Valve plans to update Steam fans on their controller restock plans soon Valveβs Steam Controller went on sale yesterday, and as expected, it quickly sold out worldwide. Today, Valve has confirmed that it is βworking on getting more stockβ, and that it plans to give gamers an update and a restock timeline soon. Scalpers have [β¦]
NβStudio is now available on the Microsoft Store, offering a free Starter version with screen recording, audio capture and export tools. A $36 Professional upgrade adds timelapse support, extra adjustments and a full multiβlayer editor.
Valve's highly anticipated release of the Steam Controller was so successful that the entire stock sold out in just 30 minutes. The demand has been nothing short of exceptional, even for a controller priced at $99 in the United States, β¬99 in European Union countries, Β£85 in the UK, $149 CAD in Canada, and $149 AUD in Australia. At around 17:00 UTC on May 4, the Steam Controller officially went on sale through Valve's website. The site experienced such a high volume of customers that the payment processing system froze, causing many to encounter errors before both the website and payment processor resumed functioning. To prepare, some customers loaded their Steam Wallets with funds days in advance, but the high demand still prevented them from securing a unit immediately. For those who managed to purchase one, congratulations. However, those who didn't are turning to resellers, who are charging about $300 for the controller. Valve is reassuring customers not to worry, as another stock drop is coming soon.
ValveSteam Controller ran out faster than we anticipated, and we hate that not everyone who wanted one was able to get it. We're working on getting more in stock and will have an update on expected timeline soon.
The full assets of Metal Gear Solid 2's HD remaster were recently leaked on 4chan. An unnamed party used the notorious imageboard to distribute the source code for every version of the remaster across all supported platforms, including the PlayStation Vita edition. The leak also reportedly includes 30 gigabytes of...
The iPhone 17 was the best-selling smartphone in the first quarter, accounting for six percent of global sales. Apple's iPhone 17 Pro Max ranked second, followed by the standard iPhone 17 Pro. Samsung grabbed fourth and fifth place with the Galaxy A07 G4 and Galaxy A17 5G, respectively.
A new report from CNBC reveals that Xbox chief executive officer Asha Sharma is bringing over more of her former CoreAI team to the Xbox side of Microsoft in an overhaul of Xbox's executive team with five new members in total, the fifth coming instead from Sharma's other previous home of Instacart. Part of the move also includes the dismissal of more of the old guard, as one moves to an advisory role, and the other leaves the company. Since Asha Sharma stepped into the role of chief executive officer of Xbox, the former CoreAI president has been establishing what [β¦]
LG has showcased new OLED technologies at the SID Display Week 2026, but its 3rd-gen Tandem OLED was the main highlight of the show. LG Showcases 3rd Gen Tandem OLED That Targets Efficiency, and a 5K OLED Panel With 221 PPI The LG Display is expanding its OLED stack by introducing new monitors and new panel technologies. At SID Display Week 2026, held in Los Angeles, LG Display showcased the 3rd-generation Tandem OLED technology and a 5K RGB OLED monitor panel. The biggest highlight was the 3rd-gen Tandem OLED that brings meaningful improvements over previous OLED technologies. As per the [β¦]
NVIDIA CEO has said that China should not have access to its most advanced AI chips, such as Blackwell or Rubin. Blackwell or Rubin AI Chips are a no-go for China, but NVIDIA's CEO Wants US Firms To Continue To Compete In Global Markets The US AI policy shift towards China has been ongoing since NVIDIA's Hopper generation of chips. Export controls restricted NVIDIA from selling its bleeding-edge chips to Chinese firms & this ban has extended into the Blackwell generation. Reaffirming the US-first policy, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has stated that the company's most advanced AI chips, Blackwell and [β¦]
Apple is still a fair distance away from unveiling the 2027-launching iPhone 20. Yet, the iPhone has been the focus of supply chain leaks for quite some time, which is hardly a surprise given the quantum of change that Apple is reportedly bringing to the proverbial table. Now, a well-known tipster has tried to wholly demystify the iPhone 20 by pairing feature leaks with plausible speculation. Apple iPhone 20 to sport an all-glass look, replete with solid-state buttons, a quad-curved display, and hefty use of under-display tech, and topped off with a massive battery The Weibo-based tipster Instant Digital has [β¦]
IO Interactive's James Bond licensed game, 007 First Light, is now just three weeks away from its debut. As we got closer to the launch, the developers started revealing new details; now, YouTuber JorRaptor has reported that Gameplay Director Andreas Krogh confirmed the game's average length is around 20 hours. That's without counting theΒ Tactical SimulatorΒ mode (inspired by HITMAN's escalations), which will repurpose main story locations with added difficulty, restrictions, and online leaderboards, with new missions added post-launch. Notably,Β all cosmetic outfitsΒ (including pre-order and special edition ones) areΒ restricted to the Tactical SimulatorΒ and cannot be worn in the main campaign, where Bond's wardrobe [β¦]
Quantware is building the world's most powerful Quantum processor, and Intel is one of the investors behind it and the company's KiloFab project. Quantware's VIO-4K Quantum Processor Can Drive 10,000 Qubits, 100x More Than Today's State-of-the-Art Quantum Computers Quantware has raised $176 million to build the world's fastest and largest quantum processor to date, the VIO-4K. The company will also be building KiloFab, the largest dedicated quantum open architecture fab, as it anticipates strong customer demand, boosting its production capacity by 20x. In the announcement, Quantware secured new investors, including Intel Capital, In-Q-Tel, and ETF Partners, which are in addition [β¦]
Exemplar provides a web and API-based hub for SRE and Day 2 operations by centralizing uptime monitoring, incident management, and self-service automation. It integrates directly with major cloud and productivity platforms to consolidate engineering workflows under a freemium model. It supports cross-platform integrations including AWS, GitHub, Linear, JIRA, and Grafana, and provides built-in SRE tools such as status pages, SSL tracking, and vendor monitoring. The platform offers flexible access through web, MCP, and API platforms.
Woop solves one thing: Search Results. Analyze your website, competitors, and keywords to target what makes your product stand out. It generates actionable insights and executes them.
It has six features: Woop AI Chat, your SEO strategist on call; Deep SEO Analysis with every metric in one view; Site Architecture Map to expose what's invisible; AI Blog Generator structured for Google and readers; Keyword Intelligence to find gaps before your rivals do; and 1-Click Publishing to go live quickly.
Renowide is a marketplace for trained AI agents. There are many AI agents now, and anyone can build one. But most are not helpful if they aren't trained enough or on the right data. So we made a place where developers list agents they have actually trained and earn 85% every time one gets hired. Businesses can hire them and stay compliant with laws like data residency and audit trails. Set a budget, approve proposed actions, and the agent runs 24/7. You can also embed an agent on your site or use one API key to access 200+ agents and 36 MCP tools. Currently, there are 200+ agents listed, 65 active hires, and free credits for early testers.
The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) has released security updates to address several security vulnerabilities in the HTTP Server, including a severe vulnerability that could potentially lead to remote code execution (RCE).
The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-23918 (CVSS score: 8.8), has been described as a case of "double free and possible RCE" in the HTTP/2 protocol handling. This issue
A newly identified supply chain attack targeting DAEMON Tools software has compromised its installers to serve a malicious payload, according to findings from Kaspersky.
"These installers are distributed from the legitimate website of DAEMON Tools and are signed with digital certificates belonging to DAEMON Tools developers," Kaspersky researchersΒ Igor Kuznetsov, Georgy Kucherin, Leonid
Timothy Cain, the co-creator of Fallout and the co-developer of The Outer Worlds, has shared his opinion on online discourse and how some players can't form their own opinion about games anymore.
According to Pennsylvania's filing, a Character AI chatbot presented itself as a licensed psychiatrist during a state investigation, and also fabricated a serial number for its state medical license.
The company said the model reduces hallucination in sensitive areas such as law, medicine, and finance, while maintaining the low latency of its predecessor.
Google is rolling out new tools to help advertisers better understand performance across increasingly complex customer journeys.
Whatβs happening. As AI continues to transform campaigns, creatives and targeting, Google is introducing updates focused on data integration, experimentation and media mix modelling β all aimed at helping marketers turn fragmented signals into actionable insights.
Why we care. Automation has made it easier to run campaigns, but harder to understand whatβs actually working. These updates make it easier to connect data, prove whatβs actually driving results, and make smarter budget decisions across channels. As AI handles more of the execution, having strong measurement in place becomes the key differentiator for performance and growth.
Data is the starting point. Google is expanding its Data Manager to give advertisers a clearer view of how their data flows across platforms like BigQuery, HubSpot and Shopify.
A new map-based interface will help marketers visualise connections between data sources and identify gaps in tracking or configuration. At the same time, updates to the Google tag aim to simplify setup, allowing advertisers to upgrade existing tags without additional coding.
The goal: make it easier to unify signals and improve data quality β which directly impacts campaign performance.
Between the lines. Google is acknowledging a long-standing issue β advertisers struggle more with data setup and integration than with campaign execution itself.
By simplifying tagging and data flows, Google is trying to remove one of the biggest blockers to effective AI adoption.
Proving what actually works. Google is also introducing Meridian GeoX, a new geo-experimentation tool designed to measure incremental impact across regions.
Built on an open-source framework, GeoX feeds into Googleβs broader Marketing Mix Model, Meridian, giving advertisers a more defensible way to validate performance β especially when presenting results to finance teams.
This signals a shift toward causal measurement, not just correlation.
Why it matters. As privacy changes reduce visibility and attribution becomes more complex, marketers are under pressure to prove impact. Tools like GeoX aim to provide that βground truthβ β something many attribution models struggle to deliver.
Simplifying media mix modelling. To address the complexity of Marketing Mix Models (MMMs), Google is launching Meridian Studio β a Google Cloud-powered platform that helps teams build, customise and scale models more easily.
The focus is on operationalising MMMs, making them less resource-intensive and more accessible for enterprise teams managing large datasets.
What to watch:
Whether advertisers adopt MMMs more widely with simplified tools
How effective GeoX is in proving incremental impact
If improved data visibility translates into better campaign performance
Bottom line. Google is making a strategic shift: in an AI-driven world, better measurement β not just better automation β will determine who wins.
Say goodbye to Windows 11βs unwanted MSN feed Microsoft has announced that it is finally getting rid of Windows 11βs MSN News widget feed. With new Windows Insider builds, the MSN News Widget is gone. Better still, the Widget feed will only open when clicked, preventing it from opening on mere mouse hover. Yes, accidental [β¦]
Companies like Apple are always seeking top-tier manufacturing for their Apple Silicon products, which range from the A-Series chips in iPhones and low-power MacBooks to the more powerful M-Series SoCs that power iPads and higher-end Macs. Manufacturing these custom processors has traditionally been handled by TSMC, but Bloomberg now reports that Apple has been in talks with both Intel Foundry and Samsung Foundry to manufacture some of its chips in the coming months. It has been known for some time that Apple is exploring Intel's 18A-P process design kits (PDKs). Apple has used version 0.9.1 of the PDK designed for Intel's 18A-P node. With performance, density, power, and other metrics meeting expectations, Intel could become Apple's source for advanced node production by 2027.
Additionally, Apple is reportedly waiting for Intel to release the 18A-P PDK version 1.0, which is on track to launch in the first half of 2026 or may have already been released to partners. Once available, Apple plans to start with the lowest-end M-series chip, used in MacBook Air and iPad Pro devices, as previously mentioned. This node is particularly interesting due to its performance characteristics, as the 18A-P can deliver a 9% performance increase at the same power level or achieve 18% power savings at the same performance level compared to the standard 18A. This is exactly what Apple is looking for. Coupled with better thermal conductivity, these designs should offer improved heat dissipation and performance compared to what Apple currently achieves with TSMC's 3 nm process in the M5 SoC.
Each week, new games and apps integrating NVIDIA DLSS, NVIDIA Reflex, and advanced ray-traced effects are released or announced, delivering the definitive PC experience for GeForce RTX players. This week, Dead As Disco enters Early Access, and there are new looks at two highly anticipated, upcoming games: Star Wars: Galactic Racer, and 007 First Light.
STAR WARS: Galactic Racer Launches Worldwide On October 6th, Featuring DLSS 4.5 On GeForce RTX PCs & Laptops
Star Wars: Galactic Racer is a high-stakes reinvention of racing born in the lawless Outer Rim of the Star Wars galaxy. The Empire's grip on the galaxy has finally broken, and with its fall comes a new obsession: speed. As the New Republic struggles to rebuild, gambling, entertainment, and glory fuel a booming underground. Out of this chaos, the Galactic League is born: an unsanctioned racing circuit where syndicates sponsor pilots, fortunes are won and lost in seconds, and only the bold survive.
In a blog post, the Menlo Park-based tech giant said it is developing an advanced AI system to scan photos and videos on Facebook and Instagram, analyzing users' bone structure, height, and other visual cues to estimate their age, while insisting that it is "not facial recognition." The AI will...
Any product that emits radio frequencies must pass through the FCC's equipment authorization process before it can be legally imported or sold in the US. That includes the obvious stuff like phones, tablets, PCs, Wi-Fi routers, along with the growing number of gadgets that insist on adding Bluetooth or Wi-Fi...
The change defines how violations are handled when the "driver" is software. The gap has already caused confusion. In San Bruno last year, police stopped a Waymo vehicle after it made an illegal U-turn but were unable to issue a ticket. "Since there was no human driver, a ticket couldn't...
Yesterday, Valve launched its Steam Controller (2026), the follow-up to its 2015 predecessor and an improvement based on the years of learning Valve took from developing that first controller, to the Steam Deck, and now this latest gamepad. The launch went about as well as you would hope if you're Valve. The 'Buy Now' button went live on Steam, the gamepad shot up to the top of the best-selling charts, and it sold out within minutes. The unfortunate part of that last bit was that it seems Valve wasn't fully prepared for a complete sell-out of the device. In an [β¦]
After Season 2 of the best-selling game in 2025 was delayed, causing a great deal of strife within the game's community, EA and Battlefield Studios aren't allowing for the same gap between Season 2 and Season 3 of Battlefield 6. The new season will arrive next week on May 12, 2026, and the studios just debuted our first look at the new season and a tease at what will be the largest map in the game when it arrives with the return of the Railway to Golmud. Season 2 arrived back on February 17, making it a more reasonable 12-week [β¦]
The growth in agentic AI software will lead to high demand for CPUs in the AI era, believes investment bank UBS. In an investment note, the bank explains that agentic AI increases the workload for processors. It adds that this workload typically favors firms that offer chips with higher cores and are able to cater to power efficiency. As a result, UBS outlines that in the era of agentic AI workloads, chips from Arm and then AMD are slated to benefit the most, with Intel also benefiting as the total addressable market (TAM) grows. Agentic AI Workloads To Favor CPUs [β¦]
Although an official announcement has yet to be made, leaks from multiple reliable sources have made it clear that the PlayStation 6 will launch alongside a handheld system that should be more than capable of running current and next-generation games. However, much like the Xbox Series S did with the Xbox Series X and possibly the entirety of the current console generation, there is the real possibility this portable system could hold back the home console, especially with mandatory support. According to known leaker Moore's Law is Dead, who first leaked the specs for Sony's next-generation systems, the chances of [β¦]
NVIDIA has expanded its RTX & AI feature set with more capabilities provided to developers for integration within their latest apps, including games. NVIDIA Bets Big on Its "AI PC" Ecosystem With RTX GPUs, Provides Devs With New & Improved Tool Sets The NVIDIA RTX and AI PC technologies are one of the industry's most advanced tool sets offered to developers. These tools make integration of the latest features and capabilities in apps & games easier than ever. Today, NVIDIA has announced more integrations that help developers create next-gen experiences. Last month, NVIDIA rolled out its DLSS 4.5 SDK, allowing [β¦]
Xbox has unveiled the first batch of Xbox Game Pass games that'll hit the service in May 2026, with two of 2026's biggest releases set to arrive on day one for Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. Those games are, of course,Forza Horizon 6 and Subnautica 2, as one of the most anticipated first-party Xbox Game Studios' game releases and the most wishlisted game on Steam pair up on the same subscription service. They aren't the only two games entering the service in the first half of May, of course. An additional seven games are joining the service, with five out of [β¦]
Micron has just released the highest capacity and commercially available SSD to date, its 6600 ION, with a capacity of 245 TB. You Can Practically Fit Anything You Want on Micron's 245 TB "6600 ION" SSD, but These Still Aren't Enough For Data Centers Press Release: Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU), today announced it is now shipping the 245TB capacity MicronΒ 6600 ION SSD, the worldβs highest capacity commercially available SSD. The drive marks a major step forward in rack-scale storage density for data centers and is designed to support AI, cloud, enterprise, and hyperscale workloads, including next-generation AI data lakes [β¦]
Funcom has released a massive free update for Conan Exiles players with Conan Exiles Enhanced, a new update that overhauls the game and brings it to Unreal Engine 5. Announced last month, the update introduces UE5's Lumen Global Illumination lighting system, nanite geometry, virtual shadow maps, and an improved terrain for a significant visual overhaul. It's an update that is meant to celebrate the popular survival game as it nears its eight-year anniversary on May 8, 2026, though it's not a celebration for all of the 15 million+ players who've stepped into the Exiled Lands and the Isle of Siptah [β¦]
007 First Light is launching on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S later this month, but Nintendo Switch 2 users will have to wait a little longer to experience James Bond's new gaming adventure. While the lack of a solid release window beyond a generic Summer has some worried the game has only been delayed to be canceled, IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak confirmed this won't be the case. βItβs running on the Switch 2. We just want to make sure itβs good as it can be. I donβt want to hear it wasnβt a good version,β Abrak said [β¦]
Intel has placed a massive order at Taiwanese manufacturers to secure advanced packaging equipment, which will be used for its EMIB plans. Intel Bets Big on EMIB, As The Company Has Placed A Huge Order To Secure Advanced Packaging Equipment From Taiwan EMIB, the advanced packaging solution and alternative to TSMC's CoWoS, has been making headlines for some time now. The packaging technology is gaining lots of momentum as potential customers line up to utilize the tech for their upcoming chips, mainly for AI purposes. This demand has now led Intel to go after Taiwanese manufacturers to secure the equipment [β¦]
Qria is a customer feedback tool for small businesses. You can build a form in minutes and share a QR code at your counter, invoice, or anywhere your customers see it. Get responses in real time.
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A sophisticated China-nexus advanced persistent threat (APT) group has been attributed to attacks targeting government entities in South America since at least late 2024 and government agencies in southeastern Europe in 2025.
The activity is being tracked by Cisco Talos under the moniker UAT-8302, with post-exploitation involving the deployment of custom-made malware families that have been put
The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra just hit a new record-low price at Amazon, so now's the time to buy if you're shopping for the best Android phone we've ever tested.
All the ways to watch Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid live streams online β including for FREE β in the Champions League semi-final 2nd leg at Emirates Stadium.
Yellowstone spinoff Dutton Ranch has dropped its first full trailer β and while it's set up a John Dutton legacy subplot, it's not the most interesting thing about the first look.
PayPal is pitching an AI-led turnaround, tying automation and restructuring to $1.5 billion in savings as it cuts jobs and works to modernize its tech stack.
The cybersecurity company says it's seen thousands of infection attempts, and at least a dozen successful hacks after users installed malicious versions of the popular Windows software.
The data breach at education tech giant Instructure includes students' private data, according to a sample of the allegedly stolen data seen by TechCrunch.
Initial reports from SimilarWeb indicate ChatGPT ads are outperforming traditional benchmarks on engagement β but with limited inventory and small-scale tests, itβs too early to call this a long-term trend.
Whatβs happening. According to early analysis, ads appearing in ChatGPT conversations are generating strong click-through rates vs Display and Podcast channels, likely driven by high-intent user queries and the native way ads are integrated into responses.
Unlike traditional search ads, these placements appear directly within conversational answers, making them feel more contextual and less disruptive.
Why we care . If these early CTRs hold at scale, ChatGPT could become a serious performance channel β especially for advertisers looking to reach users at the moment of intent.
But thereβs a catch: inventory is still limited, and early performance often looks better before wider rollout introduces more competition and variability.
Between the lines. High CTRs donβt necessarily mean high performance. Conversion quality, cost efficiency and scalability will ultimately determine whether ChatGPT ads can compete with established platforms like Google Ads.
Thereβs also the novelty factor β users may be more likely to engage simply because the format is new.
Zoom in. Some categories are already showing stronger signals than others.
Motherβs Day-related prompts are far more likely to trigger adsβabout three times more than averageβbecause they signal strong purchase intent, with brands like Etsy, Nordstrom and flower retailers already showing strong visibility.
What to watch:
Whether CTRs hold as inventory expands
How conversion rates compare to search and social
If pricing models evolve beyond early testing phases
Bottom line. ChatGPT ads are off to a strong start on engagement β but until scale, cost and conversion data catch up, advertisers should treat this as a promising test channel, not a proven one.
The AI engine pipeline has 10 gates between your content and a recommendation:Β
Discovered.Β
Selected.Β
Crawled.Β
Rendered.Β
Indexed.Β
Annotated.Β
Recruited.Β
Grounded.Β
Displayed.
Won.Β
Confidence at each gate multiplies, which means your worst gate sets your ceiling, and a single near-zero anywhere in the chain drags the whole result down with it.
That dynamic leads to a simple rule. The βStraight Cβ principle: in any multiplicative system, the weakest stage sets the ceiling for the entire system, and the highest-leverage fix is always the near-zero, not the near-perfect.
Brent D. Payne nailed it in Sydney in 2019: βbetter to be a straight C student than three As and an F.β Gary Illyes had been sketching out Googleβs multiplicative ranking model, and I scribbled the lot from memory on split beer mats while everyone else went to the bar for another round. The principle stuck with me even though the beer mats didnβt.
Applied to the 10-gate pipeline, the principle makes the work order obvious: find your F grades, fix them first, then find your D grades, and only then worry about pushing your other gates from C to B to A. Below, Iβll walk you through how to identify the weak gates and prioritize them by scope.
The pipeline runs in two phases with different logic
Phase 1 (discovered through indexed) is infrastructure- and bot-centric. Itβs mostly pass or fail: either the system has your content, or it doesnβt. The fixes are technical and well-documented: sitemaps, structured data, rendering, and quality signals.
Phase 2 (annotated through won) is competitive and algorithm-centric. Your content is measured against every alternative the system has for the userβs needs.
Passing all five gates in Phase 1 means the system has your content in stock. Winning Phase 2 end to end means the system chooses you over your competition.
Each stall pattern points to its fix
Fix whatβs weak. In DSCRI, the fixes are mechanical, and success is relatively easy to measure.Β
In ARGDW, the fixes are less obvious, more indirect, and the cause-and-effect relationship is harder to demonstrate. Thatβs why so many brands and practitioners focus too much on mechanical fixes and not enough on competitive ones.
Each of the 10 gates is a place where the pipeline can stall. These are some suggestions, absolutely not exhaustive: use the strategies you already know, too.
No.
Gate name
Stall
First-party (Entity Home Website)
Second-party (semi-controlled)
Third-party (independent)
1
Discovered
Bots never find the content
Sitemaps, IndexNow, internal linking, and inbound links
Link from your Entity Home Website with clear anchor text
Outbound links from owned properties and second-party content
2
Selected
Found but ignored
Internal links, inbound links, anchor text, content around links, and Publisher and Author N-E-E-A-T-T
Anchor text, content around the link, and link back to your Entity Home for context
Outbound links from owned properties and second-party content, anchor text, and content around the link
3
Crawled
Retrieval fails
Server performance, redirect chains, pruning, and canonicals
Choose reliable platforms; keep URLs clean and stable
Prioritize coverage on sites with strong crawl reputation
4
Rendered
Retrieved, but the system canβt process it
Server-side rendering, reduce external resources, and JavaScript discipline
Use platform-native formatting; avoid embeds that block render
Prioritize coverage on properly rendered sites
5
Indexed
Rendered, but not stored
Site structure, content quality, pruning, and canonicalization
Content quality and original perspectives
Prioritize coverage on fully indexed sites
6
Annotated
Inaccurate, low-confidence annotations
HTML5, structured data, schema markup, site structure, content quality, and unambiguous entity signals
Unambiguous entity signals, and link to your Entity Home for disambiguation
Outreach to clarify entity references, clear anchor text from your owned properties and second-party content
7
Recruited
Missing from one or more layers of the Algorithmic Trinity
Provide what each layer wants: recency, originality, clarity, information gaps, helpful framing, etc.
Fresh perspectives, original content, and regular updates
Outreach for coverage and updates from news, trade, and industry sites
8
Grounded
Not selected as a reference for the topic (not Top of Algorithmic Mind)
Entity identity optimization, Publisher and Author N-E-E-A-T-T, and explicitly connect claims to proof
Consistency of identity, credibility signals, and link claims to proof
Outreach for citations from authoritative sources, and build N-E-E-A-T-T through coverage
9
Displayed
Not chosen as part of relevant answers in the funnel
Close the Framing Gap at each UCD layer, improve brand N-E-E-A-T-T
Frame content to match each UCD layer
Outreach for coverage that closes the Framing Gap, improve N-E-E-A-T-T through external corroboration
10
Won
The page was the recommendation, but didnβt get the click, the citation, or the action
Write copy, titles, and descriptions that are easy for the algorithm to extract intact; frame claims so the algorithm can respect the brand narrative without rewriting it; educate the algorithm on the brand narrative so it doesnβt distort it
Use platform fields the algorithm will lift verbatim (titles, summaries, intros), and keep brand narrative consistent across every property
Brief publishers and partners on your brand narrative so coverage frames claims the way youβd frame them yourself, and correct distorted coverage at source
Reading the table: Across the rows, infrastructure fixes (Gates 1 to 5) are specific, technical, and often binary, while competitive fixes (Gates 6 to 9) point at larger bodies of work (graph presence, proof connection, and framing gap closure) that are strategic rather than technical.Β
Down the columns, your direct leverage drops as ownership drops:
On first-party, you can fix anything.
On second-party, you control content but not infrastructure.
On third-party, your only real moves are outreach and the links you point at the property.Β
The further into the pipeline the stall sits, and the further from the entity home website it sits, the more the fix becomes about positioning rather than engineering.Β
You can buy your way through DSCRI. You have to earn your way through ARGD. Won is its own case. By the time the algorithm reaches won, it has either understood your brand narrative or it hasnβt.Β
If it has, it respects your titles, your descriptions, and your framing, and the click or citation lands the way you wanted. If it hasnβt understood you fully, it rewrites you, and the rewrite wonβt be your framing. Assuming your copywriting is top-notch, thatβll lose clients you should have won.
Educating the algorithm on the brand narrative is the work that decides which of those two outcomes you get, and the work happens across your digital footprint, over time (ongoing), and at every gate.
Work outside-in, because most of what you need already exists
The pipeline runs at three scopes simultaneously β per item, sitewide, and web wide. Every gate operates at all three. You canβt work on them simultaneously, which means the order you pick is the single biggest decision in the project, and most brands pick the wrong one because theyβre watching their competitors instead of the structure.
Hereβs a simple fact most brands miss: most of what you need is already in place.Β
You already have claims (you own a website, youβve published positioning, youβve explained who you are and what you do).Β
You already have proof (clients have written testimonials, journalists have covered you, partners have referenced you, conferences have programmed you).Β
The two layers exist, theyβre just not connected. Joining the dots between existing claims and existing proof is the biggest single piece of leverage available to almost any brand.Β
Almost nobody is doing it systematically because theyβre too busy creating new content from scratch. When I say βjoin the dots,β that means both bi-directional linking and framing (which I covered in βThe framing gap: Why AI canβt position your brandβ).
That insight reorders the work. The right sequence is outside-in, and it lines up with claim, prove, and frame at the scope level.
Sitewide first
Get your claims structurally consistent at scale. Templates make it easy for bots to digest your site only if theyβre consistent. Get the templates right, and the content taken as a whole reads clearly.Β
Make sure the categorization is logical, the schema is uniform, the internal linking pattern is predictable, and the HTML5 is built to help bots perform chunking that produces high-confidence, well-bounded representations of every part of every page.Β
Get the templates wrong, and the algorithms annotate everything with low confidence because the chunking was bad, the categorization was illogical, and the structural signals contradicted each other. Thatβs a sitewide weakness that the content carries through. This is cascading confidence at scope level.
Content is the input, context is what the templates supply, and confidence is what the system produces when context is consistent enough to make sense of the content. Start at the site level because thatβs where the cascade either begins clean or collapses before it starts.
Connect the dots to the existing proof. Once your owned property is making consistent, machine-legible claims, the second- and third-party footprint is where those claims get corroborated.Β
The work here is mostly auditing, not creating: independent journalists whoβve already covered you, client testimonials sitting on client domains, conference programs that name you, partner mentions, and third-party reviews that already exist.Β
This is the prove layer, and the leverage is enormous because your competitors are mostly not doing it. Theyβre watching each otherβs websites while the independent layer that actually decides who AI recommends sits unattended on the open web. So, update what you can, and insert bi-directional links strategically to βconnect the dots physically.β
Per item last
Frame the connection between claim and proof. Once sitewide claims are clean and web-wide proof is surfaced, itβs time to bring it all together in individual items.Β
Per-item work builds the relational bridge between specific claims and the evidence. Itβs up to you to provide the interpretive frame that tells the algorithms how to read the connection and closes the framing gap one page at a time.Β
Framing only earns its full return once the two layers underneath are solid, because the frame is the connection between things that already exist, and thereβs nothing to connect if the claim is incoherent or the proof hasnβt been surfaced.
Fix the earliest broken gate first, or the fix downstream does nothing
The pipeline is sequential. Each gateβs output is the next gateβs input.Β
First job: get content flowing through every gate without an absolute fail at any point. If discovery is broken, improving your annotation does nothing because your content never reaches annotation.Β
The rule is simple: find your earliest failing gate, fix it, then re-measure everything downstream on the improved signal. Fixing gates out of order wastes budget because the bottleneck hasnβt moved. I filed a patent for the technical implementation of this principle, but the principle itself doesnβt need the patent β itβs how any sequential system works.
Once nothing is absolutely failing, start fixing the weakest gates one by one, from weakest to strongest, to maximize the effect of each fix on the signal that flows through everything downstream.Β
If rendering drops 50% of your useful content, every downstream gate inherits the damage, no matter how strong your competitive positioning is. Push that up to 100%, and youβve doubled the signal for everything that follows.
Below are potential stalls at each gate (single page) with examples of fixes.
No.
Stall
Problem
Possible fix
1
Not Discovered
Orphaned article about your brand on Poodle Parlours in Paris Monthly
Create a dedicated page on poodleparlour.paris with a TL;DR of the article (use the opportunity to close the Framing Gap), add the publication name, author, date, and an outbound link to the article
2
Not Selected
The 600th episode of your podcast on your website is ignored by bots despite a link from the pagination
Link to it from the homepage, make the anchor text explicit (not βlisten hereβ), and add the link to the YouTube version description
3
Not Crawled
Page load time is slow at peak times
Upgrade hosting and use a CDN
4
Not Rendered
Schema isnβt being ingested by the LLM bots
Move schema inline, or, if that isnβt possible, add the same data to an HTML table on the page
5
Not Indexed
Rendered, but not stored
Site structure, content quality, HTML5, and schema markup
6
Badly Annotated
Inaccurate, low-confidence annotations
HTML5, structured data, schema markup, site structure, content quality, and unambiguous entity signals
7
Not Recruited
Missing from one or more layers of the Algorithmic Trinity
Provide what each layer wants: recency, originality, clarity, information gaps, helpful framing, etc.
8
Not Grounded
Not selected as a reference for the topics (not Top of Algorithmic Mind)
Entity identity optimization, Publisher and Author N-E-E-A-T-T, and explicitly connect claims to proof
9
Not Displayed
Not chosen as part of relevant answers in the funnel
Close the Framing Gap at each funnel layer (Understandability, Credibility, Deliverability), and improve brand N-E-E-A-T-T
10
Not Won
The page was the recommendation, but the algorithm rewrote your title and description
Improve brand Understandability of the brand narrative and framing, tighten the title, description, and intro so the algorithm extracts your version intact rather than rewriting it; these remain the most visible elements at the zero-sum moment in AI
Reading the table: gate-by-gate example issues at item level. I provide some suggested solutions for each. Youβll see that many of the fixes are actions youβd take at sitewide or web-wide scope, which is the point.Β
Scope determines whether the fix touches one URL or thousands, but the underlying mechanism at each gate is identical. Per-item work is where the fixes get specific, but the patterns repeat.
The authoritative entity advantage compounds across the competitive gates
One strategy will improve your grade at almost every gate in the AI engine pipeline: entity optimization.Β
When your brand entity is fuzzy across the three graphs (document, concept, and entity), actively optimizing the entity identity improves clarity, focus, and confidence at almost every gate.
But the advantage youβll gain isnβt uniform: at the infrastructure gates it does little, but from annotation onward, it will make a huge competitive difference.
Hereβs the authoritative entity advantage at each pipeline gate.
No.
Stall
The authoritative entity advantage
1
Not discovered
Marginal. A recognized entity in an outbound link from a third party is slightly easier to identify and trace, but discovery itself is infrastructure-driven.
2
Not selected
Significant. A recognized, trusted entity in anchor text (or near the link) increases the probability of selection.
3
Not crawled
None. Crawling is purely server, redirect, and rate-limit mechanics.
4
Not rendered
None. Rendering is purely technical processing.
5
Not indexed
Moderate. Entity clarity helps the system make canonicalization and deduplication calls with confidence; fuzzy entities produce fuzzy storage decisions.
6
Badly annotated
Major. Entity confidence is the foundation of accurate annotation. A fuzzy entity produces low-confidence, often inaccurate annotations across every dimension. A clear entity produces clean, high-confidence annotations.
7
Not recruited
Major. Recruitment into the entity graph, document graph, and concept graph is entity-driven. Clear entities get recruited β fuzzy ones get passed over for clearer alternatives.
8
Not grounded
Major. Top of algorithmic mind is entity-driven: topical ownership, N-E-E-A-T-T, knowledge graph presence, and more. The system grounds in references it trusts.
9
Not displayed
Significant. Entity recognition reduces hedging at display. The system speaks confidently about entities it understands well and hedges on the ones it doesnβt.
10
Not won
Major. Entity confidence decides whether the algorithm respects your brand narrative or rewrites it. High confidence means titles, descriptions, and framings get extracted intact. Low confidence means the algorithm fills in the gaps from training data, and that wonβt be the narrative you carefully crafted.
Reading the table: entity advantage is zero or marginal at Gates 1 to 5 (infrastructure), then carries the heaviest load through Gates 6 to 9 (the competitive phase). At won, itβs the mechanism that decides whether the algorithm respects your brand narrative or rewrites it.
This is the most underrated insight in the whole diagnostic. Optimizing any single gate gives you one gateβs worth of improvement. Optimizing the entity gives you compounding improvement across all five gates from annotated through won, which is why entity-led optimization outperforms page-led or keyword-led optimization in AI search.
The authoritative entity advantage names that compounding effect, and itβs the structural reason brands whose entities remain fuzzy pay a confidence tax at every competitive gate.
Before you create anything new, audit what you already have
Once you know which gate is failing, the first question to ask yourself isnβt βwhat do I need to create?β Itβs βwhat do I already have that would fix this?βΒ
The content on your website already makes most of the claims you need, but they are not presented clearly and consistently. Then, all brands have more existing proof than theyβre fully leveraging.
Look at things like conference programs, client case studies, trade publications, podcasts, social media, reviews, and third-party mentions. There might be a lot that you have never explicitly connected back to your brand.
Audit-first beats create-first on every metric that matters. Audit-first is cheap and fast. Create-first is expensive and slow.
The diagnostic tells you which gate needs the work, the audit tells you what you already own that could do the work, and the audit also tells you where the genuine gaps are, so when you do create something new, youβre filling a gap the diagnostic identified rather than guessing.
That principle drives the temporal triad: ROPI, ROI, ROFI.
The temporal triad turns the diagnostic into a working plan: ROPI, ROI, and ROFI
Return on past investment (ROPI) is the audit-first work itself: linking existing claims on your website to existing proof scattered across your digital footprint so the assets youβve already paid for start paying you back. Itβs the cheapest, fastest, and almost always the highest-leverage move available, because the asset has already been built and youβre paying only for the connection.
Return on investment (ROI) is the present-tense work: expanding on content thatβs already live, filling the gaps the audit reveals, and creating new pieces in the short term to support what youβre doing today. This is the layer most brands jump to first, and itβs the most expensive of the three when run in isolation, because new creation without ROPI underneath means youβre paying full price to build assets that are already partially in place.
Return on future investment (ROFI) is the planning layer, and itβs where brand strategy and pipeline strategy converge. If you have a clear sense of where the business is going (which categories youβll own in three years, which positioning youβll claim, which framings youβll need supporting evidence for), you can plant seeds today that wonβt serve you this quarter but will be load-bearing in 12 or 24 months.
At my company, we plant seeds constantly: claims and framings published now that arenβt doing visible work today but will be the corroborated proof weβll need when the next phase of our long-term strategy rolls out. The brand that runs ROFI consistently is shaping the frame against which competitors will be measured in the future.
Because youβre educating and training the algorithms, ROFI actually influences the criteria by which the market will judge you in your favor.
Three time horizons for your content (wherever it lives online): ROPI extracts value from what youβve already built, ROI improves the present, and ROFI engineers the future.
The 10 gates describe what search engines, assistive engines, and assistive agents actually do, in order, every time they decide whether to recommend you.Β
Crawl, index, rank was the right model for a 1998 search engine. It hasnβt been the right model for a long time. The brands that are still optimizing for three steps when the systems run on 10 are optimizing for a model that the engines donβt use.
This isnβt my framework. Itβs the enginesβ framework.
The engines donβt care what you find easy to measure, fun to do, or impressive at the next conference. They care whether your content survives all 10 gates with high confidence at each, and they reward the brands that build for the gates with citations, recommendations, and the actions that follow.
So treat and run it like a system. Fix your F grades first and your D grades next. Work outside-in because thatβs where the leverage already lives, and watch the rest compound on top of work youβve barely had to pay for.Β
Follow the system, and AI search pays you back, year on year, engine after engine, long past the lifespan of any acronym fashion.
Valveβs Steam Controller has been targeted by Scalpers Valveβs Steam Controller was released yesterday, and it didnβt take long for it to sell out worldwide. To the surprise of no one, the controller has started popping up on eBay, with sellers trying to take advantage of Valveβs limited stock of its new PC-optimised gamepad. Scaplers [β¦]
Apex Legendsβ Overclocked update includes performance fixes for AMDβs Ryzen X3D CPUs Respawn Entertainment has confirmed that fast CPUs are causing stutters in Apex Legends, with AMDβs Ryzen X3D CPUs particularly prone to this issue. With the gameβs newly released βOverclockedβ update, improvements have been made to Apex Legendsβ physics calculations to prevent these issues [β¦]
VS Code shipped a change that added βCoβauthoredβby: Copilotβ to Git commits by default, even when Copilot had not generated code and AI features were turned off.
Mionix today announces AVIOR AIR CARBON FIBER, a limited-edition wireless gaming mouse and the first wireless gaming mouse from Mionix. Developed over more than two years, AVIOR AIR CARBON FIBER marks the comeback of Mionix with a completely new AVIOR body, handmade carbon fiber shell, and a new wireless platform built around Nordic Semiconductor's nRF54H20 chipset.
Designed as a flagship ultralight wireless FPS mouse, AVIOR AIR CARBON FIBER introduces a new rear-placed hump, back-loaded body shape optimized for claw, fingertip, and hybrid grip players. The new body replaces the previous AVIOR design, moving away from its balanced-placed hump profile to create a more specialized shape for FPS gamers who want precision, control, and fast repositioning.
Micron Technology, Inc., today announced it is now shipping the 245 TB capacity Micron 6600 ION SSD, the world's highest capacity commercially available SSD. The drive marks a major step forward in rack-scale storage density for data centers and is designed to support AI, cloud, enterprise and hyperscale workloads, including next-generation AI data lakes and cloud-scale file and object storage. The 245 TB Micron 6600 ION E3.L requires 82% fewer racks to achieve equivalent raw storage capacity compared to HDD-based deployments. Built with Micron G9 QLC NAND that is at least one generation ahead of any competing QLC used in data center SSDs, the 245 TB Micron 6600 ION redefines high-capacity data center storage. Customers can now store and process significantly more data in far less space, while reducing power and cooling demands without sacrificing the performance required for large-scale, data-intensive workloads.
"AI workloads are driving massive growth in shared data, continuing the shift of data center storage share from HDDs toward SSDs. With 245 TB in a single SSD, the Micron 6600 ION makes solid state storage the clear choice for modern data centers," said Jeremy Werner, senior vice president and general manager of Micron's Core Data Center Business Unit. "This breakthrough capacity gives data center operators a critical new lever to improve rack-level total cost of ownership, especially as power availability becomes a defining constraint for AI infrastructure scale."
In the fast-paced world of hardware, longevity is the ultimate benchmark of quality. As ADATA Technology celebrates its 25th anniversary, we reflect on a journey that transformed a visionary startup into a global titan. For the international tech community, our history is not just a series of dates - it is a 25-year track record of stability, innovation, and the relentless pursuit of reliability.
Innovation catches the eye, but reliability keeps the world moving. For a quarter-century, ADATA has served as the "Invisible Hero" behind the world's most ambitious digital breakthroughs. Whether powering professional workstations or safeguarding personal data, ADATA provides the stable foundation that makes inspiration possible. We believe that to truly inspire, technology must first be dependable.
As hybrid work continues to blur the line between productivity and entertainment, Lenovo is betting that better audio, not just better video, can make digital experiences feel more natural across the board. Ceva, Inc., today announced that Lenovo has selected its RealSpace spatial audio software for its new ThinkPad Dual-Mode Wireless ANC Foldable Headset 8550 (Aura Edition).
The 8550 headset is designed to recreate the sensation of being physically present, whether listening to music, watching a movie, or playing a game. Instead of a traditional stereo experience, audio is rendered in a virtual 3D space that remains anchored in place. As users turn their head, sound stays fixed in the environment, just as it would in the real world, creating a more natural and immersive listening experience.
Today, Bose unveils the Lifestyle Collection, a reimagined approach to home audio designed to elevate the listening experience without sacrificing convenience. The lineup includes a wireless smart speaker, an immersive soundbar, and a powerful subwoofer, all built with Bose's most advanced proprietary audio technologies and engineered to work together across flexible configurationsβfrom a single space to multiple roomsβto deliver high-quality sound. Using Google Cast or Apple AirPlay, stream audio directly from any platform and group speakers seamlesslyβincluding those from other manufacturers. Crafted with premium materials, the new collection comes in three timeless finishes to complement any space, and an updated Bose app enables one of the simplest setup experiences in home audio.
The Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker ($299), the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar ($1,099), and the Bose Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer ($899) will be available starting May 15th and can be preordered today at Bose.com. The Lifestyle Collection comes in Black or White Smoke, and the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker is also available in limited-edition Driftwood Sand ($349), a soft beige reminiscent of fine upholstery, featuring a solid white oak base that's destined to age beautifully over time.
The situation started on May 3, when Pitchford's X post showed an AI-generated image. "I asked my primary AI tool to generate a selfie that indicates how they feel based on how I interact with it and this is what it generated (note: background words were not prompted and have...
The app in question is an independent port built by developer Andrey Letov that aims to replicate the Notepad++ experience on macOS. Notepad++ itself is tightly bound to Windows, with its interface and behavior built around Win32 and the Scintilla editing component. Porting that experience to macOS means re-creating the...
The controller's Steam page initially showed it with a delivery time of 3-5 business days, but that quickly increased to 6-10 days. It was around half an hour after launch when the site showed an Out-of-Stock label, which is still there.
Guerrilla Games' upcoming multiplayer spin-off of its mainline open-world Horizon series, Horizon Hunters Gathering, is set to have its second closed beta playtest later this month, from May 22-25, 2026. The closed playtest adds two new characters for players to try out, a new story mission from the game's narrative, a new region to explore, and an increased challenge with more difficult missions and changes to one of its core game modes. The game's first closed playtest, which, just like this upcoming one, you'll need an invite to participate in, took place at the cross between February and March of [β¦]
Teamgroup has released its latest Elite DDR5 memory modules featuring high speeds of up to 8000 MT/s, which are ready for next-gen platforms. Next-Gen Platforms Will Support Some Crazy High-Speed DDR5 Memory & Teamgroup Is Ready With Its Elite Series Offering Up To 8000 MT/s Transfer Rates Press Release: Global memory leader Team Group Inc. continues to advance product performance with the introduction of new high-frequency specifications for its ELITE PLUS DDR5 and ELITE DDR5 desktop memory modules. Both products deliver speeds of up to 8000 MT/s and operate at 1.1V with CL56-56-56-128 timings, fully compliant with JEDEC standards. Designed [β¦]
Intel has accelerated its PC roadmap, with several chips including Nova Lake, Razor Lake, Titan Lake & Moon Lake on track to tackle AMD. Intel To Offer Four PC CPU Families In The Next Two Years As It Positions Its Lineup To Compete Aggressively Against AMD, Apple & Qualcomm Chipzilla is going aggressive not only on the Foundry front, but also in its PC business as it remains on track to offer four diverse chip families in the next two years. This shows heightened confidence at Intel as its PC platform execution not just accelerates, but also gets back on [β¦]
The AI boom has resulted in TSMC battling to increase its manufacturing capacity for clients to fulfill 3nm chip orders, leaving a massive opportunity for Samsung to capitalize on. However, even though the Korean giant has made strides in bringing its 2nm GAA technology to U.S. soilΒ in the form of its Taylor plant, its reliability in manufacturing higher volume at stable yields remains in question. While there have been talks of Samsung becoming a viable alternative to TSMC, companies like Tesla and Qualcomm are only considering a dual-sourcing strategy because they now have a backup option to a foundry that [β¦]
Panthalassa raises $140M to build wave-powered offshore nodes that generate electricity and run AI workloads at sea, tackling data center energy and cooling challenges.
OpenAI and Anthropic, which had existing evaluation partnerships with the center dating to 2024, renegotiated their deals to align with priorities in Trump's AI Action Plan.
The projection, based on orders already received from major Chinese technology firms including Alibaba, ByteDance, and Tencent, would represent growth of at least 60% year-over-year.
GammaFlip provides live gamma exposure charts and heatmaps for BTC, ETH, SOL, and XRP, helping traders see dealer hedging pressure and identify key volatility zones. The web app auto-plots gamma flip levels, shows 10 structural price markers, and lets you replay full GEX history with OHLC overlays. Data updates every ~60 seconds from Deribit, Bybit, and OKX. Premium unlocks dashboard, heatmap, and Time Machine, while Pro adds a REST API for bots and research.
Cuukbuuk lets you create your own recipes with AI. Describe what you want to eat or list ingredients you have to get a tailored recipe. You can ask for vegetarian, budget-friendly, or other variations. Upload photos to turn snapshots into editable recipes. Ask the AI to adjust portions or flavors, keeping ingredients and instructions in sync. Save recipes to your personal library, translate them into other languages, and share them with family and friends.
The Act introduces new online restrictions for young people, alongside an obligation for service providers to take "reasonable anti-circumvention measures." Here's why privacy raises the alarm.
Following a pledge made in January, PrivadoVPN has fully updated its Terms of Service to reflect its new headquarters in Iceland, officially leaving Switzerland behind to avoid potential mandatory data logging.
After championing the SteelSeries Nova Pro Wireless for years, the brand's new SteelSeries Arctis Nova Omni headset may be my new favorite from the brand.
Elon Muskβs claim that OpenAI wouldnβt exist without him lays bare a deeply personal battle with Sam Altman over credit, control, and the future of the company behind ChatGPT.
As the bleak sky opens over Gotham, showering Burce Wayneβs lifeless parents with stud-shaped rain, his origin story as Batman beginsβ¦ againβ¦ just not like youβve ever seen it before.
For the next four days only, you can buy one pass to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 and get 50% off a second of the same ticket type.Β That window closesΒ May 8 at 11:59 p.m. PT.Β After that, prices go up, andΒ youβllΒ pay more to bring aΒ partner orΒ colleague.Β Register todayΒ to get your plus-one pass at 50% off.
Google is trying a new method of bot authentication named Web Bot Auth. Google posted a new help document that explains that Web Bot Auth is a βnew cryptographic protocol that helps websites to validate that bots are authentic.β
The goal of Web Bot Auth is to help you automate the process of authenticating which AI Agent bots are authentic and which are fraud.
Limited test. Google said the search compan is βtesting the protocol with some AI agents hosted on Google infrastructure.β Not all Google user agents are using Web Bot Auth and Google is not yet signing every request of agents using the protocol.
What is Web Bot Auth. Google defined Web Bot Auth as βWeb Bot Auth is an experimental cryptographic protocol used to authenticate requests sent by bots. Instead of relying solely on self-reported headers and IP addresses, Web Bot Auth allows agents to cryptographically sign their requests.β
Web Bot Auth can bring the following benefits according to Google:
Future-proofing:Β Help establish a web where agent providers and websites can build mutual trust and make informed access decisions.
Cryptographic certainty:Β Move beyond easily spoofed headers to a verified identity and decouple agent identity from IP addresses.
Better observability:Β Gain clearer insights into how agents interact with your content.
Why we care. As AI Agents become more and more common across the web, managing which Agents can access your site and web pages may become more and more of a challenge. This new method of authentication may help you allow authentic AI Agents and block the inauthentic AI Agents.
Again, this is an βexperimentalβ feature right now, so keep track of its progress.
One of the major reasons PPC practitioners hold onto syntax-oriented keyword strategies is the disconnect between βquery intentβ and βconversion intent.β For years, youβve likely relied on keywords to show you understand what your customers want and to prequalify traffic using syntax-oriented signals.
As user behavior shifts to more conversational queries and AI becomes an increasingly relevant part of the user journey, the distinction between these two intents becomes even more critical to understand and act on.
Here, weβll define query and conversion intent and explore strategies to apply them effectively. This isnβt prescriptive. You should make decisions based on what will serve your business well. However, it provides a framework for analyzing your data and optimizing for the right humans.
Disclosure: Iβm a Microsoft employee, and Iβll be sharing some examples that pull from Microsoft tooling. However, most of the strategies reflect platform-agnostic approaches.
What are query and conversion intents?
Query intent is the underlying need driving the text put into a search function. This search function can be on a SERP (search engine results page), video/social/gaming/email/site search bar, or AI surface.
Conversion intent is the human need to achieve some outcome, understood through stated and inferred data points. These range from text entered in various search experiences, content consumed, and tracked actions taken.
Different examples of query and conversion intent will have higher or lower rates of confidence based on how explicit text is, as well as patterns in content consumed.
For example, if I search βMicrosoft ads login,β both query and conversion intent are clear β I want to log in. Itβs easy to match ads and organic content to that query. Videos shown in any video query would have to do with logging in, and emails would be focused around login information.
Google SERP
Bingβs SERP
YouTube results
The query βMicrosoft adsβ is more nebulous, as such, needs to draw from other signals like previously engaged content and search history. While I might get a login page, Iβd likely also see blog/sales content, third-party advice on Microsoft ads, and potentially competitor info trying to capitalize on the general nature of the query.
Google SERP
Bing SERP
YouTube results
Letβs look at a non-branded example as well. βPurple hair dyeβ has a clear transactional intent. While the user might not have a brand in mind, they know they want a specific color.Β
We donβt know if the user is looking for a semi-permanent or permanent color. We also donβt know the userβs pronouns, so matching them to a specific demographic to entice a purchase is a gamble.Β
Google SERP
Bing SERP
YouTube results
In the query βpurple hair dye for long wavy hair,β the transactional intent is maintained. However, the query focuses more on the core needs of the person behind the text. Long, wavy hair means there needs to be enough dye to cover long hair.
Additionally, while some men have long wavy hair, the person behind the query is more likely to identify as female.Β
Wavy hair has a different composition than straight or curly hair, so products specifically for wavy hair will be more relevant than those without hair type identifiers.
Google SERP
Bing SERP
YouTube results
In all of these examples, there was clear conversion intent. The human behind the query clearly wanted to achieve something. However, if we relied only on the text (i.e., query intent), we might miss a meaningful opportunity to connect with customers.Β
This is why close variants (which have been available on both Google and Microsoft for ~10 years) represent a useful way to unshackle ourselves from syntax alone.
Additionally, by limiting our understanding of queries to SERPs, we ignore critical insights from where our customers connect, work, and play. Microsoftβs internal data from March 2024 shows that brands that use both Audience ads (display, native, and video) and Search see a 6x conversion rate. Part of this is brand recognition, and the power of brand media buys influencing performance.
Yet thereβs also the pragmatic piece that some marketers refuse to engage with video and social. By being where your competitors refuse to be, you can shape and capture desire while they fight over a shrinking share of voice.
Once you understand the difference between query and conversion intent, you can begin mapping out the actions needed to capitalize on both.
Conversion intent is much easier to understand than query intent. This is why AI systems typically run queries in the background to understand human input and get at the conversion intent behind the query.Β
To succeed at shaping queries and capturing conversions, itβs critical to understand the input points for humans and the AI systems that will be serving them results.
Letβs revisit the βpurple hair dye for long wavy hairβ query:
Copilot surfaces how it arrived at the output by looking up information and finding the best matches. This is similar to the SEO concept of E-E-A-T.
Yet youβll notice that the results for my personal Copilot are different than the traditional SERP (chiefly that ads arenβt the dominant result β ads serve at the bottom of clearly transactional conversations after organic listings).
This is where the βDetailsβ function comes into play and can help you know where to focus content, feed, and messaging functions:
This product is pretty flat on price, save for some deep summer dips. If Iβm desperate for color, I might buy now, or I might wait for what seems like a regular summer sale. Iβm also getting insights into why this product is wonderful (hair conditioning, cruelty-free, vibrant, and customizable color, etc.).
These are things Iβve shown interest in through past purchases, conversations with Copilot, and other signals it has access to.
Brands that want to optimize for query intent need to make sure the following are in good order:
Feed/landing page clarity
It should be incredibly easy to map what the product/service is to the query. While there is value in some 1:1 matching of language, itβs much more important that the core offering be understood as aligned with what the human is looking for.
For example, DUI and DWI are technically two different charges and have geo implications. However, DUI tends to be the universal legal charge and service.
Images adding context
Visual content is critical to engage humans. However, if the image isnβt clear or is duplicative of another service/product page, you might confuse the user and the machine attempting to understand and position you for queries. This is why itβs critical to add alt text (even on paid landing pages) for images and videos.
A good way to test whether your visuals are serving you well is to put the landing page into a PMax campaign creator. If you see the images and they match the correct service text, youβve done a good job.
Invest time in understanding how humans and AI are querying
Free tools like Google Trends, Microsoft Clarity, and Bing Webmaster offer insights into search trends, citations, grounding queries, and which AI systems and humans are successfully engaging with your content.
Conversion intent is more straightforward, though debatably harder because it requires more creative and critical thinking:Β
Matching messages to personas
The reason one person says yes to you might be completely different from the reason someone else does. Locking in conversion intent includes being mindful of how youβre selling yourself. If you ignore what matters to your customers in reviews, intake from customer success or sales, and other signals, you risk selling yourself badly and losing the customer.
This is where AI-powered creative and audience mapping can be helpful, since platforms have access to more insights than a brand does during the auction.
Honor the impulse nature of visual content
Someone coming to you from a display spot or short video is very different than someone coming from a text-laden SERP. They were inspired to act and need frictionless paths to conversion.
One-click checkout (including solutions like Copilot Checkout) ensures humans donβt need to think to do business with you.
Ultimately, both query and conversion intent need brand and performance marketing to be successful, and itβs critical to understand how the success metrics manifest.
The converging roles of brand and performance
For a long time, brand and performance marketing were treated as separate motions, with separate owners, budgets, and success metrics.Β
Brand was about reach, recall, and long-term connection.Β
Performance was about efficiency, conversion rate, and immediate return.Β
That separation made sense when channels, measurement, and user journeys were cleaner than they are today. Itβs much harder to maintain in an environment where AI systems infer intent continuously and across surfaces.Β
A user doesnβt experience brand and performance as separate. They experience confidence, familiarity, relevance, and ease. Those signals are created over time through exposure, engagement, and trust, and they often determine whether conversion intent ever materializes, regardless of how βhigh intentβ a query might appear on its own.
From a metrics perspective, this convergence is clear. Brand-oriented activity influences performance outcomes even when it isnβt the final touch. Exposure to display, native, or video doesnβt always produce an immediate click, but it changes how humans and systems interpret future behavior.Β
When someone later performs a search, engages with an AI assistant, or compares options on a marketplace, prior brand interactions act as accelerators. They reduce hesitation, shorten decision cycles, and increase the likelihood that a conversion signal will be credited downstream.
From a strategy standpoint, this means brand work should no longer be evaluated solely on isolated upper-funnel KPIs, and Performance work canβt be evaluated purely on last-click efficiency.Β
Audience-based formats, contextual placements, and visual storytelling directly shape conversion intent by shaping preferences and expectations before a query even occurs. Search and shopping formats then serve as capture mechanisms, translating that latent intent into action.
This is particularly relevant in AI-assisted experiences, where systems synthesize multiple inputs before presenting options or recommendations. Content, feeds, reviews, images, and historical engagement all influence how brands are represented and when they appear.
In these environments, strong brand signals donβt compete with performance outcomes. They enable them by making the brand easier to understand, trust, and choose.
Brand and performance donβt need to use the same tactics, but they must be planned together. Measurement frameworks should account for assistive value, not just final interactions.
Creative strategies should recognize that inspiration and conversion often happen at different moments. Optimization should focus less on forcing intent into rigid buckets and more on supporting the full decision journey.
When we recognize that query intent and conversion intent are related but not identical, the convergence of brand and performance becomes less a philosophical debate and more an operational necessity.
Success comes from designing systems that reflect how humans actually decide, not just how they type.
Key takeaways
Query intent describes what is said; conversion intent reflects what the human needs to accomplish. They overlap, but they arenβt interchangeable.
Brand activity shapes conversion intent long before a query is expressed and influences how future interactions are interpreted.
Performance outcomes improve when Brand signals reduce friction, uncertainty, and choice overload.
AI-driven experiences amplify this convergence by relying on cumulative signals rather than single actions.
Sustainable optimization requires aligning brand and performance strategies, metrics, and expectations around the same human outcomes.
In February 2025, the world watched as a small group of humanoid robots took the stage at the CCTV Chinese New Year show for the very first time. It was a charming performance, even if the steps were shaky and the movements were mostly limited to the arms.
Just one year later, at the Spring Festival Gala, the shaky steps were gone and the humanoid robots were able to actually run and do standing somersaults and full kung fu routines with swords and nunchaku. The message was clear: in just one year, we have witnessed a decadeβs worth of advancement.
The 10-year leap in technology is real and not limited to robotics. Which raises a critical question for every digital marketer eyeing the worldβs largest web population: How has search in China progressed in recent years?
A parallel in the Chinese search landscape
The answer is that weβre witnessing the first, calculated tremors of a massive shift. AI models have not yet replaced traditional search. The evolution isnβt happening through a single βbig bang,β but through a constant, iterative pulse.Β
New LLM models are surfacing every few months, each more specialized than the last. Chinese tech giants are increasingly open-sourcing their models, and even industry leaders are hedging their bets. Baidu, for example, is integrating DeepSeek into its search experience, even as its own Ernie (Wenxin) model remains a formidable powerhouse.
Letβs look at how users actually search in China today β and what this nuanced shift from links to reasoning means for your 2026 SEO strategy.
The great narrative fallacy: Is web search dead in China?
In many marketing circles, a specific narrative has been repeated so often it has become an article of faith: βTraditional search on Baidu is dead β and has been for years. Websites are obsolete. In China, everything is WeChat.β
This narrative is almost always driven by service providers whose business models depend on WeChat, Douyin, Weibo, or Xiaohongshu marketing. To them, the βopen webβ is a ghost town. But is this actually true?
The social supremacy argument
Thereβs a grain of truth in the hype. The Chinese web is a mobile-first multiverse. Users access and explore the web through super-apps:
RedNote (Xiaohongshu / Little Red Book): This is the de facto engine for lifestyle research and travel planning.
Pinduoduo and Douyin: These are the juggernauts of social commerce and impulse buying.
WeChat: The absolute center of daily life, where everything from a quick message to a utility bill payment via QR code happens.
In this environment, social media isnβt just a channel. Itβs the air people breathe. For B2C brands, social ads can β and often do β exceed website-driven sales by orders of magnitude.
The B2B reality check
For those of us working with B2B companies that need real visibility in China, the βBaidu is deadβ narrative falls apart the moment you look at the analytics. Clients who invest in Baidu SEO and Baidu search engine advertising (SEA) continue to see a steady, high-volume stream of real human visitors β in many cases generating more qualified leads and higher conversion rates than their counterparts in the UK or Germany.
Why? Because when a B2B procurement officer or a technical engineer needs a specific industrial solution, they donβt just scroll until they find it on a social media feed. They search for a verified, authoritative source. In other words, they look for a website.
Is the social media narrative a lie? No. But ignoring a channel that β at least in the B2B sector β remains more effective in China than in many search-first Western countries is simply bad business. The goal isnβt to choose one over the other; itβs to understand how they coexist.Β
And just as weβve settled the debate between web marketing versus app marketing, a new challenger β the LLM β has entered the battleground to disrupt both.
Mapping the 2026 landscape: Intent-based specialization
To a Google-first marketer, the idea of searching anywhere but a search engine feels like a detour. In China, itβs the standard operating procedure. Users donβt just βGoogle it.β Instead, they choose the tool that fits the intent.
As a Baidu specialist living and working in China, I see this daily. While I might be optimizing a B2B landing page for Baidu, my wife is likely on Pinduoduo, finding household deals, or on Xiaohongshu, planning our next weekend trip.Β
The βeverything appβ exists, but the βright appβ always wins the click.
1. Traditional web search: The authority tier
Despite the βdeath of the webβ narrative, traditional web search remains the primary battleground for B2B and high-authority research. If a user needs a technical whitepaper, a government regulation, or a verified corporate headquarters, they go here.
Baidu: Still the mobile heavyweight, with a ~70% mobile market share. Its structural advantage is massive: The Baidu app is installed on over 724 million monthly active devices (as of early 2026). It has evolved into an AI-first portal, but for SEOs, it remains the place where the open web lives and breathes.
Microsoft Bing: The professionalβs sanctuary. It has claimed a massive chunk of desktop search for those seeking a cleaner, international, or technical experience.
Haosou (360 Search): The enterprise default, often pre-installed on corporate PCs and known for its security focus.
Sogou: Deeply integrated with WeChat, itβs the bridge between the walled garden and the web.
Google: Yes, Google. Despite the firewall, a significant population of tech-savvy professionals and researchers use it via VPN for global technical data and academic resources.
2. Social discovery: The inspiration tier
This is where search becomes discovery. Users donβt always have a keyword, but they do have an interest. In this context, SEO is about social indexing: ensuring your brand appears when a user looks for proof and not just products.
WeChat (Weixin): The internal search for official brand news and private traffic.
Xiaohongshu (RED): The ultimate product-discovery engine. If you arenβt on RED, you donβt exist in the lifestyle or luxury sectors.
Douyin: Visual, video-first search. Users search Douyin to see how something works.
Kuaishou: The powerhouse for lower-tier cities and raw, authentic grassroots content.
Weibo: Real-time search β what is happening right now in the public eye.
Bilibili: Long-form video search for deep dives, tutorials, and Gen Z subcultures.
3. Ecommerce: The transactional tier
In the West, users often start on Google and end on Amazon. In China, the journey frequently starts and ends in the same place.
Taobao / Tmall: The grand bazaar. If you want variety and brand stores, this is the first stop.
JD.com: The Amazon of China for logistics and high-end electronics.
Pinduoduo: The favorite for daily essentials and group-buy deals. Its search logic is entirely driven by value for money.
Douyin Mall: The rising star of βimpulse search,β merging entertainment with immediate checkout.
Xianyu (Goofish): The go-to for the thriving second-hand market and hobbyist niches.
4. Generative AI (LLMs): The reasoning tier
This is the newest layer of the map β the βthinkingβ search. These AI models donβt just produce lists of links. They are assistants that synthesize the web for the user.
Doubao (ByteDance): Currently the most popular consumer AI assistant, used for casual, conversational queries.
DeepSeek (Domestic): The choice for developers and those in need of βdeep thinkingβ logic. Itβs the engine currently getting tested inside WeChatβs search bar.
Kimi (Moonshot AI): The king of long-context. Users use Kimi to search through 50-page PDFs or complex financial reports.
Qwen (Alibaba): Powerfully integrated into the Alibaba ecosystem for business and coding tasks.
Tencent Yuanbao: The βAI brainβ for WeChat content.
Wen Xiaoyan (Baidu): The AI-facing evolution of Baidu search.
5. Hyper-local and logistics: The utility tier
For the physical world, search is about βnowβ and βnear me.β
Meituan / Dianping: If youβre hungry or want to see a movie, you donβt use Baidu. You use Dianping for reviews and Meituan for transactions.
Amap (Gaode) / Baidu Maps: The βsearch engines of the real world.β SEO on these platforms is purely about point-of-interest (POI) optimization.
Ctrip (Trip.com) / Railway 12306: The specialized gates for the massive domestic travel market.
From mapping to maneuvering: The Baidu specialistβs edge
Baidu SEO isnβt dead; your website just isnβt the sole focus of web search anymore.
The βwalled gardenβ SERP: A decade of distraction
If youβre a Google-centric SEO, there are some notable differences when working with Baidu:
The ad-heavy layout: It isnβt uncommon to see ads claiming the top, middle, and bottom of a Baidu search engine results page (SERP), occupying nearly 50% of the visible real estate.
The Baidu monopoly: The most coveted organic positions are almost always reserved for Baiduβs own properties. Baidu Baike (the encyclopedia), Baidu Zhidao (the Q&A hub), and Baijiahao (the news/blogging arm) are the permanent residents of Page 1.
The portal giants: High-authority giants like Zhihu (Chinaβs Quora), Bilibili, and Sohu take up whatever space is left.
Riding the Chinese SERP dragon
In this environment, ranking a corporate homepage for a high-volume keyword is a foolβs errand. Instead, weβve mastered the art of the βlong-tail dragon.β
In the West, we talk about the long tail of search as a small, niche opportunity. In China, with its linguistic complexity and massive user base, the long tail is a winding, multi-layered beast that is often more lucrative than the head terms.Β
And we donβt just rank a website; we piggyback on the authority of the platforms Baidu already trusts. If you canβt beat Baidu Baike, you become the verified entry inside it.
Interestingly, it is these very platforms β the ones weβve been using to bypass the βblue link problemβ β that have now become the primary focus of the next generation of search.
What is changing in Baidu SEO?
In China, there is no brand loyalty toward particular AI models, as Westerners have toward platforms like ChatGPT and Claude.
The AI-switching reality
Chinese users are restless. They donβt stick with one model. They switch β sometimes because a hyped model hits a downtime wall, and sometimes because a new model claims the throne of the βmost intelligent AI.β In this cycle of competition and user preference, an SEO canβt just focus on the βbig sources.β
If youβre following the Western playbook, youβre likely chasing Reddit, Quora, and YouTube as your βsources of truthβ for AI training. But in China, that focus is dangerously narrow. To win the reasoning battle, you must understand the investor-source connection.
Brainstorming the wisdom platforms
If you want to train AIs to see your brand in China, you have to look at the platforms they were built on:
Tencent is invested in Sogou. In 2021, Tencent fully privatized Sogou. This means Sogou Baike is no longer just a Baidu alternative β it is now a core training set for Tencentβs Yuanbao. If you ignore Sogou Baike, youβre invisible to the AI search bar inside WeChat.
Bytedance owns Baike.com. Bytedance bought Baike.com (formerly Hudong Baike) specifically to fuel its search ambitions. If you want to get cited by Doubao, your content needs to be mirrored here and not just on Baidu.
The neutral giants: Keep an eye on Zhihu. Because both Tencent and Baidu are heavy investors in Zhihu, it remains one of the few neutral high-authority sources that almost every Chinese LLM uses for opinionated or expert reasoning.
The new SEO commandment
Weβre no longer just optimizing for a search engine. Weβre optimizing for a data pedigree.
If your client is B2B, you might still prioritize the Baidu ecosystem. But if your client is in ecommerce and you arenβt feeding the Qwen engine via Alibabaβs ecosystem, or the Doubao engine via Baike.com, youβre limiting your visibility across key AI systems.
The 2026 China SEO/GEO blueprint: From keywords to semantic saturation
If youβre waiting for a βDeepSeek optimization checklistβ or a βDoubao ranking guide,β youβve already missed the point. Because users switch models as often as they switch takeout apps, you canβt afford to be βBaidu-onlyβ or βWeChat-centric.β
Here is whatβs actually working for SEO in China in 2026:
Optimize for citations and not just clicks
While SEO in the West is focused on generative engine optimization (GEO), in China, itβs all about fact density.Β
The logic: When Kimi or DeepSeek performs a reasoning query, the AI looks for verifiable facts.
The tactic: Stop writing marketing fluff. Start using the inverted pyramid writing style. Lead with a direct, data-backed answer in your first paragraph. Use hard statistics, expert quotes, and structured lists. If a model canβt extract a fact from your content in 200 milliseconds, it might hallucinate a competitorβs data instead.
Build an entity moat across wisdom platforms
As we brainstormed earlier, every AI has a βparentβ with a preferred data source. But since models are now open-sourcing their weights and distilling each otherβs intelligence, your brand must achieve entity consistency.
The goal: Your brand name, headquarters, and core product claims must be identical across Baidu Baike (Baidu), Sogou Baike (Tencent), and Baike.com (ByteDance).
The result: When these models cross-check their reasoning, they find a consensus. In 2026, consensus is the new authority.
Leverage information gain
Chinese AI models have a well-observed recency bias β they prefer sources that are roughly 25% fresher than traditional search results.
The tactic: Donβt just regurgitate whatβs already on Zhihu. Provide a βunique data slice.β If everyone says βThe best time to post on Douyin is 6 PM,β and you publish a case study proving β11 AM is better for B2B industrial leads,β the AI will cite you as the βnuanced exception.β That citation is worth more than ten #1 rankings.
Weβve come a long way from the shaky steps of the 2025 CCTV Gala.
In 2026, Chinaβs search ecosystem is no longer a directory of links. Itβs a living, reasoning entity.
For the Western search specialist, the lesson is clear: The βsuper appβ was a distraction. The real story is the fragmentation of intent.
My wife still goes to Pinduoduo for the best price. My colleagues still go to Bing for technical sanctuary. And the βI, Robotβ enthusiasts of 2026 are using a rotating door of LLMs to find their answers.
As a Baidu specialist, my job has shifted from βranking a websiteβ to βarchitecting an entity.β We no longer build for the bot; we build for the source. If youβre the undeniable source of truth across the platforms that shape Chinaβs information ecosystem, it doesnβt matter which model delivers the answer.
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Microsoft recently published a note stating that gaming PCs running Windows 11 should be equipped with 32 GB of RAM as a "no worries" update for systems handling demanding tasks like Discord alongside AAA titles running in the background. However, after our post reached millions of readers online, gamers reacted negatively to Microsoft's seemingly excessive requirement amid the worst DRAM shortage ever recorded. In response, Microsoft deleted the entire blog post. Now, clicking on the old link redirects to the Windows Learning Center, which features general blog posts with tips and tricks on enhancing your Windows 11 experience, with no trace of the original post.
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Samsung Display announced today that it will participate in Display Week 2026, hosted by the Society for Information Display (SID), and showcase its latest display innovations.
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Kensington, a worldwide leader of desktop computing and mobility solutions for IT, business, and home office professionals, today announced an expansion of its USB-C GaN charging portfolio with the addition of new multi-port power adapters and a 240 W USB-C fast-charging cable, designed to support fast, efficient charging across multiple devices.
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When Bloomberg recently asked Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick why the company has not yet discussed a PC version of GTA 6, he emphasized the importance of focusing on the company's "core" users. The comments imply that Take-Two still views the PC as a secondary market. Despite this, Zelnick acknowledged that...
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According to Korean publication The Elec, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have asked substrate manufacturers to move forward with DDR6 production. The companies are now coordinating designs and conducting preliminary development of the new memory standard.
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OAuth
Threat actors are actively exploiting a critical security flaw impacting an open-source content management system (CMS) known as MetInfo, according to new findings from VulnCheck.
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Apple has once again raised the possibility of making its chips at Fabs besides TSMC, as it is in early talks with Intel and Samsung. Intel & Samsung Emerge As Potential Fix To Apple's Supply Constraints Affecting Its Consumer Chips Bloomberg has just dropped some big news surrounding Apple, which is in early talks with Intel and Apple to secure additional supply for its consumer lineup. The report highlights that Apple has held "exploratory" discussions with the two semiconductor firms as it aims to diversify the production of its chips. The company has so far relied upon TSMC for its [β¦]
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I'm still not over last week's epic Amazing Race crossover that ended in hilarious disaster. But when do Hacks season 5 episodes 6 and 7 drop on HBO Max?
In February 2024, Gartner predicted that traditional search volume would drop 25% by 2026. It didnβt. Googleβs search revenue accelerated to 17% year-over-year growth, crossing $63 billion in Q4 2025 alone. But clicks per search are falling while query volume explodes. The pie got bigger. The slices got redistributed. And most search teams are still optimizing for the old pie.
Are you still poring over spreadsheets full of organic keyword rankings like itβs 2003? Your customers donβt care where theyβre getting their answers. Theyβre just looking for answers they can trust. And theyβre finding those answers across more surfaces than your rank tracker knows exist.
If your organic strategy lives in one spreadsheet, your paid strategy in another, and your AI search strategy in a third (or nowhere), youβre optimizing for a search experience that no longer exists.
What βsearchβ actually looks like now
Google βbest tax softwareβ right now. Go ahead, Iβll wait.
Count the surfaces on that single results page. Sponsored ads across the top. An AI Overview with its own recommendations and citations. A Reddit thread (because Google knows people trust other people more than brands). Organic listings from CNET, H&R Block, and others. A video carousel. Discussion forum links. A product carousel with images and prices. More sponsored results at the bottom. And a βPeople also search forβ section feeding the next query.
That is one search. One keyword. And nobody owns it.
Now think about how different people actually use that page. I scroll past everything to find the Reddit thread, because I want to know what real humans recommend. My dad clicks the first sponsored ad because he doesnβt understand paid advertising (sorry, dad!) and just trusts Google to surface the best option up top. Someone else reads the AI Overview, gets a good-enough answer, and never clicks anything at all. A fourth person watches the Smart Family Money video and leaves.
Same query. Four completely different paths. Four different βwinners.β And if youβre the brand celebrating a number-three organic ranking on this page, you may be missing that most of the real estate, and most of the user attention, lives somewhere other than those blue links.
This is what I mean by the total SERP experience. Your customer sees the whole page. You should too.
But before the panic sets in: AI tools still account for less than 1% of U.S. web traffic. Google sends 300x more referral traffic than all AI platforms combined. The sky isnβt falling, but the ground is shifting.
The shift that matters most is behavioral. Wynterβs 2026 research found 68% of B2B buyers now start their research in AI tools before they ever open Google. They ask ChatGPT to narrow the field, then Google the shortlist to validate. AI evaluates, Google verifies, and your website converts. If your brand is missing from that first AI conversation, youβre not even on the shortlist when the Googling starts.
Why the click data is more interesting than scary
A Search Engine Land analysis of 25 million organic impressions across 42 clients found organic CTR drops 61% when an AI Overview appears. In addition, paid CTR drops 68%.
EVERYBODY FREAK OUT!!! Right? Not quite.
Hereβs what the panicked LinkedIn posts leave out: brands cited inside AI Overviews see 35% more organic clicks and 91% more paid clicks. Being in the AI Overview doesnβt cannibalize your traffic. If anything, it amplifies it. The AI Overview functions like a trust signal, a stamp of βthis brand is relevant to your questionβ that makes people more likely to click your listing below.
The real twist, though, is that ranking well in organic doesnβt guarantee you show up in AI. Tom Capperβs research at Moz found 88% of AI Mode citations are NOT in the organic SERP for the same query. Organic and AI are pulling from different source pools. You can be number one in Google and completely invisible in ChatGPTβs answer to the same question.
And the small amount of traffic that does come from AI? It converts at more than quadruple the rate of organic, according to Semrush. These visitors arrive more informed, more intentional, and more ready to buy. Which makes sense, because theyβve already done the evaluation inside the AI interface. By the time they click, theyβre just confirming and often converting.
The org chart is the problem
Most companies have SEO reporting to content, PPC reporting to demand gen, and AI search reporting to nobody. BrightEdge found 54% of organizations have handed AI search to the SEO team alone, which is a little like asking your plumber to also handle the electrical work because, hey, itβs all in the same house.
The waste from this setup is real. One branded Performance Max campaign paid roughly $500,000 for clicks that would have come through organic anyway. Googleβs own research confirms: when you rank number one organically, only half your paid clicks are truly incremental. The other half? You bought what you already owned.
Meanwhile, McKinsey found that a brandβs own website makes up only 5% to 10% of the sources AI references. AI pulls from Reddit, review sites, affiliates, publishers, and user-generated content. You can have the best SEO program in your category and be completely absent from AI search results because AI is reading what other people say about you, not what you say about yourself.
The unified approach works. Level cut acquisition costs 18% and boosted SEO leads 22% by merging paid and organic for a B2B SaaS client. And we can use tools in our Level Intelligence Suite to connect performance signals across search surfaces. The channels compound each other. Treating them as separate line items on separate P&Ls leaves that compounding on the table.
Three audits you can run Monday morning
You donβt need a six-month transformation to start seeing the gaps. Three lenses, applied to your top 20 keywords, will show you where the opportunities and the waste are hiding.
Lens 1: Where do you actually appear? Check your organic rankings, paid ad coverage, and AI visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini for the same set of keywords. Semrush has a free AI visibility checker. Most teams have never looked at all three surfaces side by side, and the gaps are almost always larger than they expect.
Lens 2: Where are you paying for traffic you already own? Cross-reference your number-one organic rankings with active PPC bids on the same terms. Start with branded keywords, where the waste is usually largest and the test is cleanest. If you rank first and youβre still bidding, youβre probably buying your own clicks.
Lens 3: Where is AI ignoring you? Compare your organic rankings with your AI citation presence. Only 11% of domains get cited by both ChatGPT and Perplexity, so strength in one guarantees nothing in the other. And check your robots.txt while youβre at it. If youβre blocking AI crawlers like OAI-SearchBot or PerplexityBot, youβve pulled yourself off those shelves entirely.
This diagnostic shows you the full picture. What to do about it, the actual unification framework, is what Iβm laying out at SMX Advanced.
The window wonβt stay open
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) keyword difficulty currently averages 15 to 20, compared to 45 to 60 for equivalent SEO terms. That gap will close. Once an LLM selects a trusted source, it reinforces that choice across related prompts. The brands getting cited now are training the models to keep citing them. Winner-takes-most dynamics are being baked into the weights.
Many companies are seeing search traffic drop significantly. Those same brands, the ones that get it right, are seeing the inverse when it comes to business growth. Rankings and revenue have decoupled. The brands that win from here are the ones that stopped measuring channels in isolation and started measuring the search experience their customers actually have.
Weβre presenting a search unification framework at SMX Advanced in our session, βOrganic, paid, and AI search: one strategy to rule them all.β If you want to stop optimizing for three separate channels and start compounding performance across every search surface, join us for the session or come find the Level team at Booth #9.
Remember: The search experience that existed in 2023 is gone. The strategy should be too.
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Valve's new hardware survey shows that a quarter of Windows users are holding on to Windows 10, while the most popular PC components paint a broader picture.
Playground Games has detailed six reward cars for Forza Horizon 6 that players of the previous games can get their hands on, and they're going to give you a definite leg up right out of the gate.
be quiet!, the German manufacturer for premium PC components and peripherals, is proud to announce Dark Rock Pro 6 and Dark Rock 6. These high-end air coolers feature an all-new design, significantly better performance thanks to optimized heat sinks and optimized high-performance heat pipes, as well as an extended feature set for even greater ease of use and compatibility. Both coolers are built for users who demand powerful cooling performance, maximum compatibility with high-end motherboards and RAM modules, and the virtually inaudible operation that defines be quiet!'s Dark Rock series.
"With Dark Rock Pro 6 and Dark Rock 6, we have taken our high-end air cooling portfolio to the next level," says Aaron Licht, CEO of be quiet! "With improved performance and a new level of quietness through its optional semi-passive mode, the Dark Rock 6 series delivers the cooling power and elegance users expect from be quiet!, whether they are building a heavily overclocked workstation or a compact high-end gaming system."
LG Display, the world's leading innovator of display technologies, announced today that it is unveiling its next-generation OLED technologies at SID Display Week 2026, further strengthening its OLED leadership.
During the exhibition, held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from May 5 to 7, LG Display will present OLED display solutions optimized for the AI era under the theme, "OLED Evolution for the AI Era." SID Display Week is the world's largest display event, where global companies and researchers gather to present research papers and showcase mid- to long-term future technologies and new products.
Last week, news broke that Lenovo had bought Phoenix Technologies' firmware (BIOS) technology business and now it looks like AMIβalso known as American Megatrends Incβis about to get a new owner, namely Lattice Semiconductor. That leaves Taiwanese Insyde Software as the only independent UEFI/BIOS developer in a market that at least on the desktop side has been largely ruled by AMI and is likely to continue to be so, even with AMI now being a subsidiary to Lattice Semiconductor.
Lattice is offering US$1.65 billion in cash and stock for AMI, which is a privately held company today. For those unfamiliar with Lattice, the company makes a range of FPGA solutions for a wide range of markets and is a competitor with AMD's Xilinx subsidiary and Altera, which is part owned by Intel. It's not entirely clear what the synergy is between Lattice and AMI, but a statement by Lattice CEO Ford Tamer suggests that the company thinks it might help its customers "deploy complex systems faster and with greater confidence" under Lattice's "everywhere companion chip strategy". Time will tell if this will lead to changes to AMI's current customers or not, since as the biggest UEFI/BIOS vendor out thereβused by almost all mainstream motherboard makers and many other x86/x64 hardware makersβthey have something of a unique position in the market.
The CPU market looks very different from six months ago. Intel's back in the conversation, AMD's X3D chips still rule gaming, and there's genuine value at every price point.
While the software industry has made genuine strides over the past few decades to deliver products securely, the furious pace of AI adoption is putting that progress at risk. Businesses are moving fast to self-host LLM infrastructure, drawn by the promise of AI as a force multiplier and the pressure to deliver more value faster. But speed is coming at the expense of security.
In the wake of the
The North Korea-aligned state-sponsored hacking group known as ScarCruft has compromised a video game platform in a supply chain espionage attack, trojanizing its components with a backdoor called BirdCallto likely target ethnic Koreans residing in China.
While prior versions of the backdoor have primarily targeted Windows users only, the supply chain attack is assessed to have enabled the
Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3 has yet to be officially announced, but recent statements from director Naoki Hamaguchi suggest theΒ game's reveal and release aren't too far off. According to a high-effort leak posted onΒ ResetEra, the third and final entry in the remake trilogy will be revealed during this year'sΒ Summer Game FestΒ opening showcase on June 5, but many of the detailsΒ sound too good to be true. "I am posting this on behalf of somebody else I know to protect their identity who works somewhere in the chain between Square Enix marketing and Summer Game Fest event staff. The level of [β¦]
The memory shortage faced by Apple can be avoided as the company can purchase DRAM quantities in bulk for a multitude of products, but one area where the Cupertino firm may continue to struggle is chip supply. As TSMC is operating at its maximum capacityΒ by fulfilling 3nm silicon orders for AI customers, itβs adversely affecting iPhone 17 Pro Max shipments to the point that a customer who has been searching around for a flagship unit is unable to find one in a U.S. state. Low A19 Pro chip supply could also affect the second-generation MacBook Neo shipments, as Apple will [β¦]
China is targeting 70% local wafer sourcing as firms like Eswin scale 12-inch production, aiming to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers and support growing AI chip demand.
Notepad++ creator Don Ho has filed a trademark complaint with Cloudflare and is threatening further legal action against the developer of a macOS port.
A YouTuber has tested Intel's 12 P-core Core 9 273PQE and discovered the chip outperforms the Core i9-14900K by up to 9% in games potentially making the 273PQE Intel's fastest gaming CPU.
Levelop helps developers master coding patterns and system design through interactive challenges, an intuitive system design canvas, and daily practice. It adapts to your goals, tracks progress with personalized dashboards, and uses AI-powered guidance to keep you focused and productive. Join a community of learners and builders, set achievable milestones, and consistently grow your skills.
Vimi is an AI-powered photo studio that turns selfies, pet shots, and couple photos into polished portraits and creative artwork. Browse themed collections like Cute 3D World, Premium Portrait, Playground FX, and Elegant Sari to find a look you love. Upload photos, pick a style, and generate unique images for profiles, gifts, or celebrations in minutes.
Sony's WH-1000XX The ColleXion has been spotted adorning the ears of Damson Idris, in what appears to me to be an early tease of the super-premium cans
To address the challenges of water quality and availability in the Scheldt Basin, a vital river network flowing through Belgium, Google is supporting Agua Segura and Agrβ¦
The next Call of Duty game isnβt coming to PlayStation 4 Over the weekend, rumours began circulating that the next Call of Duty game is being developed for last-generation consoles. This means that the game was being developed with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in mind. In response to these rumours, Activision has used their [β¦]
DDR6 memory is officially in development All major memory manufacturers, including Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron, have reportedly started developing DDR6 memory. Alongside substrate manufacturers, βjoint developmentβ for the standard has reportedly begun. According to The Elec, this happens βmore than two years before product launchβ, placing DDR6βs launch in a 2028-2029 timeframe. JEDEC has [β¦]
Are you looking for esports-level performance without unnecessary weight? The SKILLER SGM70W delivers professional performance in an ultra-lightweight design - whether used wired or wireless. Equipped with the precise PixArt PAW3395 sensor, an extremely high polling rate, and ultra-smooth glass feet, it offers maximum control with minimal weight and is perfect for ambitious gamers who demand speed, precision, and flexibility.
The SKILLER SGM70W relies on the proven optical PixArt PAW3395 sensor, delivering up to 26,000 DPI to capture even the smallest movements with accuracy. This ensures the precision needed for fast reactions and exact tracking during competitive gameplay. Whether wired or wireless, the SKILLER SGM70W adapts effortlessly to any gaming situation. Both modes offer professional performance, while the wireless mode benefits from an impressive 8,000 Hz polling rate for especially responsive input.
A critical security vulnerability in Weaver (Fanwei) E-cology, an enterprise office automation (OA) and collaboration platform, has come under active exploitation in the wild.
The vulnerability (CVE-2026-22679, CVSS score: 9.8) relates to a case of unauthenticated remote code execution affecting Weaver E-cology 10.0 versions prior to 20260312. The issue resides in the "/papi/esearch/data/devops/
Microsoft has disclosed details of a large-scale credential theft campaign that has leveraged a combination of code of conduct-themed lures and legitimate email services to direct users to attacker-controlled domains and steal authentication tokens.
The multi-stage campaign, observed between April 14 and 16, 2026, targeted more than 35,000 users across over 13,000 organizations in 26 countries,
This morning, Finnish developer Remedy Entertainment posted its Q1 2026 financial report, which revealed, among other things, a new sales milestone for CONTROL: 6 million units sold. The year's first quarter was profitable but slightly down year over year, with revenue falling 1.9% to β¬13.1 million, though EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) actually improved to β¬2.9 million from β¬2.6 million. The more notable shift is in the revenue mix:Β game sales and royalties nearly doubledΒ to β¬5.0 million (from β¬2.6 million in Q1 2025), while development fees fell from β¬10.7 million to β¬8.2 million as CONTROL Resonant nears completion. [β¦]
The Keychron V1 Ultra 8K delivers an impressive feature set for its price, including 8,000Hz polling over wired and 2.4GHz wireless connections and hot-swappable Silk POM switches.
XPG, a leading provider of high-performance products for gamers, esports pros, and tech enthusiasts, today announced the launch of its groundbreaking new memory series, NOVAKEY. As the flagship of the series, the NOVAKEY RGB DDR5 features the world's first patented "Infinity Mirror" design. Delivering speeds up to 6,400 MT/s and capacities up to 32 GB per module, it is engineered for mainstream gamers and creators who demand a perfect balance between sophisticated style and rock-solid performance.
The launch of NOVAKEY marks a significant milestone in XPG's brand evolution. The name combines "Nova," representing the brilliant energy and infinite potential of a supernova, with "Key," symbolizing the essential technology that unlocks next-level performance. Its patented "Infinity Mirror" design utilizes a futuristic geometric silhouette to create mesmerizing 3D visual depth. To complement the trend of modern PC builds with large glass panels, the XPG design team applied optical reflection principles to the heat sink, creating an "infinite time tunnel" effect from any viewing angle. The exterior features XPG's signature slanted-cut language, while the matte black metal accents and brushed aluminium finish ensure a premium, refined look even when the RGB lighting is turned off.
Global memory leader Team Group Inc. continues to advance product performance with the introduction of new high-frequency specifications for its ELITE PLUS DDR5 and ELITE DDR5 desktop memory modules. Both products deliver speeds of up to 8000 MT/s and operate at 1.1 V with CL56-56-56-128 timings, fully compliant with JEDEC standards. Designed to meet the growing demand for high-frequency operation, these modules not only fulfill performance requirements but also enhance overall system performance and computing experience, highlighting Team Group's technological strengths in high-performance memory. Both products are expected to be available soon on Amazon in North America.
As demand for high-performance computing and digital technologies continues to grow, Team Group introduces the ELITE PLUS DDR5 8000 MT/s and ELITE DDR5 8000 MT/s as new high-frequency, low-power consumption desktop memory modules. Through frequency upgrades, they are engineered to support a variety of desktop use scenarios, including learning and entertainment. Operating at 1.1 V, the modules effectively lower power consumption while extending the computer's lifespan. They are also equipped with DDR5 Same-Bank Refresh technology and an optimized IC architecture, maintaining smooth operation under multitasking conditions and improving overall system efficiency.
OpenAI appears to be fast-tracking its plans for an AI-enabled smartphone, partially in a bid to bolster its IPO that might land as soon as this year. And, in its urgency, OpenAI appears to be settling on a customized version of MediaTek's upcoming flagship Dimensity 9600 chip as the SoC of choice for the planned smartphone. OpenAI's smartphone will use a customized version of the Dimensity 9600 chip, replete with a dual-NPU architecture and enhanced HDR for real-world visual sensing The famous analyst Ming-Chi Kuo revealed towards the end of April that OpenAI had relegated its planned range of consumer [β¦]
TwainGPT is an AI humanizer that transforms AI-generated text into natural, undetectable writing using advanced algorithms. Simply paste any draft and TwainGPT rewrites your content to sound genuinely human, bypassing leading detectors like GPTZero, ZeroGPT, Copyleaks, Turnitin, QuillBot, and Grammarly. The platform also includes a built-in AI detector to analyze content from models like ChatGPT and Gemini before publishing. With support for 100+ languages and a smooth mobile experience, TwainGPT is built for anyone who needs human writing that bypasses AI detectors.
Incident Index turns raw incident notes into structured RCAs and stakeholder-ready reports in minutes. Paste a plain-language description or run a guided Conduct session, and it generates timelines, root causes, 5 Whys, and fishbone diagrams aligned to your team's standards.
Export to PDF, Word, or Markdown, collaborate with version history, and keep a searchable knowledge base of past incidents to spot patterns and reuse learnings.
TSMC is turning into a victim of its own success as the world's preferred chip foundry, leaving its heretofore prized customers such as Apple in a bind of sorts as they suddenly find themselves crowded out by AI hyperscalers. In its frustration, Apple is now reportedly exploring the possibility of dividing up its silicon load between Samsung, Intel, and TSMC rather than remaining largely TSMC-exclusive. Apple is looking for contingencies by tentatively probing Intel and Samsung as additional vectors for manufacturing its custom chips According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple has already held "early-stage talks" with Intel for using its [β¦]
Samsung might have a lot of faults, but a lack of innovation is certainly not among those. As a case in point, look no further than the recent SID exhibition in the United States, where Samsung just unveiled two revolutionary display technologies, unlocking a veritable suite of biomarker-led applications in the process. Samsung flexes its innovative muscle with the "Flex Chroma Pixel" and "Sensor OLED" The famous tipster Ice Universe has just detailed two new display technologies that Samsung recently showcased at the SID exhibition. Samsung's "Flex Chroma Pixel" display combines next-gen emissive materials, such as phosphorescent sensitized fluorescence (PSF), [β¦]
Online Whiteboard lets you create and share a real-time canvas with one click. Open a board in your browser, send the link, and collaborate instantly across devices with no sign-up or installs. Teachers, remote teams, and creators sketch ideas, plan projects, and diagram concepts on an infinite canvas that loads fast and stays simple, so you can focus on thinking together.
GPT Image 2 lets teams create marketing visuals, product imagery, realistic screenshots, and editable assets with high prompt fidelity and readable text. You can start from a prompt or reference, then refine layout, style, and subject with targeted edits that preserve the brief. Use it to produce campaign key visuals, posters, explainers, commerce imagery, and storyboards, then carry the approved still into video workflows.
CreatorSpark is an AI writing tool for educational YouTube creators that learns your voice, beliefs, and point of viewβnot just how you sound. Instead of just copying your word choices, it learns what you actually thinkβyour beliefs, your take on your niche, and the positions youβd push back on. You tell it once and it applies that to everything it helps you write. With training from your best content, it helps creators reach 80-90% accuracy instead of the industry standard 60%. Built by a YouTube creator and 10-year copywriter who built her own solution out of frustration.
Logitech's HITS (haptic inductive trigger system), introduced with the G Pro X2 Superstrike gaming mouse in late 2025, made serious waves in enthusiast gaming mouse spaces, but, as is the case with many of Logitech's innovations, the mouse the tech came with was imperfect and commanded a premium price. Now, it seems as though at least two Chinese peripheral makers are lining up to challenge at least some of Logitech's capabilities with their own magnetic switch tech. First, and the one we know the least about, is Keychron, surprisingly enough who is apparently preparing a micro switch called the MagOpt. The MagOpt switch was teased by Keychron on the brand's own YouTube channel, where it showed off a switch design that looks to use a hybrid optical and magnetic sensing mechanism combined with a traditional click leaf. It seems as though Keychron's MagOpt switch will attempt to mimic some of the functionality of the HITS systemβlike rapid trigger, adjustable actuation, and better longevityβbut without a lot of the adjustability enabled by the haptic feedback of Logitech's HITS system.
The other incoming contender is Snaptiq, a product by a Russian streamer (shared by @goonerfps on X), and this system appears to have much more feature parity with Logitech HITS. The sensors in Snaptiq are analogue, like those found in Logitech's implementation, but these use magnets and either Hall effect or TMR sensor in place of Logitech's inductive switches. More importantly, Snaptiq will also mimic the tactile feedback with vibration motors, similar to HITS. How this pans out remains to be seen, but Lunacy claims that it will be able to detect movement as fine as 1 micron (0.001 mm) and that the mouse clicks themselves will be completely silent. Lunatic's Snaptiq is slated to launch by the end of 2026, although it is unlikely to launch in Western markets. However, this and Keychron's implementation may be the start of a wave of Chinese brands adopting similar tech to Logitech HITS.
A recent survey from Internet Matters reveals that the UK's Online Safety Act has had limited effectiveness in stopping minors from accessing social media and adult content.
Capy Trips is a travel discovery and planning site that helps you find the right destination and map out your getaway. Browse regions and popular cities with data from real travelers, explore hidden gems as alternatives to famous spots, and save ideas to My Trips.
Nyata AI is Bristolβs AI companion that helps residents find free meals, hot showers, local services, and community events through a friendly chat. It connects you with housing and mental health support, job centres, and when needed, directs you to trained professionals for personalised guidance.
Built by locals and registered with the UK ICO, Nyata AI focuses on accessible, accurate, and privacy-conscious support for people navigating community resources.
When NVIDIA first revealed DLSS 5 and its neural rendering, a lot of the online backlash that was leveled at the feature centered around Capcom's Resident Evil character, Grace, and how DLSS 5 changed her facial features. Now, in a recent interview with Eurogamer, Koshi Nakanishi and Masato Kumzawa, the game's director and producer, have responded to the DLSS 5 outrage and to the game's overall reception at and since launch. Addressing the DLSS 5 debacle, Kumzawa took the backlash as a positive indication, commenting that "the fact a lot of players commented they really liked the original design of Grace and didn't want to see it changed was a positiveβit meant we got the design right," and that it was an indication that "Grace quickly established herself as a fan favorite." The Nakanishi and Kumzawa did not comment on previous allegations that Capcom had not involved game developers or even inform them of the potential changes to the character designs ahead of time.
Just 16 days after Resident Evil Requiem launched, it had already sold over 6 million units, making it the fastest-selling Resident Evil game to date. Commenting on the overall success of the game, the pair said that "we were very happy to see the reaction of players around the world after the game launched. In particular, because we were very tight-lipped in order to maintain the surprise for players, especially about what happens after the return to Raccoon City. So, watching people's clips and online reactions, we felt not only pleased that they were enjoying it, but relieved our strategy was right to try and save that for them." Notably, the Resident Evil developer publicly asked gamers not to spoil surprises about the game when the game's plot was leaked online shortly before the official launch.
The move comes in response to proposed state regulatory measures designed to protect minors from accessing harmful content within the companyβs apps.
The platform will allow creators to replace copyrighted songs with royalty-free instrumental clips, while also using conversation context to filter video comments.
As rumors suggest that Google is interested in using Intel for its next-generation tensor processing unit (TPU) chips, well known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has shared his thoughts on the matter. The analyst believes that yields will be a key factor in Google's decision, especially since the technology giant has started to focus on cost savings for the Humufish next-generation TPU's design. Intel's Yields With The EMIB-T Packaging Technology Will Play Key Role In Google's TPU Orders, Says Analyst Intel's EMIB-T packaging technology, short for Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge Through Silicon Vias (EMIB-T) relies on using a 'bridge' that is embedded [β¦]
Nintendo fans and Nintendo Switch 2 owners have a lot to look forward to in 2027-2028, if interviewer Kiwi Talkz is to be believed. Reece 'Kiwi Talkz' Reilly, who you may recognize as a YouTuber who regularly interviews game developers and someone who has occasionally leaked accurate information ahead of its official reveal, has shared his latest tidbit that's stirred speculation, and it points to more Metroid, Zelda, and Smash Bros. to look forward to. What 'more' for any of those franchises means is less clear. There's the Legend of Zelda movie that's coming next year, which Reilly mentions, but [β¦]
Birthday Invitation AI is an all-in-one platform for creating beautiful birthday invitations and managing RSVPs. It offers over 500 curated theme templates like Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, Unicorn, Minecraft, and more, or you can describe a custom theme in any language. The AI creates personalized, print-ready invitations in minutes. Features include QR code RSVP tracking, real-time guest management, and automatic email reminders. It supports birthdays for all ages, milestone birthdays, 8 languages, and offers a free RSVP form for custom designs.
PictaBase is a lightweight digital asset manager that helps field teams, agencies, and inspectors turn scattered photo libraries into searchable business assets. Organize images with custom tags and industry templates, then find shots in seconds with chip-based filters and AI-assisted suggestions you control. Upload directly from the browser to your S3 for zero-knowledge privacy, keep portable sidecar metadata, annotate assets for clear feedback, and deliver branded client galleries. Enjoy fast browsing across huge libraries and simple pricing starting with a one-time lifetime license.
U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA says the CopyFail bug is being actively used in hacking campaigns, and poses a major risk to servers and data centers that rely on Linux.
Responding once again to online speculation, Activision has confirmed the status of Call of Duty 2026 on Xbox One and PS4, and it doesn't make for good reading for players on both. Even if it's the right decision to make.
With the official launch of Forza Horizon 6 around the corner, Microsoft and Playground Games have just divulged a little more information about the upcoming driving sim, specifically its world, car line-up, and official console performance modes and expected frame rates. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly Forza Horizon 6 will feature two distinct performance modes on the Xbox Series X and S consoles. Performance Mode will allow the game to run at 60 FPS on both consoles, at 4K resolution with dynamic upscaling on the Series X and 1080p with dynamic scaling on the Series S. Quality Mode, on the other hand, will target 30 FPS on both Xbox variants, at 4K native resolution with "increased visual fidelity" on the Series X and 1440p with dynamic scaling to maintain the target frame rate. Horizon 6 will also feature a number of accessibility features, including AutoDrive, Proximity Radar, High Contrast mode, colorblind filters, and ASL and BSL interpreters for cut-scenes. There is also an option to modify the game speed in offline mode, which should make the game more accessible to kids and those with limited mobility and reflexes, especially when used in conjunction with difficulty settings.
The announcement revealed that gamers can start preloading Forza Horizon 6 on both PC and Xbox already, from the library page for preorderers and Game Pass subscribers, from the Microsoft Store, or using the Xbox app for smartphones if you're planning on buying a physical edition. Microsoft will also be giving Forza veterans login rewards in the form of free special car unlocks that will appear in players' garages after they complete the introductory mission. These cars depend on the game players previously played: 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray for Forza Motorsport; 2021 Mercedes-AMD ONE for Forza Horizon 5; 2016 Aston Martin Vulcan for Forza Horizon 4; 2016 Lamborghini Centenario LP 770-4 for Forza Horizon 3; 2014 Lamborghini HuracΓ‘n LP-610-4 for Forza Horizon 2; and 2013 Dodge SRT Viper GTS for Forza Horizon.
Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) and Solid State Drives (SSDs) are among the most sought-after commodities in computing today, as the expansion of AI data centers consumes everything in its path. According to Seagate, Sandisk, and Western Digital, demand is so high that customers are signing long-term supply agreements lasting up to five years. This duration is significant because customers are now planning their contracts around demand expansion, which is not only substantial but will also bring better balance to the supply chain. With customers driving steady demand, HDD and SSD manufacturers know exactly how much spinning rust or NAND Flash to produce to meet this demand. Over time, this is a positive development for a supply chain that will adapt with expanding production capacity. However, it poses a short-term challenge for PC gamers.
For example, at the start of this year, we reported that HDD prices have soared by an average of 46% since mid-September. These changes have made spinning rust an expensive commodity, but this is minor compared to NAND Flash prices, which have increased 500% in just a few months. The expansion of AI data centers has depleted any remaining inventory of HDDs and SSDs, leaving the consumer PC market to compete for the few remaining units available for gaming PCs. Interestingly, HDDs contain almost no silicon for storage purposes, so their significant price increases are a supply chain issue unrelated to the semiconductor industry. Apart from the controllers that use silicon, HDD platters are made from materials that are not currently in short supply. However, high demand keeps their prices elevated.
U.S. carriers often have a truckload of salivating deals for customers to upgrade to the latest-generation flagships at a sizable discount, just as long as they satisfy certain requirements. On this occasion, one subscriber was on his way to becoming the proud owner of a Galaxy S26 Ultra, and seeing as how Verizon had one that wasnβt just $600 off, but it was also rewarding an additional line, not to mention an upgraded plan at no additional cost, the offer was a steal. Unfortunately, these deals are only enticing if Verizon can honor them, and due to serious negligence, the [β¦]
Intel appoints Alex Katouzian to lead client computing and physical AI efforts and confirms Pushkar Ranade as CTO, signaling a deeper shift toward AI-driven and edge computing systems
The Trump administration is said to be discussing an executive order that would establish a government review process for new AI models before theyβre released to the public.
AuthorOS is an AI-powered publishing studio that takes you from a half-formed book idea to a finished, Amazon-ready title. It guides you through four phases (Plan, Write, Prepare, Publish) across 11 stages, capturing your knowledge and voice, building an outline, drafting chapters that sound like you, and producing the cover, listing, and export files Amazon needs.
It's built for first-time authors who have a book in them but don't have a year, a ghostwriter, or a publisher. You bring the idea and the voice. AuthorOS handles the rest, and your name is the only one on the cover.
A Tennessee solar farm integrates cattle grazing using adjustable panels, offering potential income diversification as agricultural revenues decline across the United States.
During National Small Business Week, jumpstart your growth with tools like Gemini, Workspace and Ads β plus, resources and exclusive offers from Google.
Even though it looks as though Valve may be preparing for some upcoming large-scale hardware shipments, and it has officially launched the Steam Controller that was slated to launch with the Steam Machine, the gaming giant has yet to even announce a price for the Steam Machine. While we know from a previous statement that this is due to the ongoing RAM shortage, Valve's Steve Cardinali and Lawrence Yang have just addressed the Steam Machine's launch again in a recent interview with PC Gamer. Yang explains that "I mean, obviously we're bummed that this is the state of things. At the very least we're not the only ones in this boat. Like, everyone's kind of figuring out how to overcome these obstacles and challengesβRAM shortages, memory shortages, price hikes, everything."
Despite this somewhat pessimistic outlook, Yang also says that Valve is still aiming for competitive pricing on the Steam Machine: "You know, it's unavoidable that it will impact basically anything we make that has any of those parts in them. So we're doing our best to make sure that we can make the product and have it still available at as good and competitive a price as we can." It also seems as though Valve didn't expect the memory price hikes and shortages to be quite so steep and severe, as Cardinali explains that "you're, like, right there, and then you have this whole challenge thrown at you last minute. It's frustrating. But yeah, we're working our hardest to get resolution there." Yang also commented that, even though it was expected that all three hardware products would launch around the same time, Valve knew that the Controller might launch ahead of the Frame and Machine, stating that "we knew that there was some chance that schedules would move, and we would just ship them when they were ready," and he again confirms that Valve was not prepared to launch the Steam Machine without launching the controller first or at the same time.
Bazzite 44 is a big one. Built on Fedora 44, this gaming-focused Linux distro lands with KDE Plasma 6.6 and Gnome 50, the OGC kernel 6.19, and Mesa 26.0.5 for better GPU support across Vulkan and OpenGL titles. The release also strengthens security with signed ISOs and updates bundled tools.
Video game studios don't often comment on rumours, but when they do they offer welcome points of clarity for players. Today, Activision chose to comment on a rumour that ran rampant yesterday and most of today, which was that the next Call of Duty game (which is largely reported to be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4) is being made for last-gen consoles, specifically PS4. The official X (formerly Twitter) account for the shooter franchise cleared the air on that, and seemingly confirmed one of the biggest questions surrounding 2026's Call of Duty entry. "Not sure where this one started, [β¦]
NVIDIA's Open-Source "Nemotron 3 Super" AI model has topped the EnterpriseOps-Gym leaderboard, showcasing NVIDIA's software prowess. NVIDIA Is Topping Both AI Hardware and Software Leaderboards With Its Open-Source Nemotron 3 Super, Leading The Pack In March this year, NVIDIA introduced its Neomtron 3 Super, a 120B AI model with 12B active parameters. Based on a hybrid MoE architecture, the model is designed to deliver a 5x throughput versus the previous Nemotron Super model, and tackles large context with a native 1M-token context windows that gives agents long-term memory for aligned, high accuracy reasoning. Some of the highlights of NVIDIA's Nemotron [β¦]
Grand Theft Auto VI will be the biggest video game launch, and perhaps the biggest launch of any single piece of entertainment in history, when it arrives. Whether that's on November 19, 2026, as is the current plan, or on a different date due to an unforeseen delay, that statement is practically set in stone, and that'll happen despite GTA 6 only arriving on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles to start, and not on PC. Why it won't arrive on PC is a topic of much debate, with speculation being that Rockstar and Take-Two would rather let players [β¦]
In a recent interview with Mundfish founder and CEO Robert Bagratuni about the Atomic Heart series, I inquired about the studio's opinion on NVIDIA DLSS 5, the surprise announcement at GDC 2026 that proved highly controversial among developers and modders: some people love it, others hate it. Atomic Heart already supports NVIDIA DLSS technologies like Super Resolution and Frame Generation. Is Mundfish considering DLSS 5? Well, Bagratuni called it "highly promising", though he added that the developers are following its progress and will evaluate its potential addition in future releases. In short, he hasn't committed yet. DLSS 5 is aΒ very [β¦]
Convoe unifies team chat, task tracking, and calendar in one place. Its built-in AI, Kai, reads conversations to extract actions, deadlines, assignments, and events, then syncs them to boards and calendars so nothing slips. Use channels, threads, and DMs naturally; Convoe turns talk into tracked work with zero manual entry and notifies the right people. It replaces separate chat, task, calendar, and AI tools to keep teams aligned at lower cost.
DecidexAI is an AI data analyst for SaaS teams that monitors Stripe and GA4 metrics 24/7, detects anomalies, and sends real-time alerts via Slack or email. It delivers daily briefings, AI-written weekly executive reports, and answers natural-language questions while providing interactive dashboards with 68 prebuilt metrics. It also predicts churn with customer risk scores and action plans, plus cohort, MRR, and retention analyses, helping you catch revenue dips early and make faster decisions.
Katie Haun announced on Monday that $1 billion has been raised across new funds to continue the firmβs thesis of backing crypto and blockchain startups.
An active phishing campaign has been observed targeting multiple vectors since at least April 2025 with legitimate Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) software as a way to establish persistent remote access to compromised hosts.
The activity, codenamed VENOMOUS#HELPER, has impacted over 80 organizations, most of which are in the U.S., according to Securonix. It shares overlaps with clusters
A former Bethesda artist has said the studio thought about swapping to Unreal Engine 5 for Xbox's Starfield, but stuck with Creation for its mod support.
Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd., a global leader in high-performance computer hardware, is excited to announce the official launch of its Z890 PLUS series motherboards. Engineered to maximize the value and power of the new Intel Core Ultra 200S Plus series processors, this lineup, led by the high-value Z890 AORUS ELITE PLUS, delivers a significant leap in gaming performance without the premium price tag.
High-Value Performance for Every Gamer
The Z890 PLUS series is specifically designed for enthusiasts who prioritize performance-per-dollar. By focusing on models like the Z890 AORUS ELITE WIFI7 PLUS, Gigabyte provides a feature-rich platform that supports the latest high-performance processors. Internal testing against Intel 14th Gen CPUs reveals that these new processors offer up to 28% better gaming performance. In separate internal benchmarks, the series also demonstrates up to 35% better productivity performance compared to the previous generation. These distinct improvements make the PLUS series the ideal choice for both modern competitive gaming and intensive creative workloads.
The handheld is powered by a Unisoc Tiger T618 octa-core CPU alongside a Mali G52 GPU ticking along at 850MHz. The combo is paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of eMCP storage, and supports expansion via TF card slot. WiFi 5 comes standard, as does Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, and...
A recent report by Semi's Silicon Manufacturers Group found that the silicon wafer industry is growing once again. The quarterly analysis confirmed that global shipments for silicon wafers increased 13.1% compared to the same quarter a year earlier, rising from 2,896 million square inches (MSI) to 3,275 MSI. Shipments declined...
The flagship Bartlett Lake chip can be a bit faster than the flagship Raptor Lake Refresh CPU, but this isn't the case in ever game. Bartlett Lake 12-P-Core Chip Delivers 5-9% Higher Performance in Games Than 24-Core Intel Core i9 14900K Intel's Bartlett Lake is an interesting CPU lineup, despite not being meant for the consumer segment. We have previously seen some users making efforts in running the flagship Bartlett Lake chip on a regular LGA 1700 motherboard, as technically, the Bartlett Lake CPUs are compatible with the LGA 1700 socket. Since no official BIOS is available from Intel, mainstream [β¦]
Samsung is not expected to fundamentally alter the prevailing mold when it launches the Galaxy Z Flip 8 later this summer. Even so, the South Korean tech behemoth is looking at a few iterative improvements that are likely to improve the device's ergonomics and aesthetics. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 will weigh 8 grams less than its Flip 7 counterpart, and come equipped with a new hinge and a crease-free display South Korea-based Yeux1122 has now published a new blog post detailing that the Galaxy Z Flip 8 will be slimmer than its Flip 7 counterpart by around 0.5mm, courtesy [β¦]
Valve's latest Steam Controller, and the first of its previously announced new hardware products, has officially launched and is available for players to order directly through Steam. If you get through to one, that is, as the controller launched and promptly sold out within 30 minutes. Any new popular product release in video games or in any market today is a race to see whose connection worked faster or who could type in their credit card details faster, and the Steam Controller was no different. The new gamepad shot directly to the top of Steam's best-selling charts, and as quickly [β¦]
Start your next gaming build with this this combo from Newegg featuring a Ryzen 5 7600X, 16GB of DDR5-6000 memory, and a Micro-ATX B650M motherboard from ASRock for just $430.
PDFGate is a developer-centric platform to generate PDFs, collect secure digital signatures, and manage document workflows through a clean, predictable API. Create and send signature requests in minutes, embed signing in your app, and track status in real time from a simple dashboard. It offers fast performance, 99.9% uptime targets, and GDPR-compliant processing on EU servers. Teams get clear docs, quick integration, and responsive support to automate agreements while keeping control of data privacy.
Days after the disclosure of a critical vulnerability in popular web hosting software cPanel and WHM, hackers are now targeting and hacking thousands of vulnerable websites.
Automation doesnβt fail on its own β it does exactly what itβs trained to do. The problem is that when Google Ads is fed incomplete, misaligned, or overly broad signals, it can optimize toward the wrong outcome faster than most advertisers realize.
In our second installment of SMX Now, our new monthly series, Ameet Khabra of Hop Skip Media will break down a real account where a 417% jump in conversions turned out to be the wrong kind of success. Sheβll use that case study to explain the four key ways automation drift enters an account: signal drift, query drift, inventory drift, and creative drift.
Youβll leave with a practical framework for diagnosing drift early, understanding where human oversight matters most, and managing automation more deliberately so it works toward real business goals β not just platform-reported wins.
Progress Software has released updates to address two security flaws in MOVEit Automation, including a critical bug that could result in an authentication bypass.
MOVEit Automation (formerly Central) is a secure, server-based managed file transfer (MFT) solution used to schedule and automate file movement workflows in enterprise environments without requiring any custom scripts.Β
The
Itβs finally here! Valveβs Steam Controller is now available to purchase Itβs official: Valveβs second-generation Steam Controller is now available, giving PC gamers a premium gamepad optimised exclusively for PC gaming. No PS5 DualSense or Xbox controller, just pure PC goodness. In the UK, the Steam Controller is available for Β£85, and Valve currently claims [β¦]
Valve has confirmed that it's working on a successor to the Steam Deck, but that doesn't mean you should expect it anytime soon. Here's why an ARM-based SoC makes a lot of sense for the platform in the current tech landscape.
Almost every ThinkPad ever made has had a TrackPoint pointing system, and one engineer wants to repurpose them to create affordable accessibility controllers for PC gaming and more.
A short-lived Microsoft support page set 32GB of RAM as the worry-free level for gaming, yet Steamβs hardware data shows the majority of players fall below that mark.
It seems we are not too far from the next-generation Double Data Rate 6 (DDR6) memory for desktops and servers, as memory manufacturers are working with JEDEC to establish a new standard. According to South Korean media outlet The Elec, major memory makers such as SK hynix, Samsung, and Micron have reportedly begun designing DDR6 in their labs and are gradually coordinating module development with substrate manufacturers. This collaborative effort is taking place under the supervision of JEDEC, the industry authority that oversees standard development and ensures a common foundation for design. Manufacturers could have accessed JEDEC's first DDR6 draft since 2024, but the draft still lacks concrete specifications such as finalized voltage ranges, signal usage, power envelopes, and pinout design. However, this is expected to change as manufacturers are now accelerating standard development.
Last year, we reported that the major players mentioned above had already moved past the prototype stages and embarked on rigorous validation cycles. Perhaps the most interesting aspect is the designated throughput of 8,800 MT/s, with plans to scale up to a staggering 17,600 MT/s, nearly doubling the ceiling of today's DDR5. This increase is driven by DDR6's 4Γ24-bit sub-channel architecture, which requires entirely new approaches to signal integrity. It also differs from DDR5's current 2x32-bit sub-channel structure. To overcome the physical limits faced by DIMM form factors at higher speeds, the industry is betting on CAMM2 technology. Early indications suggest that server platforms will lead the change, with high-end notebooks following once manufacturing ramps up.
Shimizuβs Luma Ring proposes covering the moonβs equator with solar panels and transmitting energy to Earth via wireless microwave and laser systems.
This lamp is guaranteed to grab guests' attention, but if you're new to smart home tech, you may prefer to skip the app and use its remote control instead.
3DMark is a widely used benchmarking tool that measures GPU and CPU performance using a range of graphics tests, including modern ray tracing workloads, making it useful for everything from quick system checks to in-depth performance comparisons across different hardware configurations.
The Redditor, who claims to have attended the event, posted photos of Huynh holding the device on stage, along with what appear to be key specifications displayed on a background screen. Huynh reportedly confirmed that the Halo will launch in June, but did not provide any details on pricing.
In a galaxy far, far away, the Death Star wasn't just a weapon... it was a monumental achievement of (fictional) engineering and human resource management.
Today, Playground Games confirmed several key Forza Horizon 6 details ahead of the game's May 19 launch. First and foremost, the game is now gold, and preloading is available on Xbox Series S and X and PC via the Xbox app, with Steam preloading coming soon. You'll have to make a lot of space in your storage drive, though: Playground also shared that there will be two graphics modes to pick from on Xbox Series S and X. The former console will allow 1440p at 30 frames per second or 1080p at 60 frames per second, while the latter enables [β¦]
As compute requirements grow in AI datacenters, so do the power requirements, which are estimated to reach 17x higher with NVIDIA's Feynman. NVIDIA Feynman Racks Estimated To Feature 17x Higher Power Semi Costs Per Rack Versus Blackwell NVIDIA Feynman GPUs feature several groundbreaking features and will launch in 2028, after Rubin. The company has been working hard to deliver more efficient AI solutions, but as requirements grow, power requirements have increased tremendously. Morgan Stanley Research has published a chart that visualizes the total power semi content of three AI rack solutions from NVIDIA. Starting with the baseline Blackwell or B200, [β¦]
Bungie's new extraction shooter, Marathon, is still trying to find its footing as the latest triple-A multiplayer shooter on the market. While it's been critically praised by many (myself included), it seemingly hasn't reached the level of commercial success that Bungie or PlayStation Studios hoped it would reach. Despite that, Bungie isn't letting on that it has any concerns about Marathon, and in a recent interview has just re-emphasized how it has long-term plans for the game. As we continue to see multiplayer games launch with plenty of excitement and hullabaloo, only to die within a year for a myriad [β¦]
Navos is an AI strategy advisor for business leaders. It learns how your company works, tracks external forces that affect it, and tells you what changed, what it costs you, the scenarios, and your options. You get a strategy review of where you stand, a weekly brief on what moved in the world and what it means for you, live tracking of your performance against targets, and an advisor you can ask anything that answers from your actual numbers.
The raise gives Sierra more than $1 billion to work with β capital the company says it will use to become the "global standard" for AI-powered customer experiences.
Musk texted OpenAI's president and co-founder saying that he and CEO Sam Altman "will be the most hated men in America" if OpenAI doesn't settle the suit.
Google said it has βresolvedβ an issue with logging data within Google Search Console reporting. The logging issue happened between May 13, 2025 through April 27, 2026, about 50 weeks. The resolution did not fix the past data, but it did fix the issue going forward.
βA logging error prevented Search Console from accurately reporting impressions from May 13, 2025 until April 27, 2026. This issue has been resolved. As a result, you may notice a decrease in impressions in the Search Console Performance report. Only impressions and related metrics β CTR and average position β were affected; clicks were not affected by the error, and this issue affected data logging only.β
What was fixed. Just to be clear, Google has not fixed the data from May 13, 2025 through April 27, 2026 but just fixed the data going forward. So keep this in mind when reviewing the data in that date range.
John Mueller from Google confirmed onΒ BlueskyΒ that this is only fixed going forward and the old data will not be fixed.
Why we care. When reviewing your Search Console data, please note that for about 50 weeks, almost a year, the reports may be off and you may see a decrease in impressions, and thus click-through rate and average position data are also impacted.
This week, the shadows moved faster than the patches.
While most teams were still triaging last monthβs alerts, attackers had already turned control panels into kill switches, kernels into open doors, and open-source pipelines into silent delivery systems.
The game has shifted from breach to occupation. Theyβre living inside SaaS sessions, pushing code with trusted commits, and scaling
ASUS is reportedly limiting the supply of its RTX 5070 Ti models to prioritise its higher-profit RTX 5080 models According to a report on Channel Gate, via WCCFTECH, ASUS are reportedly changing its GPU supply strategy. ASUS will reportedly continue to reduce its supply of its RTX 5070 Ti series GPUs to βprimarily focusβ on [β¦]
Our time with IO Interactiveβs take on James Bond was filled with smart multi-approach spy action, intense shoot-outs, and one of the most unique vehicle chase sequences in the franchise.
Xboxβs future hinges on Asha Sharma, whose biggest challenge isnβt PlayStation or Steam, but transforming Microsoftβs own culture to save the brand.
Intel Corporation today announced two key leadership appointments to strengthen its core product business and advance the company's innovation agenda.
Alex Katouzian Appointed to Lead Client Computing & Physical AI Group
Alex Katouzian will join Intel as executive vice president and general manager of the Client Computing and Physical AI Group. In this role, Katouzian will align Intel's client computing business with emerging physical AI systems that span robotics, autonomous machines, and other AI devices.
JEDEC's latest announcement provides an updated timeline for the future of MRDIMM, a relatively new memory standard introduced a few years ago to support bandwidth-intensive data workloads. Multiplexed Rank DIMM technology uses a multiplexing register and buffers to allow two memory ranks to operate simultaneously on a single DIMM, effectively...
The Academy clarified rules for two categories related to AI, writes Vanity Fair. The first states that the only acting roles eligible for Oscar nominations are those "demonstrably performed by humans with their consent." Screenplays, meanwhile, must be human-authored to be eligible.
The mobile DRAM market is showing no sign of retrenchment as the wider industry stares at a ~100 percent quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) price increase in Q2 2026, building upon the 58 percent - 63 percent QoQ price growth for LPDDR5X in Q1. The mobile DRAM market shows no sign of cooling off, as Long-Term Agreements (LTAs) entrench price hikes SemiAnalysis reported just a few days back that LPDDR5 contract prices were recently hovering at around $10/GB after undergoing a 3x increase since Q1 2025. What's more, the firm expected this trend of price hikes to continue well into 2027. While DRAM [β¦]
GTA 6 is poised to set the market on fire when it launches this November. While its price hasn't been determined, there's no doubt the sixth entry in the series byΒ Rockstar GamesΒ will be a smashing success, butΒ Bank of AmericaΒ believes the game should be priced at $80. A high price point that would not only be in Take-Two's self-interest, but that could also save the entire gaming industry, which is perceived as struggling. In an investor note penned by Omar Dessouky, as reported by Seeking Alpha, after attending the iicon Video Game Conference where Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick heavily suggested the [β¦]
Intel has made two big changes: the appointment of Alex Katouzian from Qualcomm in the Client Computing & AI segment, along with Purskar Randae as CTO. Alex Katouzian Appointed to Lead Intel's Client Computing & Physical AI Group Press Release: Intel Corporation today announced two key leadership appointments to strengthen its core product business and advance the companyβs innovation agenda. Alex Katouzian will join Intel as executive vice president and general manager of the Client Computing and Physical AI Group. In this role, Katouzian will align Intelβs client computing business with emerging physical AI systems that span robotics, autonomous machines, [β¦]
Veteran game developer and Fallout co-creator Tim Cain has only just recently returned to game development full-time, but he's also kept up his personal YouTube channel, as he promised he would when he re-joined Obsidian Entertainment in December 2025. That's where his latest comments on the state of the industry that are catching several eyes come from, as he shares how the rise of social media influencers and "how the internet changed game design." Cain discusses how he's seen the video games industry, and specifically how the industry portrays video games to its audience. Anyone who follows games knows how [β¦]
AMD's immense success for its CPUs and GPUs in the AI segments will be a key driver for the company in the current year & the years ahead. AMD Is Expected To Ship Nearly 1.9 Million AI GPUs By 2027, While It's Share In China Will Be Larger Than NVIDIA's Intel, gaining momentum this quarter, thanks to Agentic AI's reliance on CPUs, has given us a teaser of what to expect from AMD's upcoming earnings. As per UBS, AMD isn't as constrained as Intel in the CPU segment and is anticipated to grow its Server CPU revenue by 80% this [β¦]
CISA warns of the actively exploited βCopy Failβ Linux flaw (CVE-2026-31431), enabling root access, with a public exploit released before patches were ready.
In a new review for the Arc Pro B70, the workstation GPU performs rather well across five games tested at 1440p resolution. On average, it loses to the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB in traditional raster but beats it in ray tracing. Overall, the B70 was only 2.9% behind the 5060 Ti in all games when you average out both RT and raster.
Emotions change day to day, and that's okay. Sometimes it's difficult, but it always gets betterβyou just need to be present and watch it shift. Uplume is a digital safe space designed to provide hope and acceptance through an aesthetic daily diary. Instead of tracking productivity, users check in with up to three feelings a day, blending them into beautiful, fluid 2D auras. You can discover emotional patterns, mix feelings, and build a quiet digital universe with your closest friends. It is a gentle reminder that every day has its colors, and your sky is always growing.
PartyInvitation.ai is a free AI-powered party invitation and online RSVP platform. Describe your party theme, and AI generates a unique invitation card with a built-in QR code in under a minute. Guests scan to RSVP instantly with no app or signup needed. It supports over 38 event types from birthdays to holiday parties, with optional gift registry and potluck sign-up. You can print or share invitations digitally, free to start.
Virginia and Washington, D.C. paused the data collection and sharing, after Bloomberg's investigation found their health insurance marketplaces were sharing users' information with advertisers.
The BOGO offer is live.Β For a limited time, buy one pass toΒ TechCrunch Disrupt 2026Β andΒ get 50% off a second of the same ticket type. Offer ends this Friday, May 8. Save here.
Thereβs a fundamental battle happening in search right now.
On one side is topical authority β the darling phrase of every SEO consultant who needs to sell more content.
On the other is brand authority β something marketers have talked about for decades, while much of search treated it as optional, vague, or something the brand team could handle after the sitemap was fixed.
Now AI has walked into the room, kicked over the furniture, eaten half the traffic, and exposed the real problem.
Search still matters. The global economy runs on people looking, comparing, buying, and solving problems through it. But the industry has a marketing problem.
And it shows. Too many SEOs have lost the plot on why people choose, remember, trust, search for, recommend, and buy from brands. AI search is making that ignorance harder to hide. Thatβs why brand authority wins β but not in the way most SEO dashboards suggest.
Topical authority was never supposed to mean content landfill
Before we get to AI, we need to define what topical authority was meant to be. At its best, itβs simple.Β
You publish useful work, create evidence, and share expertise. Others cite you, journalists mention you, communities discuss you, and customers search for you. Over time, your brand becomes associated with the topic.Β Thatβs authority. Itβs also brand building.
The problem is that much of the SEO industry hasnβt sold it that way. In practice, topical authority became a convenient commercial wrapper for content production.
SEO retainers were built around three pillars: technical, content, and links.Β Technical SEO became more specialized. Links were outsourced, packaged, renamed, earned through digital PR, or bought in one way or another.Β
Content, meanwhile, remained the dependable agency engine β easy to sell, scope, and report. Think 4-8 blog posts a month, a topical map, a content hub, a cluster, a pillar page, and another 2,000 words on something nobody asked to read.
This wasnβt always wrong. In the pre-AI search world, content had real labor behind it. A decent article required research, writing, editing, optimization, internal linking, and promotion. That work had value. Good content could rank, attract links, build email lists, support commercial pages, and create some advertising effect through exposure.
Back in the day, we built what were often called power pages β strategic assets designed to earn links, rank, get shared, and pass equity to commercial pages. They had a purpose. They werenβt created just because the spreadsheet had another empty cell.
Topical authority changed that logic. It turned βletβs create something worth citingβ into βletβs cover every possible keyword in the topic map and hope Google mistakes volume for expertise.β That was the original sin.
Authority isnβt created by what you publish on your own site. Itβs created when you become a recognized source.
Former Google engineer Jun Wu described this in terms of βmention informationβ β how search engines analyze natural language, identify topic phrases and sources, cluster related terms, and map associations between sources and topics.Β
In plain English, they can recognize when certain brands, people, domains, and entities are repeatedly mentioned in relation to specific topics.
Today, SEOs call that brand co-occurrence. The idea isnβt new. When authoritative sites, journalists, communities, reviewers, experts, and customers consistently mention your brand in relation to a topic, you become associated with it β not because you published hundreds of near-identical articles, but because the wider web treats you as relevant.
Topical coverage is what you say about yourself. Authority is what the market says about you. AI search makes that difference hard to ignore.
The smash burger test
Suppose you want to become an authority in the smash burger industry. You probably donβt, but some topical authority consultant calling themselves a βsemantic SEOβ is likely pitching it to a fast food brand right now.
An SEO version of topical authority would probably begin with a map:
What is a smash burger?
Best meat for smash burgers.
History of smash burgers.
Smash burger recipes.
Smash burger toppings.
Smash burger glossary.
Best smash burger restaurants.
How to make a smash burger at home.
Thereβs nothing inherently wrong with that. If you run a serious smash burger publication, restaurant group, food brand, or equipment business, some of it might be useful. But authority doesnβt come from publishing those pages.
Real authority looks different. You create original data on the fastest-growing smash burger chains. You publish an index of the best-rated smash burger restaurants in the U.S. and U.K. You interview chefs, test meat blends, and produce videos people actually watch.Β
You become a source journalists use when covering the category. Food creators reference your data. Restaurant owners subscribe to your newsletter. People search for your brand plus βsmash burger report.β
Thatβs topical authority. Itβs also brand authority.
The thin SEO version is publishing thousands of keyword pages and internally linking them until your CMS starts begging for death. The real version is becoming known.
AI has broken the old content economics
The old commercial defense of topical authority was traffic.
Brands didnβt hire search marketers because they had a deep spiritual yearning to become encyclopedias. They hired them for organic revenue growth β to appear when customers searched, and to drive clicks, leads, and sales.
Informational content was sold, in part, as advertising. Someone searches a question, lands on your article, and sees your brand. Maybe they join your email list, return later, or buy.
That model was always more fragile than the industry admitted. Most users donβt sit around thinking about your B2B SaaS platform, your dog food brand, or your running shoe category page.Β
Ask someone to name 10 toothpaste brands, and theyβll struggle, despite a lifetime of exposure. Ask them to recall the last ten TikToks they watched, and watch their face collapse.
Advertising works through memory structures, distinctive assets, repeated exposure, and relevance. A single accidental visit to a generic βwhat isβ article was never the brand-building miracle some content marketers claimed.
Now AI has made the economics worse. For many informational searches, answers are increasingly synthesized before the click. From the userβs point of view, thatβs often a better experience.
My dad is in his 70s. He loves AI Overviews. He doesnβt want to click through three ad-infested recipe pages, dodge newsletter popups, reject cookies, scroll past a life story, and finally find how long to boil an egg. He wants the answer.
Users arenβt mourning your lost organic session. Theyβre getting on with their lives. Thatβs the uncomfortable truth.
If the click disappears, much of the supposed advertising effect of informational content disappears with it β no logo exposure, no distinctive assets, no remarketing pixel, no email capture, and no carefully designed journey. Just your content absorbed into a synthesized answer, and maybe a small source link on the side.
This brings us to another emerging industry obsession: AI citations.Β
The small source boxes in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and other AI search experiences are being treated as the new holy metric. Agencies, tools, and consultants are already building around it.
The SEO industry loves a single metric β domain authority, traffic, keyword positions, share of voice, and now AI visibility. The problem is that an AI citation isnβt the same as a human citation.
An AI citation is often a helpful link β a reference, a retrieval artifact. Itβs directionally useful. It can show what sources a system uses to support an answer, and whether your content is accessible, relevant, and being surfaced in certain contexts.
But itβs not the same as:
A journalist choosing to cite your research.Β
A customer recommending you in a forum.
A creator reviewing your product.
A trade publication naming your brand as an expert source.
Human citations are evidence of market recognition. AI citations are evidence of machine retrieval. Donβt confuse the two.
The goal isnβt to be scraped. Itβs to be recommended.
Brand search is the cleaner signal
If you want a better proxy for whether your authority is growing, look at brand search.
People search for brands they know, are considering, have bought from, or were recommended. Brand search isnβt perfect, but itβs much closer to commercial reality than counting how often a chatbot footnotes your blog post.
Thatβs why share of search matters. It gives you a directional view of market demand and mental availability. If more people are searching for your brand relative to competitors, something is happening. Your advertising, PR, product, reviews, word of mouth, content, partnerships, social presence, and customer experience are creating demand.
This is where the βbut this is just SEOβ crowd starts clearing its throat.
Itβs not βjust SEO.β Or rather, itβs only SEO if you define it so broadly that it includes every activity that might influence a search result. Thatβs strategic ambiguity. It lets everyone claim they were doing the future all along.
Most SEO retainers werenβt building brand fame. They were producing content, fixing technical issues, buying or earning links, and reporting rankings. Sometimes it worked β sometimes very well. But the average topical authority strategy wasnβt a sophisticated brand visibility program.
Traditional SEO still matters
None of this means you abandon traditional SEO. Buyer-intent rankings, category pages, product pages, local pages, technical SEO, internal linking, structured data, reviews, and crawlability matter.Β
Search still works as a shelf. Many brands are discovered for the first time in supermarkets. The same is true in Google. If someone searches βemergency locksmith near me,β βbest trail running shoes,β or βmeeting intelligence software,β you want to appear.
Being found still matters, but itβs not the same as being recommended. Traditional SEO helps you get found, while brand authority drives recommendation.Β
AI search shifts the balance toward the latter, synthesizing options, reducing uncertainty, and often naming brands, products, and solutions directly.
The new job is meaningful visibility
Semrush accidentally said the quiet part out loud with its April Foolsβ βBrand Visibility Expertβ stunt, where employees changed their titles on LinkedIn. It was a joke, but not entirely.Β
The company later described AI visibility tools that track brand visibility, mentions, prompts, perception, and competitor presence in AI search. Thatβs where the market is going.
The future of search marketing isnβt just search engine optimization. Itβs brand visibility across the network.
That means increasing meaningful visibility in the places where humans and AI systems encounter information:Β
Search engines.
AI answers.
Review sites.
Communities.
YouTube.Β
Reddit.
Trade media.
News sites.
Podcasts.
Influencers.
Comparison pages.
Customer reviews.
Social platforms.
Partner ecosystems.
Your own site.
The web is now the surface, and your website is just one part of it. This is the shift many SEOs donβt want to face. Many are used to optimizing owned pages for search engines.Β
The next era is about optimizing a brandβs presence across the web. That requires different work.
Start with positioning
If you want to build brand authority in AI, start with positioning.
Who are you for?
What problem do you solve?
How do you solve it better?
What should the market associate with you?
What proof supports that claim?
These arenβt fluffy brand questions. Theyβre search questions now.
A locksmith isnβt only an emergency locksmith. They may install commercial locks, repair window locks, replace garage locks, secure doors, and provide security advice.Β
A running shoe retailer may want to be known for trail running expertise, fast delivery, wide range, gait analysis, competitive pricing, or specialist advice.Β
A SaaS platform may want to be known for extracting meeting intelligence that helps sales teams improve conversion.
These are performance attributes β the reasons people choose you. Your search strategy should reinforce them.
If your pet food brand specializes in sensitive stomachs, you need to be visible around dog dietary problems β not just on your blog, but in vet commentary, buyer guides, reviews, creator content, journalist coverage, customer stories, comparison pages, and data studies.Β
These are the places where humans and AI systems learn whatβs credible. Thatβs brand authority.
Create things worth being cited by humans
The rule for AI-era content is simple. Every piece of content should have real-world marketing value at publish.
If one person encounters it, they should understand your brand better, feel more positively about it, remember something useful, or be more likely to trust you.
If content only makes sense as an SEO asset after it ranks, itβs probably weak.
This means you stop creating βdeadβ content. Instead:
Create original research.Β
Publish category data.Β
Build useful tools.Β
Share expert commentary.Β
Produce strong product comparisons.Β
Release reports journalists can cite.Β
Create opinionated guides.Β
Review products properly.Β
Explain problems better than competitors.Β
Make videos people want to watch.Β
Turn internal data into public insight.Β
Build assets that earn links and mentions.
Do fewer things. Make them better. Promote them harder.
Brands have limited budgets β smaller ones have even less room for waste. Spending thousands on a content library that repeats known information may be less effective than using the same budget to create one excellent data study, seed it with journalists, get creators talking, earn reviews, improve product pages, and run ads that make people search for your brand.
Ask yourself, βWhat use of this budget is most likely to increase brand search, links, mentions, reviews, and recommendations?β
Fitness times visibility equals success
A useful idea from network science applies here: success is driven by fitness multiplied by visibility.
Fitness is your ability to outperform alternatives β product, service, price, expertise, speed, range, design, convenience, proof, reviews, and customer experience.
Visibility is how often and how meaningfully the market encounters those signals.
Fitness without visibility is a brilliant brand nobody knows. Visibility without fitness is hype β and it usually collapses.Β
Thatβs how preferential attachment starts. Brands that are talked about get talked about more. Brands that are searched get searched more. Brands that earn links earn more links. Brands that become default sources are cited more often. Brands that sell more get more reviews, more mentions, more data, and more presence.
AI accelerates this dynamic, consuming the web faster than humans and reinforcing those signals at scale. If your brand has dense, consistent, and credible associations with the problems you solve, you reduce uncertainty that youβre a good recommendation.
Brand authority wins in AI β because real topical authority was always brand authority.
The version of topical authority that deserves to survive is the one where a brand becomes a genuine source in its category β creating useful information, earning mentions, building demand, getting searched, getting cited, and becoming associated with the problems it solves.
The version that deserves to die is the one where a brand publishes endless keyword-targeted sludge and calls the result authority.
AI hasnβt killed SEO. Itβs killed the illusion that mediocrity deserves traffic.
The search marketers who win next wonβt be the ones who publish the most. Theyβll be the ones who make brands more meaningfully visible across the internet. Theyβll understand positioning, PR, content, technical SEO, reviews, creators, category demand, links, mentions, and brand search as one connected system.
The goal isnβt to optimize for search engines, but for the network they use to understand the world.
Build the brand. Make it visible. Make it worth recommending. Everything else is just content with delusions of grandeur.
The other day, I was putting together my version of a Lumascape of answer engine optimization (AEO) tools β Iβm kidding, my computer doesnβt have that kind of bandwidth.
Instead of mapping every tool β which would be outdated in minutes β Iβm focusing on the ones I actually use to grow clientsβ AI search presence.
This is a deliberately short list: four tools I rely on, plus three Iβm testing before adding them to my teamβs stack.
1. AI assistants (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity)
Used thoughtfully, large language model (LLM) assistants are research and analysis tools in their own right. For AEO work specifically, they serve several distinct purposes:Β
Competitive landscape research.
Content gap analysis.
Prompt testing.
Entity and topical coverage audits.
Structured content drafting.Β
The key distinction from passive use is intentionality β using these tools with a defined AEO research methodology rather than ad hoc.
Why theyβre essential
AEO requires a fundamental understanding of how AI systems process and represent information. The most direct way to develop that understanding is to work regularly and analytically within those systems.Β
Querying AI assistants with the same prompts your target audience uses β and carefully analyzing what they return, what sources they cite, what entities they associate, and how they structure answers β gives you peerless ground-level intelligence.
Competitive strengths
Each platform has its own strengths worth noting:
ChatGPT is widely used and offers broad general knowledge synthesis, making it useful for understanding how mainstream AI handles queries in your category.
Claude tends toward more nuanced, caveated responses and is strong for analytical tasks.
Perplexity is citation-heavy by design and particularly valuable for AEO research precisely because it surfaces its sources explicitly. You can see in real time which domains are being pulled and why.
What you canβt do without them
Firsthand research on your brandβs current AEO status, which includes:
Manual prompt testing: See how your brand and content are being represented.
Competitive research: Query AI systems with category-level questions to see which competitors appear and how they are framed.
Topical gap analysis: Identify questions AI systems answer where your brand is absent.
Structural content analysis: Understanding the answer formats (lists, definitions, comparisons, how-tos) that AI systems prefer for your query types.
Caveats
AI assistant outputs are non-deterministic and vary by platform, model version, session context, and even time of day. Manual prompt testing is qualitative and difficult to scale. These tools are best used to build intuition and generate hypotheses, which should then be validated with quantitative data from platforms like Profound.Β
Also worth noting: querying AI systems for competitive research can quickly become a rabbit hole, so before you truly dig in, build a structured testing framework and stick to it.
Profound is purpose-built AEO intelligence that monitors how AI platforms (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Claude, etc.) discover, surface, and cite your brand and content.Β
It also tracks brand mention frequency and sentiment, competitorsβ share of voice, and the specific prompts or query types that trigger your content to appear in AI-generated answers.
Why itβs essential
If you want to understand where your brand stands in the AI answer ecosystem, itβs currently the most direct way to get that data. It shifts the question from βwhere do we rank?β to βwhen AI answers a question in our category, are we in the answer?β
Competitive strengths
The cross-platform coverage is the toolβs most distinctive feature. Rather than measuring a single AI engine in isolation, it provides a comparative view across the major platforms simultaneously. The competitive benchmarking functionality is particularly useful: you can see both your own AI citation share and how it stacks up against named competitors. Itβs the kind of context that transforms data into strategy.
What you canβt do without it
Some fundamental capabilities, like:
Quantifying your brandβs presence in AI-generated answers at scale.
Tracking citation share over time and across platforms.
Identifying which content types and topics drive AI mentions β and which competitors are winning the queries youβre losing.
Itβs a pretty expensive tool. If you want to justify the expense to your C-suite, tell them, βThis will show us exactly where weβre losing to {most hated competitor}.β
Caveats
The tool is evolving quickly, which it needs to do as the AEO landscape morphs in real time. The data it surfaces reflects AI outputs at the time the query is made. Outputs are inherently variable because AI systems donβt return the same answer to the same prompt every time.
Treat metrics as directional signals and trend data rather than precise, static rankings. It also wonβt tell you why youβre being cited or not. Thatβs on you and your team to analyze.
3. Google Trends and Google Keyword Planner
Google Trends tracks the relative search interest for queries over time, across geographies, and in comparison to related terms. Google Keyword Planner provides search volume estimates and demand forecasting, originally designed for paid search planning but equally useful for organic and AEO strategy.
Why theyβre essential
AEO strategy lives and dies by understanding demand signals. Before optimizing content to appear in AI answers, you need to know what questions people are actually asking, how that demand is trending, and whether the topic has enough volume to warrant investment.Β
Googleβs tools remain the most reliable source of this data at scale β and crucially, they reflect the same underlying search behavior that feeds into AI engine training data and query patterns.
Competitive strengths
Google Trends is uniquely powerful for directional trend analysis. It doesnβt give you absolute volume, but it gives you relative momentum β which is often more strategically valuable when youβre trying to anticipate where audience interest is heading rather than just where it has been.
For AEO specifically, rising query trends can signal emerging answer opportunities for you to address before your competitors do.Β
In my experience, Keyword Plannerβs forecasting features are underused. They can help you prioritize content investment based on projected demand rather than historical data alone.
What you canβt do without them
Build a truly dynamic AEO strategy in which you:
Understand whether demand for a topic is growing, stable, or declining before building content around it.
Identify seasonal patterns that should shape content publishing calendars.
Surface related queries and rising breakout terms that expand your AEO content coverage.
Validate whether a topic has enough search demand to justify the content investment.
Caveats
As you probably noticed when I recommended those tools, neither reflects AI-native query behavior directly. They measure traditional search, not prompts submitted to ChatGPT or Perplexity.Β
As information-seeking behavior shifts toward AI interfaces, these tools will increasingly undercount true demand. Use them as a strong proxy and directional guide, not as a complete picture.
Worth noting: Keyword Planner also requires an active Google Ads account, and volume estimates in low-competition or niche categories can be imprecise.
Google Search Console (GSC) provides direct data on how your site performs in Google Search: which queries trigger impressions, click-through rates, average positions, and indexing status.Β
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) tracks on-site behavior β how users arrive, what they do, how long they stay, and where they exit β including referral traffic sources that reveal whether visitors are arriving from AI-adjacent platforms.
Why theyβre essential
For AEO practitioners, these tools serve critical diagnostic functions.
GSC tells you whether the content youβre optimizing for AI citation is also performing in traditional search, which matters because Google AI Overviews and traditional organic results draw from overlapping content pools.
GA4βs referral traffic data is increasingly important for detecting direct traffic from AI platforms: as users click through citations in tools like Perplexity or ChatGPTβs browsing mode, that activity shows up as referral or direct traffic. Thatβs worth segmenting and monitoring, even if, given the scorching rise of zero-click activity, it paints a very incomplete picture of your AEO impact.
Competitive strengthsΒ
GSCβs query data is irreplaceable. No third-party tool has access to the same level of Google-sourced search performance data. The ability to see exactly which queries are driving impressions (even without clicks) is foundational for identifying content that has topical authority but may not be converting visibility into AI citations.Β
GA4βs cross-channel attribution and audience analysis capabilities help you understand where AEO-driven traffic comes from and what that traffic does when it arrives β which is the commercial case for the discipline.
What you canβt do without them
Develop a true understanding of AEO business impact β and AEO blockers β by:
Measuring whether your AEO content investments translate into actual traffic and engagement.
Identifying content with high impression share but low CTR β a common signal of AI Overview cannibalization.
Monitoring referral traffic from AI platforms as that ecosystem matures.
Diagnosing indexing or crawlability issues that prevent AI systems from accessing your content.
Caveats
GSC data has well-documented limitations: it samples at scale, attribution can be murky, and data is typically available with a 48-72 hour lag. Critically, it only reflects Google. It tells you nothing about how you perform in Bing-powered AI search or standalone AI platforms.Β
GA4 still has UX rough edges, so youβll need to confirm that your event tracking and conversion configuration is solid before drawing strategic conclusions from the data.
Rapid-fire roundupΒ
That shortlist leaves, oh, thousands of tools left to consider. I recommend putting these on your radar and testing them to gauge their value as the AEO ecosystem develops.
5. AI Trust Signals
AI Trust Signals focuses on the credibility and trustworthiness signals that influence whether AI systems choose to cite a source.
This is an emerging and underexplored dimension of AEO: it goes upstream from content relevance and helps brands understand whether an AI system βtrustsβ a domain enough to surface it as an authoritative reference. Itβs worth monitoring as the understanding of AI citation mechanics matures.
6. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is a mature SEO platform with deep backlink analysis, content gap tooling, site auditing, and keyword research capabilities.Β
Its relevance to AEO is primarily indirect, but itβs significant: authority signals, including referring domain quality and topical authority depth, are widely believed to influence AI citation likelihood. Ahrefs is a benchmark tool for understanding and building that authority infrastructure.
Its Content Explorer is also a practical tool for identifying high-performing content in your category that AI systems are likely to draw from.
7. Roadway AI
Roadway AI positions itself as an AI-native platform with a focus on scaling growth marketing activities. Where it helps is building agents that can help attribute AEO signals into revenue, so you can better understand impact.Β
As a newer entrant, itβs worth evaluating as part of a toolkit audit, especially if youβre looking for tooling built specifically for AEO use cases. The category is moving fast, and platforms like Roadway AI may gain significant mindshare within 12 months, which also means more competitors are coming soon.
The reality of AEO tools: Fast-moving and imperfect
AEO tooling is still catching up to AEO as a discipline, which will likely be the dynamic for the next few years, at least.
Everything is changing so fast, and AI-driven discovery is evolving as users adopt new behaviors that vary by vertical. What matters is consistently applied measurement, strong analysis, and testing that lead to actionable insights.
You wonβt get your setup perfect. Like much of marketing, solidly directional is probably as good as youβre going to get. With any tool, if you can explain and measure how it improves your AEO efforts, thatβs a great start.Β
Before you sign any contracts, see if you can find an industry colleague with real-life experience using the tool, and ask them for their take. Unless theyβre staunch advocates, chances are you can either find an alternative that does the same thing better or cheaper, or you can wait another month for one to emerge.
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Samsung continues to improve its 2nm GAA process with its second iteration, which will be utilized for the Exynos 2700, enabling the company to introduce the direct successor to the Exynos 2600. While the upcoming chipsetβs release will serve to reduce the Korean giantβs dependency on Qualcomm and lower its expenditure on outsourced silicon, it can also help restore its non-memory and semiconductor businesses, which are currently facing a 1 trillion won deficit ($679.21 million). Analysts predict that, depending on the Exynos 2700βs capabilities, Samsung should be able to reduce its deficit to around $543.47 million During the first quarter [β¦]
Newegg deal actually delivers. Score the ABS Kaze II Aqua with i9-14900KF and RTX 5070 Ti for $2,175 with codeβover $1,100 off a powerful, ready-to-game prebuilt.
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Every time you start a new AI chat, it has no idea what you're building. You have to re-explain everything β the project, the decisions, what didn't work last week. Every session is the same.
ArcBrain fixes that. It runs in the background, watches your sessions across Cursor, VS Code Copilot, Claude, and Windsurf, and builds a persistent memory of your project. Every new chat loads what you've already figured out. Everything stays on your machine β no cloud, no data leaves your system. Switch between programs like VS Code and Claude desktop, and Claude knows what you were just doing.
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DoorDash on Monday added new AI-powered tools that let merchants speed up onboarding, edit photos to make dishes look better, and create new websites from existing content.
The conversation has shifted. Weβre spending less time optimizing for clicks and more time trying to fix the AI ROI story. AI now sits at the center of discovery, shaping what gets seen, summarized, and cited.
Hereβs whatβs working right now, what your peers are doing, and why SMX Advanced will feel different this year.
The SparkToro wake-up call: Influence happens everywhere
The foundation of any serious 2026 content strategy has to start with Rand Fishkinβs landmark March 2026 study, βInfluence Happens Everywhere,β an analysis of the 5,000 most-visited sites on both mobile and desktop.
The finding that rattled the industry: while Google still commands 73% of search traffic, search itself is merely a response to influence created elsewhere.
People donβt wake up and search for a brand in a vacuum. They read, watch, and listen across a fragmented web of news, social media, and niche communities before they ever hit a search bar.
AI tools, despite their rapid growth, still account for a fraction of total web visits compared to the βbig incumbents.β But the trajectory is unmistakable.
The fundamental problem with attribution in 2026 is that search gets over-credited because it captures demand at the finish line, while the fragmented channels β email, news, specialized content β get under-credited for creating that demand in the first place.Β
When creating content, your job is to win the influence phase so thoroughly that when a user eventually turns to an AI assistant or a search bar, your brand is the only logical answer.
That framing is the strategic backbone behind sessions at the upcoming SMX Advanced in Boston, June 3-5, and the lens through which your entire editorial calendar should be rewritten.
What your Search Engine Land colleagues are already doing
Before we discuss tactics, itβs worth pausing to note that this publicationβs own contributor base has been sounding the alarm in complementary ways. Read them together and a clear picture emerges.
Drawing on Siege Mediaβs two-year content performance study covering more than 7.2 million sessions, Grow and Convertβs conversion research, and Seer Interactiveβs AI Overview findings, Davies made the case that the metrics weβve lived by β impressions, sessions, CTR β βno longer tell the full story.βΒ
Mentions, citations, and structured visibility signals, he argued, are becoming the new levers of trust and the path to revenue.
Carolyn Shelby, who appeared in a recent SMX Munich 2026 recap for her session βInside Googleβs Head,β crystallized what many of us have only half-articulated: AI doesnβt discover new brands β it selects from known entities.Β
The implications are stark. If you havenβt built entity recognition across the webβs key reference points β Wikipedia, Reddit, LinkedIn, authoritative press coverage β you donβt get selected.Β
My own October 2025 piece for this publication compared how ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and DeepSeek differ in their data sources, live web use, and citation rules. The conclusion I reached then is truer today: a single-platform AI strategy isnβt a strategy. Each model has different retrieval logic, different trust signals, and different recency weighting.Β
Jordan Koene made the same point in January 2026, noting that different LLMs win different jobs. This heterogeneity is the fundamental reason why βwrite good contentβ is both correct and insufficient as advice.
What βfull-stack contentβ actually means
In 2024, we were impressed if an AI tool could write a decent 500-word blog post. Today, writing is the least interesting thing AI does.
Jasperβs 2026 Enterprise Suite is a useful illustration. It doesnβt just draft text, it:
Pulls real-time performance data from Google Search Console.
Identifies content gaps where competitors are gaining ground.
Generates a multimodal package: a 1,500-word deep dive, three vertical videos for YouTube Shorts, and custom infographics, all calibrated to a brand-voice model trained on your last five years of successful campaigns.
We have moved from βHelp me write thisβ to βHelp me dominate this topic.β
But tools donβt solve strategy problems. The harder question is βwhat should the content actually say?β AI canβt produce the original research, the proprietary case study, or the hard-won perspective that makes an LLM choose you over a dozen lookalike alternatives.
Her argument β that AI investment must generate measurable business outcomes βat the P&L level,β not just activity, efficiency, or content volume β is a direct challenge to teams that have been celebrating output metrics while their revenue dashboards flatline.
Google Vids and the democratization of video: A genuine inflection point
Perhaps the most significant platform shift for content creators in 2026 was Google moving Google Vids out of its Workspace-only silo. You can now create, edit, and share videos at no cost directly within the Google ecosystem, powered by the Veo 3 generative model.
For years, video production was protected by a high barrier to entry: expensive tools, specialist skills, and days of editing time. Google Vids collapses that barrier. Drop a Google Doc or a URL into the βHelp me createβ prompt, and you get a full-motion storyboard with AI-generated voiceovers, licensed music, and transitions in minutes.
The practical consequences are arriving fast:
Small agencies are now producing video-first content calendars that previously required five-figure budgets. The βif only we had videoβ excuse has expired.
Hyper-localization is becoming a baseline expectation. Using Vidsβ automated dubbing and visual swapping, a single βheroβ video can be localized for 20 different markets in an afternoon.
AI-generated summaries are already threatening video metadata. YouTube recently tested swapping video titles for AI-generated summaries. Brands that have not invested in clear entity signals and structured descriptions may soon find their video content renamed by an algorithm β not a person.
The strategic implication is the same as it was for text: AI tools lower the floor but raise the bar. Every competitor now has access to cheap video. But who has something worth saying in that video?
GEO, AEO, and the language problem
Depending on which Search Engine Land article you read in the past few weeks, the dominant framework for surviving this shift is either generative engine optimization (GEO) or answer engine optimization (AEO).
A growing number of contributors argue these terms are marketing noise for what is, at bottom, just good search everywhere optimization plus structured data plus earned media.
That debate is genuinely worth having, and it will be had at SMX Advanced. But for the practitioner who needs to make decisions next week, hereβs what the evidence actually supports:
eMarketerβs Nate Elliott put it plainly in a recent FAQ: βAlmost every GEO response is different from every other GEO response.β Between 40% and 60% of cited sources change month-to-month across Google AI Mode and ChatGPT, making AI visibility far less stable than organic search rankings. That volatility is the real risk, not the terminology debate.
Similarwebβs 2026 GenAI Brand Visibility Index, reported by Digiday, found that major publishers like Reuters and The Guardian receive less than 1% of referral traffic from AI platforms despite being frequently cited. Yet, The Washington Post found that visitors arriving from AI platforms convert to subscriptions at four to five times the rate of traditional search visitors. The volume-versus-value tension has never been more acute.
The practical translation of all of this:
In 2006, we optimized press releases for keyword density: In 2026, optimize for entity association: linking your brand to specific solutions in the AIβs knowledge graph.
Long-form blogs become modular content: Snippets, FAQs, and data tables designed for βchunk-levelβ ingestion by fetcher bots.
Gated white papers become open data: Making unique research crawlable so AI credits you as the source in an overview, not a competitor who summarized your findings.
Your robots.txt file now has strategic consequences: Allowing OAI-SearchBot but blocking GPTBot is a choice β one that determines whether you show up in real-time AI search citations versus model training data.
As AI-generated content reaches its peak volume, the value of the human voice has skyrocketed β but not for the reasons most think-piece writers suggest.
The standard argument runs like this:Β
Audiences can smell AI slop.
Authentic human writing wins.Β
Thatβs partially true, but it understates the mechanism. The deeper reason human-authored content is winning in AI-mediated search is structural.Β
Human authors whoβve built genuine reputations across years of bylined, cited, and cross-referenced work have, in effect, built entity graphs that AI systems can navigate. That isnβt something a prompt can replicate.
The classic example: an AI-generated 2026 review of a new electric vehicle might be factually flawless, listing every spec and battery range. But it loses to a human-authored piece that says, βI drove this through a New England blizzard and the door handle froze shut.βΒ
AI canβt freeze. It canβt feel frustration. It canβt have a bad morning. Those human frictions are now genuinely valuable SEO assets β not because theyβre charming, but because no language model can fabricate them with any credibility.
Readers, trained by years of exposure to AI content, have developed a reliable instinct for the difference.
The Siege Media data Davies cited adds a quantitative dimension: across 7.2 million sessions, the content that earned sustained citations and conversions shared a consistent profile β original data, expert voice, and clear structure that an AI system could extract and attribute. Volume without those properties is, as the headline puts it, just noise.
What to watch at SMX Advanced 2026 β and what it tells us about where this is going
The SMX Advanced agenda is the clearest available signal of where the practitioner community thinks the critical problems are right now. A few sessions deserve particular attention from anyone focused on content creation.
Virjiβs keynote, βYour AI ROI story is broken: How to fix it before budgets get cut,β opens Day 2. Virji isnβt arguing that AI investment is wrong. Sheβs arguing that almost every organization is measuring it incorrectly β and that the correction required is organizational, not tactical.
Daviesβ session, βPredicting and influencing AI citations with retrieval signals,β on June 4, is the direct technical counterpart to the strategic framing above. If Virji is asking βwhat does success mean,β Davies is asking βhow do you engineer it.βΒ
SMX Master Classes ran in April, and SMX Next follows in November. If thereβs a throughline across the entire 2026 SMX calendar, itβs this: the search marketing community has collectively decided that the era of isolated channel optimization is over. Content, paid, technical, and brand are now one discipline, or they are failing disciplines.
What you need to actually do in the second half of 2026
Broad strategic advice is easy to nod at and ignore. Here is the specific and uncomfortable version:
Audit your AI visibility before you touch your content: Query ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, and Perplexity with the prompts your customers actually use. Note which brands appear. Note which sources get cited. If youβre not among them, adding more content isnβt the first fix β fixing your entity signals is.
Stop treating your unique research as a lead-generation gate: Crawlable, citable original data earns AI attribution. A PDF behind a form wall earns nothing except a diminishing number of direct downloads as discovery migrates to AI interfaces.
Invest in community platforms as a first-party strategy, not an afterthought: LLMs pull heavily from Reddit, YouTube, and Wikipedia. eMarketerβs Max Willens has noted that Reddit alone has 100 million daily active users generating brand conversations. Your brandβs absence from those conversations isnβt neutral. It creates a vacuum that your competitors or your critics will fill.
Optimize for citatability, not just rankability: The new KPI isnβt the visit β itβs the attribution. If an AI Overview uses your data but doesnβt name your brand, youβve been mined, not cited. Use clear entity markup, structured FAQ sections, and βquotableβ conclusions that make it easy for an LLM to attribute rather than anonymize.
Diversify your robots.txt strategy intentionally: Different bots serve different purposes. Allowing OAI-SearchBot (real-time citation) while blocking GPTBot (model training) is a legitimate strategic choice. Most organizations have not made it deliberately. Make it deliberately.
Measure differently: The eMarketer-recommended framework allocates 40% of your optimization budget to core SEO fundamentals, 25% to digital PR, 20% to data and reporting, 10% to training, and 5% to experimentation. If your current allocation looks nothing like that, the gap explains more about your AI visibility struggles than any content audit will. So, combining SEO and PR is even more important today than it was back in the old days when I started speaking and writing about search.
The age of the proxy is over. You can no longer hide behind a ghostwriter or a simple prompt and expect to build a brand. But the deeper truth β the one that doesnβt make it into most AI content trend pieces β is that this transformation benefits people whoβve been doing the hard work all along.
If youβve been building genuine expertise, publishing original data, earning bylines in authoritative publications, and cultivating real presence in the communities where your customers actually talk β then you already have most of what you need. The AI infrastructure of 2026 is, in many ways, a system that rewards exactly the things good content has always required.
The difference is that the competition is now generating plausible-sounding content on a scale that would have been impossible to imagine four years ago. Being good isnβt enough to stand out.Β
You have to be citable, structured, and present in all the right places at precisely the right time β which is a harder, more interesting, and ultimately more durable strategic problem than keyword density ever was.
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The Windows 11 install base seems to be expanding, contradicting the overall sentiment surrounding Microsoft's highly controversial operating system. According to the latest Steam Hardware and Software Survey results from April, Windows 11 now accounts for 67.74% of the Steam gamer base, marking an increase of 0.89% from March. This growth comes at the expense of the remaining two operating systems noted in the Steam survey, primarily Linux and macOS. Interestingly, the April data suggests that Linux-based operating systems now stand at 4.52%, a significant 0.81% decrease from March. Most Linux distributions saw a decline in user share, with only Debian Linux, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, and Fedora Linux 43 recording a meaningful uptick. The rest experienced a decline in April, indicating some market-wide corrections among gamers worldwide.
For Windows, both Windows 11 and Windows 10, which reached end of life back in October 2025, recorded increases, and the overall share of Windows-based gaming PCs grew by 1.14% in April. Now, Windows accounts for 93.47% of all gaming PCs, meaning that Linux and macOS remain relatively small compared to the dominance of Microsoft's OS. Especially among gamers, switching to a different OS seems problematic, despite recent growth rates. Even as Windows 11 has its own issues, the majority of gamers remain on the platform because it offers the best game compatibility and the lowest learning curve of all the mentioned platforms.
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ASUS is planning to limit the production of its RTX 5070 Ti GPUs and prioritize the higher-end RTX 5080 models in its place. ASUS Prioritizes Higher-End RTX 5080 GPUs By Limiting Other 16 GB Models, Such As The RTX 5070 Ti While NVIDIA has confirmed that production across all RTX 50 GPUs remains stable, AIBs are doing things differently on their end. As per industry sources quoted by Channel Gate, it looks like ASUS is making some significant changes to its GPU allocation, where it will prioritize higher-end 16 GB graphics cards while limiting the supply of RTX 5070 Ti [β¦]
AMD's upcoming Ryzen AI 5 435G Desktop APU has leaked out, showcasing benchmark performance similar to Ryzen 8000G APUs. AMD Ryzen AI 400 Desktop APUs Bring The Latest Architectures To AM5 Platforms, Ryzen AI 5 435G Shows Similar Performance As 8600G The AMD Ryzen AI 400 Desktop APUs will be launching soon, bringing up to 8 "Zen 5" CPU cores, up to 8 "RDNA 3.5" GPU cores, and a 50 TOPS NPU. They don't feature the higher-end Strix/Gorgon specifications such as up to 12 "Zen 5" CPU cores, and 16 RDNA 3.5 GPU cores, but they do feature a modern [β¦]
Resident Evil Requiem running with NVIDIA DLSS 5 was among the most controversial showcases of the upcoming technology, if not the most controversial, as it seemed to alter Grace's character design significantly. Speaking with Eurogamer, Producer Masato Kumazawa refused to comment directly on the team's involvement in the controversial showcase, but what has been said suggests how the developer will place any tech that could alter artistic intent under heavier scrutiny in the future. "The fact a lot of players commented they really liked the original design of Grace and didn't want to see it changed was a positive," Kumazawa-san [β¦]
The Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 495 appears to retain the same core configuration as its predecessor while adding more unified memory and slightly better performance.
Demand for storage devices is so high that large customers are willing to sign up to five-year long-term supply agreements, according to Sandisk, Seagate, and Western Digital.
A new Ryzen PRO series processor has appeared on PassMark with just three samples, but a very promising spec sheet. The Ryzen 9 PRO 9965X3D is a 16-core Zen 5 chip with 3D V-Cache, making it the first of its kind. It performs quite closely to the standard 9950X3D it's based on, but likely has a lower TDP.
A previously unknown threat actor has been observed targeting government and military entities in Southeast Asia, alongside a smaller cluster of managed service providers (MSPs) and hosting providers in the Philippines, Laos, Canada, South Africa, and the U.S., by exploiting the recently disclosed vulnerability in cPanel.
The activity, detected by Ctrl-Alt-Intel on May 2, 2026, involves the
The Logitech G512 X is a curious product that makes for a good mechanical keyboard and a decent rapid trigger one, although it sometimes feels like its versatility is the very thing that lets it down.
DLSS 4.5 Dynamic Frame Generation has arrived in Crimson Desert With Crimson Desert update 1.05, the game now supports DLSS Dynamic Frame Generation on PC. This appears to be a first for PC games, as until now, DLSS Dynamic Frame Generation has only been available in games through Nvidia App game overrides. DLSS Dynamic Frame [β¦]
Asustor Inc. today is announcing that it will unveil a range of new products at Computex 2026 in Taipei, to showcase its superior network storage prowress with numerous models in addition to its award winning lineup of network storage solutions.
Flashstor Gen3 Series - Flagship Flash NAS for Creators with Optional AI
The all-flash NAS, highly praised by professional photographers and video creators, is receiving a significant upgrade. The new Flashstor Gen3 series is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 8640U Six-Core processor, providing 16 TOPs of AI computing power.
The launch of the PlayStation 5 Pro marked the debut of AI-powered upscaling in the console space with PSSR. While the upscaler's latest version significantly improves image quality over its launch iteration, there's a very strong chance that, on PlayStation 6, the upscaler will also deliver AI-powered frame generation, judging from the LinkedIn profile of a Senior Research Scientist at Sony Interactive Entertainment. As spotted by MP1st, Ayan Kumar Bhunia has been working on Machine Learning and Computer Vision for SIE since December 2023. One of the highlights of their experience at the company is having "spearheaded core research behind [β¦]
It looks like Take-Two and Rockstar Games are both pushing to avoid a third GTA 6 delay. Just last week, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick shrugged off delay rumors, pointing out that many people will likely take a sick day on November 19, the current release date for Grand Theft Auto 6. The toll of this final push, however, may weigh heavily on employees. On Glassdoor, a website that allows verified employees to anonymously publish reviews of their own companies, two reviews were posted last week noting this very issue. The first one went live on April 30. A former game [β¦]
RealtyKit bundles AI prompts, templates, and scripts that help real estate agents create listing descriptions, stage photos, nurture leads, and film social videos faster. Paste property details to get MLS-ready copy, use over 200 Midjourney and ChatGPT staging prompts, and add 52-week email sequences to your CRM. The vault delivers viral TikTok/Reel scripts plus FSBO and expired listing scripts, with instant digital access and lifetime updates. It works with ChatGPT, Midjourney, and other models, turning hours of work into seconds.
AgentSolar is a data-driven AI platform that helps homeowners find the right solar solution at the right price. Trained on millions of solar quotes, it sets fair prices, analyzes quotes, benchmarks them against real market data, and can negotiate better deals so you donβt overpay.
AMD's upcoming APU refresh with the Ryzen AI Max 400 series is divided into "Gorgon Point" and "Gorgon Halo." Today, we see one of the first "Gorgon Halo" APUs appearing in online benchmark databases. The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 495 "Gorgon Halo" APU, featuring 16 cores and 32 threads based on the current "Zen 5" CPU architecture, has landed in the PassMark testing database. These cores can reach a boost frequency of up to 5.2 GHz, which is about a 100 MHz improvement over the current "Strix Halo" APU generation. Complementing the CPU setup is the RDNA 3.5 GPU architecture, now in the form of a Radeon 8065S, which appears to be an overclocked version of the current Radeon 8060S. This new Radeon 8065S iGPU runs at 3.0 GHz, while the current Radeon 8060S runs at about 2.9 GHz. No increase in cores is expected here, and the "Gorgon Halo's" integrated graphics should continue with the 40 RDNA 3.5 CUs.
In terms of performance, AMD has managed to achieve better efficiency thanks to the higher boost frequency. PassMark's comparisons now list the new Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 495 "Gorgon Halo" APU as about 4% ahead in multicore and about 3% in single-core benchmarks compared to the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 395 "Strix Halo" APU. Another significant aspect is the integrated memory configuration. With the previous "Strix Halo," the maximum memory configuration was 128 GB, while the latest "Gorgon Point" shows 192 GB of LPDDR5X memory, suggesting that AMD has updated its integrated memory controller to increase the maximum memory capacity.
An embeddable store locator for brands selling through retail partners. It works on any website via a single script tag. Every customer search is captured automaticallyβcity, product, and retailerβand shown in an analytics dashboard that maps demand and identifies where retail coverage is thin. Features include full brand customization, product availability filtering, retailer chain filtering with logos, pre-filtered campaign URLs, a Store Data API, and automatic Google Analytics tracking. It can be live in days.