A misplaced iPhone 17 Pro MaxΒ always feels like youβve been punched in the gut, which is why the astute decision would always be to pay a monthly AppleCare+ fee that covers theft and loss. One lucky customer, who may not have known that he would fall into this specific circumstance, recounts how Apple sent a new unit touting eight times the internal memory of the first one. Keeping in mind the ludicrous premium the technology giant charges for storage upgrades, whether itβs an iPhone or a Mac, getting a replacement with more space than before will always put a sparkle [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/iphone-17-pro-max-customer-received-replacement-with-eight-times-the-internal-storage/
The latest feature updates from YouTube.
SearchAblePDF converts image-only PDFs into selectable, searchable documents with an invisible text layer while preserving layout and formatting. It extracts up to 4.5 times more text than basic OCR by deskewing pages, boosting resolution, and reducing noise and watermarks, while supporting over 35 languages.
Use it to make documents accessible to screen readers, indexable by search engines, and easy to find across your files. Files auto-delete after 24 hours, and temporary access tokens keep data private.
With modern PC games continuing to push the trend of increasingly demanding requirements on PC hardware, default β and especially maximum β graphics presets often miss that coveted sweet spot between performance and visuals. Niohβ―3 is expected to be no exception to this rule. Unfortunately, early impressions from the gaming press and community alike show a mixed bag of technical behavior across a multitude of PC setups, with reports of lower-than-expected framerates, high CPU usage, and other miscellaneous technical issues. Consequently, this guide's purpose is to help you attain an optimal balance between performance and visuals in Niohβ―3. We shall [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/how-to/nioh-3-pc-graphics-tuning-guide-how-to-get-the-best-experience-on-pc/
StepCapture lets you capture workflows and turn them into clear SOPs in seconds. Start a recording in your browser, and it automatically takes smart screenshots, labels clicks and keystrokes, and compiles step-by-step guides with editable page titles and URLs that you can share via encrypted links.
You can use StepCapture to onboard faster, train teams, and publish searchable knowledge bases with custom branding. Its features include advanced blur, AI-powered capture, and one-click sharing across any website or app.
Last week, Blizzard Entertainment hosted the second of its flurry of showcases to kick off 2026 with an Overwatch Spotlight, digging into the future of the game and everything players can expect for the coming year. Outside of the official name change back to just 'Overwatch,' we got a look at everything coming in Season 1: Reign of Talon, which has officially gone live. The showcase clearly reinvigorated the Overwatch community, because not only did the game have its "biggest weekend by player count in over a year," according to a press release after the showcase, but the launch of [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/overwatch-season-1-reign-of-talon-goes-live-as-it-hits-reaches-record-setting-100k-players-on-steam/
Apple has managed to use its considerable market heft to aggressively manage the cost of various key components, allowing the base storage variants of the upcoming iPhone 18 lineup to launch at the same price points as their iPhone 17 counterparts, as per a fresh supply chain analysis. Jeff Pu: Appleβs goal is to keep starting selling prices of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max "unchanged or at a similar level" to those of their iPhone 17 counterparts TF International Securities analyst, Ming Chi-Kuo, noted towards the end of January that Apple was working round the clock to prevent [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/apples-cost-management-efforts-pay-off-as-iphone-18-pro-and-pro-max-base-storage-variants-to-avoid-price-hikes/
The new app would be based on the Shots function that was tested on Instagram.
The number of wishlists a game has is never a one-to-one for how many copies it'll see when it finally releases, but you can't say those wishlists count for nothing, especially when there are millions of them, which is exactly what Subnautica 2, Forza Horizon 6, and Resident Evil Requiem have on Steam. Instead of its usual sales reporting, analyst firm Alinea Analytics' latest report digs into which upcoming titles have the most wishlists on Steam. Now, it's worth noting that the report clarifies that Valve's own ranking for the 'Top Wishlists' games on Steam also accounts for how quickly [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/subnautica-2-is-reportedly-the-most-wishlisted-game-on-steam-among-upcoming-2026-titles/
According to two separate and trustworthy sources, Microsoft is reportedly considering the merging of the Xbox Game Pass Premium console subscription tier with PC Game Pass. The Verge's Tom Warren heard that the plans are far from finalized, but that's what Microsoft is thinking right now, and Windows Central has subsequently backed up the reporting with its own sources. Here's a breakdown of the respective feature sets as they are currently available to users: Feature PC Game Pass Xbox Game Pass Premium Price $11.99/month $14.99/month Platforms PC only Console, PC, Cloud First-Party Day-One Access Yes No (added within 1 year) [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/xbox-game-pass-could-be-merged-with-pc-game-pass/
Learn more about Google Photosβ new Ask button as well as other functions of its Ask Photos feature.New court cases could lead to new laws governing social mediaΒ apps.
Meta's supert keen to show off its AI tools.
Some pointers for your content efforts in the age of AI.
Expect huge power draw from Intelβs 52-core Nova Lake CPU flagship According to the leaker kopite7kimi, the next-generation CPU flagship from Intel will have a HUGE maximum power draw. With 52 total cores, Intelβs next-generation βNova Lakeβ flagship will reportedly be able to draw over 700 watts of power. This is for a dual Compute [β¦]
The post Intel βNova Lakeβ 400K CPUs to consume over 700W of power! appeared first on OC3D.
UppaGame empowers K-12 teachers, educators, and homeschoolers to generate national standards-aligned lessons and exams in minutes, emphasizing critical thinking through AI-driven variability. It reduces over 20 hours of prep time weekly, helping to combat teacher burnout. Tailored to curricula in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the US, UK, South Africa, and Singapore, it ensures a seamless local fit from launch.
Intel's ZAM memory approach has seen significant traction recently, and Team Blue has surprisingly unveiled the prototype of the technology, making promising claims. Intel & Partners Are Working on the Z-Angle Memory to Solve Thermal & Compute Constraints With Existing Solutions While Team Blue has been out of the DRAM business for several decades now, the company has recently entered a new frontier with the SoftBank subsidiary Saimemory, unveiling a solution called Z-Angle Memory (ZAM) to break HBM's monopoly. While we did discuss on ZAM last week, it appears that Intel was quick to showcase a prototype to the world, [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/intel-showcases-its-zam-memory-prototype-for-the-first-time/
Later this week, Sony is set to host its first State of Play event of 2026. This hour-long showcase will include several announcements we could guess at, and many we won't be able to, but a new report from Billbil-kun at Dealabs has pretty much cemented one of the announcements that we'll see at Thursday's show (if we don't see it tomorrow): the games entering the PS Plus Extra Catalog for February 2026. Which, according to the report, will be headlined by Marvel's Spider-Man 2. The first of Insomniac's Spider-Man titles, Marvel's Spider-Man (the remastered variant, that is), entered the [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/marvels-spider-man-2-will-reportedly-headline-februarys-ps-plus-extra-games/
PlayStation is ready to reclaim the spotlight after the Xbox Developer Direct and the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase. After a quiet start to the year, Sony has officially pulled back the curtain on a massive February State of Play, which promises to be a beefy broadcast that will set the tone for the PS5βs 2026 lineup. With rumors of new first-party reveals and long-awaited updates on third-party projects, here is everything you need to know about the upcoming showcase. Official Livestream You can watch the official State of Play stream directly below when it goes live: When and Where to [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/february-2026-playstation-state-of-play-where-to-watch-what-to-expect/
Google is now promoting its own AI features inside Google Ads β a rare move that inserts marketing directly into advertisersβ workflow.
Whatβs happening. Users are seeing promotional messages for AI Max for Search campaigns when they open campaign settings panels.
Why we care. The in-platform placement signals Google is pushing to accelerate AI adoption among advertisers, moving from optional rollouts to active promotion. While Google often introduces AI-driven features, promoting them directly within existing workflows marks a more aggressive adoption strategy.
What to watch. Whether this promotional approach expands to other Google Ads features β and how advertisers respond to marketing within their management interface.
First seen. Julie Bacchini, president and founder of Neptune Moon, spotted the notification and shared it on LinkedIn. She wrote: βNothing like Google Ads essentially running an ad for AI Max in the settings area of a campaign.β
Microsoft today launched AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools in beta. AI Performance lets you see where, and how often, your content is cited in AI-generated answers across Microsoft Copilot, Bingβs AI summaries, and select partner integrations, the company said.
Whatβs new. AI Performance is a new, dedicated dashboard inside Bing Webmaster Tools. It tracks citation visibility across supported AI surfaces. Instead of measuring clicks or rankings, it shows whether your content is used to ground AI-generated answers.
What it looks like. Microsoft shared this image of AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools:
What the dashboard shows. The AI Performance dashboard introduces metrics focused specifically on AI citations:
These metrics only reflect citation frequency. They donβt indicate ranking, prominence, or how a page contributed to a specific AI answer.
Why we care. Itβs good to know where and how your content gets cited, but Bing Webmaster Tools still wonβt reveal how those citations translate into clicks, traffic, or any real business outcome. Without click data, publishers still canβt tell if AI visibility delivers value.
How to use it. Microsoft said publishers can use the data to:
The guidance mirrors familiar best practices: clear headings, evidence-backed claims, current information, and consistent entity representation across formats.
Whatβs next. Microsoft said it plans to βimprove inclusion, attribution, and visibility across both search results and AI experiences,β and continue to βevolve these capabilities.β
Microsoftβs announcement. Introducing AI Performance in Bing WebmasterΒ ToolsΒ Public PreviewΒ
B2B advertising faces a distinct challenge: most automation tools werenβt built for lead generation.
Ecommerce campaigns benefit from hundreds of conversions that fuel machine learning. B2B marketers donβt have that luxury. They deal with lower conversion volume, longer sales cycles, and no clear cart value to guide optimization.
The good news? Automation can still work.
Melissa Mackey, Head of Paid Search at Compound Growth Marketing, says the right strategy and signals can turn automation into a powerful driver of B2B leads. Below is a summary of the key insights and recommendations she shared at SMX Next.
Automation systems are built for ecommerce success, which creates three core obstacles for B2B marketers:
Despite these challenges, proven strategies can make automation work for B2B lead generation.
Connecting your CRM to Google Ads or Microsoft Ads is essential for making automation work in lead generation. This isnβt optional. Itβs the foundation. If you havenβt done this yet, stop and fix it first.
In Google Adsβ Data Manager, youβll find hundreds of CRM integration options. The most common B2B setups include:
Micro conversions signal intent. They show a βhand raiserβ β someone engaged on your site who isnβt an MQL yet but clearly interested.
The key is assigning relative value to these actions, even when you donβt know their exact revenue impact. Use a simple hierarchy to train automation what matters most:
This value structure tells automation that one MQL matters more than 999 video views. Without these distinctions, campaigns chase impressive conversion rates driven by low-value actions β while real leads slip through the cracks.
You might dismiss Performance Max (PMax) for lead generation β and for good reason. Run it on a basic maximize conversions strategy, and it usually produces junk leads and wastes budget.
But PMax can deliver exceptional results when you combine conversion values and offline conversion data with a Target ROAS bid strategy.
One real client example shows whatβs possible. They tracked three offline conversion actions β leads, opportunities, and customers β and valued customers at 50 times a lead. The results were dramatic:
Closed deals became the campaignβs top-performing metric because they reflected real, paying customers. The key difference? Using conversion values with a Target ROAS strategy instead of basic maximize conversions.
Campaign-specific goals let you optimize campaigns for different conversion actions, giving you far more control and flexibility.
You can set conversion goals at the account level or make them campaign-specific. With campaign-specific goals, you can:
This approach avoids asking someone to βmarry you on the first date.β It also keeps campaigns from competing against themselves by trying to optimize for conflicting goals.
Portfolio bidding groups similar campaigns so you can reach the critical 30-conversions-per-month threshold faster.
For example, four separate campaigns might generate 12, 11, 0, and 15 conversions. On their own, none qualify. Grouped into a single portfolio, they total 38 conversions β giving automation far more data to optimize against.
You may still need separate campaigns for valid reasons β regional reporting, distinct budgets, or operational constraints. Portfolio bidding lets you keep that structure while still feeding the system enough volume to perform.
Bonus benefit: Portfolio bidding lets you set maximum CPCs. This prevents runaway bids when automation aggressively targets high-propensity users. This level of control is otherwise only available through tools like SA360.
First-party audiences send strong signals about who you want to reach, which is critical for AI-powered campaigns.
If HubSpot or Salesforce is connected to Google Ads, you can import audiences and use them strategically:
Audiences make it much easier to trust broad match keywords and AI-driven campaign types like PMax or AI Max β approaches that often feel too loose for B2B without strong audience signals in place.
AI tools can significantly improve B2B advertising efficiency when you use them with intent. The key is remembering that most AI is trained on consumer behavior, not B2B buying patterns.
Always tell the AI youβre selling to other businesses. Start prompts with clear context, like: βYouβre a SaaS company that sells to other businesses.β That single line shifts the AIβs lens away from consumer assumptions and toward B2B realities.
Use AI to build detailed client profiles by feeding it clear inputs, including:
Create a master template or a custom GPT for each client. This foundation sharpens every downstream AI task and dramatically improves accuracy and relevance.
Competitive analysis that once took 20β30 hours can now be done in 10β15 minutes. Ask AI to analyze your competitors and break down:
AI delivers clean, well-structured tables you can screenshot for client decks or drop straight into Google Sheets for sorting and filtering. Use this insight to spot gaps, uncover opportunities, and identify clear strategic advantages.
Use tools like Semrush or SpyFu to pull competitor keyword lists, then let AI do the heavy lifting. Create a spreadsheet with columns for each competitorβs keywords alongside your clientβs keywords. Then ask the AI to:
What once took hours of pivot tables, filtering, and manual cleanup now takes AI about five minutes.
The Experiments feature is widely underused. Put it to work by testing:
Google Ads automatically reports performance, so thereβs no manual math. It even includes insight summaries that tell you what to do next β apply the changes, end the experiment, or run a follow-up test.
Solutions are prebuilt Google Ads scripts that automate common tasks, including:
Instead of hunting down scripts and pasting code, you answer a few setup questions and the solution runs automatically. Use caution with complex enterprise accounts, but for simpler structures, these tools can save a significant amount of time.
Automation wasnβt built for lead generation, but with the right strategy, you can still make it work for B2B.
YUMI remains a reliable pick for building multi-boot USB drives, especially if you like having control over how your media is set up. The latest release introduces a handy new preparation menu: users can now reserve unformatted space and choose the target filesystem upfront, making it easier to fine-tune a USB stick for specific use cases or future expansion.
Envoye Pay turns handshakes into legally binding contracts with built-in payments and e-signatures. Pick a customizable template, set terms like payment plans, interest, hold fees, and milestones, and invite the counterparty to sign. Contracts are securely stored, with payment tracking and a full paper trail. Stripe Connect powers transactions with automated reminders, allowing you to cut out the 30% middlemen and $500+ lawyers for vehicle sales, equipment purchases, and freelance projects, all for a simple 1% platform fee.
Artwurk.ai enables you to create AI videos, images, talking avatars, and your own AI clone without the need for editing skills. Generate text-to-video and image-to-video clips, design product videos, and produce studio-quality results rapidly. Craft images using text-to-image and image-to-image tools, and customize actors, style, voice, and emotions to match your brand. Designed for creators and teams, Artwurk.ai includes commercial rights and offers plans that scale from hobbyists to studios.
Supermassive Games, the studio you'll recognize as the team behind games like Until Dawn and The Quarry, has announced the release date for their next narrative-driven horror adventure, Directive 8020. This new sci-fi entry in Supermassive's Dark Pictures anthology will arrive on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S this coming May 12, 2026. The news was announced with a new release date trailer, which also ushered in the launch of pre-orders going live on both PS5 and Xbox Series. Pre-orders for the game on Steam will go live "soon" according to the video description, so just keep an eye on [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/directive-8020-release-date-ps5-pc-dark-pictures-supermassive-games/
China's CXMT is expanding its presence in the HBM market, aiming to capitalize on the AI frenzy, as the company is now reported to be converting a large chunk of its DRAM output. CXMT's Capacity Shift Towards HBM Does Put the Idea of "Cheaper" Consumer Memory Under Threat Given how competitive the DRAM industry has become in recent times, it has opened up newer opportunities for Chinese memory manufacturers like CXMT. One of the more interesting talks in recent times is how DRAM suppliers from China are 'somehow' going to save gamers from the ongoing memory shortages, but it appears [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/china-largest-memory-manufacturer-cxmt-plans-to-allocate-a-large-chunk-of-its-dram-production-to-hbm3/
A series of older games and some newer ones have started to make their way to iOS and Android as native ports, as smartphone chipsets have finally attained sufficient performance and efficiency to fluidly run titles that were heavily taxing on decade-old systems. On this occasion, Tomb Raider 2013 is demonstrated to maintain a healthy 60FPS average during various parts of the game when running on both the A19 Pro and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. However, a consistent framerate doesnβt necessarily mean the game is running at the same image quality on both phones, with the details posted below. [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/a19-pro-and-snapdragon-8-elite-gen-5-get-60fps-running-tomb-raider-2013/
The February Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase brought new information about several third-party games launching on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. A good portion of the presentation focused on ports launching this year for the current-generation Nintendo system, including Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. With the recent Nintendo Switch 2 port of Final Fantasy VII Remake Integrade running and looking great on the system, many are wondering how the console will handle the second entry in the series, which is a more complex game [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/the-nintendo-switch-2-can-handle-final-fantasy-vii-rebirth-surprisingly-well-and-may-even-surpass-the-steam-deck-too/
A little more than two years ago, while Capcom was enjoying the critical and commercial success of its latest Resident Evil remake at the time, Resident Evil 4 Remake, the company confirmed that players could expect more remakes in the future. We didn't get any indication as to which games would get the RE Remake treatment next, but at this point, there are only so many options left. Now, despite most of the rumours in the time since Capcom gave that confirmation circling around Resident Evil: Code Veronica, a new ESRB rating (spotted by Kotaku) may have just spoiled Capcom's [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/resident-evil-5-remake-capcom/
There are some truths and judgements that should not be viewed via a political lens. And, Trump Mobile's T1 phone constitutes one such occasion, where irrespective of the inherent political bias, the beholder is forced to concede that the device is an extremely tacky imitation of what a sleek smartphone looks like. The T1 Phone is a device that is all show, and retains an empty void for a soul; cheap, gaudy, garish, and an abomination of the device's original promise. Trump Mobile's T1 Phone has now surfaced in its final form, and we can't help but cringe at the [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/trump-mobiles-t1-phone-is-a-tacky-gaudy-and-garish-imitation-of-a-sleek-smartphone/
Monster Hunter Wilds will be getting a "large-scale expansion" later this year, with Capcom set to reveal the expansion at some point in Summer 2026, the company confirmed today in its update regarding what's coming to the game in February 2026. After digging into what players can look forward to in Monster Hunter Wilds' new update, which is set to be out on February 18, 2026, producer Ryozo Tsujimoto concluded by looking ahead to what's next for Wilds as we move deeper into the year. "Now, I'd like to talk about what's next for Monster Hunter Wilds," Tsujimoto began. "We [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/monster-hunter-wilds-large-scale-iceborne-sunbreak-sized-expansion-summer-2026-capcom/
Let me guess: you just spent three months building a perfectly optimized product taxonomy, complete with schema markup, internal linking, and killer metadata.Β
Then, the product team decided to launch a site redesign without telling you. Now half your URLs are broken, the new templates strip out your structured data, and your boss is asking why organic traffic dropped 40%.
Sound familiar?
Hereβs the thing: this isnβt an SEO failure, but a governance failure. Itβs costing you nights and weekends trying to fix problems that should never have happened in the first place.
This article covers why weak governance keeps breaking SEO, how AI has raised the stakes, and how a visibility governance maturity model helps SEO teams move from firefighting to prevention.
I know what youβre thinking. βGreat, another framework that means more meetings and approval forms.β But hear me out.
The Visibility Governance Maturity Model (VGMM) isnβt about creating red tape. Itβs about establishing clear ownership, documented processes, and decision rights that prevent your work from being accidentally destroyed by teams who donβt understand SEO.
Think of it this way: VGMM is the difference between being the person who gets blamed when organic traffic tanks versus being the person who can point to documentation showing exactly where the process broke down β and who approved skipping the SEO review.
This maturity model:
Remember when SEO was mostly about your website and Google? Those were simpler times.
Now youβre trying to optimize for:
And youβre still dealing with:
Without governance, youβre the only person who understands how all these pieces fit together.Β
When something breaks, everyone expects you to fix it β usually yesterday. When traffic is up, itβs because marketing ran a great campaign. When itβs down, itβs your fault.
You become the hero the organization depends on, which sounds great until you realize you can never take a real vacation, and youβre working 60-hour weeks.
Dig deeper: Why most SEO failures are organizational, not technical
VGMM doesnβt care about your keyword rankings or whether you have perfect schema markup. It evaluates whether your organization is set up to sustain SEO performance without burning you out. Below are the five maturity levels that translate to your daily reality:
Level 1: Unmanaged (your current nightmare)
Level 2: Aware (slightly better)
Level 3: Defined (getting somewhere)
Level 4: Integrated (the dream)
Level 5: Sustained (unicorn territory)
Most organizations sit at Level 1 or 2. Thatβs not your fault β itβs a structural problem that VGMM helps diagnose and fix.
Dig deeper: SEOβs future isnβt content. Itβs governance
VGMM coordinates multiple domain-specific maturity models. Think of it as a health checkup that looks at all your vital signs, not just one metric.
It evaluates maturity across domains like:
Each domain gets scored independently, then VGMM looks at how they work together. Because excellent SEO maturity doesnβt matter if the performance team deploys code that breaks the site every Tuesday or if the content team publishes AI-generated nonsense that tanks your E-E-A-T signals.
VGMM produces a 0β100% score based on:
The final score isnβt about effort β itβs about whether governance actually works.
Before VGMM-style governance:
After governance maturity improves:
You move from reactive firefighting to proactive prevention. Your weekends become yours again.
VGMM doesnβt score you on technical SEO execution. It checks whether the organization has processes in place to prevent SEO disasters.
SEO Governance Maturity Model (SEOGMM) asks:
Content Governance Maturity Model (CGMM) asks:
Website Performance Maturity Model (WPMM) asks:
You get the idea. Each domain has its own checklist, and VGMM shows leadership where gaps create risk.
Dig deeper: SEO execution: Understanding goals, strategy, and planning
You donβt need to explain VGMM theory. You need to connect it to problems leadership already knows exist.
Organizations with higher VGMM maturity experience measurably better outcomes:
But the real win for you personally:Β
Your job becomes about building and improving, not constantly fixing.
Step 1: Self-assessment
Look at the five maturity levels. Where is your organization honestly sitting? If youβre at Level 1 or 2, you have evidence for why governance matters.
Step 2: Document current-state pain
Make a list of the last six months of SEO incidents:
This becomes your business case.
Step 3: Start with one domain
You donβt need to implement full VGMM immediately. Start with SEOGMM:
Step 4: Show resultsΒ
Track prevented problems. When you catch an issue before it ships, document it. When a process prevents a regression, quantify the impact. Build your case for expanding governance.
Step 5: Expand systematically
Once SEOGMM is working, expand to related domains (content, performance, accessibility). Show how integrated governance catches problems that individual domain checks miss.
Governance isnβt about making your job harder. Itβs about making your organization work better so your job becomes sustainable.
VGMM gives you a framework for diagnosing why SEO keeps getting undermined by other teams and a roadmap for fixing it. It translates your expertise into language that leadership understands. It protects your work from accidental destruction.
Most importantly, it moves you from being the person whoβs always fixing emergencies to being the person who builds systems that prevent them.
You didnβt become an SEO professional to spend your career firefighting. VGMM helps you get back to doing the work that actually matters β the strategic, creative, growth-focused work that attracted you to SEO in the first place.
If youβre tired of watching your best work get undone by teams who donβt understand SEO, if youβre exhausted from being the only person who knows how everything works, if you want your expertise to be recognized and protected β start the VGMM conversation with your leadership.
The framework exists. Whatβs missing is someone in your organization saying, βWe need to govern visibility like we govern everything else that matters.β
That someone is you.
Dig deeper: Why 2026 is the year the SEO silo breaks and cross-channel execution starts
ParrotOS is a compelling Linux alternative for users who want strong security features without the bloat. Version 7.0 is a significant upgrade, bringing a reworked backend, a modern KDE Plasma 6 desktop, and a refreshed Echo theme, while keeping the system lean and responsive.
Google's Results about you tool now monitors Search results for government-issued IDs like passports, driver's licenses, and Social Security numbers.
The post Google Can Now Monitor Search For Your Government IDs appeared first on Search Engine Journal.
Today, AMD and Pearl Abyss have announced the Crimson Desert AMD Game Bundle. Purchasing select AMD hardware from eligible retailers will give you access to the upcoming open world action/adventure game for free on PC. The following AMD processors, graphics cards, and laptops that include an AMD Ryzen processor are eligible: Qualifying AMD Products Crimson Desert AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3DAMD Ryzen 9 9900X3DAMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D*AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3DAMD Radeon RX 9070 XTAMD Radeon RX 9070 *Purchases of this product prior to the Campaign Period are eligible to receive a Coupon Code. β Select laptops that contain an AMD Ryzen [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/crimson-desert-amd-game-bundle-announced-free-game/
NVIDIA's Resident Evil Requiem game bundle for GeForce RTX 50 GPUs is now available, offering gamers a free copy of the latest entry in the Resident Evil franchise. NVIDIA Bundles A Free Copy of Resident Evil Requiem In Latest GeForce RTX 50 GPUs Promo Resident Evil Requiem, or Resident Evil 9, is the latest title in the long-running survival horror/action franchise. The game comes out on the 27th of February, so with just a few days left, NVIDIA has decided to update its RTX bundle to include a free copy of the game with its RTX 50 series GPUs. As [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/nvidia-resident-evil-requiem-game-bundle-geforce-rtx-50-gpus/
Mario Tennis has become one of Nintendo's most predictable franchises, showing up relatively early in the lifespan of all of the company's recent platforms, and sure enough, Mario Tennis Fever is being served up within the Nintendo Switch 2's first year on the market. Promising more characters and modes than ever before, as well as a wide array of new gameplay-altering "Fever Rackets," this may well be the most feature-rich Mario Tennis to date. Is Mario Tennis Fever a swinging good time or will it leave fans cold? Lace up your shoes and tighten your rackets; it's time to find [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/review/mario-tennis-fever/
Suda51 and Grasshopper Manufacture have always approached game design with an "art-first" philosophy. While their titles aren't always the most modern in terms of raw mechanics, they are always more than the simple sum of their parts. Powered by a singular, punk-rock vision, each title possesses a distinct flair that is becoming increasingly rare in the risk-averse AAA space. Following No More Heroes III, which was based on a very strong vision but was ultimately constrained by the unrealized open-world setting, and Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered, a remaster of a rather niche game of the PS3/ Xbox 360 [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/review/romeo-is-a-dead-man-review-great-scott-what-a-ride/
If imitation is the highest form of flattery, Samsung appears to have elevated it to an art form, riding Apple's coattails for the better or worse. This appears to be a growing view in light of a series of recent decisions by Samsung, be it the reintroduction of a variable aperture lens, the rumored Galaxy Z Wide Fold, or the aluminum frame for the upcoming Galaxy S26 lineup. Samsung appears quite fond of copying Apple, as evidenced by a spate of its recent decisions Apple introduced a titanium frame for the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max in September 2023. [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/samsung-lacks-agency-in-smartphones-and-hangs-onto-apples-coattails-for-better-or-worse/
Battery drain tests conducted on smartphones often donβt show the full picture because, the majority of the time, these devices are exclusively connected to Wi-Fi. However, the latest comparison does things a little differently, with an iPhone 17 Pro MaxΒ taken through its paces solely on a 5G and home Wi-Fi network to see what kind of runtimes can be experienced. Even without checking the entire test, we can assume our winner, but if you read on, there are some bits youβll find interesting. New battery drain test shows that the iPhone 17 Pro Max had 25% of charge remaining, while [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/iphone-17-pro-max-wifi-and-5g-battery-drain-test/
Thereβs a new, simpler way for people to request the removal of non-consensual explicit images from Search.Results about you tool now helps you find and request the removal of Search results containing your government-issued IDs.If youβve been managing PPC accounts for any length of time, you donβt need a research report to tell you something has changed.Β
You see it in the day-to-day work:Β
When that happens, the reflex is to assume something broke β a tracking update, a platform change, or a misconfiguration buried somewhere in the stack.
But the reality is usually simpler. Many measurement setups still assume identifiers will reliably persist from click to conversion, and that assumption no longer holds consistently.
Measurement hasnβt stopped working. The conditions it depends on have been shifting for years, and what once felt like edge cases now show up often enough to feel like a systemic change.
Iβve been close to this problem for most of my career.Β
Before Google Ads had native conversion tracking, I built my own tracking pixels and URL parameters to optimize affiliate campaigns.Β
Later, while working at Google, I was involved in the acquisition of Urchin as the industry moved toward standardized, comprehensive measurement.
That era set expectations that nearly everything could be tracked, joined, and attributed at the click level. Google made advertising feel measurable, controllable, and predictable.Β
As the ecosystem now shifts toward more automation, less control, and less data, that contrast can be jarring.
It has been for me. Much of what I once relied on to interpret PPC data no longer applies in the same way.Β
Making sense of todayβs measurement environment requires rethinking those assumptions, not trying to restore the old ones. This is how I think about it now.
Dig deeper: How to evolve your PPC measurement strategy for a privacy-first future
For many years, Google Ads measurement followed a predictable pattern.Β
This produced deterministic matches, supported offline conversion imports, and made attribution relatively easy to explain to stakeholders.Β
As long as the identifier survived the journey, the system behaved in ways most advertisers could reason about.Β
We could literally see what happened with each click and which ones led to individual conversions.
That reliability depended on a specific set of conditions.
Luckily, those conditions were common enough that the model worked really well.
Browsers now impose tighter limits on how identifiers are stored and passed.
Appleβs Intelligent Tracking Prevention, enhanced tracking protection, private browsing modes, and consent requirements all reduce how long tracking data persists, or whether itβs stored at all.
URL parameters may be stripped before a page loads. Cookies set via JavaScript may expire quickly. Consent banners may block storage entirely.
Click IDs sometimes never reach the site, or they disappear before a conversion occurs.
This is expected behavior in modern browser environments, not an edge case, so we have to account for it.
Trying to restore deterministic click-level tracking usually means working against the constant push toward more privacy and the resulting browser behaviors.
This is another of the many evolutions of online advertising we simply have to get on board with, and Iβve found that designing systems to function with partial data beats fighting the tide.
On my own team, GA4 is a frequent source of frustration. Not because itβs incapable, but because itβs built for a world where some data will always be missing.Β
We hear the same from other advertisers: the data isnβt necessarily wrong, but itβs harder to reason about.
This is the bigger challenge. Moving from a world where nearly everything was observable to one where some things are inferred requires accepting that measurement now operates under different conditions.Β
That mindset shift has been uneven across the industry because measurement lives at the periphery of where many advertisers spend most of their time, working in ad platforms.
A lot of effort goes into optimizing ad platform settings when sometimes the better use of time mightβve been fixing broken data so better decisions could be made.
Dig deeper: Advanced analytics techniques to measure PPC
So what approaches hold up under current constraints? The answer involves both client-side and server-side measurement.
Client-side pixels, like the Google tag, continue to collect useful data.
They fire immediately, capture on-site actions, and provide fast feedback to ad platforms, whose automated bidding systems rely on this data.
But these pixels are constrained by the browser. Scripts can be blocked, execution can fail and consent settings can prevent storage. A portion of traffic will never be observable at the individual level.
When pixel tracking is the only measurement input, these gaps affect both reporting and optimization. Pixels havenβt stopped working. They just no longer cover every case.
Some responses to declining pixel data focus on the mechanics of how pixels are served rather than measurement logic.
Google Tag Gateway changes where tag requests are routed, sending them through a first-party, same-origin setup instead of directly to third-party domains.
This can reduce failures caused by blocked scripts and simplify deployment for teams using Google Cloud.
What it doesnβt do is define events, decide what data is collected, or correct poor tagging choices. It improves delivery reliability, not measurement logic.
This distinction matters when comparing Tag Gateway and server-side GTM.
The two address different problems.
Hereβs the key point: better infrastructure affects how data moves, not what it means.
Event definitions, conversion logic, and consistency across systems still determine data quality.
A reliable pipeline delivers whatever itβs given, so itβd be just as good at making sure the garbage you put in also comes back out.
Offline conversion imports take a different approach, moving measurement away from the browser entirely. Conversions are recorded in backend systems and sent to Google Ads after the fact.
Because this process is server to server, itβs less affected by browser privacy restrictions. It works for longer sales cycles, delayed purchases, and conversions that happen outside the site.Β
This is why Google commonly recommends running offline imports alongside pixel-based tracking. The two cover different parts of the journey. One is immediate, the other persists.
Offline imports also align with current privacy constraints. They rely on data users provide directly, such as email addresses during a transaction or signup.
The data is processed server-side and aggregated, reducing reliance on browser identifiers and short-lived cookies.
Offline imports donβt replace pixels. They reduce dependence on them.
Dig deeper: Offline conversion tracking: 7 best practices and testing strategies
Even with pixels and offline imports working together, some conversions canβt be directly observed.
When click IDs are unavailable, Google Ads can still match conversions using other inputs.
This often begins with deterministic matching through hashed first-party identifiers such as email addresses, when those identifiers can be associated with signed-in Google users.
This is what Enhanced Conversions help achieve.
When deterministic matching, if this then that, isnβt possible, the system relies on aggregated and validated signals rather than reconstructing individual click paths.
These can include session-level attributes and limited, privacy-safe IP information, combined with timing and contextual constraints.
This doesnβt recreate the old click-level model, but it allows conversions to be associated with prior ad interactions at an aggregate level.
One thing Iβve noticed: adding these inputs typically improves matching before it affects bidding.
Bidding systems account for conversion lag and validate new signals over time, which means imported or modeled conversions may appear in reporting before theyβre fully weighted in optimization.
Matching, attribution, and bidding are related but separate processes. Improvements in one donβt immediately change the others.
Modeled conversions are now a standard part of Google Ads and GA4 reporting.
Theyβre used when direct observation isnβt possible, such as when consent is denied or identifiers are unavailable.
These models are constrained by available data and validated through consistency checks and holdback experiments.
When confidence is low, modeling may be limited or not applied. Modeled data should be treated as an expected component of measurement rather than an exception.
Dig deeper: Google Ads pushes richer conversion imports
Tools like Google Tag Gateway or Enhanced Conversions for Leads help recover measurement signal, but they donβt override user intent.Β
Routing data through a first-party domain doesnβt imply consent.Β Ad blockers and restrictive browser settings are explicit signals.Β
Overriding them may slightly increase the measured volume, but it doesnβt align with usersβ expectations regarding how your organization uses their data.
Legal compliance and user intent arenβt the same thing. Measurement systems can respect both, but doing so requires deliberate choices.
Missing signals are normal. Measurement systems that assume full visibility will continue to break under current conditions.
Redundancy helps: pixels paired with hardened delivery, offline imports paired with enhanced identifiers, and multiple incomplete signals instead of a single complete one.
But hereβs where things get interesting. Different systems will see different things, and this creates a tension many advertisers now face daily.
Some clients tell us their CRM data points clearly in one direction, while Google Ads automation, operating on less complete inputs, nudges campaigns another way.
In most cases, neither system is wrong. Theyβre answering different questions with different data, on different timelines. Operating in a world of partial observability means accounting for that tension rather than trying to eliminate it.
Dig deeper: Auditing and optimizing Google Ads in an age of limited data
The shift toward privacy-first measurement changes how much of the user journey can be directly observed. That changes our jobs.
The goal is no longer perfect reconstruction of every click, but building measurement systems that remain useful when signals are missing, delayed, or inferred.
Different systems will continue to operate with different views of reality, and alignment comes from understanding those differences rather than trying to eliminate them.
In this environment, durable measurement depends less on recovering lost identifiers and more on thoughtful data design, redundancy, and human judgment.
Measurement is becoming more strategic than ever.
Agentic AI is increasingly appearing in leadership conversations, often accompanied by big claims and unclear expectations. For SEO leaders working with ecommerce brands, this creates a familiar challenge.
Executives hear about autonomous agents, automated purchasing, and AI-led decisions, and they want to know what this really means for growth, risk, and competitiveness.
What they donβt need is more hype. They need clear explanations, grounded thinking, and practical guidance.Β
This is where SEO leaders can add real value, not by predicting the future, but by helping leadership understand what is changing, what isnβt, and how to respond without overreacting. Hereβs how.
A useful first step is to remove the mystery from the term itself. Agentic systems donβt replace customers, they act on behalf of customers. The intent, preferences, and constraints still come from a person.
What changes is who does the work.
Discovery, comparison, filtering, and sometimes execution are handled by software that can move faster and process more information than a human can.
When speaking to executive teams, a simple framing works best:
Once this is clear, the conversation becomes calmer and more practical, and the focus moves away from fear and toward preparation.
Another important role for SEO leaders is to slow the conversation down. Agentic behavior will not arrive everywhere at the same time. Its impact will be uneven and gradual.
Some categories will see change earlier because their products are standardized and data is already well structured. Others will move more slowly because trust, complexity, or regulation makes automation harder.
This matters because leadership teams often fall into one of two traps:
SEO leaders can offer a steadier view. Agentic AI accelerates trends that already exist. Personalized discovery, fewer visible clicks, and more pressure on data quality are not new problems.Β
Agents simply make them more obvious. Seen this way, agentic AI becomes a reason to improve foundations, not a reason to chase novelty.
Dig deeper: Are we ready for the agentic web?
One of the most helpful shifts in executive conversations is moving away from rankings as the main outcome of SEO. In an agent-led journey, the key question isnβt βdo we rank well?β but βare we eligible to be chosen at all?β
Eligibility depends on clarity, consistency, and trust. An agent needs to understand what you sell, who it is for, how much it costs, whether it is available, and how risky it is to choose you on behalf of a user. This is a strong way to connect SEO to commercial reality.
Questions worth raising include whether product information is consistent across systems, whether pricing and availability are reliable, and whether policies reduce uncertainty or create it. Framed this way, SEO becomes less about chasing traffic and more about making the business easy to select.
Many executives still see SEO as a marketing channel, but agentic behavior challenges that view.
Selection by an agent depends on factors that sit well beyond marketing. Data quality, technical reliability, stock accuracy, delivery performance, and payment confidence all play a role.
SEO leaders should be clear about this. This isnβt about writing more content. Itβs about making sure the business is understandable, reliable, and usable by machines.
Positioned correctly, SEO becomes a connecting function that helps leadership see where gaps in systems or data could prevent the brand from being selected. This often resonates because it links SEO to risk and operational health, not just growth.
Dig deeper: How to integrate SEO into your broader marketing strategy
For most ecommerce brands, the earliest impact of agentic systems will be at the top of the funnel. Discovery becomes more conversational and more personal.
Users describe situations, needs, and constraints instead of typing short search phrases, and the agent then turns that context into actions.
This reduces the value of simply owning category head terms. If an agent knows a userβs budget, preferences, delivery expectations, and past behavior, it doesnβt behave like a first-time visitor. It behaves like a well-informed repeat customer.
This creates a reporting challenge. Some SEO work will no longer look like direct demand creation, even though it still influences outcomes. Leadership teams need to be prepared for this shift.
The middle of the funnel also changes shape. Today, consideration often involves reading reviews, comparing options, and seeking reassurance.
In an agent-led journey, consideration becomes a filtering process, where the agent removes options it believes the user would reject and keeps those that fit.
This has clear implications. Generic content becomes less effective as a traffic driver because agents can generate summaries and comparisons instantly. Trust signals become structural, meaning claims need to be backed by consistent and verifiable information.
In many cases, a brand may be chosen without the user being consciously aware of it. That can be positive for conversion, but risky for long-term brand strength if recognition isnβt built elsewhere.
Dig deeper: How to align your SEO strategy with the stages of buyer intent
Executives care about measurement, and agentic AI makes this harder. As more discovery and consideration happen inside AI systems, fewer interactions leave clean attribution trails. Some impact will show up as direct traffic, and some will not be visible at all.
SEO leaders should address this early. This isnβt a failure of optimization. It reflects the limits of todayβs analytics in a more mediated world.
The conversation should move toward directional signals and blended performance views, rather than precise channel attribution that no longer reflects how decisions are made.
The most important part of the leadership discussion is what to do next. The good news is that most sensible responses to agentic AI are low risk.
Improving product data quality, reducing inconsistencies across platforms, strengthening reliability signals, and fixing technical weaknesses all help today, regardless of how quickly agents mature.
Investing in brand demand outside search also matters. If agents handle more of the comparison work, brands that users already trust by name are more likely to be selected.
This reassures leaders that action doesnβt require dramatic change, only disciplined improvement.
For SEO leaders, agentic AI changes the focus of the role. The work shifts from optimizing pages to protecting eligibility, from chasing visibility to reducing ambiguity, and from reporting clicks to explaining influence.
This requires confidence, clear communication, and a willingness to challenge hype. Agentic AI makes SEO more strategic, not any less important.
Agentic AI should not be treated as an immediate threat or a guaranteed advantage. Itβs a shift in how decisions are made.
For ecommerce brands, the winners will be those that stay calm, communicate clearly, and adapt their SEO thinking from driving clicks to earning selection.
That is the conversation SEO leaders should be having now.
Dig deeper: The future of search visibility: What 6 SEO leaders predict for 2026
Antecβs Vortex View is a CPU cooler with a HUGE screen Antec has just launched its new Vortex View 360 CPU liquid cooler, featuring an adjustable 5-inch LCD screen and LED backlighting. With its new pump design, this cooler promises to run cooler and quieter than older liquid cooling solutions. The Vortex View is available [β¦]
The post Antec launches its new Vortex View 360 CPU cooler appeared first on OC3D.
Dictaboard is an AI-powered voice typing keyboard for Android that converts your speech into clean, correctly punctuated text. It works in every appβWhatsApp, Gmail, Slackβallowing you to dictate messages, emails, and notes without typing.
Use the one-tap Tune feature to fix typos, grammar, and clarity instantly, using ChatGPT to refine your writing. Talk naturally and maintain your flow at up to 220 wpm while Dictaboard manages the rest.
Two more affordable IPS gaming monitors from AOC have arrived, featuring satisfactory specifications and features for the masses. AOC Debuts 260 Hz 24-inch and 27-inch Fast IPS Gaming Monitors With NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatibility AOC is back with two more affordable gaming monitors. The company keeps releasing budget monitors quite frequently, and these are mostly IPS and VA displays specially designed for gamers on a budget. The two new gaming monitors launched today are 24-inch and 27-inch 1080p gaming displays that utilize Fast IPS panels to deliver good visual quality alongside fast response. 260 Hz and 0.3 ms MPRT used to [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/aoc-launches-24g4zr-and-27g4zr-competitive-ips-260hz-gaming-monitors/
Despite having been released a long time ago, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt continues to be one of the most popular open-world games ever. Since the launch of the next-gen update, however, it's been up to the modding community to add new content and features to the game, including a full-fledged multiplayer mode, but in the past few weeks, it's been suggested that a new official DLC could be launching later this year to bridge the gap with the next entry in the series and begin the marketing for what is set to be another massively popular role-playing games. Following [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/more-insiders-are-corroborating-new-the-witcher-3-dlc-as-fans-believe-dlc-for-old-games-should-happen-more/
The most powerful AYANEO gaming handheld will be available in various configurations and will cost $3,499 for a 128 GB, 2 TB configuration under the Early Bird Offer. AYANEO Starts Indiegogo Campaign for 9-inch OLED NEXT 2 Handheld, Powered by Ryzen AI Max 385/Max+ 395 and Available in Various Configurations AYANEO has finally announced the official price for its upcoming and most powerful gaming handheld called NEXT 2. It was announced last year, but the company was quite slow in announcing its specs, let alone launching it. NEXT 2 was teased as the most powerful gaming handheld with an "Exclusive" [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/ayaneo-announces-early-bird-pricing-for-next-2-gaming-handheld/
A clever theory has just made a connection between one of Apple's largest ever acquisitions in recent memory, that of Q.ai, and the oft-rumored IR-equipped AirPods Pro that might launch as soon as this year. Apple's acquisition of Q.ai supposedly complements its ambitions of launching IR-equipped AirPods Pro As we noted recently, Apple has acquired the secretive Israeli AI company, Q.ai, for $2 billion, rendering the transaction one of Apple's priciest ever buyout moves. For the benefit of those who might not be aware, Q.aiΒ specializes in using machine learning to decipher whispered speech and enhance audio in challenging conditions. The [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/a-neat-little-theory-links-apples-acquisition-of-q-ai-to-the-rumored-ir-equipped-airpods-pro/
We know AI responses are probabilistic β if you ask an AI the same question 10 times, youβll get 10 different responses.
But how different are the responses?
Thatβs the question Rand Fishkin explored in some interesting research.
And it has big implications for how we should think about tracking AI visibility for brands.
In his research, he tested prompts asking for recommendations in all sorts of products and services, including everything from chefβs knives to cancer care hospitals and Volvo dealerships in Los Angeles.
Basically, he found that:
For my research, as always, Iβm focusing exclusively on B2B use cases. Plus, Iβm building on Fishkinβs work by addressing these additional questions:
To explore those questions, I first designed 12 prompts:
I ran the 12 prompts 100 times, each, through the logged-out, free version of ChatGPT at chatgpt.com (i.e., not the API). I used a different IP address for each of the 1,200 interactions to simulate 1,200 different users starting new conversations.
Limitations: This research only covers responses from ChatGPT. But given the patterns in Fishkinβs results and the similar probabilistic nature of LLMs, you can probably generalize the directional (not absolute value) findings below to most/all AIs.
The SEO toolkit you know, plus the AI visibility data you need.
So what happens when 100 different people submit the same prompt to ChatGPT, asking for product recommendations?
On average, ChatGPT will mention 44 brands across 100 different responses. But one of the response sets included as many as 95 brands β it really depends on the category.
Competitive vs. niche categories
On that note, for prompts covering competitive categories, ChatGPT mentions about twice as many brands per 100 responses compared to the responses to prompts covering βnicheβ categories. (This lines up with the criteria I used to select the categories I studied.)
Simple vs. nuanced prompts
On average, ChatGPT mentioned slightly fewer brands in response to nuanced prompts. But this wasnβt a consistent pattern β for any given software category, sometimes nuanced questions ended up with more brands mentioned, and sometimes simple questions did.
This was a bit surprising, since I expected more specific requests (e.g., βFor a SOC analyst needing to triage security alerts from endpoints efficiently, whatβs the best EDR software?β) to consistently yield a narrower set of potential solutions from ChatGPT.
I think ChatGPT might not be better at tailoring a list of solutions to a specific use case because it doesnβt have a deep understanding of most brands. (More on this data in an upcoming note.)
In each individual response, ChatGPT will, on average, mention only 10 brands.
Thereβs quite a range, though β a minimum of 6 brands per response and a maximum of 15 when averaging across response sets.
But a single response typically names about 10 brands regardless of category or prompt type.
The big difference is in how much the pool of brands rotates across responses β competitive categories draw from a much deeper bench, even though each individual response names a similar count.
Everything old (in SEO) truly is new again (in GEO/AEO). It reminds me of trying to get a placement in one of Googleβs β10 blue linksβ.
Dig deeper: How to measure your AI search brand visibility and prove business impact
When you ask ChatGPT for a B2B software recommendation 100 different times, there are only ~5 brands, on average, that itβll mention 80%+ of the time.
To put it in context, thatβs just 11% of all the 44 brands itβll mention at all across those 100 responses.
So itβs quite competitive to become one of the brands ChatGPT consistently mentions whenever someone asks for recommendations in your category.
As youβd expect, these βdominantβ brands tend to be big, established brands with strong recognition. For example, the dominant brands in the accounting software category are QuickBooks, Xero, Wave, FreshBooks, Zoho, and Sage.
If youβre not a big brand, youβre better off being in a niche category:
When you operate in a niche category, not only are you literally competing with fewer companies, but there are also more βopen slotsβ available to you to become a dominant brand in ChatGPTβs responses.
In niche categories, 21% of all the brands ChatGPT mentions are dominant brands, getting mentioned 80%+ of the time.
Compare this to just 7% of all brands being dominant in competitive categories, where the majority of brands (72%) are languishing in the long tail, getting mentioned less than 20% of the time.
A nuanced prompt doesnβt dramatically change the long tail of little-seen brands (with <20% visibility), but it does change the βwinnerβs circle.β Adding persona context to a prompt makes it a bit more difficult to reach the dominant tier β you can see the steeper βcliffβ a brand has to climb in the βnuanced promptsβ graph above.
This makes intuitive sense: when someone asks βbest accounting software for a Head of Finance,β ChatGPT has a more specific answer in mind and commits a bit more strongly to fewer top picks.
Still, itβs worth noting that the overall pool doesnβt shrink much β ChatGPT mentions ~42 brands in 100 responses to nuanced prompts, just a handful fewer than the ~46 mentioned in response to simple prompts. If nuanced prompts make the winnerβs circle a bit more exclusive, why donβt they also narrow the total field?
Partly, it could be that the βnuancedβ questions we fed it werenβt meaningfully more narrow and specific than what was implied in the simple questions we asked.
But, based on other data Iβm seeing, I think this is partly about ChatGPT not knowing enough about most brands to be more selective. Iβll share more on this in an upcoming note.
Dig deeper: 7 hard truths about measuring AI visibility and GEO performance
Itβs never been more important to differentiate. 21% of mentioned brands reach dominant status in niche categories vs. 7% in competitive ones.
Without time and a lot of money for brand marketing, an upstart tech company isnβt going to become a dominant brand in a broad, established category like accounting software.
But the field is less competitive when you lean into your unique, differentiating strengths. ChatGPT is more likely to treat you like a dominant brand if you work to make your product known as βthe best accounting software for commercial real estate companies in North America.β
Given the inconsistency of ChatGPTβs recommendations, a single spot-check for any given prompt is nearly meaningless. Unfortunately, checking each prompt just once per time period is exactly what most AI visibility tracking tools do.
If you want anything approaching a statistically-significant visibility score for any given prompt, you need to run the prompt at least dozens of times, even 100+ times, depending on how precise you need the data to be.
But thatβs obviously not practical for most people, so my suggestion is: For the key, bottom-of-funnel prompts youβre tracking, run them each ~5 times whenever you pull data.
Thatβll at least give you a reasonable sense of whether your brand tends to show up most of the time, some of the time, or never.
Your goal should be to have a confident sense of whether your brand is in the little-seen long tail, the visible middle, or the dominant top-tier for any given prompt. Whether you use my tiers of βunder 20%β, β20β80%β, and β80%+β, or your own thresholds, this is the approach that follows the data and common sense.
Track, optimize, and win in Google and AI search from one platform.
In future newsletters and LinkedIn posts, Iβm going to build on these findings with new research:
This article was originally published on Visible on beehiiv (as Most AI visibility tracking is misleading (hereβs my new data)) and is republished with permission.
The depth of the combat system has always been the signature of the Nioh experience, and this is no different in Nioh 3. With the addition of a second fighting style, Ninja Style, combat is now deeper than ever, featuring so many unique techniques that let players play the way they want without penalty. While there's no real "correct" way to play the game, it's undeniable that some Martial Arts and Skills are more useful than others. Among the Skills you can equip, however, there is one called The More the Merrier that can take your gameplay to the next [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/how-to/enter-the-dojo-why-the-more-the-merrier-is-a-game-changing-skill-in-nioh-3/
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the second-fastest graphics card in the "Blackwell" lineup, and features solid performance. The card launched at $999 US, but since launch, we have seen the price hover above the MSRP with premium models retailing close to the $1500 US figure. This is 4090 territory, and while the previous flagship doesn't support DLSS 4 MFG besides the Blackwell enhancements, it is still a potent offering, making the 5080 slightly more difficult to recommend based on its perf/$. Despite that, those of you who want a new Blackwell enthusiast-grade card without spending over $2000 US for [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/review/asus-geforce-rtx-5080-noctua-edition-16-gb-gpu-review-silent-cooling-at-its-best/
Aqua Computer delivers active load balancing to 12V-2Γ6 GPUs with its AMPINEL add-on Aqua Computer has officially released an active power management device for 12V-2Γ6 graphics cards called the βAMPINELβ. This device adds three features to 12V-2Γ6/12VHPWR (16-pin) graphics cards. These are active current balancing, monitoring, and emergency shutdown support. For β¬99.90, it promises to [β¦]
The post 12V-2Γ6 Saviour? Aqua Computer launches its AMPINEL 12V-2Γ6 GPU power manager appeared first on OC3D.
New data shows that most web pages fall well below Googlebot's two-megabyte crawl limit.
The post New Data Shows Googlebotβs 2 MB Crawl Limit Is Enough appeared first on Search Engine Journal.
To celebrate the Chinese New Year, which lands in exactly one week, game developer Game Science has released six minutes of in-game footage from the upcoming game Black Myth: Zhong Kui, a follow-up to the massively successful Black Myth: Wukong. The content doesn't actually include anything that will be in the game itself; it's been crafted just for the celebration. However, it provides an early look at the visual upgrades that we'll see in the upcoming title. Black Myth: Wukong quickly became a sensation after its launch in August 2024, jumping to the second spot of Steam's all-time concurrent player [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/black-myth-zhong-kui-6-minutes-in-engine-footage/
Yesterday, Finnish developer Remedy Entertainment announced its new CEO. As you may remember, the previous Chief Executive Officer, Tero Virtala, left in late October after nine years in the studio following the financial disaster that was FBC: Firebreak. The game, Remedy's first online multiplayer release, utterly failed to deliver a fun, replayable experience, a basic requirement for any successful online multiplayer game. The newly appointed CEO is Jean-Charles Gaudechon. He has over twenty years of experience in the industry, including senior leadership roles at CCP Games and Electronic Arts, although recently he was a Senior Vice President and General/Group Manager [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/remedy-new-ceo-control-resonant-most-ambitious-game/
Samsungβs estimated chipset share of the Exynos 2600Β found in the upcoming Galaxy S26 series is said to be 25 percent, with Qualcommβs Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 accounting for the remaining tally. Fortunately, this figure could see a drastic uplift next year with the arrival of the Exynos 2700. According to an analyst, not only is the chipset expected to enter mass production in the second half of this year, but Qualcomm isnβt going to be enjoying the lionβs share of its chipsets powering the Galaxy S27 family. The latest report states that the Exynos 2700 share of the Galaxy [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/exynos-2700-enter-mass-production-h2-2026-increased-adopting-in-galaxy-s27/
The new Mini PC looks like a small version of the PlayStation 5 console, but it is much more powerful when it comes to performance. Minisforum Launches AtomMan G1 Pro Mini PC for Gamers and Creators, Delivering up to 245W of Power to the CPU-GPU Combo Popular mini PC maker Minisforum has launched a new powerful mini PC that looks like a PlayStation 5 console, but it's much more compact than the latter. Measuring just 3.8L, the AtomMan G1 Pro is a compact powerhouse that caters to the demands of gamers and content creators. AtomMan G1 Pro uses a while [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/minisforum-debuts-atomman-g1-pro-at-1428/
The new device can manage the load distribution to protect the 16-pin power connector, which is prone to melting. Aqua Computer Launches Ampinel at 100 Euros, Aimed to Mitigate the Notorious 16-pin GPU Power Connector Melting We now have a couple of devices to mitigate the connector melting issues on the GPUs, equipped with 16-pin power connectors. The latest one is called "Ampinel", launched by Aqua Computer, which was originally planned for a November 2025 launch. After some delay, the company has finally launched the device that aims to protect the 16-pin power connector (12V-2x6) from melting. Aqua Computer says [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/aqua-computer-launches-ampinel-to-protect-12v-2x6/
A Redditor has successfully installed the OpenClaw AI agent on MSI's Cubi Mini PC, which was running on the Linux OS. MSI's Cubi Mini PC Makes For A Tiny AI Agent Powerhouse, Runs OpenClaw Flawlessly on Linux OS Recently, AI Agents such as Clawbot, Motlbot, and OpenClaw have become very popular. These agents act as your personalized AI assistants and run on virtually any machine with persistent memory support and the ability for users to give access to the entire system. One user on Reddit has now successfully managed to run the OpenClaw AI Agent on his MSI Cubi Mini [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/user-installs-openclaw-ai-agent-on-msi-cubi-mini-pc-linux-os/
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At the second Google for Singapore event, Google announced new AI investments in the nation.To mark Safer Internet Day in the UK, weβre highlighting the ways students, parents and educators can work together to ensure safe, effective learning.From setting screeβ¦
Ship Poster helps founders create, schedule, and publish social content with AI. It learns your brand voice, generates captions and high-quality images, and auto-schedules posts across Instagram, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok, and Threads at optimal times. Plan weeks of marketing in minutes with bulk scheduling, cross-platform customization, and auto-publish. Manage campaigns, keep your calendar full, and focus on building while Ship Poster runs your social channels. Create stunning product shots of your app or SaaS using advanced image generation models.
AMD's next-generation Ryzen AI MAX SoCs, codenamed Medusa Halo, will feature support for LPDDR6 memory. AMD Medusa Halo "Ryzen AI MAX" SoCs To Elevate Bandwidth Performance With LPDDR6 Memory AMD's Ryzen AI MAX series saw two new additions at this year's CES, and the company is already working on the refresh for its first-gen Halo lineup. The first-generation Strix Halo series already maintains a super-premium position as an SoC for AI PCs, and with Gorgon Halo (Ryzen AI MAX 400), AMD will continue to push performance further with boosted CPU/GPU clocks and higher memory speeds. As for the true successor [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/amd-medusa-halo-ryzen-ai-max-socs-lpddr6-memory/
Spatial Split is the AI that handles expense admin for you. Drop in a screenshot or photo of anything, from scribbled notes and chat messages to invoices and receipts. The AI figures out who owes what in seconds, including item-by-item and uneven splits. If there's missing information, it asks your friends for you, keeps track, and follows up until you get paid.
Intel's Nova Lake-S Desktop CPUs featuring Dual Compute tiles are reportedly going to consume a lot of power. Intel's Mainstream Nova Lake Desktop CPUs To Consume HEDT-Like Power Intel is preparing its next-generation Nova Lake Desktop CPUs along with 900-series chipset boards that will feature the LGA 1954 socket. These will replace the existing Arrow Lake Desktop CPUs that utilize the 800-series chipset boards on the LGA 1851 socket. As per previous leaks, Intel's Nova Lake-S Desktop CPUs will feature two variants: a single compute tile offering with up to 28 cores and a dual compute tile offering with up [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/intel-nova-lake-desktop-cpus-dual-compute-tiles-consume-over-700w-power/
BazaarBound is a marketplace for digital downloads and on-demand work. Users can grab templates, graphics, design assets, documents, and other ready-made digital files, all delivered instantly. If someone needs actual help instead of a download, they can submit a request and have an expert complete the task for them. There is no need for browsing profiles or bidding, just a simple form and fast delivery. Creators can upload their products, offer services, or do both in one place. The platform handles delivery, organization, and communication so users can focus on getting work done.
It appears the chip tariff threat against TSMC has faded, as the Trump administration is considering exempting the Taiwan giant following significant US commitments. TSMC Sees Exemptions Under an Upcoming Tariff Scheme, Allowing the Giant to Benefit Its Customers Semiconductor tariffs have long been a concern for TSMC, especially since the company has faced demands to increase its commitments to American manufacturing or face tariffs of up to 100%. Given how important the Taiwan chip giant is to the global AI supply chain, a tariff wave would've disrupted operations, causing significant concern for hyperscalers and fabless customers. However, according to [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/tsmc-reportedly-spared-from-us-tariffs-after-mega-investments-in-arizona/
Weβre sharing our latest updates designed to support families, kids and teens in the digital world.
Yolly AI is a creative platform that puts video, image, and music generation in one place. You can choose from multiple AI models, including Kling, Veo, Runway, and Sora for video, as well as others for images and music. Generate what you need and download it, without switching between apps or managing multiple subscriptions. The platform operates on a credit system instead of fixed monthly plans, so you only pay for what you actually create. If you need a video today and an image tomorrow, you can use the same balance. It's built for creators who want to get things done without overthinking which tool to open.
The new AI video generator is producing better results than other rmodels.Β
Bing Webmaster Tools now shows publishers how often their content is cited in Copilot and AI-generated answers, with page-level data and grounding queries.
The post Bing Webmaster Tools Adds AI Citation Performance Data appeared first on Search Engine Journal.
Omnara is a mobile and web-based command center for AI coding agents like Claude Code. It decouples the agent from the local terminal, allowing developers to monitor progress, review changes, approve steps, and intervene in live coding sessions running on their local machine or started directly in the cloud, from anywhere.
With seamless session handoff across local and cloud environments and optional voice input, Omnara enables asynchronous workflows for long-running agent tasks, so ideas, fixes, and architectural decisions donβt have to wait until youβre back at your desk.
BIOS is an AI Scientist that ranked #1 on BixBench for biological data analysis. It offers human-in-the-loop checkpoints to steer investigations mid-flight or fully autonomous mode for uninterrupted deep researchβyou choose how much control to keep. Four specialized agents handle orchestration, literature review, data analysis, and novelty detection. A free tier is available, and academic users with .edu emails get full access free.
OpenAI is testing ads in ChatGPT for free and Go tiers in the U.S. Ads appear below responses, labeled as sponsored. Paid tiers remain ad-free.
The post OpenAI Begins Testing Ads In ChatGPT For Free And Go Users appeared first on Search Engine Journal.
Riot has announced that the 2XKO team, which just celebrated launching the new League of Legends-based 2v2 tag fighter out of early access less than a month ago on January 20, will lose 80 members of its development team in a round of layoffs. The news was confirmed in a blog post from the game's executive producer, Tom Cannon, who cited that despite the game doing well with its "core audience," the "overall momentum hasnβt reached the level needed to support a team of this size long term." While the statement itself doesn't cite the exact number of developers who [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/riot-games-lays-off-close-to-half-2xko-team/
In just a couple of months, consumers who were hunting for a boatload of deals quickly began βpanic buyingβ because the DRAM crisisΒ has forced manufacturers to introduce price hikes that have never been seen before. Even Lenovo, which is the largest notebook maker in the world, has urged customers to head out and make hardware upgrades as quickly as possible. However, what about those seeking an M5 MacBook Pro? Well, you can rest easy because these machines are going in the completely opposite direction, with two configurations sporting up to 24GB of unified RAM and a 1TB SSD going for [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/some-m5-macbook-pro-configurations-are-up-to-200-off-on-amazon/
MindsEye, from UK developer Build a Rocket Boy (BaRB), was arguably the worst game to come out in 2025. It was the worst game of last year by Metacritic's standards, reaching only a 37, and was called out ruthlessly for the broken state it arrived in on launch. While the studio has made several strides to update and fix the game and save the studio, a new report from GamesIndustry.Biz digs into whether that's even possible. According to some former members of BaRB staff, the answer is a resounding no. To say MindsEye and Build a Rocket Boy have had [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/mindseye-build-a-rocket-boy-leslie-benzies-mark-gerhard-dont-know-how-to-run-a-game-studio/
To mark Safer Internet Day in the UK, weβre highlighting the ways students, parents and educators can work together to ensure safe, effective learning.From setting screeβ¦Around the world, people of all ages β including young people β are using AI to learn. A few easy steps can help you do so more safely.PlayStation 6 leak suggests HUGE memory capacity upgrade, but not much more bandwidth Thanks to KeplerL2, new PlayStation 6 specifications have leaked online, revealing the memory capacities of the systemβs handheld and home console versions. The PS6 handheld will reportedly feature 24GB of LPDDR5X memory, while the PS6 console will feature 30GB of GDDR7 memory. [β¦]
The post Is this next-gen? Sony PlayStation 6 handheld and console specifications leak appeared first on OC3D.
A couple of months ago, independent developer Chaos Manufacturing unveiled its debut game, a sci-fi action roleplaying game titled SOL Shogunate. The game is quite different from your average science fiction setting: the developers describe it as a "samurai space opera". Essentially, the developers have imagined an alternate future in which humanity has colonized the Solar System, but society has somehow retained feudal Japanese culture. The game takes place primarily on the Moon, where the way of the sword is law under the rule of a powerful Shogunate. The Moon features artificial gravity-creating cities, each designed as an homage to [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/soul-shogunate-ex-cdpr-guerrilla-devs-samurai-space-opera-action-rpg/
YouTube is making a bigger push into CTV subscriptions.
Expanded considerations for Snap's AR Lens promotions.Β
Meta could be facing more costly penalties in Europe.
Helpmaton provides simple workspaces to create, run, and govern AI agents across your team. Agents remember conversations, schedule tasks, and connect to Gmail, Google Calendar, Drive, Notion, Slack, and Discord. It includes features such as document search, memory, web search, webhooks, per-agent budgets, and built-in analytics to track usage. You can quickly launch on the hosted service or self-host the source-available code when necessary.
Update 10/02/2026: Embark Studios has shared the patch notes for today's update and more details as to how ARC Raiders' new Shared Watch event works. Though it doesn't involve you queuing into a PvE-only mode, you're rewarded Merits only for damaging and taking down ARCs, whether by yourself or assisting other Raiders. Every 100XP you earn from damaging and destroying ARCs equals 1 Merit point, and you'll need 1,050 Merits to earn all of the awards in the event. As for the rest of the patch notes, there are a couple of notable fixes, but more notable is what's still [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/arc-raiders-cold-snap-shared-watch-pve-event-embark-studios/
As per Colorful, the new X3D AI Turbo feature can deliver a noticeable boost in gaming performance when users use Ryzen X3D chips. Colorful Announces X3D AI Turbo Mode, Delivering Nearly 8% Higher Average and 16% Higher 1% Low FPS on CVN 800-Series ARK Motherboards With the launch of Ryzen 7 9850X3D, a new gaming benchmark has been set, and motherboard makers are now designing special features to squeeze more performance out of the chip. AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D remains a competitive CPU that delivers nearly identical gaming performance to the 9850X3D, and considering millions of users already have 9800X3D [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/colorful-claims-its-x3d-ai-turbo-can-boost-ryzen-x3d-gaming-performance-by-8/
Now that we're roughly one year away from the planned launch of EXODUS, the Mass Effect-inspired sci-fi action RPG in development at Archetype Entertainment, the developers are starting to share more about the game. Speaking with Gamesradar, Narrative Director Drew Karpyshyn (who wrote the first three Mass Effect games while at BioWare) stressed that side content in EXODUS will always feel tied to the companions and the game's overarching themes, rather than being tacked on as in some roleplaying games. We don't want things to feel tacked-on. We definitely don't want you to feel like you're doing it because you're [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/exodus-side-content-tied-to-companions-and-game/
Last month, Blizzard Entertainment announced that it would host four showcase events for its biggest ongoing franchises, to update players on what's next for each series. We've already seen the showcases for World of Warcraft and Overwatch, with today's Hearthstone presentation coming next, followed by a Diablo showcase later this week. But you might have noticed that one major franchise is missing from that list: StarCraft. In fairness, it's not surprising that StarCraft was left out of getting a showcase to start the year, only because it's been years since we've seen a new entry in the StarCraft series. When [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/nexon-starcraft-shooter-blizzard-entertainment/
The HBM markets are now seeing a shift in momentum following the validation and production stages of HBM4, and it appears Korean memory giants will be in the spotlight this time. Micron Faces Validation Challenges With HBM4, Giving Ample Room For Samsung to Snatch Market Share With Vera Rubin and the Instinct MI400 series, major chip manufacturers have shifted their focus to integrating HBM4. This technological leap combines logic and memory into a single package, delivering higher performance benefits. We won't go into much depth. However, from an industry POV, the HBM market share, primarily distributed between SK hynix, Micron, [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/the-memory-industry-is-at-a-turning-point-with-hbm4/
Now, users can set an automated message to be sent when they arrive at a chosen location.Β
X ranked responses to Super Bowl ads in real time using AI analysis.
Eighty million people use Reddit search every week, Reddit said on its Q4 2025 earnings call last week. The increase followed a major change: Reddit merged its core search with its AI-powered Reddit Answers and began positioning the platform as a place where users can start β and finish β their searches.
Why we care. Reddit is becoming a place where people start β and complete β their searches without ever touching Google. For brands, that means visibility on Reddit now matters as much as ranking in traditional and AI search for many buying decisions.
Redditβs search ambitions. CEO Steve Huffman said Reddit made βsignificant progressβ in Q4 by unifying keyword search with Reddit Answers, its AI-driven Q&A experience. Users can now move between standard search results and AI answers in a single interface, with Answers also appearing directly inside search results.
Reddit Answers is growing. Reddit Answers is driving much of that growth. Huffman said Answers queries jumped from about 1 million a year ago to 15 million in Q4, while overall search usage rose sharply in parallel.
Search is a βbig oneβ for Reddit. Huffman said the company is testing new app layouts that give search prominent placement, including versions with a large, always-visible search bar at the top of the home screen.
AI answers make Reddit more important. Huffman also linked Redditβs search push to its partnerships with Google and OpenAI. He said Reddit content is now the most-cited source in AI-generated answers, highlighting the platformβs growing influence on how people find information.
Reddit earnings. Reddit Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results; Announces $1 Billion Share Repurchase Program
OpenAI confirmed today that itβs rolling out its first live test of ads in ChatGPT, showing sponsored messages directly inside the app for select users.
The details. The ads will appear in a clearly labeled section beneath the chat interface, not inside responses, keeping them visually separate from ChatGPTβs answers.
How ads are selected. During the test, OpenAI matches ads to conversation topics, past chats, and prior ad interactions.
User controls. Users get granular controls over the experience. They can dismiss ads, view and delete separate ad history and interest data, and toggle personalization on or off.
Why we care. ChatGPT is one of the worldβs largest consumer AI platforms. Even a limited ad rollout could mark a major shift in how conversational AI gets monetized β and how brands reach users.
Bottom line. OpenAI is officially moving into ads inside ChatGPT, testing how sponsored content can coexist with conversational AI at massive scale.
OpenAIβs announcement.Testing ads in ChatGPT (OpenAI)
Googleβs AI Mode isnβt more likely to cite content that appears βabove the fold,β according to a study from SALT.agency, a technical SEO and content agency.
Pixel depth doesnβt matter. AI Mode cited text from across entire pages, including content buried thousands of pixels down.
Page layout affects depth, not visibility. Templates and design choices influenced how far down the cited text appeared, but not whether it was cited.
Descriptive subheadings matter. One consistent pattern emerged: AI Mode frequently highlighted a subheading and the sentence that followed it.
What Google is likely doing. SALT believes AI Mode relies on the same fragment indexing technology Google has used for years. Pages are broken into sections, and the most relevant fragment is retrieved regardless of where it appears on the page.
What theyβre saying. While the study examined only one structural factor and one AI model, the takeaway is clear: thereβs no magic formula for AI Mode visibility. Dan Taylor, partner and head of innovation (organic and AI) at SALT.agency, said:
Why we care. The findings challenge the idea that AI-specific templates or rigid page structures drive better AI Mode visibility. Chasing βAI-optimizedβ layouts may distract from work that actually matters.
About the research. SALT analyzed 2,318 unique URLs cited in AI Mode responses for high-value queries across travel, ecommerce, and SaaS. Using a Chrome bookmarklet and a 1920Γ1080 viewport, researchers recorded the vertical pixel position of the first highlighted character in each AI-cited fragment. They also cataloged layouts and elements, such as hero sections, FAQs, accordions, and tables of contents.
The study. Research: Does Structuring Your Content Improve the Chances of AI Mode Surfacing?
A newly discovered settings panel offers a first detailed look at how ads could work inside ChatGPT, including how personalization and privacy controls are designed.
Driving the news. Entrepreneur Juozas KaziukΔnas found a way to trigger ChatGPTβs upcoming ad settings interface. The panel repeatedly stresses that advertisers wonβt see user chats, history, memories, personal details, or IP addresses.
What the settings reveal. The interface lays out a structured ad system with dedicated controls:
Personalization options. Users can turn ad personalization on or off. When itβs on, ChatGPT uses saved ad history and interest signals to tailor ads. When itβs off, ads still appear but rely only on the current conversation for context.
Why we care. This settings panel offers the clearest view yet of how ad personalization and privacy controls could work with ChatGPT ads. It points to a system built on strict privacy boundaries. The controls suggest ads will rely on contextual signals and opt-in personalization, not deep user tracking. That shift makes creative relevance and in-conversation intent more important than traditional audience profiling for brands preparing for conversational ad environments.
The bigger picture. The discovery suggests OpenAI is building an ad system that mirrors familiar controls from major ad platforms while prioritizing clear privacy boundaries and user choice.
Bottom line. ChatGPT ads arenβt live yet, but the framework is coming into focus β pointing to a future where conversational ads come with granular privacy and personalization controls.
First seen. KaziukΔnas shared the preview of the platform on LinkedIn.
Did you know, Google co-founder Larry Page attempted to sell the search engine for $1.6 million?
Discord is rolling out age verification worldwide, requiring a face scan or ID for full access starting next month. New and unverified accounts will move to a "teen" setting by default. That means tighter content filters, and safer DM handling with warnings and separate inboxes for messages from unfamiliar users.
LLM API unifies access to over 100 language models with an OpenAI-compatible endpoint, allowing for a single integration that lets you switch providers without code changes. It manages API keys, routes requests to cost-effective models that meet quality targets, and offers semantic caching to reduce costs.
The dashboard lets you track tokens, costs, errors, and reliability by model and provider. You can invite your team, issue per-user keys, and monitor performance and usage across projects while keeping keys secure.
Callum Vinson, who you might recognize from the Chucky TV series or the recent mini series, Long Bright River, has been tapped to play Atreus in Amazon's God of War TV series, a new report from Variety has confirmed. It's the latest major casting announcement for the show, with Vinson joining the likes of Mandy Patinkin, Teresa Palmer, Max Parker, Danny Woodburn, and Γlafur Darri Γlafsson, to name a few. That said, we'll mostly see Vinson alongside Ryan Hurst, who is set to lead the show as Kratos. The official character description and logline for the show, included in Variety's [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/callum-vinson-will-play-atreus-in-amazons-god-of-war-tv-show/
Krafton, the Korean publisher mostly known for being the shepherd of PUBG, who also gained a fair bit of notoriety last year for its ongoing legal battle with the founders of Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds, has reached an "all-time high" in revenue, according to its latest financial results. With growth driven by PUBG for a fifth consecutive year, Krafton surpassed β©3 trillion ($2.05 billion) in revenue. Most of that revenue growth came from its mobile sector, which brought in β©1.7 trillion ($1.1 billion), followed by PC titles bringing in β©1.1 trillion ($751 million), while consoles contributed β©42.8 billion ($29 million). [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/the-ai-first-pubg-publisher-krafton-reaches-all-time-high-2b-in-revenue/
Lenovo's official has spoken about the state of the PC supply chain, revealing that channel partners and consumers should secure hardware with the utmost urgency. Lenovo's VP Says that "Pricing Sensitivity" With the AI Buildout Is High, Making Current Prices the Most Attractive Well, 2026 isn't a great year for gamers at all, considering the shortages we are seeing across multiple component segments, and, more importantly, there isn't a clear direction for consumers. Given that many of us are involved in the usual 'upgrade cycle', there is uncertainity about how the PC market will evolve moving forward, or whether there [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/lenovo-sounds-the-alarm-for-gamers-urging-hardware-purchases-as-soon-as-possible/
ASRock releases fresh AM5 motherboard updates with βno-bootβ fix ASRock has just released a new wave of beta BIOS versions that upgrade their AMD/AM5 motherboards to AGESA 1.3.0.0a. This new BIOS revision delivers βoptimised memory compatibilityβ and resolves βno-bootβ issues on ASRock motherboards. This can resolve boot failures on ASRock AM5 motherboards βon certain CPUsβ. [β¦]
The post ASRock unveils βno-bootβ BIOS fix for AMD AM5 motherboards appeared first on OC3D.
Apple recently launched the AirPods Pro 3 with a single marquee feature, one relating to Apple Intelligence. However, if the latest tidbit pans out, the device's next iteration would be all about spatial perception. A tipster declares that the next AirPods Pro will be able to "see around you" For the uninitiated, Apple's newΒ AirPods Pro 3Β feature smaller earbuds that offer a better fit, an improved spatial listening experience, up to 2x more effective noise cancelation, live translation powered by Apple Intelligence, a heart rate sensor, an 8-hour long battery, and IP57 sweat and water resistance, all for just $249. However, [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/apples-next-airpods-pro-will-reportedly-be-able-to-see-around-you/
As promised, ASRock has started rolling out the latest BIOS for improving overall system stability on its AM5 motherboards. ASRock Rolls Out Beta BIOS Version 4.0.7.AS01 on 600 and 800-Series Motherboards; Aims at Resolving Boot Failure and Optimizing Memory Compatibility ASRock has started rolling out new BIOS updates for several of its AM5 motherboards as promised in a recent statement. After acknowledging Ryzen 9000 CPU failures on its AM5 motherboards, the company said it has started investigating the issues alongside AMD to mitigate CPU failures. We have been seeing numerous CPU failure reports surfacing almost daily, and sometimes as many [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/asrock-releases-beta-bios-with-agesa-1-3-0-0a-firmware-to-improve-system-stability-on-am5-platforms/
Streamlining Kiryu's retirement down to a thirty-hour adventure cuts away so much of the original Yakuza 3 charm and replaces it with poor casting choices.
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/review/yakuza-kiwami-3/
As predicted by reliable insider NateTheHate two weeks ago, Sony has announced that it will host a State of Play event this coming Thursday, February 12, 2026, at 2pm PT / 5pm ET / 10pm BT. Unlike Nintendo's recent Partner Showcase Direct, which only featured announcements from third-party games, this showcase promises to feature "eye-catching third-party and indie games headed to PS5, along with the latest from teams at PlayStation Studios." That's from the PlayStation Blog post announcing the event, which also adds that this showcase will last for over an hour when it's all said and done, with "60+ [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/sony-state-of-play-february-2026-announced/
NVIDIA has been in a race to source DRAM for its AI accelerators and memory products, but the real edge, of course, is Jensen's unique relationships with Korean memory giants. NVIDIA's CEO Just Met With SK's Chairman In a "Fried Chicken" Dinner, Discussing SOCAMM & HBM4 DRAM is proving to be essential for AI chip manufacturers that have been in severe shortages for several quarters now. This is mainly driven by hyperscaler demand, the sudden rise in demand for general-purpose DRAM products such as LPDDR, DDR, and GDDR. More importantly, NVIDIA and others see HBM as an integral part of [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/nvidia-ceo-fried-chicken-dinners-are-what-keep-him-ahead-in-the-race-to-source-memory/
ARC Raiders has a lot of threats its players need to contend with. Other players are, of course, near or arguably at the top of that list. Everything else on that list, however, is the ARCs. The robots that come in various shapes and sizes, some more difficult to destroy than others, all of them dangerous, and all of them, to some degree, annoying to deal with. This guide will take you through the most annoying ones, most of which are also the ones you'll have to deal with practically every time you go Topside, and how to deal with [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/how-to/arc-raiders-guide-the-most-annoying-arcs-and-how-to-deal-with-them/
Generative engine optimization (GEO) represents a shift from optimizing for keyword-based ranking systems to optimizing for how generative search engines interpret and assemble information.Β
While the inner workings of generative AI are famously complex, patents and research papers filed by major tech companies such as Google and Microsoft provide concrete insight into the technical mechanisms underlying generative search. By analyzing these primary sources, we can move beyond speculation and into strategic action.
This article analyzes the most insightful patents to provide actionable lessons for three core pillars of GEO: query fan-out, large language model (LLM) readability, and brand context.
Patents and research papers are primary, evidence-based sources that reveal how AI search systems actually work. The knowledge gained from these sources can be used to draw concrete conclusions about how to optimize these systems. This is essential in the early stages of a new discipline such as GEO.
Patents and research papers reveal technical mechanisms and design intent. They often describe retrieval architectures, such as:Β
Knowing these mechanisms explains why LLM readability, chunk relevance, and brand and context signals matter.
Primary sources reduce reliance on hype and checklists. Secondary sources, such as blogs and lists, can be misleading. Patents and research papers let you verify claims and separate evidence-based tactics from marketing-driven advice.
Patents enable hypothesis-driven optimization. Understanding the technical details helps you form testable hypotheses, such as how content structure, chunking, or metadata might affect retrieval, ranking, and citation, and design small-scale experiments to validate them.
In short, patents and research papers provide the technical grounding needed to:
This makes them a central resource for learning and practicing generative engine optimization and SEO.Β
Thatβs why Iβve been researching patents for more than 10 years and founded the SEO Research Suite, the first database for GEO- and SEO-related patents and research papers.
The SEO toolkit you know, plus the AI visibility data you need.
In many discussions about generative engine optimization, too little distinction is made between the different goals that GEO can pursue.
One goal is improving the citability of LLMs so your content is cited more often as the source. I refer to this as LLM readability optimization.
Another goal is brand positioning for LLMs, so a brand is mentioned more often by name. I refer to this as brand context optimization.
Each of these goals relies on different optimization strategies. Thatβs why they must be considered separately.
Understanding the following three concepts is strategically critical.Β
These pillars represent fundamental shifts in how machines interpret queries, process content, and understand brands, forming the foundation for advanced GEO strategies.Β
They are the new rules of digital information retrieval.
LLM readability is the practice of optimizing content so it can be effectively processed, deconstructed, and synthesized by LLMs.Β
It goes beyond human readability and includes technical factors such as:Β
Brand context optimization moves beyond page-level optimization to focus on how AI systems synthesize information across an entire web domain.Β
The goal is to build a holistic, unified characterization of a brand. This involves ensuring your overall digital presence tells a consistent and coherent story that an AI system can easily interpret.
Query fan-out is the process by which a generative engine deconstructs a userβs initial, often ambiguous query into multiple specific subqueries, themes, or intents.Β
This allows the system to gather a more comprehensive and relevant set of information from its index before synthesizing a final generated answer.
These three pillars are not theoretical. They are actively being built into the architecture of modern search, as the following patents and research papers reveal.
Before a generative engine can answer a question, it must first develop a clear understanding of the userβs true intent.Β
The patents below describe a multi-step process designed to deconstruct ambiguity, explore topics comprehensively, and ensure the final answer aligns with a confirmed user goal rather than the initial keywords alone.
Microsoftβs βDeep search using large language modelsβ patent (US20250321968A1) outlines a system that prioritizes intent by confirming a userβs true goal before delivering highly relevant results.Β
Instead of treating an ambiguous query as a single event, the system transforms it into a structured investigation.
The process unfolds across several key stages:
The key insight from this patent is that search is evolving into a system that resolves ambiguity first.Β
Final results are tailored to a userβs specific, confirmed goal, representing a fundamental departure from traditional keyword-based ranking.
Googleβs βthematic searchβ patent (US12158907B1) provides the architectural blueprint for features such as AI Overviews. The system is designed to automatically identify and organize the most important subtopics related to a query.Β
It analyzes top-ranked documents, uses an LLM to generate short summary descriptions of individual passages, and then clusters those summaries to identify common themes.
The direct implication is a shift from a simple list of links to a guided exploration of a topicβs most important facets.Β
This process organizes information for users and allows the engine to identify which themes consistently appear across top-ranking documents, forming a foundational layer for establishing topical consensus.
The concept of synthetic queries in Googleβs βSearch with stateful chatβ patent (US20240289407A1) reveals another layer of intent understanding.Β
The system generates new, relevant queries based on a userβs entire session history rather than just the most recent input.Β
By maintaining a stateful memory of the conversation, the engine can predict logical next steps and suggest follow-up queries that build on previous interactions.
The key takeaway is that queries are no longer isolated events. Instead, theyβre becoming part of a continuous, context-aware dialogue.Β
This evolution requires content to do more than answer a single question. It must also fit logically within a broader user journey.
Once a generative engine has disambiguated user intent and fanned out the query, its next challenge is to find and evaluate content chunks that can precisely answer those subqueries. This is where machine readability becomes critical.Β
The following patents and research papers show how engines evaluate content at a granular, passage-by-passage level, rewarding clarity, structure, and factual density.
The GINGER research paper introduces a methodology for improving the factual accuracy of AI-generated responses. Its core concept involves breaking retrieved text passages into minimal, verifiable information units, referred to as nuggets.
By deconstructing complex information into atomic facts, the system can more easily trace each statement back to its source, ensuring every component of the final answer is grounded and verifiable.
The lesson from this approach is clear: Content should be structured as a collection of self-contained, fact-dense nuggets.Β
Each paragraph or statement should focus on a single, provable idea, making it easier for an AI system to extract, verify, and accurately attribute that information.
Googleβs βSelecting answer spansβ patent (US11481646B2) describes a system that uses a multilevel neural network to identify and score specific text spans, or chunks, within a document that best answer a given question.Β
The system evaluates candidate spans, computes numeric representations based on their relationship to the query, and assigns a final score to select the single most relevant passage.
The key insight is that the relevance of individual paragraphs is evaluated with intense scrutiny. This underscores the importance of content structure, particularly placing a direct, concise answer immediately after a question-style heading.Β
The patent provides the technical justification for the answer-first model, a core principle of modern GEO strategy.
Googleβs βWeighted answer termsβ patent (US10019513B1) explains how search engines establish a consensus around what constitutes a correct answer.
This patent is closely associated with featured snippets, but the technology Google developed for featured snippets is one of the foundational methodologies behind passage-based retrieval used today by AI search systems to select passages for answers.
The system identifies common question phrases across the web, analyzes the text passages that follow them, and creates a weighted term vector based on terms that appear most frequently in high-quality responses.Β
For a query such as βWhy is the sky blue?β terms like βRayleigh scatteringβ and βatmosphereβ receive high weights.
The key lesson is that to be considered an accurate and authoritative source, content must incorporate the consensus terminology used by other expert sources on the topic.Β
Deviating too far from this established vocabulary can cause content to be scored poorly for accuracy, even when it is factually correct.
While earlier patents focus on the micro level of queries and content chunks, this final piece operates at the macro level. The engine must understand not only what is being said but also who is saying it.Β
This is the essence of brand context, representing a shift from optimizing individual pages to projecting a coherent brand identity across an entire domain.Β
The following patent shows how AI systems are designed to interpret an entity by synthesizing information from across its full digital presence.
The methodology described in Googleβs βData extraction using LLMsβ patent (WO2025063948A1) outlines a system that treats an entire website as a single input to an LLM. The system scans and interprets content from multiple pages across a domain to generate a single, synthesized characterization of the entity.Β
This is not a copy-and-paste summary but a new interpretation of the collected information that is better suited to an intended purpose, such as an ad or summary, while still passing quality checks that verbatim text might fail.
The patent also explains that this characterization is organized into a hierarchical graph structure with parent and leaf nodes, which has direct implications for site architecture:
| Patent concept | Corresponding GEO strategy |
| Parent Nodes (Broad attributes like βServicesβ) | Create broad, high-level βhubβ pages for core business categories (e.g., /services/). |
| Leaf Nodes (Specific details like βPricingβ) | Develop specific, granular βspokeβ pages for detailed offerings (e.g., /services/emergency-plumbing/). |
The key implication is that every page on a website contributes to a single brand narrative.
Inconsistent messaging, conflicting terminology, or unclear value propositions can cause an AI system to generate a fragmented and weak entity characterization, reducing a brandβs authority in the systemβs interpretation.
These technical documents arenβt merely theoretical. They provide a clear, actionable playbook for aligning content and digital strategy with the core mechanics of generative search. The principles revealed in these patents form a direct guide for implementation.
Based on the βDeep Searchβ and βThematic Searchβ patents, the focus must shift from targeting single keywords to comprehensively answering the specific, disambiguated intents a user may have.
Actionable adviceΒ
Synthesizing lessons from the GINGER paper, the βanswer spansβ patent, and LLM readability guidance, itβs clear that structure is critical for AI processing.
Actionable advice
Apply the following structural rules to your content:
Drawing directly from the βData extraction using LLMsβ patent, domainwide consistency is no longer a nice-to-have. Itβs a technical requirement for building a strong brand context.
Actionable advice
The βWeighted answer termsβ patent shows that AI systems validate answers by comparing them against an established consensus vocabulary.
Actionable advice
The parent-leaf node structure described in the entity characterization patent provides a direct blueprint for effective site architecture.
Actionable advice
These five principles arenβt isolated tactics.Β
They form a single, integrated strategy in which site architecture reinforces the brand narrative, content structure enables machine extraction, and both align to answer a userβs true, disambiguated intent.
Track, optimize, and win in Google and AI search from one platform.
Patents and research papers from the worldβs leading technology companies offer a clear view of the future of search.Β
Generative engine optimization is fundamentally about making information machine-interpretable at two critical levels:Β
By studying these documents, you can shift from a reactive approach of chasing algorithm updates to a proactive one of building digital assets aligned with the core principles of how generative AI understands, structures, and presents information.
If youβre relying on GA4 alone to measure the impact of AI SEO, youβre navigating with a broken compass.
Donβt misunderstand me. Itβs a reasonable launch pad. But to understand how audiences discover, evaluate, and ultimately choose brands, measurement must move beyond the bounds of Googleβs tooling.
SEO is a journey, not a destination. If you optimize only for attributable visits, large parts of that journey disappear from view.
Sessions are an outcome. They canβt contextualize consideration sets increasingly shaped by algorithms and AI well before a visit ever happens.
Donβt lose potential customers in the Bermuda Triangle of traditional SEO measurement. Harness the power of share of voice to steer user intent. Guide them to you by mapping your brand visibility in AI analytics.
Links are becoming more prevalent in AI systems. Traffic is climbing. GA4 makes it easy to set up a custom report to track these sessions.
Create an exploration with βsession source / mediumβ as the dimension and βsessionsβ as the metric. Then apply this regex filter on the referrer:
Login.*(chatgpt|openai|claude|gemini|bard|copilot|perplexity|you\.com|meta\.ai|grok|huggingface|deepseek|mistral|manus|alexaplus|edgeservices|poe).*Donβt be concerned if the output report is messy. Thatβs normal. Many AI systems send multiple sets of partial referral information. Some send none at all, so sessions appear as dark traffic.
This report is an easy first step. But donβt be fooled into thinking it can measure the impact of AI on your brand on its own.
The most viewed AI outputs β Googleβs AI Overviews and AI Mode β canβt be seen here. They are attributed to either βgoogle / organicβ or β(direct) / (none),β depending on how the user accessed Google.
With these limitations, looking only at GA4 traffic from generative AI is not a holistic enough data source to understand the reality of usage by your target audience and the impact on your brand.
Other data sources are needed.
Dig deeper: LLM optimization in 2026: Tracking, visibility, and whatβs next for AI discovery
The SEO toolkit you know, plus the AI visibility data you need.
Bing Webmaster Tools technically reports Copilot data. But in the most Microsoftesque fashion, chat is combined with web metrics, obscuring the chat data and making the report ineffective for understanding the impact of generative AI.
This approach laid the foundation for Google Search Console to do the same. AI Overviews and AI Mode impressions and clicks are lumped in with Search, and the Gemini app is not included at all.
What you can do is look for more conversational-style queries using a Google Search Console regex, such as:
^(who|what|whats|when|where|wheres|why|how|which|should)\b|.*\b(benefits of|difference between|advantages|disadvantages|examples of|meaning of|guide to|vs|versus|compare|comparison|alternative|alternatives|types of|ways to|tips|pros|cons|worth it|best|top)\b.*But this is becoming less valuable as query fan-out becomes the standard, making synthetic queries indistinguishable from human queries while inflating impression numbers.
Worse, both GSC and BWT will become increasingly myopic as websites are bypassed by MCP connections or accessed directly by AI agents.
Again, other data sources are needed.
Both Google and ChatGPT offer AI agents that can browse and, with permission, convert on a humanβs behalf.
When an AI agent uses a text-based browser, it canβt be tracked by cookie-based analytics.
If the agent switches to a visual browser, it often accepts cookies, 78% of the time in my testing. But this creates problems in GA4:
On the plus side, agentic conversions are recorded, but they are attributed to direct traffic.
As a result, many SEOs are turning to bot logs, where AI agent requests can be identified. But those requests are not a headcount of humans sending agents to complete tasks.
When an agent renders a page in a visual browser, it fires multiple requests for every asset. CSS. JS. Images. Fonts. A bloated front end equals inflated request counts, making raw volume a vanity metric.
The insight lies not in totals, but in paths.
Follow the request flow through the site to the conversion success page. If there are plenty of requests but none reach the conversion path, you know the journey is broken.
Track, optimize, and win in Google and AI search from one platform.
Dig deeper: How to segment traffic from LLMs in GA4
To track the impact of AI SEO, you need to reassess your reporting.Β
Its benefits extend beyond the bounds of GA4, Google Search Console, and log file analysis, all of which assume the user reached your website directly from an AI surface. Thatβs not required for brand value.
Many SEO tools are now adding AI tracking, or are built entirely around it. The methodology is imperfect, with chat outcomes that are probabilistic, not deterministic. Itβs similar to running focus groups.
With an unbiased sample, unbiased prompts, and regular testing, the resulting trends are valuable, even if any individual response is not. They reveal the set of brands an AI system associates with a given intent, forming a consensus view of a credible consideration set.
But AI search analytics tools are not all created equal.
Make sure your tool tracks not only website citations, but also in-chat brand mentions and citations of brand assets such as social media profiles, videos, map listings, and apps.
These are no less valuable than a website link. Recognizing this reflects SEOβs growth.
As an industry, we are returning to meaningful marketing KPIs like share of voice. Understanding brand visibility for relevant intents is what ultimately drives market share.
Itβs not SEOβs job to optimize a website. Itβs to build a well-known, top-rated, and trusted digital brand. That is the foundation of visibility across every organic surface.
Weβve all been there. A client wants to scale their Google Ads account from β¬10,000 per month to β¬100,000. So, you do what any good PPC manager would do:
Three months later, youβve increased ad spend by 15%. The client isβ¦ fine with it. But you know you should be doing better.
Hereβs the uncomfortable truth: Most pay-per-click (PPC) optimization work is sophisticated procrastination.
The theory of constraints, developed by Eliyahu Goldratt for manufacturing systems, reveals something counterintuitive. Every system is limited by exactly one bottleneck at any given time.
Making your marketing team twice as efficient wonβt help if production capacity is the constraint. Similarly, improving your ad copy click-through rate (CTR) by 20% wonβt move the needle if your real constraint is budget approval or landing page conversion rate.
The theory demands radical focus. Identify the single weakest link and treat everything else as less important.
Applied to PPC, this means: Stop optimizing everything. Find your number one constraint. Fix only that and then move on.
In my years of managing PPC accounts, Iβve found that almost every scaling challenge falls into one of seven categories:
Signal: You could profitably spend more, but youβre capped by client approval.
Example: Your campaigns are profitable at β¬10,000 per month with room to spend β¬50,000, but your client wonβt approve the additional budget. Sometimes itβs risk aversion, but other times itβs a cash flow issue.Β
The fix: Build a business case demonstrating profitability with a higher spend. Show historical return on ad spend (ROAS), competitive benchmarks, and projected returns.
What to ignore: Avoid ad copy testing, keyword expansion, bidding optimization, and new campaigns. None of this matters if you canβt spend more money anyway.
Dig deeper: PPC campaign budgeting and bidding strategies
Signal: Youβre already capturing 90%+ impression share and canβt buy more traffic.
Example: Youβre targeting a niche B2B market with only 1,000 relevant searches per month.
The fix: Expand to related keywords or use broader match types. Alternatively, enter new geographic markets or add complementary platforms like Microsoft Ads or LinkedIn Ads.
What to ignore: Donβt worry about bidding optimization, since youβre already buying almost all available impressions.
Signal: You have high impression share but low CTRs, resulting in a premium cost per click (CPC).
Example: Youβre showing ads on 80% of searches, but CTR is 2% when the industry average is 5%.
The fix: Aggressively test ad copy, better message-market fit, and more compelling.
What to ignore: Avoid keyword expansion. Your ads are already visible, they just arenβt getting clicks.
Signal: Youβre generating strong traffic volume and acceptable CPC, but terrible conversion rates.
Example: Youβre getting 10,000 clicks per month. But you have a 1% conversion rate when you should be getting 5%+.
The fix: Optimize landing pages, improve offers, and refine sales funnels.
What to ignore: Donβt launch more traffic campaigns. Youβre already wasting the traffic you have.
Signal: Your campaigns could generate more leads. But the clientβs sales or operations team canβt handle more.
Example: Youβre generating 500 leads per month, but sales can only process 100.
The fix: This is a client operations issue, not a PPC issue. Help them identify it, but know that the solution lies outside your control. Do more business consulting for your client while maintaining the current PPC level.
What to ignore: Pause all PPC optimization, as the system canβt absorb more volume.
Signal: You can scale volume, but cost per acquisition (CPA) is too high to be profitable.
Example: You need β¬50 CPA to break even, but youβre currently at β¬80 CPA.
The fix: Improve unit economics through better targeting or creative optimization. Alternatively, help the client rethink their pricing or improve customer lifetime value (LTV).
What to ignore: Set aside volume tactics until the economics work at the current scale.
Signal: Attribution is broken, so you canβt confidently scale the campaign.
Example: Youβre seeing complex multi-touch customer journeys where you canβt definitively prove PPCβs contribution.
The fix: Implement better tracking and test different tracking stacks (e.g., server-side, fingerprinting, or cookie-based). You can also update your attribution modeling or develop first-party data capabilities.
What to ignore: Avoid scaling any channel until you know what actually drives results.
Dig deeper: How to track and measure PPC campaigns
Identifying your constraint requires methodical analysis rather than gut feeling. Hereβs how to uncover whatβs holding your account back.
Start by benchmarking critical metrics:
Donβt overlook operational metrics either. Check fulfillment capacity by determining how many leads your clientβs team can handle per month.
Finally, document your approved budget against what you could profitably spend. If thereβs a sizable difference, budget approval is your primary constraint.
With your audit complete, resist the temptation to create a prioritized list. Instead, force yourself to answer one question: βIf I could only fix one of these metrics, which would unlock 10x growth?β
That single metric is your constraint. Everything else, regardless of how suboptimal it appears, is secondary until youβve broken through this bottleneck.
Once youβve identified your primary constraint, itβs time to change your entire approach. This is where marketers tend to fail. They acknowledge the constraint but continue hedging their efforts across multiple fronts.
Understanding constraint theory means recognizing that bottlenecks shift as you scale.
Consider a typical scaling journey. In month one, youβre stuck at a β¬10,000 monthly budget despite profitable performance metrics.
Your constraint is budget, so leadership wonβt approve more ad spend. You build the business case, secure approval, and immediately scale to β¬30,000 monthly spend.
Success, right? Not quite. Youβve just revealed the next constraint.
By month two, youβre capturing 95% of core keyword inventory. Your new constraint is impression share, as youβve exhausted available traffic in your primary audience.
The fix is to expand to related terms and broader match types to bring new searchers into your funnel. This expansion takes you to β¬50,000 per month.
Month three presents a new challenge. Your expanded traffic converts at 2% while your original core traffic maintains 5% conversion rates. Your constraint has shifted to conversion rate.
The broader audience needs different messaging or a modified landing page experience. So, you focus exclusively on improving the post-click experience until conversion rate recovers to 4%. This lets you scale to β¬80,000 per month.
By month four, your sales team is drowning in 500 leads per month, which more than they can effectively manage. Your constraint shifts from the PPC account to fulfillment capacity. The client hires additional sales staff to handle volume, and you scale to β¬120,000 per month.
Each new constraint is proof youβve graduated to the next level. Many accounts never experience the problem of fulfillment constraints because they never break through the earlier barriers of budget and inventory.
When you try to optimize everything, you might spend:
After investing 30 hours, you only achieve 5% account growth.
Instead, identify the primary constraint (e.g., conversion rate).Then, invest all 30 hours in landing page optimization. Continue to monitor your conversion rate.
Say your budget is capped by the client at β¬10,000 by client. But you spend 20 hours testing Performance Max because itβs new and interesting.
After running those tests, you achieve zero scale. And your budget is still capped at β¬10,000.
Instead, recognize that your primary constraint is budget approval. Build a business case, secure approval, and start scaling immediately.
If you wait for perfect Google Analytics 4 tracking before scaling,Β competitors may move forward with good enough attribution.
This can mean losing six months with no scale.
Aim for 80% accurate tracking. Perfect attribution is rarely the actual constraint.
Donβt say: βWeβll optimize your campaigns across multiple dimensions, bidding, creative, targeting, and see what drives the best results.β
Instead, say this: βBefore we optimize anything, I need to diagnose your constraint. Once I identify it, Iβll focus exclusively on fixing that bottleneck while maintaining everything else. When itβs resolved, weβll tackle the next constraint. This is how weβll reach your goals.β
Implement a Constraint Monday ritual. Every Monday, each account manager identifies the primary constraint for their top three accounts. The team focuses the weekβs efforts on moving those specific constraints.
On Friday, review the results. Did the constraint move?
The difference between a good PPC manager and a great one isnβt technical skill. Instead, itβs the ability to identify constraints.
Good PPC managers optimize everything and achieve incremental gains. Great PPC managers identify the one thing preventing scale and fix only that, achieving exponential gains.
When you master the theory of constraints, you stop being seen as a tactical campaign manager and start being recognized as a strategic growth partner.
Youβre no longer reporting on CTR improvements and Quality Score gains. Youβre diagnosing business constraints and unlocking growth that seemed impossible.
Thatβs the shift that transforms PPC careers and accounts.
Intel reportedly cancels its Arrow Lake Refresh flagship over value concerns Intel has reportedly axed its Core Ultra 9 290K PLUS CPU, the flagship of the companyβs upcoming βArrow Lake Refreshβ lineup. The long-rumoured CPU has reportedly been cancelled due to value concerns. With Intelβs Core Ultra 7 270K PLUS featuring the same CPU core [β¦]
The post Intel reportedly axes Core Ultra 9 290K PLUS CPU appeared first on OC3D.
Intel appears to have secured a second major customer, this time for its bleeding-edge 14A process, with a wild rumor identifying MediaTek and its Dimensity chips as a source of marginal strength for Intel's still-fledgling advanced node. After Apple tentatively tapped its 18A process, Intel appears to have secured MediaTek as a major customer for the bleeding-edge 14A process We already know that Apple might opt for Intel's 18A-P process for its lowest-end M-series chips that are expected to ship in 2027, as well as non-Pro iPhone chips in 2028. In fact, GF Securities recently went a step further by [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/a-wild-rumor-suggests-intel-has-roped-in-mediateks-dimensity-chips-for-its-14a-process/
The variable aperture has been absent from Samsungβs smartphone camera arsenal for years, but given that Apple has been reported on multiple occasions to bring the technology to its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, the company has little choice but to respond. As for the lineup thatβs expected to receive the upgrade, the Galaxy S26 series could be the obvious recipient, but plans can change in the blink of an eye. Multiple generations of Galaxy S flagships have remained stagnant in camera technology; variable aperture could be the first step from Samsung towards reviving innovation Samsungβs Electro-Mechanics [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/samsung-galaxy-s26-to-feature-major-camera-upgrade-because-of-apple/
Even though Alan Dye, the architect of Apple's Liquid Glass UI, has left for greener pastures, a new report asserts that Apple will not abandon its new design language with the upcoming iOS 27. Apple's upcoming iOS 27 update will focus on AI enhancements and stability improvements rather than implementing a comprehensive UI overhaul When Dye left Apple for Meta in December 2025, many expected Apple to tone down its Liquid Glass UI or abandon it altogether. After all, Apple's design language has attracted its fair share of criticism over the past few months, especially on legibility concerns, with critics [β¦]
Read full article at https://wccftech.com/dont-expect-apple-to-abandon-liquid-glass-with-the-ios-27/
Chiplset details leak for Intelβs 900-series motherboards Later this year, Intel is expected to launch their next-generation Nova Lake CPUs, and with them will come the companyβs new 900-series chipset. This chipset will power the next generation of Intel motherboards, with B960, Z970, Z990, Q970, and W980 models. For consumers, Intelβs new Z990 chipset will [β¦]
The post Intel 900-series Nova Lake CPU chipset specs leak appeared first on OC3D.
