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Key Takeaways Decentralization Empowers Creators: Web3 shifts control from centralized platforms to individual creators, allowing for direct engagement with audiences and enhanced profit margins through reduced reliance on intermediaries. Blockchain Technology Provides Transparency: Utilizing blockchain ensures secure transactions and protection of intellectual property, fostering trust and encouraging deeper audience engagement. Innovative Revenue Models with NFTs: Non-Fungible Tokens offer unique monetization opportunities for creators, allowing them to sell exclusive content and experiences, thus enhancing customer loyalty. Efficiency through Smart Contracts: Smart contracts automate transaction processes, improving cash flow management and freeing creators to focus on growth and marketing strategies. Networking and Collaboration: Engaging with the Web3 ecosystem opens doors for collaboration with fellow creators and potential investors, expanding growth opportunities in the creator economy. Adapting to Challenges: Awareness of technical barriers, regulatory concerns, and market volatility is crucial for navigating the Web3 landscape successfully while maintaining a sustainable business model. The digital landscape is evolving, and Web3 is at the forefront of this transformation. By shifting the power dynamics from centralized platforms to individual creators, Web3 is unlocking new possibilities for monetization and engagement. This decentralized approach allows you to take control of your content, connect directly with your audience, and build sustainable income streams. As the creator economy continues to grow, understanding how Web3 impacts your opportunities is crucial. You’ll discover how blockchain technology, NFTs, and decentralized applications are reshaping the way creators interact with their fans and monetize their work. Embracing these changes can empower you to thrive in a landscape where creativity and innovation reign supreme. Overview of Web3 Web3 signifies a radical shift in how you interact online, moving from centralized platforms to a decentralized web. This empowerment allows you to control your content and engage directly with your target audience. In this new paradigm, creators like you can establish sustainable income streams through innovative business models. Blockchain technology underpins Web3, offering transparency and security. It facilitates the use of digital currencies and smart contracts, making transactions more efficient. As you explore these options, you’ll discover how decentralized applications (dApps) can enhance your customer acquisition strategies. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) present unique opportunities for monetization. NFTs allow you to offer exclusive content or experiences to your audience, adding value while protecting your intellectual property. Leveraging NFTs can differentiate your branding and reinforce loyalty among your supporters. Engaging with the Web3 ecosystem encourages collaboration and networking. You can connect with fellow creators and potential investors, expanding your growth strategy. Understanding how to navigate this landscape can amplify your small business’s reach and impact, positioning you for long-term success in the creator economy. Key Features of Web3 Web3 presents distinct features that reshape how you engage with your audience and monetize your work. Understanding these elements can enhance your journey as a small business owner or entrepreneur. Decentralization Decentralization removes the reliance on central authorities, enabling you to manage your intellectual property directly. You can distribute your content without intermediaries, such as publishers or record labels. This shift keeps revenue from going to third parties, increasing your profit margin. By building a direct connection with your target audience, you cultivate a loyal customer base that values your unique offerings. Blockchain Technology Blockchain technology is integral to Web3, serving as a secure and transparent ledger for transactions. This technology allows you to issue tokens that represent ownership stakes in your creative work. As a small business, you retain a larger portion of your earnings while ensuring that your digital assets are protected. Blockchain builds trust with your audience by providing them with undeniable proof of ownership, encouraging deeper engagement and repeat purchases. Smart Contracts Smart contracts simplify transactions by automating agreement execution once predetermined conditions are met. You can utilize these contracts to streamline operations, minimize legal complications, and ensure prompt payment. Smart contracts enhance your cash flow management by eliminating delays associated with traditional payment methods. This efficiency allows you to focus more on product development, marketing, and scaling your business, further driving your growth strategy. The Creator Economy Explained The creator economy enables you to monetize your passion through digital content creation. It provides a platform for content creators, influencers, and artists to thrive, offering diverse opportunities within various activities like social media influencing, blogging, videography, and NFT sales. Definition and Importance The creator economy refers to the economic landscape where individuals earn income from their creative outputs and engage directly with their audiences. This economic shift has transformed how over 50 million independent creators operate, allowing them to cultivate communities and monetize content without traditional gatekeepers. You can manage your intellectual property, set your own pricing, and develop unique business models that cater to your target audience. This sector empowers entrepreneurship by democratizing access to content creation tools and distribution channels. Creators from various backgrounds can express their expertise and passions on a global scale, enhancing their branding and fostering loyal customer relationships. By understanding this economy’s dynamics, you find innovative ways to turn your business idea into a thriving venture. Growth Factors Several growth factors fuel the expansion of the creator economy. Key among them is the rise of Web3 technologies, which shift power from centralized platforms to individual creators. Decentralization grants you greater control over your content, revenue, and audience engagement. Blockchain technology plays a pivotal role in enhancing transparency and security. Utilizing smart contracts allows you to automate transactions, improving cash flow management and freeing you to focus on scaling your operations. NFTs offer unique monetization opportunities, enabling you to sell exclusive content, which improves customer engagement. Networking within the creator economy opens doors to collaborations and partnerships, providing access to resources like mentorship and funding options. By leveraging these growth factors, you position yourself for long-term success in a rapidly evolving business landscape. How Web3 is Transforming the Creator Economy Web3 significantly impacts the creator economy by enabling greater ownership, innovative revenue streams, and enhanced empowerment for creators. Ownership and Control Web3 delivers decentralized ownership, empowering you to retain control of your intellectual property. With blockchain technology, you manage your content directly, eliminating the need for intermediaries. By issuing tokens that represent ownership stakes in your work, you secure a larger share of your earnings. This shift ensures that you maintain authority over how your content is distributed and monetized. New Revenue Streams Web3 fosters new revenue opportunities through innovative business models. As an entrepreneur, you can utilize Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) to offer exclusive content or experiences, attracting a dedicated audience. Crowdfunding through decentralized platforms allows you to access funding options directly from your community. Engaging with these new streams enhances your revenue potential while building a loyal customer base. Empowering Creators Web3 equips you with tools to communicate directly with your audience and promote your brand effectively. Decentralized applications (dApps) enable seamless interactions and transactions, enhancing customer acquisition strategies. Automating processes through smart contracts simplifies operations, giving you more time to focus on growth strategies and customer service. By integrating digital marketing techniques, you position yourself for success in the evolving creator economy. Challenges and Limitations Web3 presents opportunities for the creator economy, yet it also faces significant challenges that impact small businesses and entrepreneurs. Technical Barriers You encounter technical barriers when navigating Web3. Scalability issues arise as current blockchain technologies often struggle with increased demand. High transaction fees and slow processing times can hinder your ability to effectively monetize content and manage operations. User experience also poses a challenge. Complexities in blockchain and decentralized applications (dApps) may deter both you and your target audience from fully engaging with these platforms. Security concerns further complicate the landscape, as decentralized systems remain vulnerable to various threats. Regulatory Concerns Regulatory concerns play a crucial role in the adoption of Web3 for small businesses. You face the challenge of keeping abreast of evolving regulations surrounding blockchain technologies and digital currencies. The legal structure of your business may need adjustments to accommodate these shifts. Proper understanding of licensing, permits, and compliance requirements is essential. Engaging legal advice can help ensure your business aligns with regulations, protecting your interests as you venture into the Web3 space. Market Volatility Market volatility impacts your efforts to leverage Web3 platforms. Prices of digital assets can fluctuate dramatically, leading to uncertainty when planning your financial strategies. This volatility may complicate cash flow management, budgeting, and ultimately affect your profit margins. As a small business owner, you must incorporate risk assessment strategies into your growth plans. Monitoring market trends and developing a robust business model that includes potential contingencies will help protect your venture in this fast-paced environment. Conclusion Embracing Web3 can unlock new possibilities for your creative journey. The shift toward decentralization empowers you to take control of your content and revenue streams while fostering direct connections with your audience. As you navigate this evolving landscape, leveraging blockchain technology and innovative monetization strategies can enhance your brand and build loyalty among supporters. While challenges exist, such as technical barriers and market volatility, staying informed and adaptable will position you for success. By embracing the tools and opportunities that Web3 offers, you can thrive in the creator economy and pave the way for a sustainable future. It’s time to harness the power of Web3 and elevate your creative endeavors to new heights. Frequently Asked Questions What is Web3? Web3, or Web 3.0, refers to the next generation of the internet focused on decentralization, empowering individual creators, and utilizing blockchain technology. It aims to shift control from centralized platforms to users, enabling them to manage their own content and engage directly with their audiences. How does Web3 impact creators? Web3 significantly empowers creators by allowing them to have complete control over their intellectual property and earnings. With decentralized platforms, they can monetize their work through innovative models like NFTs and smart contracts, enhancing their ability to connect with fans while retaining more revenue. What are NFTs, and how do they relate to Web3? NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are unique digital assets that represent ownership of specific content on the blockchain. In the Web3 ecosystem, NFTs provide creators with new monetization opportunities by allowing them to sell exclusive content or collaborations directly to their audience. What are decentralized applications (dApps)? Decentralized applications, or dApps, are software applications that run on a blockchain network rather than being hosted on centralized servers. dApps enhance user privacy, security, and transparency, making them ideal for creators looking to manage transactions and operations without intermediaries. What challenges does Web3 pose for small businesses? Web3 presents challenges including scalability issues, high transaction fees, and complex user experiences. Small businesses must also navigate regulatory concerns and market volatility, which can affect financial planning and cash flow management in this evolving landscape. How can creators succeed in the Web3 ecosystem? Creators can succeed in Web3 by leveraging decentralized platforms, building strong communities, and adapting innovative revenue models like NFTs and smart contracts. Networking within the creator economy and continuously engaging with their audience are also crucial for long-term success. Why is the creator economy important? The creator economy empowers over 50 million independent creators to monetize their passions, cultivate their communities, and produce content without traditional gatekeepers. This shift allows for diverse income streams and reinforces the value creators bring to the digital landscape. Image Via Envato This article, "Empowering Creators: The Impact of Web3 on the Creator Economy" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Want better AI content? Stop fixing grammar and start editing like a human. Kevin Indig shows you how. The post How I Edit AI Content: A Workflow For The New Age Of Content Creation appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Notifications on the Mac show up in the top-right corner as a rule. This is fine most of the time, but on large displays you might not notice what's happening in the top-right corner if you're reading a document on the left side of the screen. Wouldn't the notifications be better in the middle, the way they show up on the iPhone and iPad? PingPlace is a free Mac application that will move your notifications to other corners or even the top center of your screen. The application lives in the menu bar and lets you choose between the four corners of the display along with the top and bottom middle. Setting the application up is easy: Just download it, drag it to your Applications folder, then launch. You will be asked to enable accessibility permissions for the application, which is common for this sort of customization app. After that, you can choose where you want your notifications to show up by clicking the menu bar icon. Credit: Justin Pot This worked for me, though not without a few oddities. When I set notifications to the center, for example, the widget area also moved to the center. Some people might actually prefer this, granted, but I like having my widgets area on the right side of the screen. The application, by default, does not start when your Mac does—you can change this by checking the "Launch at Login" button in the settings. And that's about it in terms of options. This isn't the only application that makes working with notifications easier—there's also an app that dismisses notifications using a keyboard shortcut. Hopefully a future version of macOS will make apps like this unnecessary. View the full article

The Seattle-based company, which had made home loans for more than a century, announced it was quitting the mortgage business in January. It booked nearly 400 small business loans in the first quarter and expects that total to grow as its team gains traction. View the full article

Despite a court order, a reporter and photographer from the Associated Press were barred from an Oval Office news conference on Monday with President Donald The President and his counterpart from El Salvador, Nayib Bukele. Last week’s federal court decision forbidding the The President administration from punishing the AP for refusing to rename the Gulf of Mexico was to take effect Monday. The administration is appealing the decision and arguing with the news outlet over whether it needs to change anything until those appeals are exhausted. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit set a Thursday hearing on The President’s request that any changes be delayed while case is reviewed. The AP is fighting for more access as soon as possible. Later Monday, two AP photographers were admitted to an event honoring Ohio State’s championship football team on the more spacious South Lawn. A text reporter was turned away. Since mid-February, AP reporters and photographers have been blocked from attending events in the Oval Office, where President Donald The President frequently addresses journalists, and on Air Force One. The AP has seen sporadic access elsewhere, and regularly covers White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s briefings. Leavitt is one of three administration officials named in the AP’s lawsuit. The dispute stems from AP’s decision not to follow the president’s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico, although AP style does cite The President’s wish that it be called the Gulf of America. The AP argued—and U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden agreed last week—that the government cannot punish the news organization for exercising its right to free speech. McFadden on Friday had rejected The President’s request for more delay in implementing the ruling; now the president is asking an appeals court for the same thing. “We expect the White House to restore AP’s participation in the (White House press) pool as of today, as provided in the injunction order,” AP spokeswoman Lauren Easton said Monday. The extent of AP’s future access remains uncertain, even with the court decision. Until being blocked by The President, AP has traditionally always had a reporter and photographer among the small group of journalists invited into the Oval Office. McFadden did not order that to be restored, only that no news organization should be shut out because the president objects to its news decisions—under a principle called “viewpoint discrimination.” “No other news organization in the United States receives the level of guaranteed access previously bestowed upon the AP,” the administration argued in court papers over the weekend. “The AP may have grown accustomed to its favored status, but the Constitution does not require that such status endure in perpetuity.” David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social —David Bauder, AP Media Writer View the full article

Google will begin redirecting its country code top-level domain names (ccTLD) versions of its Google domain to Google.com. That means if you frequent google.fr (in France), google.ng (in Nigeria) and so on, you will be redirected to Google.com. Why the change. Google said, “Over the years, our ability to provide a local experience has improved. In 2017, we began providing the same experience with local results for everyone using Search, whether they were using google.com or their country’s ccTLD.” “Because of this improvement, country-level domains are no longer necessary,” Google added. Google said, “we’ll begin redirecting traffic from these ccTLDs to google.com to streamline people’s experience on Search.” The impact. For the most part, most searchers should not notice any difference. When you are redirected, there is a chance you may have to login to Google again and also reconfigure some of your search settings. But overall, there won’t be any significant changes. Google wrote, “It’s important to note that while this update will change what people see in their browser address bar, it won’t affect the way Search works, nor will it change how we handle obligations under national laws.” Timing. This change will begin today but “will be rolled out gradually over the coming months,” the company said. Why we care. You may notice slightly different referral traffic from Google Search, related to this change. This may also impact your signed in experience with Google.com in the short term. But outside of that, there should be no other large changes with these ccTLD changes for Google Search. View the full article

You’ve probably been hearing a lot about AI agents lately – whether in your workplace conversations or scrolling through your social feeds (hopefully both). While there’s no shortage of articles discussing their general benefits, there’s surprisingly little coverage on what they mean specifically for SEO – where their impact is not just significant, but amplified. Before we dive into the two key reasons AI agents are so important for SEOs to understand (and yes, you’re probably already using them – even if you don’t realize it), let’s first get clear on what AI agents actually are. What are AI agents? At their core, AI agents are autonomous systems equipped with access to external tools, data, functions, and more. They operate with a clear understanding of an end goal and are provided with the resources needed to achieve it. In some cases, they’re also given instructions on how to use those tools. In others, they’re left to figure it out on their own. Rather than diving into a chart or technical diagram of a sample agenting system, I think a simpler – and surprisingly accurate – illustration can be found in one of nature’s most complex yet overlooked lifeforms: the humble ant. Imagine an ant colony: the queen, much like a master AI algorithm, sets the overarching goal. The worker ants – each equipped with their own specialized tools – are the individual agents tasked with specific functions. Consider the parallels: Queen = Agent operator: Directs and adjusts the overall strategy. Worker ants = Sub-agents: Each has a specialized tool or function, whether it’s gathering data, analyzing content, or communicating findings. Colony efficiency = System optimization: As ants work together, the system optimizes resources and information flow, mirroring how AI agents coordinate to achieve complex tasks. The queen communicates the goal to each “tool,” which each ant then tries to accomplish. They return with their requested resource, communicate and assess their status, share information to accomplish their macro goal faster and report back. An overall status is reported to the queen, who communicates adjusted commands to her tools. This is not all that different from an AI agent, other than being generally more sophisticated (though not as impressive to us, as it only sustains a species and doesn’t automatically make a stock trade 56 nanoseconds faster after catching a new trend and applying the sentiment as positive). I’ll poorly parallel this to AI agents below. But before I do that, let me answer why one of my assertions above is true. Why the impact of AI agents in SEO is multiplied many times over most other professions I can’t think of an industry that won’t be touched by agents, at least indirectly. Lawyers will use agents to look up and summarize judgments and analyze loopholes used for their clients. Software engineers will use them to assist in developing code and systems, referencing their internal docs, repos, and external knowledge. Bakers will receive their ingredients through shippers coordinated using agents. SEOs will use them as tools to do their jobs faster and better – as I’ll illustrate below. On top of that, we also need to learn and adapt to marketing into agentic systems. Generative engine optimization (GEO) entered the scene not that long ago. But what it is evolving into is something different — something far more powerful. Something that takes us past optimizing for an algorithm, even one driven by an LLM like AI Overviews or ChatGPT, and into optimizing for agents, their functions, and their tools. We’re seeing this evolution in its toddler years right now, and if you’re on the ground floor, that’s a great place to be. While there are exceptions, for the most part, generative engines are performing a lot like search engines in their presentation of solutions. The user enters a query. The user receives a reply. That reply might have a few links in it. Sure, the system might check on the web for additional references outside of its current knowledge base, but nothing revolutionary. Again, it functions a lot like traditional search with a better user experience. I expect the next steps in this evolution will be gradual, as tools like Google and ChatGPT add new capabilities – such as the recently announced feature where an AI-driven system can call a store to gather additional information for you. However, new pieces will gradually fall into place until we reach a point where providing your agent with insights into your goals or needs will trigger actions in ways we likely can’t fully understand yet. Here’s a simple example. You give the Google agent (for example) your goal, want, or need. Let’s say you need new shoes for a wedding. The agent can then: Check your calendar for the wedding date. Check the weather in that city on that date, or likely weather based on the time of year if specifics are unavailable. Ask what you’ll be wearing. Knowing your size, general style, and preferred brands and stores – source options that will arrive in time for the wedding. Source and store a local backup, in case something goes wrong with the delivery or fit, to have that information ready in case it detects a problem. Ask if you would like to see the options: If yes, send them to a display of your choosing. If not, move on to the next step. Once the shoe is selected, complete the order. Check what other common items might be needed for weddings, based on your status at it (guest, best person, bride or groom, etc.), and optionally send an email list of these to you if it doesn’t have evidence these are completed. Imagining this world, I have a couple of questions for you: How do you attribute that to Google? Was it their crawler that surfaced the information to them? What kind of optimization does that take with LLMs? Was it a product feed through Google Merchant Center? Did they use an operator to navigate your site to get to it? Is there optimization you need to apply to filters to simplify that? If you sell umbrellas, how do you ensure you’re part of those emailed suggestions from earlier in the event that it’s going to rain. Oh, and how do you even get attribution for that? This simple example highlights the immense complexity of what lies ahead. New technologies will emerge that companies and teams will need to adopt and optimize. Additionally, with the development of new protocols like Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP), adding your store’s feed to a marketplace – or even creating your own tools for other agents to use – will become much easier. This opens the door to greater distribution, though it may come with challenges like difficult attribution and untested effectiveness. The question is: Do you really want to wait and see if your competitors dive in first, or will you seize the opportunity now? While I can’t predict the exact shape of the marketing world in the next two weeks, let alone a year from now, I can confidently say that we’ve already entered the agentic era. The rate of adoption and development in this space is unlike anything I’ve seen in over two decades of online marketing. It’s even more disruptive than the changes brought on Google’s Panda and Penguin updates. Dig deeper: From search to AI agents – The future of digital experiences Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. Business email address Sign me up! Processing... See terms. SEOs and GEOs use agentic AI, too And on the other side of the coin, we also have SEOs using their own agentic systems. As an example, I’ll share an agenting system I created to help generate article outlines for authors at Weights & Biases. What started as a simple replacement for a script I had previously written for the same task has since evolved. I’ll also highlight a few upcoming expansions to better illustrate the potential of AI agents. This agentic system begins by asking the user for five things: The primary phrase they are hoping to rank for with an article. Any secondary terms. The type of article they were writing. The title (if they have one in mind). The author. It uses this information to inform the other agents within the system what to do and what data to access. I’ve created several agents and data sources for the agent to access. The main ones (including a few still being finished after some testing) are: A search agent This agent has access to Google search and removes social platforms, which tend to block our web scrapers. An analysis agent This agent does a few things: Extracts the entities from the pages using Google’s Natural Language API. Summarizes content. Extracts questions from the content. I’ll likely separate these into their own agents as I expand the capabilities, but combining them works well in the current iteration. A data store of examples For each author, I created a folder with 10 markdown files that include: The inputs they provided (primary phrase, secondary terms, title, etc.). The outlines generated by the system. The final outlines I handed off after manual editing. The first paragraphs from the published articles, based on my criteria for how section intros should read. This collection trains the agentic system to understand each author’s preferred structure and tone. It also helps suggest first paragraphs that align with their writing style. I log all of this – inputs, extracted entities, questions, and outlines – to W&B Weave to monitor performance and guide improvements. An outline agent This agent takes in the information from the user, the search results, entities, questions, and summaries and generates an article outline. Coming soon Some agents I’m adding in presently are: A keyword agent that will have access to the Google Ads API to get additional keyword ideas and search volumes. A social listening agent that will monitor social channels for trending topics and auto-generate and outline when one crosses a threshold of likely importance. A Slack/email agent: When an article outline is generated automatically, the agentic system will inform me – including a list of notable people talking about the topic and a summary. A competitor agent that will check to see if known competitors are ranking for the content and send them to me with the outline. I’m sure there’s more to come. (I considered waiting until everything was finished before writing this, but new ideas keep popping up, and this article would never get written.) You should (and can) build agents too I’m not alone in developing agents, and while some SEO tools claim to be agentic, I haven’t found any worth paying for yet. The real benefit of building agents is that they help me understand the environment I’m marketing in. If you want to try developing one, I’ve used obot.ai, which is simple and great for creating basic, useful agents for various tasks. Big thanks to Marc Sirkin, CEO of Third Door Media, for introducing me to it. At the very least, it’ll give you a feel for how agents work, which is a big advantage over competitors who don’t understand what’s happening behind the scenes. 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 Garmin Vivoactive 5 is currently going for $219.99 on Amazon—down from its original $299—and it walks the line pretty well for a midrange fitness smartwatch. Garmin Vivoactive 5 $219.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $299.99 Save $80.00 Get Deal Get Deal $219.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $299.99 Save $80.00 You get a bright 1.2-inch AMOLED display, all-day comfort, and solid health features that feel useful instead of gimmicky. It’s the fifth generation of the Vivoactive line, and this time around, Garmin has added nap tracking, a better “Body Battery” score that shows how drained or rested you are, and even a wheelchair mode for more inclusive activity tracking. You still get standard metrics like heart rate, SpO2, and sleep monitoring, and the watch runs great whether you're out walking, lifting weights, or just trying to hit your step goal. (In a head-to-head comparison with the Pixel 3, our own health editor Beth Skwarecki named the Vivoactive 5 the better fitness watch.) Now, there are some trade-offs. Garmin dropped the stainless steel bezel from the Vivoactive 4, so this one has a lighter, more casual aluminum build. They also cut the barometric altimeter and on-screen workout animations, which might be a letdown for folks who rely on elevation data or follow exercises directly from their watch. That said, it still tracks over 30 workouts, offers guided meditations, and provides detailed recovery insights. The touchscreen is crisp and colorful, with a raise-to-wake option that works well enough. Gorilla Glass 3 adds some protection, and it’s got 5ATM water resistance—meaning pool swims are fine, just don’t take it scuba diving. The smartwatch features of the Garmin Vivoactive 5 are solid, too. It handles notifications from both Android and iPhone, though only Android users can reply from the watch. You can also use Garmin Pay, stream music from Spotify, and share your live location from the watch. As for battery life, Garmin claims 11 days, but real-world usage with a couple of GPS workouts each week puts it closer to eight, notes this PCMag review—still way better than most full-screen smartwatches. If you're considering alternatives, Garmin’s Venu Sq 2 delivers a similar blend of features and health tracking tools, and it’s currently priced lower at $177 (marked down from $249.99). View the full article

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Last week, Zillow announced a new policy that bans home listings from appearing on the platform if they were first listed for sale in private networks more than 24 hours before appearing on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). That’s an attempt by Zillow to keep more inventory on the “public” housing market. “If a listing is online, it should be online everywhere. . . . If a listing is marketed to any home shoppers, it should be marketed to all home shoppers,” wrote Zillow. The announcement comes as some brokerages, most infamously Compass, are pushing for more “private exclusives”—a strategy that allows sellers to market their properties privately within the brokerage’s network before or instead of listing them on public platforms like the MLS. Over the past year, Compass has seen its inventory of “private exclusives” climb from just over 2,000 to nearly 10,000 active “off-market” homes for sale. Zillow seemingly fears that the private listing market could soon gain momentum, so it’s using its massive influence—and the fact that it’s the go-to source for so many high-intent buyers—to try and throw cold water on private listings before they absorb too large of a market share. On Saturday evening, CoStar CEO Andy Florance took a shot at the announcement, writing on LinkedIn that Zillow’s policy hurts home sellers. “This week Zillow Executive Errol Samuelson announced that homes not listed on the MLS within 24 hours of public marketing—won’t be published on Zillow ‘for the life of the listing.’ Simply put, if your listing is not on Zillow within 24 hours, Zillow will retaliate against you and your homeowner by turning off your ability to list on Zillow. It is an incredible move of audacity and a pure power play of epic proportion,” wrote Florance. CoStar, which owns Homes.com, is in the midst of a feisty battle that has been called the “portal wars” with Zillow and Realtor.com. According to RISMedia, there is one loophole to Zillow’s ban: if the home seller fires their agent. “A seller who parts ways with their agent after using a private listing service and subsequently re-lists with a new agent or broker would be eligible again to have their property on Zillow,” a Zillow spokesperson told RISMedia last week. View the full article

China has ordered its airlines not to take any further deliveries of Boeing jets in response to the U.S. decision to impose 145% tariffs on Chinese goods, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Shares of Boeing—which looks at China as one of its biggest growth markets and where rival Airbus holds a dominant position—were down 3% in premarket trading. Beijing has also asked that Chinese carriers halt purchases of aircraft-related equipment and parts from U.S. companies, the Bloomberg report said. China’s move to halt purchases of aircraft-related components is expected to raise maintenance costs for the jets flying in the country. The U.S. and China have been embroiled in a tariff war triggered by U.S. President Donald The President’s trade policies. China last week hiked levies on U.S. imports to 125% in retaliation against U.S. tariffs. The Chinese government is considering ways to provide assistance to airlines that lease Boeing jets and are facing higher costs, Bloomberg News reported. Boeing did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. A 125% duty would significantly raise the cost of Boeing jets bound for Chinese carriers, making them a financial burden and potentially prompting airlines to consider alternatives like Airbus and domestic player COMAC. China’s top three airlines—Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines—have plans to take delivery of 45, 53 and 81 Boeing planes, respectively, between 2025–2027. The escalating tit-for-tat tariffs between the world’s two biggest economies risk bringing goods trade between the world’s two largest economies to a standstill, according to analysts. That trade was valued at over $650 billion in 2024. The President, who said on Friday that he was comfortable with the tariffs on China, also suggested that a deal with Beijing could be on the horizon, but no agreement has been reached yet. —Shivansh Tiwary and Harshita Meenaktshi, Reuters View the full article

One of the best performing stocks on the market yesterday was Webull Corporation (Nasdaq: BULL), which saw its shares surge nearly 375% in a single trading session to end the day at $62.90. The stock price surge in BULL occurred on its second trading day after the stock-trading platform merged with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) to go public. But in premarket trading today, BULL shares are down a significant amount—about 15% as of the time of this writing. Here’s what to know about the stock and what could be next for Webull shares. What is Webull? Webull Corporation is the owner of the Webull trading platform. The online platform allows users to buy and sell stocks, cryptocurrencies, and other financial assets. As CNBC notes, Webull was founded in 2016 by Wang Anquan, a former manager at Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Xiaomi. Its U.S. operations were established a year later, and those are headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida. But while the U.S. trading platform launched in May 2018, the company didn’t really start to gain traction until the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. During that period, many Americans turned to digital trading platforms to buy and sell stocks. Users can do so via the Webull app and website. In the company’s prospectus to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Webull Corporation said that its Webull app has been downloaded more than 50 million times and that it has 23.3 million registered users globally. It describes its customers as “generally working professionals in their 30’s with some prior experience in investing.” Webull’s primary competitors are other online trading platforms like Robinhood, E-trade, and Charles Schwab. What is a SPAC? Webull didn’t go public via a standard initial public offering (IPO). Instead, the company used a vehicle known as a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, to go public. Where a traditional IPO sees shares in a company sold directly to the public, companies that go public via the SPAC model merge with an already publicly traded company—the SPAC—and thus become a publicly traded company themselves via the merger. SPACs were all the rage during the pandemic years, with major companies using them to go public, including transportation and food delivery company Grab and office space company WeWork. However, SPACs started to fall from favor as the pandemic years progressed, with some on Wall Street considering the vehicles a joke. To go public, Webull Corporation merged with a SPAC called SK Growth Opportunities Corp. last week. Webull shares surged yesterday, but are falling today Kicking off its first full week of trading yesterday, BULL shares surged on the Nasdaq. The company’s stock price jumped $49.65 per share—an increase of 374.72%. That share price surge saw Webull’s market cap climb to over $29 billion. However, today, BULL shares are down significantly. The company’s stock price is currently trading about 15% lower in premarket as of the time of this writing. What’s the reason for the steep fall? Nothing concrete, but it’s not uncommon for a stock that surged one day—especially a newly public stock—to see a bit of a pullback the next day. After surging nearly 375% yesterday, some investors may be deciding to sell some shares today to help lock in those gains. But it also should be noted that history hasn’t been kind to many companies that have gone public via SPACs. SPAC minefield? Several notable companies that went public via SPAC mergers during the COVID-era boom have now gone bust. These include companies ranging from genomics firm 23andMe, EV car maker Nikola, and restaurant chain BurgerFi—all of which have filed for bankruptcy. On a general level—and not specific to any one company—SPACs tend to harbor more inherent risk, according to a 2024 report from the Michigan Journal of Economics. The report noted that SPACs, in general, may afford companies “latitude in projections and reporting” when compared to the more scrutinized IPO route. This latitude is one of the reasons SPACs have fallen out of favor in recent years, as investors have tended to shift away from riskier endeavors. As noted by CNBC, in the SPAC heyday of 2021, 613 companies went public via SPACs, but so far in 2025, just 23 have. Where does Webull go from here? Where Webull Corporation and its stock go from here is anyone’s guess. It’s impossible to foresee the future of any individual company. Today’s drop-off may not necessarily be a cause for concern considering how much the stock soared yesterday. In its prospectus, Webull noted that while its revenues were $389 million in 2022 and $390 million in 2023, they were only $305.6 million in 2023 and $282.5 million for the nine months in 2024. The company also noted that while it had a net income of $50.1 million in 2022 and $5.8 million in 2023, it had a net loss of $33.8 million for the first nine months of 2024 (compared to a net income of $19.4 million for the first nine months of 2023). However, Webull also believes that it is positioned to take advantage of generational opportunities that are arising in the United States. Global trading volume of the world’s top 30 stock exchanges has more than doubled since 2012, it points out. But that doubling has historically benefited institutional investors the most. Yet that may soon change. Webull notes that now “retail investors, especially millennial and Gen-Z investors, represent a growing segment of the market and are set to benefit from income growth and generational wealth transfer in the coming years.” The phenomenon that Webull is referring here to goes by the moniker the Great Wealth Transfer—a transfer of wealth from the baby boom generation to their offspring as boomers pass away. “Americans in the ‘baby boomer’ generation are expected to pass tens of trillion of dollars to their children over the next several decades,” Webull notes in its prospectus. That wealth isn’t expected to sit ideal, either. It is likely that many of its recipients will reinvest that wealth—something that could create a lot of business for a company like Webull. View the full article

Top negotiators met in Washington on Monday to discuss how to remove so-called reciprocal tariffsView the full article

Banks have gained from surge in volumes amid market gyrationsView the full article

JavaScript-dependent content may not be accessible to search engine crawlers, so make sure all page content can be rendered for best practice. The post Ask An SEO: My Content Can’t Be Seen When I Disable JavaScript – Will This Affect My SEO? appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Your kitchen should have the right tools. Welcome to A Guide to Gearing Up Your Kitchen, a series where I help you outfit the space with all the small appliances you need (and ditch the ones you don’t). The air fryer has blessed us all with quick convection heating at affordable prices, and the unparalleled reheating of leftover fried food. What more could a girl ask for? Compared to a microwave or stand mixer, it’s an appliance I haven’t lived with for very long, but I can’t imagine living without it now. Whether it’s your first time using an air fryer or your 500th, you’ll love these fool-proof dishes. Here are some of my favorite air fryer recipes to date. Charred pork belly bites Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann All you need is a small to medium cut of pork belly and a handful of ingredients to make these crisp, buttery-rich meat morsels. The high heat and strong convection winds create a subtle blistering effect on the surface of these pork belly bites, making them even more irresistible. The trick is a crisping assist from a small dose of cornstarch added to the seasoning marinade. Check out the recipe for pork belly bites here. Easy mushroom chips Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Air fryers bring speed, ease, and efficiency to our kitchens and there is no recipe that honors this cooking appliance more than these mushroom chips. It's a two-ingredient recipe that requires hardly any preparation and you are rewarded with a savory, crunchy snack. These mushroom chips can be eaten on their own or as a crunchy topping for soups, salads, or casseroles. They're also naturally gluten-free and vegan. Effortless veg Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann I'd give you separate instructions for every freakishly delicious vegetable that's every come out of my air fryer, but then you'd be reading forever. Luckily, the air frying method is similar regardless of the plant, and all you need to do is check on the cooking progress to make sure your side dish doesn't overcook. The method usually looks like this: Rub the vegetable with a light layer of oil and a three-finger-pinch of salt. Chuck them in a 375°F to 400°F air fryer for five to 20 minutes. Read here for the specifics on popular veggies like squash, sweet potatoes, and green beans. Cheese in a blanket Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Pigs aren't the only thing that deserved to be wrapped in a cozy carb comforter. For a vegetarian option, or just because cheese is great, use salty, stretchy, fry cheese as the center of your snack. Many higher protein cheeses have the helpful quality of being melt resistant. They soften but they never liquify. Get the full recipe here. Air-fried meatloaf Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Maybe it's just me, but I rarely see or hear much about meatloaf these days. The vintage recipe of seasoning ground meat and shaping it into a sliceable log fell out of fashion years ago. Maybe because it takes too long to cook in the conventional oven—or maybe because logged meat isn't so sophisticated? Well that's fine, it fits right in with these air fryer recipes. In just 15 minutes you can have a fully cooked meatloaf for four. Try this simple recipe and welcome meatloaf back to your dinner rotation. Air-fried pierogies Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann There are few things more satisfying than a soft pasta pocket full of potatoes, meat, or vegetables. But a crispy-shelled pasta pocket might be just the thing. These air-fried pierogies are easy, thanks to the frozen food section in the grocery store, but make sure you follow my tips here so you end up with a light and shattering shell. Meatball shots Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Prepackaged supermarket meatballs make quick and easy work of these cheese-filled meat bites. I enjoy them particularly as a Super Bowl snack, but let's be honest: Sometimes there are no sports on but a savory craving hits nonetheless. These are the three-ingredient snack for you. Simply hollow out the center of a meatball and fill it before crisping up the edges in your air fryer. Read here for the full recipe. Stuffed mushrooms Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Stuffed mushrooms are easily in my top three favorite snacks. They're satisfying, bursting with umami and extremely quick to make in the air fryer. My recipe uses sausage, spices, and a bit of cream cheese to bind it all together but you can easily replace the meat with a different filling of your choice. Once they're in the air fryer, they only take about 10 minutes to cook—a fraction of the time they would take in the conventional oven. Scotch eggs Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Scotch eggs are like breakfast baseballs. A hard-boiled egg is encased in a thick shell of sausage, breaded, and deep fried. This air fryer recipe breaks with tradition, but only just. Instead of using a deep fryer to cook the protein ball, a light spritz of oil and the wild winds of the air fryer take care of the cooking. The outside crisps up while the sausage remains juicy and the egg doesn’t overcook. Try the recipe as soon as possible. Juicy air fryer steak bitesOne of my favorite snacks when I’m eating a high-protein diet (and when I can afford it) is a bowl of steak bites. The air fryer makes quick work of these “popcorn” steak nibbles but beware, the average recipe will have you overcooking them in minutes. Follow my recipe instead and use the freezer to keep your expensive snack juicy and flavorful. Credit: from my point of view / Shutterstock.com Potato-crusted chicken fingersWhen you’re after a crisp crust on your chicken fingers, starch is your best friend. It turns out, dried potato flakes are loaded with the stuff. They’re easy to work with, and can even make for a delicious gluten-free “breading.” All you need are a few ingredients to make this recipe, and you’ll have an irresistible batch of potato-crusted chicken fingers of your own. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Bacon-wrapped banana bitesI always suggest this recipe to folks open to giving new combinations a chance. If you’re OK with salty peanut butter on a slice of banana, you’re probably just one flavor adventure away from enjoying these bacon-wrapped banana bites. The recipe couldn’t be easier and the payoff is sensational. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Stuffed shishito pepper poppersThe air fryer makes perfectly blistered roasted veggies in a fraction of the time the conventional oven takes, and that means you can have these shishito pepper poppers ready in less than 10 minutes. Since you can eat the seeds and ribs in a shishito, there’s not much more preparation you have to do than split them and swipe a bit of cheese mixture inside. Credit: Claire Lower, Ian Moore Frico gratin potato squaresFrico is when low-moisture cheeses cook to a literal crisp, and it’s one of the most divine cheese experiences you can have. Eat frico as a snack, or cover your leftover gratin potatoes in Parmesan frico with this simple recipe. It’s an easy way to transform leftovers, and give them a new texture and a second life (that might actually be better than the first one). Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Mac and cheese bitesRemember how I said cooked cheese becomes crispy? Well, leftover mac and cheese did all the frico-prep for you. All you have to do is slice it up and stick it in the air fryer. Make bite-sized squares or long mac and cheese sticks for an easy afternoon snack. A quick blast in the convection oven will frico the edges to crunchy cheese glory. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann A simple banana dessertPart of what draws me to cooking in the air fryer is that it invites simplicity. You can’t stick a spatula in there while it’s cooking and stir things around, there’s no adding a splash of this or that halfway through, or covering it with a lid to simmer. It’s an appliance where the heat talks, and whatever you put inside either flourishes in the hot winds, or fails. A banana absolutely thrives. You know bacon-wrapped bananas do well in the air fryer, but don’t forget about dessert. This recipe tells you the best way to air fry a skin-on banana with just a few sweet toppings. Credit: Claire Lower View the full article

“Just Google it” – ah, so 2021. These days, organic search and discovery – although still largely conducted on Google – have fanned out to many sources, with user behavior more multi-layered and dynamic than ever. SEO professionals these days need to follow course. Consider a user who: Starts by watching a TikTok video of a runner boasting about hitting a new PR with the help of a coach. Then does a top-of-funnel search on Perplexity (“what does a running coach help with”). Then hits Google for a search of online running coaches. Then browses a list of sources from AI Overviews. Then hits up a running community on Reddit to ask about peoples’ experiences with one coaching organization or another. Doesn’t sound like it’s all about keywords anymore, does it? Instead, we’ve been helping clients establish themselves as the primary source on a topic. That means showing up wherever users are looking for relevant information – while also building brand awareness as the subject matter expert. The picture is changing quickly, so rather than chasing channels and keywords, we’re focusing on understanding and adapting to user behavior (with some healthy analysis of emerging platform trends thrown in). Here’s my take on what SEOs need to do to thrive in the age of diversified organic search. Broaden your channel focus Expand your focus beyond traditional SEO. Understand how community-driven platforms (like Reddit and TikTok) and other emerging AI tools are impacting consumer search behavior. This means tracking search trends across various channels, not just focusing on Google. These channels will vary by vertical. (If you’re not completely up to speed on what’s feeding your site traffic, make sure you’re setting up and referencing referral reports in Google Analytics.) The stakes are high here. Failing to adapt to these new search behaviors could lead to missed opportunities and a disconnect with target audiences, especially younger consumers. Dig deeper: Beyond Google – How to put a total search strategy together Know where your users are going for info – and what kind of info they’re looking for Where are your users going, and what are they trying to find? That’s a much more complicated question than it was a few years ago. What your users are looking to learn on Reddit is very different from TikTok (whose algorithm is much more top-of-funnel/discovery-focused). And even LLMs and Google are used for fairly discrete behaviors. The broad “how to do x” and “what is” questions might not be as effective on Google. Still, that’s probably what gets cited the most in AI search or large language models (LLMs). Consider creating a matrix of funnel intent by channel and crafting content accordingly. Track how your strategy works and adjust as you go. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. Business email address Sign me up! Processing... See terms. Stay in touch with the algorithms Staying on top of shifting user behavior is the biggest priority right now in organic search. However, that doesn’t mean you can afford to ignore how newer platforms are ingesting content. The question I get most (by orders of magnitude) these days is about AI search and LLMs (which operate by predicting the next few words or phrases that connect to a topic). One way to boost your chances of citation is to position your brand name as close to your industry or solution as frequently as possible – whether that’s in earned, owned, or even strategic paid content. For instance, if you have a great piece of content that’s getting organic traction, consider syndicating it. It’s also a good idea to reverse-engineer this by: Analyzing which sources/citations are being used in AI search responses. Angling to get your brand covered there. And/or creating similar kinds of content. Last, scour those trades (including this one) to find AI search guidance from experts and tidbits provided by the AI search models themselves on influential ranking factors – like this one from Microsoft on Copilot. Dig deeper: Your 2025 playbook for AI-powered cross-channel brand visibility Provide (even more) value What could your company produce for thought leadership that might get picked up by the top outlet in your vertical? Proprietary research, a well-informed perspective from a company leader, or data that introduces a fresh narrative – any one of these can outperform hundreds of formulaic content pieces that flood your vertical. Publishing content that supplements E-E-A-T principles with effort, originality, and value (my favorite content descriptors these days) does more than catch media attention. (This is more important now than it was pre-LLMs.) This type of content has the potential to transcend platforms by associating your brand with leadership within your vertical. You may begin to see it cited in communities, forums, and social channels as users (not just algorithms) reference it organically. Define your lane The topic clustering strategy is still extremely relevant in this search era, and with that comes the frequent question of just how far you should expand that cluster. My take: owning your sphere and updating it as needed is better than expanding to less relevant subjects. Here’s an example of what that might look like: Stay nimble We’ve never seen the organic scene change this rapidly. Do your best to keep your finger on the pulse of newer algorithms, emerging platforms and communities, and shifting user behaviors. Update and track your KPIs accordingly. Make sure you’re including an action-oriented “so what” step that follows this regular analysis. Whether you’re in-house or at an agency, remember that educating your colleagues about what’s changing is more than just providing value in your role. It’s being proactive about aligning on strategic shifts you’ll need to make down the road. Dig deeper: 6 easy ways to adapt your SEO strategy for stronger AI visibility View the full article

The former underwriter, who worked for the Georgia lender from 2023 to 2024, claims she worked more than 60 hours a week on average and was not fairly compensated. View the full article

The potential impact of agentic AI on the mortgage industry's future lies in its ability to give human employees "superpowers," technology leaders say. View the full article

You’re already juggling competing deadlines, back-to-back meetings, and strategic priorities. Then the Slack message arrives: “Hey, can you just take care of this?” It’s not in your job description. It’s not aligned with your goals. And it’s not the first time. Whether it’s managing logistics, picking up someone else’s project, or being asked to take notes again—many workers are routinely handed tasks that fall outside their role. Often, it’s framed as being a “team player.” But over time, these extra asks can add up to chronic overwork, blurred boundaries, and a stalled career trajectory. Handling these situations well isn’t about being difficult—it’s about being strategic. Here’s how to respond in ways that are clear, confident, and aligned with your long-term goals. 1. Clarify the request—and its relevance Before you respond, take a moment to understand the ask. What’s really being requested? Who should be doing it? And why is it coming to you? This is especially important for tasks that seem “quick” but aren’t strategic—like organizing team events, taking meeting minutes, or picking up admin no one else wants. These are often invisible labor tasks that disproportionately fall on women and people of color, particularly in hybrid and virtual environments. What to say: “Happy to support—can you help me understand how this fits within my priorities or where it came from?” Or: “Is this something our [ops/admin/project] team would usually handle?” Asking these questions reframes the conversation and makes the invisible visible—without defensiveness. 2. Pause before responding You don’t have to answer immediately. One of the biggest reasons we say yes to things we don’t want (or need) to do is because we’re caught off guard. We’re conditioned to be agreeable and responsive. But taking a beat creates space between the request and your response. That pause can be powerful. It allows you to assess: Do I have the capacity? Is this aligned with my role and goals? What’s the real cost of saying yes? What to say: “Thanks for thinking of me—can I come back to you on this once I’ve reviewed my priorities for the week?” This puts you back in control and gives you room to respond with intention rather than obligation. 3. Don’t confuse being helpful with being responsible There’s a big difference between offering support as a leader and being expected to clean up someone else’s mess. Many high-performing workers default to “I’ll just do it” because it feels faster or more efficient in the moment. But over time, it leads to scope creep, burnout, and resentment. Tasks like organizing team birthdays, onboarding new hires without a handover, or smoothing out interpersonal dynamics often land on women—not because they’re in your job description, but because you’re seen as the reliable one. What to do: Ask yourself: “Is this a one-off favor or an ongoing expectation?” Track how often it happens—and the impact on your core responsibilities. Notice if it’s being evenly distributed across the team—or falling on you by default. Being helpful is a strength. But when it’s at the expense of your boundaries, clarity, or energy, it’s time to draw a line. 4. Practice saying no—without guilt Saying no can feel uncomfortable, especially when you want to be seen as collaborative and competent. But “no” doesn’t have to be harsh. It can be thoughtful, respectful, and still assert your priorities. What to say: “I’m currently at capacity with my core responsibilities and can’t take this on right now.” “That’s outside my scope, and I want to make sure I’m focused on where I can add the most value.” “I’m not the best person for this, but happy to suggest someone who might be.” The key is to remove apology from your tone. You’re not being difficult—you’re being discerning. And that’s what leadership requires. 5. Raise the bigger conversation when needed If you’re regularly being asked to do tasks outside your role—or expected to manage things that aren’t aligned with your position—it’s time to step back and zoom out. This isn’t just about one request. It’s about your scope, your role clarity, and the culture you’re operating in. Use your next check-in or performance review to re-align. Be honest about what you’ve taken on, how it’s impacted your work, and what needs to shift. What to say: “I’ve noticed I’m consistently being asked to take on tasks that sit outside my formal role. I want to make sure I’m being as impactful as possible in my core responsibilities—can we talk about boundaries, priorities, and how to structure my work accordingly?” This kind of conversation not only protects your time—it models leadership for others who might also be navigating blurred lines. The bottom line: Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Your energy, time, and talent are precious—and finite. Protecting your scope isn’t selfish. It’s strategic. It’s how you stay focused on the work that matters, create sustainable success, and lead with clarity and confidence. View the full article

The Financial Times has a detailed interview with the newish Head of Google Search, Elizabeth Reid. The interview can be gated, so here are some of the quotes that stood out most to me from this interview.View the full article

As you know, Google is okay with linking its AI Overviews back to more Google Search results. But is Google okay with linking the same query, to the same query, over and over again, through the AI Overviews?View the full article

Google said it again - structured data does not help your site rank any better. John Mueller of Google said this on Bluesky, "Structured data won't make your site rank better." He said, all it is "used for displaying the search features listed in" this search gallery document.View the full article

The president’s refusal to accept a Supreme Court ruling on illegal deportation is a turning pointView the full article

There seems to be a bug that is impacting the first image in the product snippet image carousel set. I was notified about this a few times in the past few days by various people and while I cannot replicate this, many can.View the full article

Elon Musk is a visionary genius to some, unpredictable and dangerous to others. Love him or loathe him, Musk’s personality looms as large as his net worth. This is consistent with decades of scientific research highlighting a strong connection between personality and entrepreneurial talent. There is a range of character traits and dispositions that make entrepreneurs different from others, especially when they succeed in their ventures. Psychologists often describe personality in terms of the Big Five traits (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism) and also warn about the “Dark Triad” of darker traits (Narcissism, Machiavellianism, Psychopathy). Musk, unsurprisingly, scores off the charts in some areas and off the rails in others. He’s the poster child for innovative vision (high Openness) and relentless drive (high Achievement Motivation, which is a facet of Conscientiousness). But he’s also known for a combative, “my-way-or-the-highway” streak, suggesting rock-bottom Agreeableness and a solid dose of Narcissism. The latter is particularly noticeable in his reactions to criticism and negative feedback, which are typically unempathetic escalations intended to belittle and denigrate his critics. The Elon Musk Personality Checklist Below is a simple checklist to compare your personality against Elon Musk’s. Tally your Musk-score, and see where you stand—brilliance, flaws and all. Scoring high might be both a compliment and a warning, in the sense of predisposing you to both entrepreneurship and being dispositionally unemployable, as he is. Unbridled Imagination (High Openness to Experience) Do you constantly churn out big, crazy-sounding ideas that just might change the world? Musk’s visionary imagination is arguably his greatest strength. He dreams up electric cars, reusable rockets, hyperloops, AI interfaces—you name it. High “Openness” means loving novelty, innovation, and big-picture thinking. Musk exemplifies this trait: He’s curious, inventive, and not afraid to venture into the unknown. If you’re the type who has 10 new ideas before breakfast and gets bored with routine, check this box. It means you share Musk’s creative spirit—a key ingredient in entrepreneurial success. Just remember: Wild ideas are great, but execution matters most. Musk’s Openness works because he pairs it with intense drive, including an obsession for building and inspiring high-performing teams: Behind each of his ideas there is a leadership team pushing for successful implementation and execution. Obsessive Drive (High Conscientiousness and Ambition) Are you relentlessly hard-working, perhaps to the point of being an incurable workaholic, and someone who is perfectly comfortable with the notion of burnout or death-by-overwork? Do you set outrageous goals and refuse to quit until they’re achieved? Musk’s ambition and work ethic are the stuff of legend. He reportedly works 80 to 100-hour weeks, fueled by a mission. High Conscientiousness—especially the facets of industriousness, achievement striving, and grit—is a hallmark of many successful entrepreneurs. If you find yourself emailing the team at 2 a.m. and optimizing your schedule for maximum productivity, this is you. Flattering implication: You have the stamina and determination to achieve big things. Concerning implication: Work-life balance? What’s that? Remember that burnout is real—even Musk has described running a startup as “chewing glass and staring into the abyss.” Not something most people want to put up with, especially when they have the skills and talents to be employed by organizations that promote work-life balance. Fearless Risk-Taking (Boldness vs. Neuroticism) Do you embrace risk and chaos while others run for cover? Elon Musk famously thrives on tackling high-risk, high-reward challenges. He’ll pour his last dollar into a venture (he nearly went broke keeping SpaceX and Tesla alive in 2008) and boldly go where no CEO has gone before. This hints at a personality low in anxiety—Musk seems unusually calm under extreme pressure (low Neuroticism) and even finds thrill in it. That fearless attitude is a double-edged sword. If you stay cool in crises and take big swings, you share Musk’s bold resilience. But be careful: Low Neuroticism can veer into impulsivity or reckless optimism—a trait related to the psychopathic side of the Dark Triad. In fact, research finds over 1 in 10 corporate leaders show psychopathic traits (like fearlessness and thrill-seeking), far higher than in the general population. It can lead to innovation—or disaster. Ask yourself: Are you being brave, or just reckless? Charismatic Communication (High Assertiveness, Mixed Extraversion, and Attention Seeking) Are you able to rally others to your vision, or at least talk a big game? Musk is an interesting case: By many accounts he’s socially awkward and introverted (preferring engineering to small talk), yet he’s also a bold public figure when needed. He’ll take the stage to unveil new tech, charm audiences on podcasts, and wage war on X daily. This suggests Musk is high in the assertiveness and attention-seeking facets of Extraversion (he will make himself heard) even if he isn’t a classic people-person. If you’re someone who doesn’t shy from the spotlight when it’s time to promote your ideas—or you find yourself dominating discussions because you believe you’re right—check this trait. Flattering side: You can inspire others and hold court confidently. Caution: You might also steamroll others in conversation. Musk’s Twitter proclamations, for example, often show zero regard for social niceties. Speaking of which . . . “My Way or the Highway” (Low Agreeableness) Do people ever tell you that you’re, well, a bit harsh or insensitive? Do you find empathy and politeness overrated when it comes to getting things done? If so, you might share Musk’s notorious low Agreeableness. Musk is highly competitive, blunt, and sometimes abrasive—traits common in many high achievers. He has been known to fire employees (or cut off friends) who don’t meet his standards, and he’s not exactly the poster boy for tactful communication. Low Agreeableness can manifest as tough-minded leadership: You make hard decisions without losing sleep, and you won’t win any “Most Pleasant Boss” awards. You are so focused on getting ahead that you disregard the importance of getting along. If you checked this, you likely share Musk’s take-no-prisoners style. Upside: You won’t let personal feelings interfere with objective decisions—useful when tough calls are needed. Downside: You risk alienating others. Musk’s own successes often come despite his brusque demeanor, not because of it. Teams put up with tough leaders only if they truly deliver a great vision. Tread carefully: A little compassion goes a long way, even for a would-be world changer. Sky-High Self-Confidence (High Narcissism) Do you secretly (or openly) believe you’re destined for greatness? Perhaps you’re convinced you have the answers when everyone else is wrong. So do most narcissists, and Elon Musk’s self-confidence borders on classic narcissism—a belief in his own exceptionalism. To his credit, at least in his case, there is a clear argument for exceptionalism, but let’s not forget that most cases of sky-rocketing competence are more likely to signal delusional overconfidence and incompetence than brilliant or exceptional talents. He doesn’t just dream big; he believes deeply in his ability to bend reality to his will. Indeed, psychologists warn that narcissism is a double-edged sword. Yes, it often helps people emerge as leaders (we’re oddly drawn to confident, charismatic personalities), but narcissistic leaders tend to underperform in the long run. So if you tick this trait, keep your ego in check. As it turns out, self-belief can be useful for impressing others but self-knowledge is generally more important to improve your actual performance. Master Strategist or Manipulator? (Machiavellianism) Do you consider yourself shrewd and strategic, willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your goals? Machiavellianism is the art of being a mastermind—focused on self-interest, sometimes at the expense of others. Elon Musk certainly plays high-stakes chess in business. He outmaneuvers competitors, leverages tweets to sway markets, and isn’t above a bit of showmanship or cunning negotiation. For example, his on-again/off-again antics with the Twitter acquisition (now X) showed a flair for strategic posturing. If you’re checking this, you might share Musk’s ends-justify-the-means mindset. Positive spin: You excel at big-picture strategy and don’t get bogged down by sentiment when making decisions. Negative spin: You might veer into manipulative or unethical territory if you’re not careful. High Machiavellianism can erode trust and morale on your team—no one likes feeling like a pawn. Musk’s own machinations have earned him as many detractors as admirers. Use your strategic smarts for good, and pair them with a moral compass. As the saying (almost) goes: With great power, comes great responsibility—not just great manipulation. Count up your checks—how many Musk-like traits did you tally? Elon Musk’s personality is a study in contrasts—brilliantly innovative yet deeply controversial. If our checklist shows you share some traits with him, there’s both cause for excitement and caution. Emulate Musk’s best qualities: his boundless curiosity, tireless work ethic, and courage to defy the odds. But learn from the darker side of Muskiness too: temper your ego, practice empathy, and remember that being a successful leader is not just about being the smartest person in the room—it’s about bringing out the best in others while chasing audacious goals. Importantly, even if Musk manages to mitigate the negative impact of his dark side on success, it is important to avoid getting carried away with generalizations that are based on extrapolating from a single individual to the overall population, not least when we have thousands of studies and decades of research suggesting the opposite: namely, more often than not, paying attention to other people’s feelings, caring about them and displaying empathy, and managing your dark side to the point of controlling your antisocial outbursts and making an effort to portray a positive image and prosocial reputation, will more likely help you to advance your career and increase your success levels. If you don’t believe this, then you’d better have the brilliance of Musk so that you don’t need to rely on being employed by others—for with his personality, you would not last more than one day. View the full article