarchies create bottlenecks that slow down decision making when speed is essential, and a lack of clear vision can drain energy and resources, leaving critical problems unsolved. These traditional models aren’t just inefficient—they actively stifle innovation, making it harder to succeed in this new, rapidly evolving environment. This stagnation is evident in the U.S. economy, where labor productivity growth has significantly slowed since 2005. To break out of this productivity slump, companies need to adopt new models and modes of working that cultivate innovation and can keep pace with the modern rate of change. Build a foundation for innovation At Whipsaw, collaboration is at the core of our ethos and process. It’s built into our very name—a whipsaw requires back-and-forth coordination between two operators to succeed. We know the best results come from continuous collaboration between our team and our clients—as well as the dynamic back-and-forth between design and engineering. For over two decades, we’ve crafted an environment where teams from all disciplines collaborate seamlessly to design beautiful, functional solutions to pressing problems. While speed is often critical, true innovation isn’t always a linear or efficient process. It thrives in the space between exploration and execution—where deep thinking, expansive exploration, and iteration are essential. We’ve learned that to achieve great results, teams need the time and space to experiment, make mistakes, and refine their ideas. We’ve been able to tackle complex challenges for our clients by designing a process that provides the time and creative space necessary for innovation while maintaining the momentum required to stay aligned with client deadlines. This approach ensures both exploration and execution happen at the right pace. We’ve developed a framework—clarity, collaboration, and confidence—to help businesses innovate while navigating today’s world. Here are three practical steps that can elevate your innovation process: 1. Start with clarity: Define the why Clarity is the foundation of any successful innovation effort. It ensures that everyone—internally and externally—understands the problem being solved and why it matters. But often, the only thing clear at the start of a project is the process itself. Navigating ambiguity is a natural part of the innovation journey. We guide our clients through that uncertainty by spending time during our discovery phase to clarify business, customer, market, and technological needs, helping internal and client teams align and move forward with a shared vision. 2. Nurture collaboration: Tap into collective expertise Collaboration is the engine of innovation. But it’s not just about bringing people together—it’s about creating an environment where diverse perspectives can thrive. We’ve learned from our work with clients that the best ideas emerge when cross-functional teams, clients, and end users are involved. We’ve built collaborative practices like co-creation workshops, stakeholder interviews, and design hootenannies—bringing fresh eyes from outside the project team to challenge assumptions and offer new perspectives—into our process to ensure our innovations are relevant and well-informed. It’s about avoiding silos, leveraging collective wisdom, and ensuring that all contributors are aligned toward a common goal. 3. Empower confidence: Give teams autonomy to act Innovation requires confidence—confidence in your team’s expertise, vision, and process. We’ve learned that autonomy is key to maintaining momentum. Teams need the freedom to make decisions and experiment without navigating endless approvals or rigid structures. But empowerment isn’t just about giving the team space to act; it’s about creating an environment where they feel safe to test ideas, fail fast, and adapt quickly. We’ve found success in cultivating a culture of empowerment and growth. While our teams have the autonomy to innovate, they are supported by leaders who know when to encourage exploration and when to provide key insights to drive the next stage of innovation—they guide teams past obstacles and help drive innovation forward, even amidst uncertainty. We’ve seen that this blend of autonomy and strategic guidance fuels creativity and accelerates decision making. Don’t be forced to follow innovation; lead it The businesses that win today aren’t just reacting to change—they’re driving it. Traditional models may have worked in the past, but those old systems will hold you back in today’s fast-moving, tech-driven, complex world. The path forward? Embrace clarity, collaboration, and confidence—three simple principles that have helped Whipsaw define new markets and create products with impact. So, if you’re looking to stay competitive in today’s evolving landscape, it’s time to foster the right culture, trust your teams, and create innovation built to last. Dan Harden is CEO and principal designer at Whipsaw. View the full article

Glitch comes as the iPhone maker is seeking to shore up its relationship with the US president View the full article

The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. As an amateur historian, I can say with certainty that technology has never embedded itself into society as rapidly as it has in the last decade. Today’s consumer relationship with technology is complicated and multifaceted—understanding that intersection is at the heart of everything we do as a company, and personally for me as Verizon’s Consumer CEO. Given our focus on the consumer, we publish an annual view of insights and trends that shed light on these relationships and the evolving role of technology in our lives, and this year’s Consumer Connections Report does just that. The report reflects our commitment to understanding and supporting the ways technology shapes our relationships, empowers our families, and enriches our daily experiences. It explores the interplay between digital and physical shopping experiences, and the growing reliance on home connectivity, as people use more and more smart home devices. And for the second year in a row, we look at how NFL fans showed up for their favorite teams, alongside the events and moments from the past year that connected us most as a society. What we learned: Limits reign: Parents and caregivers are using tech to monitor tech Parents are motivated to keep on top of their children’s use of technology. Our report reveals that they’re focused on social media apps like Tumblr, Whisper, and Snapchat the most. They’re also utilizing transitional options, like the Gizmo watch, which averages 3.3 million calls connecting parents and other caregivers with children each month. They can set content controls, block unwanted contacts, view text and call history, set usage limits, and more. That helps kids find their balance—learning to make smart, safe connectivity choices. Connectivity is where the heart is Home data use is on the rise. The average monthly data usage in 2024 across all Verizon Home Internet households was 656 GB, a 6% increase from 2023. People enjoy video and music streaming, gaming, videoconferencing, and smart home technologies that bring convenience, energy savings, and security. We know that to be true given that 18 is the average number of devices per Verizon Internet household. Customer experience is on demand Brick-and-mortar retail is returning to growth after pandemic-era slowdowns, indicating that in-store shopping provides a social and sensory experience that appeals to many consumers. We’re seeing the emergence of the “phygital economy,” which combines online and in-person in a single experience. Sixty-two percent of our customers’ purchases were made in a Verizon retail store. Most Verizon customers who use our in-store pickup service initiate their order online, and a growing number place the order over the phone. Go live from the game—it’s on 5G My company provides the 5G infrastructure for the NFL, which gives us insights into how fans are using their phones at games. Fans are increasingly creating and sharing their own game experience. They’re interacting with fellow fans via text, social media, and voice calls. They’re analyzing fantasy football matchups and checking scores. And they’re embracing AR and VR for on-site entertainment. In fact, average mobility (wireless) usage per game was 3.6 TB this season, a 37% increase over last season. The game with the most mobility usage? Giants at Cowboys. Video accounted for 25% of consumer data usage at NFL stadiums. That’s a lot of footage of the action. Other ways consumers use connectivity During the holidays, Americans are generating an enormous volume of calls, texts, and data to reach out. We studied data use at the airports over the winter holiday season, and found it rose to 17.7 million GB, and 28% of that was video. At the same time, many of us are also focusing more on connecting in person—and on balancing our access to the world around us with our attention to those in front of us. Indeed, on New Year’s Eve, the number of phone calls skyrocketed—it was the top holiday for phone calls—while on Christmas and Hanukkah, the number was muted. And that’s the point. Mobile devices connect us all to a world of opportunity, but don’t replace the world. Recognizing that truth is one of the keys to a healthier life. Sowmyanarayan Sampath is the CEO of Verizon Consumer. View the full article

Rapid spread of technology raises questions about how to assess undergraduate workView the full article

Government advisers call for an overhaul of domestic heating systems and suggest airfares could riseView the full article

The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. For the last decade, chief marketing officers (CMOs) haven’t felt as appreciated and necessary as they once were. But that may be changing—I should stress “may.” I’m thinking of the 2024 CMO Tenure Study by marketing consultancy Spencer Stuart. They’ve been issuing this study for two decades. Four years ago, the length of CMO tenure tightened to its smallest interval in more than a decade. In Spencer Stuart’s latest report, the average time spent by Fortune 500 CMOs in that job post in 2023 was 4.2 years, unchanged from 2022. While I wouldn’t say “flat is the new up,” stabilization after years of decline is somewhat positive. A bit more context: Conventional wisdom has suggested that CMOs turn over more often than other C-suite leaders. But Spencer Stuart’s analysis shows that CMO tenure is just under the 4.6-year average for all C-suite leaders such as chief operating officers, chief revenue officers, chief technology officers, etc. Still, CMOs are living in an “era of less,” according to a Gartner Marketing Practice study. Issued in May 2024, around the same time as the Spencer Stuart report, the GMP study notes that “in the four years preceding the pandemic, average marketing budgets were 11% of overall revenue. In the four years since, they’ve dropped to an anemic 8.2%.” The roles of marketing and advertising appear more diminished than ever before. Meanwhile, ad agencies and brand marketing departments are under greater pressure and scrutiny to prove effectiveness. The essential quality of the CMO’s job is akin to an orchestra conductor; but instead of musicians, the role is to make sure companies and individuals act seamlessly and complementary. But it’s not. There are reasons for that, good and bad. Short-sighted efficiency An ethos of efficiency has served as the defining, underlying feature of the advertising business for the last 25 years. The ’60s were about pushing the boundaries of creativity. Advertisers and agencies wanted to impress everybody with the ideas, images, and messages bursting from Madison Avenue. However, that shifted: The 21st century has been about personalization, speed—and above all—cost savings. But it takes a larger advertising team to expertly handle all parts of the marketing funnel from discovery to purchase while simultaneously instilling brand loyalty. The demands are, in fact, too complex for one agency, let alone one individual. As a result, specialists have divided the responsibilities associated with the multiple consumer touchpoints that need to be checked off. So much for efficiency. If only there were a single individual who could organize, synthesize, and prioritize all those crucial tasks. Oh, right. That’s what the CMO does. It’s what the CMO has always done. Marketing’s “ah-ha” moment Companies are increasingly recognizing this. There is solid value in developing marketing leadership from within. In 2023, 74% of CMOs of the top 100 advertisers were serving in their first corporate-level CMO role—the highest percentage since Spencer Stuart began tracking this data in 2016. Moreover, 59% of these CMOs were promoted from inside their companies. This move toward internal promotion signals an “ah-ha” moment as the CMO role is rediscovered as the truly efficient solution to advertising’s largest problems. Institutional knowledge and recognizable authority are virtues worth keeping. We might be witnessing a maturing perspective on marketing leadership. Organizations are investing in succession planning and management development specifically for the CMO role. There’s even a higher opinion for the general marketing and management acumen a CMO possesses, Spencer Stuart data indicates. When external hires are needed, companies are showing greater flexibility, with 43% of CMOs recruited for Fortune 500 companies in 2023 coming from different industries, up from 37% in 2022. Despite facing significant budget constraints—with 64% of CMOs reporting insufficient funds to execute their 2024 strategy per Gartner—there’s optimism about the potential of generative AI to expand marketing’s impact beyond traditional resource limitations. This technological evolution could help CMOs overcome the “era of less” while delivering more value. As companies focus on developing their marketing leadership pipeline, they have an opportunity to increase diversity at the top by identifying high-potential leaders early and creating smoother development paths. Not only would that strengthen the CMO role, it also ensures marketing leadership better reflects the diverse audiences they serve, which helps build brand affection. When consumers associate a brand with trust and other positive qualities, the path to performance and purchases is more immediate and direct. The intersecting lines of technology, branding, advertising, and sales all converge at the CMO’s desk. Perhaps it’s time agencies, platform companies, and the brands themselves showed more trust and value in the CMO role after all. Tim Ringel is global CEO of Meet The People. View the full article

Mullenweg questioned at WordCamp Asia about Automattic's scaled-back contributions to WordPress core The post Mullenweg Rebuffs Plea To Restore Automattic’s WordPress Core Contributions appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

In a forum Tuesday, Senate Democrats railed against President Trump and Elon Musk's efforts to shutter the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as anti-consumer and illegal. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. We’ve all been there: You find the perfect product, the chair or skin cream that will solve all your problems through the liberal application of capitalism—but it doesn’t fit into your budget. You have three choices: You can spend the next few months (years?) saving diligently toward the glorious day when you can afford to pull the trigger; you can put that purchase on a credit card and deal with the interest charges—or you can find a dupe. Dupes—short for “duplicates”—are having their moment. While knockoffs are nothing new, as anyone who has ever bought a “designer” handbag on the streets of New York City can attest, dupes are a little different. Knockoffs are trying to fool people that they’re the name-brand product, but dupes are their own thing—they’re not pretending to be the expensive item, they just replicate its look and function at a lower price point. Finding dupes can be as easy as a Google image search or a quick trip to Target or Lidl—but it can sometimes be a challenge. Thankfully, there are a variety of apps you can use that make locating dupes a lot easier, and companies that make their own dupes for specific items. How to scour the web for dupesIf you’re looking for duplicate furniture and housewares, you could spend hours digging through subreddits and Facebook pages, but luckily there tools and sites that make it a lot easier. Some of the most useful include: TikTok. The social media behemoth is kind of dupe central these days. You can type the name of what you’re looking for with hashtags like #dupe or #dupefinder to see what’s out there. What’s good about using TikTok is that most of the results will show people actually using and discussing the dupes, which can help you figure out if they’re truly worth buying. Dupe.com has been getting a lot of press of late thanks to the love it gets from social media. Its interface is pretty simple: You paste in the URL of an item (furniture, housewares, or clothing) or drag an image into the search bar, and Dupe searches the internet for lookalikes. For example, if you want an Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman from Herman Miller—which sells for anywhere from $6,000 to $8,000 new—Dupe.com quickly leads you to Walmart, where you can buy this leather lounge chair with a very similar look and vibe. (There’s also an app.) Spoken.io works very similarly: Paste in a URL or drag/upload a photo, and it will scan the web and point you to a list of discounted dupes. For example, it turned up this $1,899 Eames-like chair—not quite as cheap as the Walmart version, but still a significant savings over the original. Dupeshop focuses on skincare and makeup products, and it doesn’t just point you at purchase links—it pulls together detailed comparisons, reviews, videos, and other information so you can feel confident that the dupe product will perform as expected. SkinSkool distinguishes itself by offering a list of potential dupes organized by a similarity score and labeled with a dollar sign icon indicating how expensive the dupe is. This makes it easy to cross-reference your budget with the available options. The site explicitly states that it bases its choices solely on the publicly available ingredient lists of the products, so it doesn’t offer any kind of hands-on review. A few companies that make their own dupesSome companies have made a name for themselves because they make and sell their own high-quality dupes, so you don’t have to search the entire internet trying to find them. A few examples include: Brandefy was founded to exploit the fact that name-brand beauty and skincare products at every price point are largely manufactured in the same facilities using the same ingredients. It creates “inspired by” products that are often indistinguishable from the pricier versions. Brandefy is more oriented toward its app than the website, however, so it’s a good choice if you want to check something on your phone while you’re out shopping. The Essence Vault and Dossier both offer up perfume dupes. Perfumes are expensive to develop, to manufacture, and to package—but you can’t actually copyright a fragrance, so dupe perfumes tend to be uncannily like the expensive brand they’re copying. That being said, you may notice a quality difference between the good stuff and the dupes. But if your budget is dupe-sized, both The Essence Vault and Dossier offer scents explicitly inspired by designer fragrances (Dossier also sells their own original scents). Element Brooklyn offers soaps, lotions, and other products that dupe brands like Aesop or Le Labo with an environmentally friendly twist: Its products are refillable, so you aren’t dumping plastic bottles into landfills all the time. Quince takes the same approach as Brandefy, but for clothing, claiming to use the same factories and manufacturers as the high-end luxury brands it's replicating. Italic is a Los Angeles-based company that sells clothing, jewelry, and accessories that closely resemble luxury brands. Its prices aren’t as low as literal dupes, but you can still find fashion that looks just like the top-tier brands at a much lower cost. Some caveats to keep in mindKeep in mind that it can be difficult to judge whether a dupe is going to be worth buying even at a drastically lower price point. It can be very difficult to tell from a photo whether a piece of furniture or clothing is going to be anywhere near the quality of the real thing, for example. That’s where apps like TikTok that offer endorsements from folks who have actually used the dupes can be super valuable. Another option for doing your dupe due diligence on beauty and skincare products is SkinSort, which has a useful comparison tool. You can compare a dupe to the brand it’s replicating and SkinSort will show you a list of ingredients in each (along with explanations for what each does) and reviews from people who have actually used the dupe. Finally, if you want to save some money without risking a downgraded experience, you can also look for name-brand items at secondhand places like Poshmark, which sells clothes, skincare, perfume, and beauty products. A lot of sellers on these platforms have access to name-brand stuff (some work for retailers where they get deep discounts, giving them room for resell profits, for example—look for folks who have a lot of a specific product on hand and you’re probably looking at a hustling sales associate) and you can find some real bargains that way. This gives you the main benefit of a dupe (lower prices) without compromising in any way. View the full article

Unilever surprised investors on Tuesday by ousting chief executive Hein Schumacher and replacing him with finance chief Fernando Fernandez, who will focus on speeding up the execution of the consumer group’s turnaround strategy. Unilever’s board, which includes billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz, was unified in its decision to oust CEO Schumacher, a source familiar with the board’s thinking told Reuters. Schumacher was surprised by the move, but the decision involved “nothing untoward”, the person said. In an email to associates, Schumacher defended his approach and record as CEO and said he regretted leaving the company earlier than anticipated. “The board is eager to step up the pace of our strategy execution and realise swift value creation underscored by a change in leadership,” he said in the email, which was shared with Reuters. The CEO’s sudden departure after less than two years in the job hit Unilever’s shares, which fell as much as 3.4% on Tuesday. They had gained more than 9% since Schumacher took the helm on July 1, 2023. The consumer goods industry has had a difficult time coping with a supply chain crunch triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, plus sky-high commodity prices and an energy crisis after Russia invaded Ukraine. Profit margins have been squeezed and sales volumes hit by consumers switching to cheaper options. Unilever, which gave no specific reason for the CEO change, is facing pressure from investors to revitalise its fortunes and the top management upheaval comes just weeks after Unilever announced underwhelming full-year earnings. Nestle CEO Mark Schneider was ousted last year after several quarters of weak sales volume growth. Unilever’s management change was made after a board meeting on Monday, another source familiar with the matter told Reuters. The board concluded that Fernandez, who has been with Unilever for nearly 40 years, was the right person to execute the company’s strategy, the source said. Schumacher’s appointment and strategic changes had been welcomed by Peltz, who built a stake in the company in 2022 and sits on Unilever’s board. “We are gobsmacked at the news that Unilever’s very highly regarded CEO Hein Schumacher is to step down,” RBC Capital analyst James Edwardes Jones said in a note. When Schumacher became CEO, analysts and investors had applauded the choice of an external candidate as CEO. Schumacher reset the group’s strategy to address years of underperformance and laid out cost cuts last year, including plans to separate its ice cream division and cut thousands of jobs. The company has tried to step up the pace of asset sales, although some categories, like plant-based meat, are proving hard to exit. Chairman Ian Meakins said the board was impressed by Fernandez’s “decisive and results-oriented approach”, and had given him the task of executing the growth strategy. “There is much further to go to deliver best-in-class results,” Meakins said in a statement. Execution Analysts and investors said the news was unexpected, but Fernandez was a good choice to lead Unilever’s turnaround strategy. “We agree with the board that Fernandez is best placed to accelerate the value unlock,” Barclays analyst Warren Ackerman said in a note. UBS analyst Guillaume Delmas said “execution is key” in the new phase of the company’s strategic journey. Fernandez, 58, has been with Unilever since 1988. Before he became CFO last year, he held a number of roles such as President Latin America and CEO Brazil and President of the Beauty & Wellbeing business. Harsharan Mann in the Global Equities team at Aviva Investors, a Unilever shareholder, said: “We were surprised by the announcement but have a positive view of the CFO … He is a 30-year veteran of the business who ran the Beauty and Wellbeing division very well.” In January, Fernandez took up extra responsibilities including overseeing supply chain and procurement. Unilever, which owns Hellmann’s mayonnaise, Dove soap and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, said there was no change to its 2025 outlook or medium-term forecast and the board was committed to “further accelerating” Schumacher’s growth plan. Schumacher, 53, will step down as CEO in March and leave the company on May 31. He is leaving by mutual agreement, the company said. He will be treated as a “good leaver” and will continue to get his 1.85 million euros ($1.94 million) fixed pay until he leaves the business, the company said. He will then get an undisclosed payment for the remainder of this notice period, it said. Srinivas Phatak, currently Unilever’s deputy chief financial officer and group controller, will become acting CFO, while the company looks for a permanent replacement. ($1 = 0.9549 euros) —Yadarisa Shabong and Josephine Mason, Reuters View the full article

"Red flags are emerging for the US economy," said Elias Haddad, senior market strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman. "Another month or two of poor US economic data would deliver a blow to the US exceptionalism narrative." View the full article

Small business owners felt more uncertain about the future in January, as they continue to deal with labor challenges and lingering inflation. According to a monthly poll of small business owners from the National Federation of Independent Business, the uncertainty index in January rose 14 points to 100 – the third highest recorded reading, after two months of decline. The NFIB said small business owners are feeling less confident about investing in their business due to uncertain business conditions in the coming months. The response mirrors overall consumer confidence, which plummeted in February, the biggest monthly decline in more than four years, with inflation seemingly stuck and a trade war under President Donald Trump seen by a growing number of Americans as inevitable. In the NFIB poll, optimism fell by 2.3 points in January to 102.8, but remained high. Optimism surged after the presidential election, and the index still topped the the 51-year average of 98 for the third month in a row. “Overall, small business owners remain optimistic regarding future business conditions, but uncertainty is on the rise,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Hiring challenges continue to frustrate Main Street owners as they struggle to find qualified workers to fill their many open positions. Meanwhile, fewer plan capital investments as they prepare for the months ahead.” Eighteen percent of owners reported that inflation was their single most important problem in operating their business, down two points from December and matching labor quality as the top issue. Labor remains a top headache. A seasonally adjusted 35% of all small business owners reported job openings they could not fill in January, unchanged from December. Of the 52% of owners hiring or trying to hire in January, 90% reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill. And fewer small businesses are planning capital investments to expand their business. Twenty percent plan capital outlays in the next six months, down seven percentage points from December. —Mae Anderson, AP business writer View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Pixel 9 Pro is the latest, most premium model in the Pixel lineup. It was released in August 2024, and already the unlocked 128GB Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is discounted to $799 (down from $1,099). That's the lowest price it has yet reached on Amazon, according to price-tracking tools. Google Pixel 9 Pro XL Operating System: Android 14, Ram Memory: 16 GB, Memory Storage: 128 GB, Screen Size: 6.8 Inches. $799.00 at Amazon $1,099.00 Save $300.00 Get Deal Get Deal $799.00 at Amazon $1,099.00 Save $300.00 This Pixel 9 Pro XL comes with 16GB of RAM, 128GB of memory storage, a 120 HZ refresh rate, and the Android 14 operating system. As Michelle Ehrhardt explained in Lifehacker's review of the Pixel 9 Pro, the phone's hardware is the best Google has produced, but its AI features aren't quite there yet. The XL version is bigger than the regular Pro size, but smaller than previous XL versions at 6.4 by 3.0 by 0.3 inches. If you have the Pixel 8 Pro, you might not notice a huge difference. However, if you're upgrading from an older phone or switching from a non-Pixel phone, the 9 Pro XL has a lot to love, especially if you prioritize good cameras. One of the best aspects of Pixel phones is their future-proofing: They tend to receive ongoing support for many years. My Pixel 6A still gets all of the updates and tons of AI features that make the phone feel fresh many years later. With the Pixel 9 Pro XL, you'll be getting a quality phone that will receive software updates for some time (as long as seven years). View the full article

Denny’s is the latest restaurant chain to add a temporary egg surcharge due to the rising cost of eggs caused by a nationwide shortage and the current bird flu outbreak. Last month, Waffle House added an upcharge of 50 cents per egg. Meanwhile, many supermarket chains, including Trader Joe’s, Market Basket, and big-box retailers including Walmart, Costco, and Sam’s Club, have raised prices and limited the number of cartons shoppers can buy. “This pricing decision is market-by-market, and restaurant-by-restaurant due to the regional impacts of the egg shortage,” Denny’s told Fast Company in a statement. “We will continue to look for ways to provide options on our menu, including our $2 $4 $6 $8 Value Menu.” The restaurant said it would not specify which of its 1,500 locations would see the surcharge as the situation is “fluid.” Once an inexpensive food staple, eggs have soared in price in recent months. As of last week, a dozen white eggs was $8.07, according to CNBC. Bird flu, or avian influenza, has had a crippling effect on the nation’s egg supply, resulting in the death of 18.9 million birds in just the past 30 days, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This is a double whammy for Denny’s, which announced more store closings earlier this month as part of the restaurant chain’s plan to jumpstart its waning growth. Like many fast-food and casual-dining chains, it has been struggling in recent years due to inflation, changing customer habits, and skyrocketing food prices. “We have taken a close look at every restaurant in our domestic portfolio; and as a result, at the end of last year, we announced the decision to close approximately 150 restaurants by the end of 2025,” Denny’s previously told Fast Company. “We began the closing process last year, and we are continuing to work through our plan. More than half of these locations have already closed.” Denny’s said the closures will enable its franchises to open “upwards of 20 new locations in 2025 . . . and remodel some current locations.” View the full article