Rand Fishkin

Highland Park 54 is a stupid fancy bottle

Springbank fresh Sauternes cask at barrel strength in a stock bottle

What people think really fancy #whisky bottles look like vs what they actually look like.

Thanks Cyrus! It's been super useful for me too

Tool of the day: Alertmouse

For finding new brand/keyword mentions on the web, this is the best tool, hands down, for tracking + daily alerts

If you haven't already, try it out. Every day, I've received comprehensive email reports I never would have known about otherwise alertmouse.com

I'm giving up my bed in solidarity with youth facing homelessness. I'm giving up my bed for one night in solidarity with youth overcoming homelessness at Covenant House.

Here is the link to donate:
www.sleepout.org/participant/...

YouTube video by Wil Reynolds Why I'm sleeping outside tonight - and why I would love your support

Hey folks, I'm sleeping outside tonight, this is why...
youtube.com/shorts/deKHw...

Mazel tov! Well deserved for a campaign well run

an image of Katie Wilson standing in a button-up shirt and slacks riding the bus in the morning while holding on onto a rail

After much deliberation and a grueling interview process, I’m pleased to announce that I’ve accepted a new job and will not need any financial support from my parents to cover the high costs of childcare going forward. #AmericanDream #ThisIsYourCity

RIP freelance journalism: Candid advice to the young writers the world needs to read Every year, freelance journalism pays less. A typical gig today pays 80% less than the same assignment in 2001. It is no longer a sustainable career. It is, more often, a side-hustle, or the domain of...

The best advice for freelance journalists today is to be born rich. The second best advice is to marry well. This is not shade.

This week's long-form essay has been a long time in the making, as I go deep into the sad state of freelance journalism over on ESC KEY .CO:
www.esckey.co/the-death-of...

It's more than a little sycophantic.

Heavy metal is healing teens on the Blackfeet Nation - High Country News In response to youth suicides, teachers show students the power of headbanging at Fire in the Mountains festival.

www.hcn.org/issues/57-11... is a beautifully written account of a beautiful project.

It's the kind of piece no AI could write, where the author's passion for the subject and love for the people shines through.

The Surprising Benefits of Giving Up The Surprising Benefits of Giving Up: Ditching or adjusting goals in the face of adversity might often be the best thing for us.

nautil.us/the-surprisi... great advice

"Sticking with impossible goals can take a real toll, with research suggests it can lead to higher stress, poorer well-being, and even physical health costs. But letting go and—crucially—reengaging with new goals, was found to restore purpose and well-being.”

What You Can Learn from 4,000 Conversations Between Israelis and Palestinians Adam Becker is building an AI-powered platform for difficult conversations - BCB #171

Rarely do I read something thoughtful & nuanced about Israeli/Palestinian politics.

Rarely do I read something thoughtful and nuanced about creative uses for AI.

And yet, www.betterconflictbulletin.org/p/what-you-c... is somehow simultaneously both. (it's a podcast, too, for those who prefer)

I know I keep blowing this same horn but...

I still don't believe there is such a thing as "product-market fit." To me it's like saying "we have sales!" Uhhmmm... OK?

It's a spectrum and a journey, not a destination companies can reach.

NEW in SparkToro today: Take Action

16 common marketing tasks (from PR pitches to content ideation to landing page suggestions) made easier by combining real audience data + LLM calls.

Anyone can try it free starting now 👇

DONATE here: www.sleepout.org/participants...

Next week, I'm chipping in $6,500 and sleeping outside in the freezing Philly cold w @wilreynolds.bsky.social, not b/c I want to (dear god I am not built for sleeping outside in a cardboard box 😅🥶), but b/c it's important.

Would 💗 your support

Sadly, we can't see non-click activity in clickstream data

Rep MGMT ftw 😎🤜🤛💯

I don't think I have bandwidth for that but hopefully someone will follow in our footsteps

Google's new deceptive ad layout not only tricks people into clicking more ads

It's costing businesses real money 💸

Very interested to see the results

No. Your Twitter traffic did NOT double overnight.

What happened?
Twitter's been stagnating/declining since 2023
The growth team growth hacked (making links auto-open in webview)
They hope marketers will fall for it & pay more attention again.
But, it's nothing more than smoke & mirrors.

Wise choices were made

YouTube video by Lunio AI Hype vs Reality: What actually works in marketing (w/ Rand Fishkin)

Got interviewed re: the digital marketing AI "revolution" (which I admit has changed a lot, but has also caused a lot of dumb decisions): www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7a5...

The first 60 second-trailer bit almost convinced me to watch the whole thing and I was there the first time around! 😎👇

Ha! Welcome to the party, pal 🎊

*puts on best Mighty Mouse outfit* Here I come to save the day!! 🦸🧀

Used @randfish.bsky.social’s awesome new tool, @alertmouse.bsky.social (a better version of Google Alerts) for a whole 30 seconds only to learn that my name was mentioned in Forbes this week.

(1/2)

I *know* Google Alerts is aware of these brand mentions for my company. And yet... 😡😤😒😠🤬 they won't send me alerts. It's inexplicable. Google (the search engine) clearly has these URLs indexed, so what gives? Mystifying. Thank goodness for🔔🐭

Nice! Audience research gets a mention 😎😎😎

Looking good @thekraken.bsky.social !

So much 🧀🧀🧀🧀