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Unlock the full value of charitable contributions with one of the tax code's most underused tools. Quick Tax Tip With Art Werner CPE Today Go PRO for members-only access to more Art Werner. View the full article

Unlock the full value of charitable contributions with one of the tax code's most underused tools. Quick Tax Tip With Art Werner CPE Today Go PRO for members-only access to more Art Werner. View the full article

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today...View the full article

Want to make your Google Ads bigger so they can stand out more to potential customers? Of course you do! One way to do this is by using optional assets (formerly known as extensions) with your campaigns. One of the most easy-to-use Google Ads assets is sitelinks. Let’s explore how sitelinks work and whether they’re the right choice for your campaigns. This article will cover: What are sitelinks in Google Ads? How are sitelinks different from ad headlines? How many sitelinks can you use? How to add sitelinks to your Google Ads campaigns How to assess sitelink performance in Google Ads Should you use sitelinks in Google Ads? What are sitelinks in Google Ads? When you set up a search or video campaign in Google Ads, you specify a final URL – the landing page for your ad. But let’s say there are a variety of different landing pages that the user may find helpful. For example, an ecommerce retailer may have a “Women’s Clothing” ad, but also want to highlight pages for “Pants,” “Shirts,” “Shoes” and “Dresses.” With sitelinks, you can show the user links to all these different parts of your website from a single ad. Sitelinks are extra links that can appear below your main ad text (in search) or alongside your video ad. They allow users to jump directly to specific pages on your website that might be more relevant to their immediate needs. How are sitelinks different from ad headlines? Sitelinks are optional; you can add them to your ads, or not, and even if you add them, Google may or may not show them. Headlines, however, are required. A Search ad can’t show up without a headline. Whether the user clicks on your headline or a sitelink, you’ll be billed for that click. Remember, a click always means a click to your website. Other interactions, like watching a video, are considered engagements, not clicks, and may be billed differently, depending on your campaign type. Headlines are compatible (and required) for most ad types in Google Ads: Search, Display, Demand Gen, Video, Performance Max, App. Sitelinks, however, are only compatible with Search and Video campaigns. How many sitelinks can you use? The number of sitelinks you can show varies depending on the campaign type and device. For search ads, you need a minimum of two sitelinks. Up to six at a time can show on desktop, and up to eight at a time on mobile. For video ads, you need at least two sitelinks, and up to four can appear at a time. You can always add more sitelinks than the maximum that can display. Google’s algorithm will then choose which sitelinks to show and how many, based on what it determines will best help you achieve your campaign goals. How to add sitelinks to your Google Ads campaigns In your Google Ads account, navigate to the left-hand menu and click on Assets. Then, click Assets again, and tap the blue + button. You’ll see that sitelinks are just one of many asset types available, alongside callouts, images, prices, promotions, locations, etc. Select “Sitelinks,” then choose whether you want to add sitelink assets at the account, campaign, or ad group level. Keep this hierarchy in mind. If you set up sitelinks at the account level, they could potentially show with all your campaigns, even new ones you set up in the future. I often find that setting up sitelinks at the campaign level strikes a good balance between control and efficiency. Another handy feature of sitelinks is the ability to schedule them for specific time periods. This is particularly useful if you want to highlight a temporary offer or event, working in tandem with other assets like promotion assets. How to assess sitelink performance in Google Ads To see how your sitelinks are performing, you can check your asset reporting in Google Ads on the same “Assets” screen where you add new assets. Look for your sitelink assets (you can tap the Sitelink filter along the top of the screen), and add a Segment by Click type. Then, you can see exactly where users are clicking when your sitelink shows – on the sitelink itself, or the ad headline. You can also see how metrics like CTR and CVR change when sitelinks show up versus when they don’t show up. Google made updates recently that allow your different Responsive Search Ad headlines to appear as sitelinks, which point back to your final URL. This means that even if you don’t actively create many sitelinks, Google might generate some for you, either via this feature or via automatically-created assets. Should you use sitelinks in Google Ads? You should probably use sitelinks in Google Ads because: Adding site links doesn’t cost you anything extra. You’re only charged the standard cost-per-click if someone clicks on one of your site links. The primary benefit of using sitelink assets, in my opinion, is that they make your ad bigger. A larger ad is more likely to catch the eye of potential customers, increasing the chances of them clicking and visiting your website. Given that they don’t negatively impact performance and cost nothing to add, I generally advise all businesses to take advantage of sitelink assets. Aim for at least four to six sitelinks per campaign for both your search and video efforts. This article is part of our ongoing weekly Search Engine Land series, Everything you need to know about Google Ads in less than 3 minutes. Every Wednesday, Jyll highlights a different Google Ads feature, and what you need to know to get the best results from it – all in a quick 3-minute read. View the full article

So long, sweet priceView the full article

The Start menu is the gateway to everything on a Windows PC, from files to apps to settings, and it looks as though Microsoft is planning a substantial refresh for the menu's interface. Changes have been spotted in the early testing versions of the operating system by tipster @phantomofearth, and should eventually appear for everyone. As it stands today, the Start menu shows a search bar up at the top, then you've got two other sections: Your pinned apps, and your recommended links (usually to files you've recently opened or apps you've recently used). Both those sections can be expanded with a click to show more programs and files. How the Start menu looks today. Credit: Lifehacker The version of the Start menu now in testing expands what you can see and access straight away. You get your pinned apps, your recommendations, and then a list of every app that's installed—this full app list no longer needs an extra click. This full list of programs can appear as a standard alphabetical list, as a grid grouped by app name, or as a grid grouped by category (a bit like the App Library on iOS). Further customization options available in the updated Start menu let you increase the size of the pinned app section, and remove the recommended section entirely—neither of those options were available before. It means a more flexible approach for users, and easier access to apps, at the expense of some extra screen space. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. The reaction to the upcoming changes seems to be mostly positive, especially when it comes to getting to the full Start menu list more quickly. You've still got the search box up at the top of the menu panel, so you can jump to specific apps if you know what you're looking for, but the revamped approach is more convenient. There's no word yet on when everyone is going to get these changes, but given how significant they are, Microsoft may well wait a while to refine the new interface approach. The version that ends up rolling out to everyone might not look like the screengrab I captured, which you can see at the top of this article. Testing out the new Start menuMost people will be content to sit tight and wait for the new Start menu to roll out officially, but if you're keen to test it out now, it's not too difficult to do. Bear in mind though that this does involve beta software and some additional hacking, so do this at your own risk—I wouldn't recommend doing this on a computer you rely on every day. First you need to join the WIndows Insider Program, which is free to do: You can do that on the web here by logging into the Microsoft account that's linked to your laptop or desktop. Follow the instructions on screen, and when you're redirected to the Windows Update section of Settings in Windows itself, choose the beta channel. The new Start menu can be set to just show apps. Credit: Lifehacker You should then shortly see new updates available to install, which will put the beta version of Windows 11 on your computer after a restart or two. This new Start menu isn't yet enabled in the beta channel though, even though it's been spotted inside the operating system code, so you need to apply some extra tweaks to get it working. Those tweaks can be applied with a third-party utility called ViVeTool, which you can download from here. When it's up and running on your system, click Advanced Options or press F12, and then enable the following features (as per instructions from @phantomofearth): 49221331, 47205210, and 49402389. If that doesn't work, try enabling 48433719 before the other three. There are additional settings attached to the new Start menu. Credit: Lifehacker After another restart, you should get your new Start menu, as well as the additional options—which you can find by opening Settings and choosing Personalization > Start. It's possible to turn off all the recommended and pinned items and just have your full list of installed apps if you want, which is reminiscent of the old Windows 8 approach. Having spent a few hours testing out the new Start menu, it certainly feels more comprehensive to me, with every app available straight away in an interface that doesn't feel too busy or cluttered. More customization options have to be welcomed as well: I can't see myself using the Category view much, for example, but it's easy enough to change. View the full article

Jump in yields on 30-year gilts came as investors dumped US Treasuries after concluding country had ‘lost control of its senses’View the full article

Google will be bringing Google Discover, the news feed, to the desktop version of the Google.com home page. Google Discover is currently available on the mobile apps and mobile version of Google.com, it has been since 2018. And soon it will come to the desktop version of the Google home page. More details. Clara Soteras on X and Gianluca Fiorelli on X posted the slides from a Googler announcing this at the Search Central Live event in Madrid this morning. Here is one of those slides that says Google Discover is “expanding surfaces” to “desktop Search.” Clara Soteras added, “Google Discover will be available for desktop! The Google team is working to expand Discover on more surfaces. They just showed it in #sclmadrid, a great new feature for News and that will change the real-time and content strategy of publishers.” Been testing. Google has been testing Discover on the desktop version of the home page for years. I covered this in 2023 with this screenshot showing the feed on desktop: A week or so ago, this was also spotted being tested in the wild by this X user who shared these screenshots: Why we care. Discover can be a huge traffic driver to news publishers and right now, it is primarily only shown on mobile devices when accessing the Google mobile apps or Google’s mobile home page. If it comes to Google’s desktop home page, that can about double the exposure of Google Discover traffic for publishers. This can be a very good thing for some, those at least who normally get a lot of traffic from Discover. View the full article

US mortgage rates fell to the lowest level since October, spurred by a rally in government bonds in the wake of an escalating trade war and driving home purchase applications to a more than one-year high. View the full article

Microsoft has released its April 2025 Patch Tuesday update, which fixes 134 malicious bugs across its systems—including one zero-day exploit. Windows and Microsoft users should ensure their devices are up to date with the latest patches. Patch Tuesday updates for April 2025One of the vulnerabilities fixed this month was a zero-day, which is a flaw that is exploited or publicly disclosed before an official patch is released by developers. The active exploit—labeled CVE-2025-29824—is an elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Windows Common Log File System (CLFS) Driver. The flaw, which was identified by the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center, allowed attackers to gain SYSTEM privileges locally. According to reporting from Bleeping Computer, this zero-day was exploited by the RansomEXX ransomware gang. Microsoft has released a patch for Windows Server and Windows 11 and expects to notify users when security updates for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems and Windows 10 for 32-bit Systems. April's update fixes 49 elevation of privilege flaws, nine security feature bypass flaws, 31 remote code execution flaws, 17 information disclosure flaws, 14 denial of service flaws, and three spoofing flaws. Eleven of the remote code execution vulnerabilities were categorized as "critical" and were found across Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Excel, Remote Desktop Gateway Service, Windows Hyper-V, Windows LDAP, and Windows TCP/IP. Microsoft also released patches to vulnerabilities in Mariner and 13 Microsoft Edge bugs this month. What Microsoft users need to doSecurity updates for Windows and Microsoft are usually downloaded and installed automatically, but you can check your PC's status by going to Start > Settings > Windows Update and selecting Check for Windows updates. Patch Tuesday fixes are released on the second Tuesday of every month at 10 a.m. PT, so now is a good time to ensure your system is up to date. View the full article

Advances in AI search are opening a new chapter, with consumers exploring Google alternatives. ChatGPT has hit a new milestone of 300 million weekly active users. Perplexity has grown to serve 100 million queries per week. Google’s global market share trended below 90% for the first time since 2015. The rapid rise of AI search platforms brings significant opportunities and growing challenges. On one hand, brands can boost visibility and drive demand like never before. On the other hand, they face new hurdles, such as copyright concerns, increasing infrastructure costs, and the ongoing challenge of measuring ROI. Despite shifts in search interfaces and consumer behavior, user intent has stayed the same. People want to find information – whether it’s through a catalog, a search engine, or an AI platform. Today’s tools simply help consumers get from point A to point B faster. This new efficiency challenges brands to rethink how their content is discovered and delivered – so they don’t get lost in an increasingly complex search landscape. The new bot landscape For two decades, search has demanded time and effort from consumers. Now, AI search simplifies and centralizes the customer journey directly on an AI platform. As a result, we can expect traffic trends to shift as bots take on the bulk of discovering and sharing website content with consumers. AI search platforms are taking over more tasks that consumers used to handle. As a result, predictions like Gartner’s – expecting a 25% decline in search engine volume by 2026 due to AI chatbots and virtual agents – are becoming more likely. This shift is driven by the rise in bot traffic and the decrease in human traffic. But what exactly is the new bot landscape? Several kinds of crawler bots influence AI results. Some bots, like OpenAI’s OAI-SearchBot, scrape and index the web like traditional search engines like Google and Bing, aiming to improve the relevance and accuracy of what users see. Others, like OpenAI’s GPTbot, use web data to train and refine their large language models (LLMs). Still, more (like OpenAI’s ChatGPT-User) tap into an existing search index, usually Bing’s, to provide live results. All crawler bots use similar methods to discover and navigate websites, but AI-powered crawlers operate differently from traditional search engine crawlers. Leveraging natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning, AI crawlers interpret content with a deeper understanding of context, intent, and nuance. Since AI models can only reference the data they know about, it’s essential to ensure AI crawlers find the most relevant content about your brand and products. As of February, ChatGPT’s core knowledge is based on data up to June 2024, resulting in a lag of over seven months. This means it can’t provide real-time information like the seven-day weather forecast or the latest shopping deals. However, these platforms use retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), relying on real-time crawlers and indexes such as Bing’s to augment and provide real-time responses. If AI platforms aren’t aware of your brand, they can’t reference it in generative conversations with consumers. Optimizing for these bots ensures your brand remains visible and competitive. Dig deeper: AI optimization – How to optimize your content for AI search and agents 3 ways to start your bot optimization journey 1. Begin with an audit To optimize for bots, start by understanding their actions on your site and how the data is processed during indexing or training. Begin with a technical SEO audit, as the same challenges that historically affected Googlebot – like indexing issues – will also impact these newer, less sophisticated bots and AI engines. Next, review how your content – and your competitors’ – is represented across different search and AI platforms. What opportunities and gaps do you see? Remember, if your content isn’t crawled, it won’t be indexed, used to train AI models, or seen by consumers. This step helps you decide what content to expose, consolidate, or block from AI bots. Consider analyzing your log files to: Understand how bots find your content. Identify their crawling patterns, scale, and velocity. Parse user agent logs to identify the bots visiting your site – like Bytespyder (TikTok), GPTBot (OpenAI), or ClaudeBot (Anthropic). What are they consuming and how much? Combine this with traffic data and analytics to find patterns between crawl and traffic, giving you a clearer picture of ROI, which will inform your governance plan. Analyzing log files isn’t just technical – it’s strategic. By understanding bot behavior, you can identify performance issues, optimize site efficiency, and improve visibility in both traditional and AI search. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. Business email address Sign me up! Processing... See terms. 2. Determine your goals and develop a governance strategy that prioritizes ROI Reflect on your website and traffic goals and how they align with the use of your content. Analyze the cost breakdown, including: The opportunity cost of bots crawling your site. The impact on your infrastructure. Once you understand your intended ROI, develop a governance plan with organizational buy-in to decide which bots should be allowed to crawl your site and which to block. Notably, publishers are at the forefront of blocking bots to prevent content scraping, copyright issues, and content misuse. Once you’ve identified the priority bots for your brand, update search engines to recrawl your content so it can be referenced in AI-generated results. To do this: Keep your sitemaps updated. Ping protocols like IndexNow. Even submit content directly to Bing for indexing. Dig deeper: 3 reasons not to block GPTBot from crawling your site 3. Optimize, refine, and don’t ignore the fundamentals Just like traditional SEO, the new search landscape requires continuous optimization – it’s not a “set it and forget it” situation. We must keep refining our strategies and stick to proven best practices. Maintaining the fundamentals of technical SEO and site health is as important as ever. This includes: Strong information architecture. Up-to-date sitemaps. Addressing issues like thin or duplicate content. Performing well in organic rankings remains one of the most influential factors. For example, in Google’s AI Overviews: Three-quarters of the links also rank in position 12 or higher in organic search. 90% of all AI Overview links come from positions 35 or higher. Since many AI platforms pull fresh content from organic search indexes, your rankings directly affect brand visibility in AI search. Even if consumers don’t click on those links, your organic rankings still impact brand discovery. To stay visible, focus on your most valuable content, track what’s performing well, and identify areas for improvement. The bonus? Strong organic rankings help you in more than just AI Overviews. They also improve visibility in Google search, Meta AI, virtual assistants like Siri, and other AI platforms. Dig deeper: 6 easy ways to adapt your SEO strategy for stronger AI visibility The road ahead There are no hard-and-fast rules – yet. We know that SEO fundamentals still matter, and we’re all learning what works as the search landscape evolves. Strategies will vary by industry – whether you’re a publisher like Search Engine Land or a retailer like Nike – but there’s plenty of opportunity ahead, even with the work still to be done. Dig deeper: Your 2025 playbook for AI-powered cross-channel brand visibility View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you’ve been looking for a wireless outdoor camera that doesn’t need constant babysitting, the Arlo Essential Wireless Security Camera (2nd Gen) bundled with a solar panel is now at its lowest-ever price (according to price trackers)—$69.99, down from $99.99. Arlo Essential Wireless Security Camera $69.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $99.99 Save $30.00 Get Deal Get Deal $69.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $99.99 Save $30.00 Designed for DIY setup, it's fully wireless, with a built-in rechargeable battery and a USB-C port in case you want to charge it manually. The camera connects over 2.4GHz wifi and records sharp 2K video with a 130-degree field of view and 12x digital zoom. It captures color video at night when the spotlight is turned on. Otherwise, it switches to black-and-white via infrared. There’s also a motion sensor, mic, speaker, and a built-in siren, which you can activate from the app or let it trigger automatically. It plays nice with Alexa and Google Assistant, and you can set up routines with IFTTT. Just note—it doesn’t support Apple HomeKit, so if you're deep in the Apple ecosystem, this might not be for you. That said, you’ll need an Arlo Secure subscription to access cloud recordings and smart alerts. Without it, the camera won’t store any footage, meaning you can’t view recordings—only live footage. For $7.99/month, you get 60 days of video history for one camera and smart alerts for people, packages, pets, and more. The $24.99/month Premium plan adds a 24/7 emergency response option. The mobile app is where you’ll do everything—view live feeds, set motion zones, trigger the siren, or speak through the two-way mic. It’s not the most affordable option long-term with that monthly cost, but for $70 upfront—plus a solar panel—it might be worth it if you want simple, high-quality monitoring without dealing with wires. View the full article

While soup season should should be winding down, frost is still threatening parts of the U.S. Just when I should be cracking my knuckles to make burger patties, the wind chill has me hauling out the Dutch oven to make soup. Again. If your palate is tired of the same old soup recipes, I understand—lots of salt and umami can get boring. That's why you need my trick for bringing fresh interest to tired flavors (while also prepping your palate for spring): Simply brighten them with a dose of acidity. American-style soups tend to be heavily focused on the savory, salty end of the flavor spectrum—stews, chilis, chicken noodle variations, gumbos, chowders, and creamy soups. We’re all sleeping on the an entire category: sour soups. Consider these iconic dishes: Thai tom yum, Chinese suan la tang (also called hot and sour soup), German sauerkrautsuppe, Italian giambotta, and Greek avgolemono soup. And you can brighten up any soup using a few ingredients you probably have on hand. How to make sour soups at homeAdding a sour element to your soup doesn’t mean replacing the broth with a bottle of vinegar. Rather, it’s about adding balance and complementing the salty, sweet, or savory components. There are a few ways to bring acidity into your soups. The dishes I mentioned above use lime juice, vinegar, fermentation, crushed tomatoes, and lemon juice to develop their signature tart flavors. All of those things are easily accessible at your local supermarket, if not in your kitchen already. If you’re new to sour soups, try incorporating one of those elements above to start experimenting with the flavor. You could certainly use a specific recipe for a particular sour soup (I've included one below), but if you're not, just start with a brothy soup that you already like, cut a wedge of lemon, and squeeze it into the soup. If you don’t have a lemon available, try a teaspoon of vinegar. Taste the soup, and take it from there. If you overdo the juice or vinegar on your first try, don't throw the dish out—you can add a little more salt and then eat the soup alongside some cooked rice to mellow out the sting. A few fresh flavor combinations to tryPersonally, I think lemon juice goes particularly well with most any soup that uses chicken broth or a creamy neutral broth. A couple spoonfuls of crushed tomatoes work well added to any soup that has beef, pork, or sausage. Adding sauerkraut or kimchi can be a nice touch for soups with lots of potatoes or beans. A couple years ago, my fiancé and I became obsessed with avgolemono soup. I'm not sure what spurred this (neither of us is Greek), but it has become our go-to recipe whenever our typical lineup of soups grows mundane. (If you really want your tastebuds to buzz, double the amount of lemon juice.) Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Avgolemono Soup RecipeIngredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil ¼ cup finely sliced carrot ½ cup finely chopped celery 3 scallions finely sliced 2 tablespoons finely diced yellow onion 2 cloves garlic, minced ¼ teaspoon salt 3 ½ cups chicken or vegetable broth 1 bay leaf ½ cup jasmine rice (or orzo if you like) 1 cup cooked and shredded chicken Juice of one lemon (about a ¼ cup) 1 egg Parsley (optional for a garnish) 1. In a medium pot, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat to warm it up. Add the carrots, celery, scallion, onion, garlic, and salt. Stir often to coat the veggies in the oil. 2. Once the veggies begin to sweat and become translucent, after about two or three minutes, add the broth, and bay leaf. Bump up the heat to medium and bring the broth up to a boil. 3. Stir in the rice (or orzo) and lower the heat back down to a simmer. Let the carbs simmer and cook for about eight to 15 minutes, depending on if you’re using orzo or rice. 4. Stir in the shredded chicken. 5. Crack the egg into a medium-sized bowl. Add the lemon juice and whisk them together thoroughly. Using a ladle, temper the eggs by whisking the hot chicken broth into the egg mixture. Drizzle two or three ladle-fuls of broth into the egg mixture as you rapidly whisk. You’ll see the egg mixture become an opaque yellow color. This is great. 6. Take the pot of soup off the hot burner and stir the tempered lemon-egg mixture into the pot of soup. The broth will become creamy and light. Serve topped with torn parsley if desired. View the full article

Your online presence is a crucial part of your professional identity, and how you manage it can make all the difference. Personal branding helps build trust with colleagues, clients, and recruiters – and it all starts with personal SEO. While many focus on polishing their resume or LinkedIn profile, your digital footprint extends far beyond these platforms. This article will guide you through proven strategies to optimize your online visibility and ensure you stand out. What is personal SEO and why does it matter? Personal SEO involves optimizing your online presence so that your name appears at the top of search results for relevant queries. This includes ensuring the right resources appear in search results across Google, Microsoft Bing, LinkedIn, Facebook, and other professional websites. This article will focus on personal SEO separate from a commercial business or brand, such as people who use their name to sell products and services. Personal SEO impacts your career in three key ways: Allowing recruiters to verify your qualifications before extending interview invitations. Helping networkers and business partners find you. Enabling recruiters to discover qualified candidates for job openings. Personal SEO lets you take control of your story. These steps help you manage how others notice you online and protect your reputation during key career moments. How do personal and business SEO differ? What distinguishes personal SEO from business SEO? Here are a few key differences. Scope and scale Personal SEO requires fewer pages and platforms. Business SEO manages large websites with many pages. Keyword strategy For personal SEO, your name variations and expertise areas matter most. For business SEO, we’re targeting product/service keywords and commercial terms. Goal orientation Personal SEO is focused on individual reputation and career opportunities. Business SEO drives leads and sales. Content approach Personal content will be geared toward demonstrating individual expertise. Business content solves customer problems and showcases products. Measurement metrics Personal SEO success shows in visibility, networking opportunities, and career growth. Business SEO tracks conversions, revenue, and market share. Personal SEO helps people find you and trust you. Auditing your digital footprint A clear picture of your online presence is crucial before building your SEO strategy. Think of this as taking stock of your digital assets and liabilities – the first step to building an effective personal brand online. Conducting a self-search assessment To understand your digital footprint, you need to conduct a thorough self-search. It’s important to know what appears when someone looks you up. Start by searching your full name in quotation marks (e.g., “Jane Smith”) on Google and Bing. Here’s how to get better results: Use an incognito/private browsing window to avoid customized results. Try different devices or networks (home vs. public Wi-Fi). Look up variations of your name, nicknames, and professional titles. Your name search should include previous employers, educational institutions, and locations to find professional connections. This gives you a full picture of how potential employers, clients, or colleagues see you online. Identifying positive and negative content The next step is to classify your search results. Ask yourself: “Does this show how I want others to see me professionally?” Sort each result into these categories: Positive: Content that boosts your professional reputation. Negative: Information that might hurt your image. Neutral: Content that doesn’t affect perception much. Private: Personal information you want to keep private. First-page results matter most. Make sure your online presence shows you as trustworthy and competent. Dig deeper: 9 strategies for removing negative content from the web Mapping your existing profiles and content The final audit step involves listing all your digital touchpoints. Create a spreadsheet or document with every platform where you’re active. This helps you assess each one’s consistency and potential for improvement. Look at: Personal websites or blogs. Social media profiles on all platforms. Professional directory listings. Content you’ve published or contributed to. Mentions in media or on other websites. Check if each profile or content piece lines up with your desired personal brand. Make sure your information stays current and consistent across platforms. Check your online reputation quarterly or yearly. This helps you update content, spot patterns, and fix problems before they grow bigger. Dig deeper: A quick guide to managing your online reputation Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. Business email address Sign me up! Processing... See terms. Optimizing your personal website and blog Your personal website is the lifeblood of your digital identity. Social media platforms come and go, but this digital space belongs to you. You retain control and can tailor it to show your true self to visitors and search engines alike. Creating an SEO-friendly personal domain A domain name should line up with your personal brand. Try to add your name to both the URL and the start of your title tags. The average domain runs about 12 characters long. Popular websites tend to be even shorter. Skip special characters like hyphens, digits, or ampersands. These make domains look amateur and might hurt your SEO results. Your personal website doesn’t need to include dozens of pages. You can even start with one page that is well structured. Be sure to include an “About” section that provides an overview of who you are and include links to your other profiles. Add your credentials, personal stories, and media that prove your expertise. This all-encompassing approach helps search engines see you as an authority. Content that ranks If you are creating content for your personal website, be sure that you create a content strategy that aligns with your core audiences. Think about creating pillar pages around main topics with clusters of related content. This builds topical authority. Building your personal brand on social media Social media platforms have become powerful search engines to build your personal brand. The first step is picking the right platform for you. Don’t try to be everywhere. Focus on platforms where your target audience hangs out and that align with your goal. Each platform works differently for professionals building their personal brand: LinkedIn: Ideal for professional networking, B2B industries, and career development. Instagram: Perfect for more of a visual focus like design, photography, and lifestyle. X: Great for sharing ideas, building influence, and engaging in real-time conversations. YouTube: Ideal for showcasing expertise through video content, building an audience, and expanding your reach with engaging, visual storytelling. If you’re using platforms for personal purposes but they’re public, be mindful of what you share and who can see it. Content creation and posting Quality content shows your expertise. Each platform needs different posting schedules. Remember, consistency beats volume. Do what works for you that allows you to be consistent. If you can only publish once a week, pick a specific day and time. Schedule your content to go live at that same time each week. Cross-platform consistency Your brand needs to look the same everywhere to help personal SEO. Simply put, “brand consistency = brand recognition.” Here’s what to do. Use the same profile picture across all platforms and keep your visual elements – such as colors and design – consistent. Develop a brand voice that reflects your personality while remaining professional. Content can be shared across platforms by adapting the format while maintaining the core message. For example, a LinkedIn article with the same key point can be repurposed as a tweet. Create once, then share in different forms. Link your social media profiles so people can easily find you across platforms. Creating a strategic content plan Just like a content strategy for a company, a successful personal SEO strategy needs a well-laid-out content plan that shows your value. Start with finding your specific areas of expertise. You should evaluate your skills and knowledge to spot topics where you excel. To find content opportunities: Look at personal strengths, experiences, and knowledge. Think about areas where you have proven success. Consider what you would want to talk about. Mastering personal SEO: Control your online image and get seen Mastering personal SEO isn’t just a nice-to-have – it’s essential. Whether you’re job hunting, growing your network, or building a business, people will Google you. What they find can either open doors or close them. When done right, personal SEO helps you shape how others perceive you – and makes sure the right people can find you. Dig deeper: AI and online reputation: How to stay in control View the full article

We've seen Google test showing Google Discover on the desktop home page for years now but Google has now confirmed it will be bringing Discover to its desktop Google.com home page in the future. When that will happen exactly, I don't know, but Google did announce it at the Search Central Live event in Madrid this morning.View the full article

I am hearing reports that Google is showing driving direction request data on the Google Business Profile API for Service Area Businesses (SABs). SABs do not get a directions button, because those addresses are hidden in Google Search and Google Maps - so how does anyone trigger driving directions to that business? View the full article

Google seems to be rolling out a new metric in the Google Business Profiles performance report for "messaging clicks." This was a feature we had in the old Google My Business reports in 2020 but it went away. But now it seems to be returning.View the full article

Google has been using AI to write parts of the knowledge panels for some time now. But now it seems, when Google does that, it will show references and link cards, like it does in the AI Overviews.View the full article

This post outlines five strategies that second-hand retailers can adopt to drive success using PPC. The post Ecommerce PPC Challenges & Strategies For Second-Hand Retailers appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Ginny Marvin, Google's Ads Liaison, said that the Google Ads team is working on improvement the advertiser support experiences and some improvements have been rolling out. "There are ongoing efforts to improve experiences and outcomes for the millions of businesses and agencies around the globe that use Google Ads," Ginny Marvin wrote on X.View the full article

Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Company’s work-life advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer the biggest and most pressing workplace questions. Q: How should I respond to rude comments at work? A: If I were to make a pie chart of most people’s complaints about work, the actual work would be one of the smallest slices. Bad bosses and annoying coworkers would take up the biggest slices, for sure. There are a few factors to consider if someone in your office is making rude comments. Is it a one-off or part of a pattern? If someone who is usually pleasant to work with says something rude out of the blue, it’s likely not worth making a huge deal out of it. You can respond with humor, as contributor Mita Mallick suggests. “This can sometimes deflect the situation, disarm and catch the bully off guard. Using humor can shift focus away from the hurtful comment that was made in the moment.” A well-put sarcastic response to a rude comment can serve the double purpose of calling it out and shutting it down. Give them the benefit of the doubt that some other stress is impacting their behavior or they just put their foot in their mouth. If it’s part of a pattern If the rude comments are part of a pattern and are directed at you, and you feel comfortable, you can call the person out either publicly or privately. A public callout: A callout can be as simple as just repeating the comment back to them: “Did you just tell me I should smile more?” or as direct as “Calling my idea lowbrow is pretty insulting.” This approach certainly puts them on the spot and will likely cause them to get defensive, but it will probably make an impact. A private chat: If you want to be a little less confrontational about it, you can discuss the issue with them privately after. Start simple: Ask if you can speak with them at a time when you feel calm and there are no distractions. Then be direct but don’t make assumptions. Try something like, “When you call my ideas ‘lowbrow’ in a meeting, it feels really insulting. Is there a reason why you say things like that?” Or, “Please don’t comment on my appearance.” Again, it’s likely that they will get defensive, but don’t engage in an argument. They might say, “It was just a joke,” or, “It wasn’t my intention to offend you.” Neither of those things matter; what matters is they said something that you found offensive and they shouldn’t say it again. Let them know that and end the conversation. If it’s still happening If you confront the person insulting you and it keeps happening, or if you don’t feel comfortable confronting them, go to your direct manager. It’s a manager’s job to deal with these kind of uncomfortable interpersonal relationships and sometimes people are apt to take things more seriously if it comes from someone slightly higher up on the org chat. Talking to your manager about it also creates a record if the issue ends up needing to be escalated to HR or upper management. Need more advice on dealing with rude comments at work? Here you go: 5 questions to ask before you take that comment personally Why rudeness at work Is so contagious How to respond to public bullying at work Stung by your boss’s comment? Here’s what to do next How to deal with a passive-aggressive coworker View the full article

As one of the world’s leading charity auctioneers and a seasoned keynote speaker for companies like Goldman Sachs and Google, I have spent 80 to 100 nights on stage every year for over two decades. Since I am typically one of the last people to take the stage at a fundraising event, I have watched countless people in various stages of panic just moments before they go on stage. After they find out my role, I usually receive a predictable set of rapid-fire questions from upcoming speakers in the hopes that some last-minute tips from a pro can help them do more than keep from passing out when they hit the stage. Here are five things I tell people in the final moments before they take the stage to help them walk out looking and feeling confident, collected, and ready to rock the room. Reframe Your Story It doesn’t matter how many times you go on stage; you will still get an adrenaline rush in the final moments before you walk out. Instead of thinking of that shaky, nervous, finger-tingling sensation as nerves, think of it as energy that you will bring to the room. You want to fire up the audience? You need that energy. The next time you start worrying that your nerves are going to get the best of you, reframe the narrative: “This energy is going to fire me up, and I’m going to use it to fire up the audience.” Find Your “Strike Method” When I first started taking auctions, I realized that to calm my nerves and center my focus, I needed a solid routine. I decided to start every auction in the same way; banging down my gavel three times before I launch into selling. This movement allows me to channel my nerves into one action that grabs the audience’s attention at the same time. I also came to understand that this personal routine – which I’ve since dubbed my “Strike Method” – had an unexpected benefit. By doing the same thing every single time, I took away the guesswork. Now, every time I go on stage, I know the gavel will go down. This predictability allows me to focus on other things beyond myself, like strategically garnering bids and engaging with an audience that wants to be entertained. To define your own “Strike Method”, look for something that feels authentic to you. Is there a mantra, a phrase, a physical movement that helps you focus and bring yourself to a point of strength? Spend time figuring out what you can do and do it every single time you get onstage. Own the room The first seven seconds of any presentation are the most important because seven seconds is how long it takes for people to make up their mind about you. You want to grab their attention in those seven seconds and keep them focused on you. When you are walking to the place where you present, whether it be a podium, center stage, or among the crowd, you want all eyes on you. Keep your shoulders back, make sure your eyes are level, and make eye contact with people as you walk out with purpose. Do not slouch, cower in fear, or look down at the ground – that will only make people fearful that your speech or presentation will be painful to listen to and even more painful to watch! Sell as yourself When you get on stage, do everything you can to act as natural as possible. An audience can sense when someone is “playing a part” which can immediately turn them off as it seems fake and, quite frankly, boring. Use your own words, your own voice, and communicate in a way that feels authentic to you. Now is not the time to try on a new character. Authenticity will always win on stage and in life so be yourself and sell your message as the trustworthy communicator that you are. The audience wants you to succeed Never forget that the people sitting in front of you are rooting for you—they are your biggest cheering section. The audience doesn’t want to sit through an hour-long presentation with a terrible speaker. They want you to do a great job. Get on stage ready to give them a great show and they will be asking for you to come back every single time! View the full article

Google AdSense has a new version of rewarded ads - not the Rewarded Ad Gate beta program that we covered in 2022 but the AdSense rewarded ad units beta program.View the full article

Attempts to read grand strategy into the US president’s doings have run their courseView the full article

Google has made a number of updates to its Merchant Center product data specifications, including some that went into effect on April 8th and some that will go into effect on July 1, 2025.View the full article