Category: Change
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The ChatGPT Referral Traffic Paradox: 52% Decline Reveals Shifting AI Citation Patterns
The artificial intelligence search landscape is experiencing a seismic shift, and the latest data reveals a surprising contradiction in ChatGPT’s role as a traffic driver. While AI-powered search has been hailed as the future of information discovery, recent analysis shows that ChatGPT’s referral traffic to websites has experienced a dramatic…
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Coming Soon: Major Changes in the Broadcast TV Industry
We’re about to see a major shift in broadcast TV unlike anything we’ve seen before. Big statement, but it’s true if a few things fall into place. While radio consolidated years ago, letting big ownership groups control a significant number of stations in a marketplace, the FCC has limited anyone…
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What Jobs Will AI Impact the Most?
A new study from Microsoft gives us some insight into what researchers think about jobs most impacted by AI. The study “Working with AI: Measuring the Occupational Implications of Generative AI” investigates how generative AI interacts with tasks across hundreds of occupations. Rather than predicting job replacement, the authors focus…
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Optimizing for GEO: Generative Search Engine Optimization
A new study of 10,000 search queries focusing on generative search results by researchers from Princeton, Georgia Tech, The Allen Institute of AI, and IIT Delhi found that you can improve visibility by: “Specifically, our top-performing methods, Cite Sources, Quotation Addition, and Statistics Addition, achieved a relative improvement of 30-40%,”…
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Google Research Paper: Is Generative AI Ruining the Internet?
“Google researchers publish paper about how AI is ruining the internet” “Google: AI Potentially Breaking Reality Is a Feature Not a Bug” I saw these headlines in Futurism and 404 Media. They’re powerful statements and came from a review of a paper by researchers at Google’s DeepMind titled Generative AI…
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July 1st Deadline: Act Now or Lose Years of Analytics Data Forever
If you haven’t already made the switch to Google Analytics 4 (GA4), you’re about out of time. Google is set to retire Universal Analytics, its long-standing web analytics platform, ushering in a new digital analytics era with GA4. The Countdown to July 1st Time is of the essence as we…
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Google’s New Algorithm Update Crushing Sites With AI-Generated Content: My Experiment
Google’s March 2024 core algorithm update is cracking down on low-quality, AI-generated content across the web. Google wants to “reduce unhelpful, unoriginal content on Search and keep it at very low levels.” Google says the update involves adjusting its rankings “if webpages are unhelpful, have a poor user experience. or…
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AI Writing: Muted Tones, Lack of Persuasiveness
B2B sellers using AI for content need to know this: A study by Originality.AI shows that large language models (LLM) – i.e. generative AI models – tend to “move sentiment scores closer to the neutral part of the scale.” What’s that mean? AI tends to mute tones and feelings. Sentimental…
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When Someone More Powerful Wants Your User Name
Here’s another sign that you’re not really in control of your brand on social media. Imagine you score a great username or handle for your social media account. You tend to it regularly, planting seeds and watching it grow. One day, you have half a million users that subscribe. And…
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Major Technology Companies Join Forces on Responsible AI Development
Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI have formed the Frontier Model Forum, a new consortium focused on advancing safe and responsible AI. The Forum aims to benefit the AI community by developing best practices, evaluating capabilities and risks, and enabling research access. Key goals include: Membership is open to organizations developing…
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Are You Worried About Losing Your Job to AI? New Survey Shows You’re Not Alone
According to PwC research, by the mid-2030s, one-third of all employment could be automated. So, are you worried about whether your job might become obselete? The team at ResumeGenius surveyed 1,000 employees to find out. Respondents were polled about: AI Survey Results Take a look at the full article for more information, including detailed infographics: https://resumegenius.com/blog/career-advice/will-ai-steal-your-job
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Remote Marketing Jobs Hit New Pandemic High
There’s been an incredible explosion in high-paying marketing jobs that are now available to work remotely. Data scientists from Ladders, a website focused on six-figure jobs, reported a 1,985% increase from January of 2020 to September of 2021 in remote marketing jobs. Based on independent research and overall market trends,…
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Apple’s App Tracking Transparency Launches with iOS 14.5
iOS 14.5 is out and it’s a big deal when it comes to privacy. Apple’s App Tracking Transparency Apple’s app tracking transparency has been the target of public outcry from the folks at Facebook, saying this makes it harder for small businesses to track customers and will drive up digital…
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California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA): First Warning Letters Are Being Sent
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) went into effect on January 1st, but enforcement efforts were put on hold until July 1, 2020. Now that the deadline has passed, CA AG Xavier Becerra has issued warning letters to companies over alleged violations as reported by MediaPost. It’s the toughest law…
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Advertising During Uncertain Times: 11 Research Projects Tell the Same Story
If you’re looking for hard data on what’s happened to brands that increased or decreased marketing during and after a crisis or recession, I’ve compiled the results of 11 studies into this article. Every single one shows the same thing: the companies that stayed the course or increased their marketing…
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Amid a Crisis, There Is Opportunity – If You Act Now
Consumer research and strategy company Magid works with brands and media companies and has been tracking media consumption and consumer attitudes for decades. Their April research shows significant opportunities for brands and publishers: 69% of consumers say they are trying new brands right now. This represents an incredible opportunity for…
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Senators Ask for Relief for Journalists Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
“Local news is in a state of crisis,” said a letter written by a group of 19 Senators in a letter to Senate leadership. The senators warn that the widespread impact of the COVID-19 pandemic – including plummeting advertising revenue – could decimate local and regional news outlets even as…
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Are You Willing to Pay More for 5G Wireless Service?
5G is coming soon to a neighborhood near you. As telecoms build out their 5G networks and start to look at services, the Wall Street Journal reports that it will likely cost you more. The cost to build out 5G nationwide is enormous. Companies are spending billions. 5G waves don’t…
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Content Omnivores: Video Consumers Want It All
With the increased attention focused on OTT (Over-the-top) TV and streaming services, there are some interesting trends developing. 65% of US consumers say they stream content at least once a week. Two-thirds say they stream more video online than they watch of broadcast, cable, or satellite, according to Horowitz Research’s…
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Facebook Is Changing the Way It Ranks Video
Facebook is changing the way it ranks video on its social media platform. Three factors that will impact video rankings and affect distribution. Loyalty and intent Video and viewing duration Originality Loyalty and intent Intent and repeat viewership are important factors we consider when surfacing videos to people in News…
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Advertisers have a problem, and it’s worse than they thought.
Quick Read: Cord Cutting by Younger Consumers Making It Harder for Advertisers to Drive Conversation and Engagement with Their Brands, Especially in Tech, Telecom, Automotive SOURCE: Engagement Labs Advertisers have a problem, and it’s worse than they thought. The decline of ad-supported television is driving down audience engagement with brands.…
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Digital Transformation Starts at the Top
One of the hardest things to do in transforming an organization to a digital world is getting cross-department support. Traditional boundaries between sales, marketing, IT, customer service, online and offline staff, impede these efforts. It’s tough to get everybody rowing the same way when they still have to take care…
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Net neutrality is dead – Here’s why FCC Chairman Ajit Pai thinks that’s a good thing
The FCC (Federal Communications Commision) repeal is now in effect. Under FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, the agency tossed out rules set in place by the previous administration that stopped ISPs (Internet Service Providers) from blocking traffic, or throttling back on traffic on the internet. Opponents have been concerned this will…
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A Checklist for GDPR Compliance
When the European Union passed the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) into law, it gave EU residents more control over the personal information that is gathered and how it is used. Now that it is in effect, how organizations deal with data has changed for everyone. The penalties for failing…
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Cable, Satellite cord cutting accelerates while streaming service grow subscribers
As cord cutting in pay-TV (cable + satellite) continues to accelerate, subscribers of premium video streaming services continues to increase. The penetration of cable and satellite subscribers is now at 78%, the lowest it’s been in 15 years. SNL Kagan reports that 32 ad-supported cable networks EACH lost more than…
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Youtube Reminds Publishers who is in Control – Cuts Revenue to Small Guys
“One of YouTube’s core values is to provide anyone the opportunity to earn money from a thriving channel,” said the email I got from YouTube. Apparently their “anyone” doesn’t include me. YouTube says it is tightening its rules and raising the minimum threshold of subscribers you must have in order to…
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Google Proposes New Standards to Speed Up Mobile Page Load Times
On the mobile web, and really everywhere, there’s a real need for speed. The average person clicks away from mobile content if it doesn’t load quickly. Yet the average page loads s-l-o-w-l-y. Something’s got to give. How bad is it? Google’s 2017 study showed the average mobile landing page takes…
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Restaurants are going cashless – how will it impact customers?
Sweetgreen restaurant chain is in the “fast casual” category, serving up healthy food choices. What isn’t on the menu is… cash. In 2017, they stopped taking cash at 64 locations. They are not alone. Cashless retailers are growing, especially in the restaurant category. Sweetgreen says it speeds up transactions by as…
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Insider Secrets of the Google 3-Pack
Getting ranked in the Google 3-pack of local businesses has never been more important. With the big shift from desktop to mobile in the past couple of years, it has become easier for local businesses to get featured based on proximity to the mobile user. That opens huge opportunities for…
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YouTube shuts down monetization for smaller contributors
“One of YouTube’s core values is to provide anyone the opportunity to earn money from a thriving channel,” said the email I got from YouTube this morning. Apparently their “anyone” doesn’t include me. YouTube says it is tightening its rules and raising the minimum threshold of subscribers you must have in…
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Google is moving to mobile-first indexing
Google gave webmasters plenty of warning — more than a year — but it now appears they are ready to step up efforts on indexing mobile websites and serving results based on what they find. Currently, Google’s crawling, indexing, and ranking algortihms look at desktop version. Now, they will switch to mobile-first indexing. “Mobile-first…
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It’s been an amazing ride for Netflix
It’s been an amazing ascent by Netflix. Today, roughly half of all adults in the United State watch streaming content on Netflix at least once in a while. Let that stat from Civic Science sink in. 29% say they watched a few times a week or more! The growth in…
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Is Google Fiber sputtering? Dropping 8 markets and new television services
Is Google Fiber struggling? The rollout of high speed Gigabit internet has been slower than expected and the company has cut back on the markets where it’s installing. In October, it scrapped plans to expand into 8 markets. It’s been hampered by both the cost and time it takes to…
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Apple ditches Bing for Google search
In 2014, Apple dropped Google for its search and switched to Bing for iOS and Mac. Now, it’s dumping Bing and going back to Google. The same goes for Siri as well. “Switching to Google as the web search provider for Siri, Search within iOS and Spotlight on Mac will allow these…
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A scary chart for the newspaper industry
The decline of U.S. newspaper has been well documented by now, but this chart from the American Enterprise Institute shows just how deep the cuts have been.
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Pebble (gone), Jawbone (liquidating) – is Fitbit next?
You couldn’t go anywhere this past holiday without seeing Fitness trackers all over the place. Just about any place that sold electronics, or the big department stores, all had Fitbit displays on hand – many of them right by the checkout lanes. Wow, what a difference a few months makes…
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Amazon moves causes Best Buy to lose $1 billion in market cap overnight
Recode reports that Amazon has been hiring folks to provide in-home installations for electronics and smart home devices. The operation is up and running in 7 markets so far. Smart home gadgets are selling, but Amazon reports higher than normal return rates, in part because they can be tough to…
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Three questions for Ford’s new CEO
GUEST POST: University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business The future arrived early for Ford’s new CEO, Jim Hackett, who recently replaced Mark Fields after the automobile giant lost patience with its former leader just three years into his tenure. David Kirsch, a management and entrepreneurship professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert…
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New Study: Cord-Cutting is accelerating in 2017
Cord-cutting is growing rapidly. After years of relatively small number of consumers ditching their cable and satellite connections, the number of people opting for going it alone or smaller video bundles has grown dramatically in the last year. According to a Magid Broadcast study of consumers this April (reporter by…
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Can’t find qualified employees? “Upskill” them.
If you think it’s getting harder to find qualified employees, you’re not alone. Nearly half (46%) of U.S. employers report difficulties filling jobs due to lack of available talent. That’s up from 32% reported last year at this time, according to the Talent Shortage Survey from Manpower Group.
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Despite new tech chips in credit cards, fraud jumps 33%
I got that call on the weekend. Somebody had used our credit card to try to book an Uber ride. Since we hadn’t left the house that morning, I knew it wasn’t a legitimate charge. I’m happy the folks at Chase knew it wasn’t right and called. One of the things…
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Lessons in Leadership from Amazon’s Jeff Bezos
“Jeff, what does Day 2 look like?” That’s how Jeff Bezos started out his annual letter to shareholders. While the text talks about what he’s been trying to instill into the culture at Amazon, the message applies to any business and its leaders. Bezos has been reminding people that’s it’s…
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Is society as we know it “broken?”
66% of US thinks it is, 58% around the world agree. It’s not just you. People around the world are questioning what’s happening their world these days. In fact, More than half (58%) think their society is “broken.” 71% lack confidence in their government and even more, 81%, lack confidence in…
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Morning inspiration: 19 quick quotes on being happy
Here are 19 quick quotes to help you remember, happiness begins by looking inward:
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How to make change stick
What it takes, what you need to do personally, and what you can expect in attempting transformational change in an organization.
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Broadband Only homes rising, 15% get TV without cable or satellite
In 2013, just 9% of US residents did not subscribe to pay-TV (cable or satellite) to get television. By the third quarter of 2016, that number had risen to 15%. That equates to 17 million broadband-only homes, according to TDG (The Diffusion Group) as reported in MediaPost. Park Associates…
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Are restaurants that don’t accept cash the next trend?
Sweetgreen restaurant chain is in the “fast casual” category, serving up healthy food choices. What won’t be on the menu in 2017 is… cash. Starting mid-January, they will stop taking cash at 64 locations. The company says it will speed up transactions by as much as 15%. Employees touching cash…
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At what point does new technology become mainstream?
Commercial mobile telephones were actually invented in 1949 by AT&T, but it wasn’t until the early 70’s that phones were truly mobile – not tethered to vehicles. I remember when neighbor kids would want to ride in my car so they could call Mom at home and tell her where…
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Brand loyalty is not dead, even for Millennials and new parents
Brand loyalty dead? It makes for a catchy headline and fits the narrative new-age brand marketers are selling: 90% of the leading household goods brands are losing market share on consistently low-growth categories – Study by Catalina The story goes that in the post-media age (whatever that is), consumers –…
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Why did Columbus take three ships?
When William “Bud” Post won $16.2 million dollars in the Pennsylvania lottery, he had less than $3 in his checking account. It was life changing, but maybe not in the way you would think. He got hit with lawsuits. Oh, and his brother tried to hire a hit man to…


































