We have only a few months until September which has been officially booked by Apple to launch its iconic products, led by the iPhone lineup. I think if you are even a little bit interested in technology, you must already notice the buzz all over the internet and social media, filled with people’s predictions, guesses, early “confirmations” about Apple plans and leaks, a lot of leaks, from software updates to hardware wireframes. Yes, we love Apple but does it really love us back with such determination?

Okay, the figurative speech aside, there is a big group of people who don’t feel satisfied with what Apple does. Don’t get this wrong, they are still ready to pay more than a thousand dollars for a new iPhone, but the innovation they expect is coming very slowly, at least compared to Samsung, Apple’s biggest rival, which has already introduced its AI capabilities.

It’s important to consider the truth that Apple is not trying to impress with innovations but with safe and intuitive products, which require time to implement and then only pass to the customer. Meanwhile, someone is sitting in front of their Macbook and trying to play the latest game but gets more and more convinced that other PCs may perform way too well, for instance. So, let’s start with this part.

Let’s be real – Apple products excel in many areas, but hardcore gaming performance just isn’t one of their strong suits. I’m an Apple super-fan who loves their signature premium design and intuitive user experiences. But when it comes to running demanding game titles, even Apple’s top-tier hardware gets outpaced by custom gaming PCs.

If you wonder about the difference between Mac Vs. Windows gaming experiences, just look at the experience of playing a graphically intense open-world game like Cyberpunk 2077 on a maxed-out M1 Max MacBook Pro versus a high-end gaming device. While the $3,499 MacBook can handle the game at lower settings around 30 fps, a similarly priced $3,000 PC with an RTX 4090 GPU pumps out over 100 fps at ultra settings with raytracing enabled. You’re talking about the difference between choppy, compromised visuals and a completely immersive experience.

The reason is simple – gaming PCs are purpose-built systems optimized for these 3D workloads. They pack powerful discrete GPUs like Nvidia’s latest 40-series cards with up to 24GB of video memory, liquid cooling setups to sustain peak performance, and ultra-fast M.2 NVMe SSD storage to minimize load times. Apple’s all-in-one designs with integrated graphics simply can’t match that level of raw power.

I’m utterly obsessed with the Apple ecosystem, but there’s no denying Spotify’s streaming service seems to consistently out-innovate the music discovery experience versus Apple Music. While Apple has drastically improved their offering, Spotify’s cutting-edge data science and recommendation engines give them a decided advantage.

Take Spotify’s advanced ‘Audio AI’ features like their AI DJ or the all-new ‘AI Utterance’ voice models. These use machine learning to analyze your listening patterns, demographics, and taste profiles to craft incredibly personalized DJ commentary and seamless playlist transitions tailored just for you. It’s like having a knowledgeable music expert as your private curator.

By comparison, Apple Music’s recommendations still feel more rudimentary and standardized. Their approaches like grouping playlists by moods or genres just doesn’t achieve that hyper-personalized user experience Spotify nails so well.

The user numbers underline Spotify’s dominance too. As of Q3 2023, Spotify boasts over 236 million paying subscribers globally versus Apple Music’s estimated 93 million (as of 2024). That incredible scale means Spotify can ingest vastly more listening data to train their AI models. Industry data indicates Spotify tracks over 79 billion monthly plays across its platform versus Apple’s 35 billion.

So while both are excellent services, for music superfans craving that next-gen AI-curated experience, Spotify’s aggressive emphasis on personalization AI gives them the decided edge – at least for now.

We all saw that splashy Meta keynote video where Mark Zuckerberg threw unmistakable shade at Apple’s upcoming Vision Pro mixed reality headset. Calling the $3,499 device “expensive” while claiming Meta’s $1,499 Quest Pro offers a superior extended reality (XR) experience, Zuck was clearly attempting to get out in front of Apple’s invasion into his virtual territory.

In reality, both the Vision Pro and Quest Pro represent enormously expensive bets on an as-yet-unproven consumer XR market. While Meta enjoys a significant cost advantage thanks to their content-neutral, open ecosystem approach, Apple’s track record for premium industrial design and obsessive hardware optimization could give Vision Pro’s experience a serious edge.

Take the Vision Pro’s novel aluminum and curved glass design, for example. With an internal fan, vents, and over a dozen cameras and sensors, it represents a technical marvel of miniaturization and ergonomics – hallmarks of Apple’s renowned hardware chops. The Pro’s ultra high-res displays also output at a silky 120Hz refresh rate for life-like visual fidelity.

By contrast, Meta’s plastic Quest Pro headset looks comparatively toy-ish and low-rent, with LCD panels that max out at 90Hz and less than half the number of cameras. But as always with Apple products, that seamless user experience comes at a premium cost.

You might not have known that George R. R. Martin, the writer of the beloved A Song of Ice and Fire book series, also wrote the lore of The Game Awards 2022 Game of the Year winner, Elden Ring.

Now, in a recent blog post, Martin commented on the rumours of an Elden Ring film or TV series.

“Oh, and about those rumors you may have heard about a feature film or television series based on ELDEN RING… I have nothing to say. Not a word, nope, not a thing, I know nothing, you never heard a peep from me, mum mum mum. What rumor?”

Martin doesn’t really say anything about the rumour and has “nothing to say,” but there is some meaning behind these words. For example, “mum’s the word” in British slang alludes to a hidden truth or secret.

An Elden Ring film is certainly a possibility. Even Hidetaka Miyazaki, the director of the fame game, said a movie could be possible if a “very strong partner” was involved. With Martin’s connection to HBO, I can definitely see this being a strong partner and a huge possibility. Even PlayStation has previously offered to partner with FromSoftware on a series.

Distributed also on: George R. R. Martin, IGN

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The launch of the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro will without a doubt have a heavy AI focus. Google just spent an entire Google I/O talking nothing but AI and the applications they believe will arrive in the near future. There’s just no way they wouldn’t follow that up with more AI chatter around their own flagship devices. The Pixel 9 launch will also be an AI launch.

A part of that launch could be the first arrival of “Google AI,” according to a new report. Google AI will essentially be the name for all of the AI magic a Pixel can do, because underneath Google AI is Gemini, the AI that so many Android phones already have access to.

A screenshot shared by Android Authority shows this Google AI with a set of features that includes Gemini, Circle to Search, Add Me, Screenshots, and Studio. Those final 3 in the list are what may be new when Google AI launches.

What do all of these new features do? To be honest, we don’t really know, but this is what the screenshot says:

Add Me: Make sure everyone’s included in a group photo
Screenshots: Find the info you need from screenshots
Studio: You imagine it. Pixel creates it.

Because we have no other info to go on, everyone is just guessing at what these could be. The “Add Me” feature sounds like Google might cook up a way to include people in a photo that may have been around an event, yet missed out on the big group photo. That’s odd and creepy, but maybe it’ll be great? As for “Screenshots,” this could be a feature where Google looks through all of the screenshots you’ve ever taken and finds data from them, as well as related data from the time you took the screenshot to return results. And finally, “Studio” could be a built-in image or video generation tool beyond just the wallpaper maker that Pixel phones have now.

I’m still processing these ideas while not trying to get too caught up in our guesses being correct. The general takeaway here should just be that the Pixel 9 is going to introduce a blanket AI term called “Google AI.” Google can do a lot with that.

Stay tuned for August 13.

// Android Authority

A cryptic teaser posted to Instagram suggests that DJI, a company most well-known for making drones and cameras, is expanding into making pedal-powered transportation methods. Both DJI and a new brand called Amflow Bikes have started hyping a new electric bike product on social media, but we’ll have to wait until later to see what it really is.

All we’ve seen so far is a a small animation that shows the central e-bike mechanism that holds the pedals to the frame, and in this case, they also appear to be attached to a small electric motor. It’s likely this outdoors focused E-bike that leaked a few days ago, but only time will tell.

While this seems like a move out of left field for the company, DJI has traditionally been good at taking a core component of one of its products and using it across various industries. Using cameras as an example, the company got better at making drones with stabilized camera systems, and then it was able to break out the stabilization tech into its own product, the gimbal.

Taking that same logic, we’ve seen DJI expand into portable backup batteries, so more battery-powered machines makes sense as a next step. What will be more interesting to see is if DJI makes a full E-bike or if the company attempts to sell this component to others to be used, like its FPV drone equipment. The Amflow Instagram only has 12 posts on it, which suggests to me that it will be a new sub-brand under DJI, but all will be revealed today at the EuroBike 2024 event. DJI is scheduled to make an announcement at 3AM ET/12AM PT.

Distributed also on: DJI, AmFlow Bikes, Drone XL  Via: The Verge 

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Stock trading, from a long time now, has always been considered as one of the most complex and perhaps risky endeavors that are far better left to the large brokerage houses or… the moneyed people of the nation. This is true to an extent, but the world of digitization has opened a new way where equality is given in terms where everyone starts their financial freedom.

In today’s world, where one can decide to work remotely too, one can choose from thousands of applications and websites that provide ‘mainstream’ tools that help anyone who wants – a beginner or a large investor – make money properly, with appropriate knowledge, planning, and support from experts.

Let’s take a look at the top collaborative investment applications and websites, including their distinctive features, capabilities, and potential for both rookie and seasoned investors.

And if you’re seeking a structured pathway to unraveling the world of investments, look no further than Quantum AI website. This website is dedicated to bridging the gap between eager learners and investment education, without indulging in direct investing advice. Its primary goal is to connect those interested in investing with educational institutions that can lead them through their learning experience!

Now, on to the list!

1. Fidelity

Fidelity offers hundreds of stock, mutual fund, ETFs, bond selections and other investments; the favorite of customers due to an easy to navigate Website and many tools, including 15 calculators and real-time quotes. Another feature of Fidelity is the possibility to choose between many managed and self-managed medical expense accounts variable and fixed, recommended for investors independently or by the company on the basis of suitable for novices and experienced investors.

Although it also has many other enticing offers that are exclusively for its consumers, that particular company specifically specializes in the digital estate plan that assists in the protection and passing on of wealth to your loved ones. Besides, the trading commission which was not observed in the platform ensure the individual of another source through which they can make maximum profits The team of professional traders in the respective areas of stock trading also helps the individual in acquiring adequate knowledge on how to succeed in stock trading businesses from the teaming professional traders in the relevant fields of stock trading.

2. Robinhood

Robinhood has grown into a phenomenon in the realm of investment, reshaping upon its entrance the concept of wealth creation for millions of Americans. Since its aim is to bring Accessibility in the conventional investment, this app has erased the hoods in the nature common with monstrously expensive apps, where users can invest with as much as one dollar.

Because of the two funds’ collaborative design, users have access to more than 1,700 stocks researched extensively for easier decision making based on retrieved data and analyses. Besides, the opportunity to invest in cryptocurrencies also falls within the app’s framework, which opens the door to the vast world of digital assets in your investment arsenal.

3. Invstr

Should you be experiencing minimal capital investment for the first time or if you are new in investment, Invstr is that suitable investment app to mentor you. Through the user-friendly design and no-commission purchases, this tool eliminates the scary stuff, letting you try the possibilities without investing a lot of money.

The customized portfolios on Invstr are easy to create and constructed with the support of in-built professional advisers for one’s individual goals and level of risk. Whether you are targeting to trade U. S. stocks and ETFs or exploring to try fractional shares and cryptocurrencies, with Invstr you are going to enjoy your investing experience and witness your portfolios’ performance.

4. Betterment

If moving towards a collaborative investment app user environment is the way to go, then Betterment should be regarded as a pioneer of such an interface, featuring an utterly convenient investment solution enhanced by modern technologies. Betterment is well-known as one of the biggest percentiles of robo-advisors and controls your funds very efficiently, adjusting them for your level of risk and preferences in receiving income.

If you want to invest in climate change and socially responsible investments then you might want to give Betterment a shot. In representing the company’s and your ethical standpoint, it is good for both you and the potential generations as it contributes to the formation of a sustainable environment. Betterment currently provides a strong offering in cash management, combined with specialized features for goal setting; overall, this enables you to have a professionally-managed portfolio at a low cost.

5. Acorns

Acorns savings application has perfectly positioned itself as one of the most popular ones for a reason. This simplicity-free solution relieves the rather cumbersome process of saving and investing from the burden of being complicated; through this platform, users can automate the process of investment, do dividend reinvestment, meaning that, from this platform, you can be assured of your wealth increasing, through investments, consistently. 

They also provide round-up investment functionality where Acorns rounds up users’ purchases to the nearest dollar and invests the additional change into a portfolio of ETFs. What sets it apart from other more traditional types of investment is that this method is highly integrated into what you are already doing in your daily life and there is no initial hefty capital required. Also, Acorns has offered specific investment plans for the family where you can open an investment account for your children/ Stock-Back® for debit products to make sure that the whole family is on the right track to accumulating wealth.

6. Charles Schwab

This is an investment app that offers financial advice for mutual funds to new, moderate, and advance-level investors. It is most notable for their extensive database of research and education materials; they provide a wealth of actionable information for people wishing to improve their financial literacy on finance and investing.

With regards to the criteria that value different approaches to commission- and fee-based trading services, US low-cost brokerage firm Charles Schwab still provides such options as fractional shares as well as commission-free trading for stocks and ETFs that enables investors to invest every single dollar that he or she earned into the securities of one’s’ preference. Moreover, the account has a feature whereby the clients are offered a cash bonus on behalf of the platform provided that a certain minimum amount is funded on the account: an added incentive for anyone who wishes to commence their investment.

7. J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing

For those who are searching for the no-frills, yet quite satisfactory brokerage firm, the J. P. Morgan is a suitable choice. This investment platform is for users to invest with other people and in addition it offers a multitude of Morningstar and CFRA research tools and other researching materials.

With equal efficacy, Self-Directed Investing Portfolio Builder effectively contributes to construction of a powerful and efficient portfolio with no impediment. The no-commission model, the convenient opportunity to link all the Chase accounts enhancing spending and saving experience like the mentioned by W. L. Silvester option contributes to the demand for this service. Hence, both the new investors and the experienced ones may get benefits with the offers that J. P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing offers its consumers.

8. M1 Finance

M1 Finance is a feature-rich money management software that appeals to both self-directed traders and those looking for automated investing solutions. It offers a wide range of services. From fractional shares and commission-free trading in stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies, to user-friendly interfaces and expert-designed portfolios, M1 Finance has something for every investor.

One of the standout features of this collaborative investment platform is its ability to balance multiple financial needs. Whether you’re seeking hands-on trading experience or prefer to let the experts handle the heavy lifting, M1 Finance provides a seamless solution. With low minimum deposit requirements and no extra fees for standard accounts, this platform empowers you to take control of your financial future without breaking the bank.

9. Ellevest 

While Ellevest started with the mission of closing the gender gap in investing, it has since evolved into a platform that welcomes and empowers individuals of all backgrounds, including non-binary and gender non-conforming individuals. This collaborative investment app is a true game-changer for those seeking personalized plans for individual investment and retirement accounts. 

With automated IRA and 401(k)/403(b) rollovers, as well as one-on-one sessions with certified financial planners, Ellevest offers a comprehensive suite of services tailored to your unique needs. Furthermore, the personalized suggestions provided by the platform, which are derived from longevity data and gender-specific wage curves, guarantee that your investments are geared towards long-term financial security and growth.

Conclusion

In the ever-evolving world of investing, the best collaborative apps and websites have emerged as game-changers, democratizing access to wealth-building opportunities and fostering a supportive community of investors. From user-friendly interfaces and comprehensive educational resources to advanced trading tools and real-time market insights, these platforms cater to the diverse needs of investors at every level.

Whether you’re a seasoned investor seeking advanced trading tools or a newcomer looking to dip your toes into the waters, the collaborative investment landscape offers a wealth of opportunities to grow your wealth, learn from others, and stay ahead of the curve.

So, embrace the power of collaboration, engage with like-minded individuals, and let these best collaborative investment apps and websites be your trusted companions on the path to financial freedom.

Telegram is implementing a new paywall feature for content creators, allowing them to place photos and videos behind a price tag. Snaps, Telegram, snaps!

There’s more than just getting that bag for creators, though. Telegram also announced the mini app bar, with users now able to collapse mini apps into a bar at the bottom of the screen. With this, you’ll be able to respond to messages or open other mini apps, then return to a mini app without waiting for it to load again. Extremely handy.

You can view how the paywall feature works in the short video below.

Other new features for the June update (yes, June) includes the ability to search through stories based on hashtags and location, plus a new Link Widget option for stories.

There’s a bunch of goodies in there. If you use Telegram for more than messaging, I recommend you check out the full blog post by following the link below.

// Telegram

In 2009, by issuing a call to arms to “make the web faster”, Google set out on a mission to try and persuade website owners to make their sites load more quickly.

In order to entice website owners into actually caring about this, in 2010 Google announced that site speed would become a factor in its desktop (non-mobile) search engine ranking algorithms. This meant that sites that loaded quickly would have an SEO advantage over other websites.

Six years later, in 2015, Google announced that the number of searches performed on mobile exceeded those performed on desktop computers. That percentage continues to increase. The latest published statistic says that, as of 2019, 61% of searches performed on Google were from mobile devices.

Mobile’s now-dominant role in search led Google to develop its “Accelerated Mobile Pages” (AMP) project. This initiative is aimed at encouraging website owners to create what is essentially another mobile theme, on top of their responsive mobile theme, that complies with a very strict set of development and performance guidelines.

Although many site owners and SEOs complain about having to tend to page speed and AMP on top of the other 200+ ranking factors that already give them headaches, page speed is indeed a worthy effort for site owners to focus on. In 2017, Google conducted a study where the results very much justified their focus on making the web faster. They found that “As page load time goes from one second to 10 seconds, the probability of a mobile site visitor bouncing increases 123%.”

In July of 2018, page speed became a ranking factor for mobile searches, and today Google will incorporate even more speed-related factors (called Core Web Vitals) in its ranking algorithms.

With the average human attention span decreasing all the time, and our reliance on our mobile devices growing consistently, there’s no question that page speed is, and will continue to be, an incredibly important thing for website owners to tend to.

How to optimize a website for speed
Think like a race car driver

Winning the page speed race requires the same things as winning a car race. To win a race in a car, you make sure that your vehicle is as lightweight as possible, as powerful as possible, and you navigate the racetrack as efficiently as possible.

I’ll use this analogy to try to make page speed optimization techniques a bit more understandable.

Make it lightweight

These days, websites are more beautiful and functional than ever before — but that also means they are bigger than ever. Most modern websites are the equivalent of a party bus or a limo. They’re super fancy, loaded with all sorts of amenities, and therefore HEAVY and SLOW. In the search engine “racetrack,” you will not win with a party bus or a limo. You’ll look cool, but you’ll lose.

Image source: A GTMetrix test results page

To win the page speed race, you need a proper racing vehicle, which is lightweight. Race cars don’t have radios, cupholders, glove boxes, or really anything at all that isn’t absolutely necessary. Similarly, your website shouldn’t be loaded up with elaborate animations, video backgrounds, enormous images, fancy widgets, excessive plugins, or anything else at all that isn’t absolutely necessary.

In addition to decluttering your site of unnecessary fanciness and excessive plugins, you can also shed website weight by:

Reducing the number of third-party scripts (code snippets that send or receive data from other websites)

Switching to a lighter-weight (less code-heavy) theme and reducing the number of fonts used

Implementing AMP

Optimizing images

Compressing and minifying code

Performing regular database optimizations

On an open-source content management system like WordPress, speed plugins are available that can make a lot of these tasks much easier. WP Rocket and Imagify are two WordPress plugins that can be used together to significantly lighten your website’s weight via image optimization, compression, minification, and a variety of other page speed best practices.

Give it more power

You wouldn’t put a golf cart engine in a race car, so why would you put your website on a dirt-cheap, shared hosting plan? You may find it painful to pay more than a few dollars per month on hosting if you’ve been on one of those plans for a long time, but again, golf cart versus race car engine: do you want to win this race or not?

Traditional shared hosting plans cram tens of thousands of websites onto a single server. This leaves each individual site starved for computing power.

If you want to race in the big leagues, it’s time to get a grown-up hosting plan. For WordPress sites, managed hosting companies such as WP Engine and Flywheel utilize servers that are powerful and specifically tuned to serve up WordPress sites faster.

If managed WordPress hosting isn’t your thing, or if you don’t have a WordPress site, upgrading to a VPS (Virtual Private Server) will result in your website having way more computing resources available to it. You’ll also have more control over your own hosting environment, allowing you to “tune-up your engine” with things like the latest versions of PHP, MySQL, Varnish caching, and other modern web server technologies. You’ll no longer be at the mercy of your shared hosting company’s greed as they stuff more and more websites onto your already-taxed server.

In short, putting your website on a well-tuned hosting environment can be like putting a supercharger on your race car.

Drive it better

Last, but certainly not least, a lightweight and powerful race car can only go so fast without a trained driver who knows how to navigate the course efficiently.

The “navigate the course” part of this analogy refers to the process of a web browser loading a webpage. Each element of a website is another twist or turn for the browser to navigate as it travels through the code and processes the output of the page.

I’ll switch analogies momentarily to try to explain this more clearly. When remodeling a house, you paint the rooms first before redoing the floors. If you redid the floors first and then painted the rooms, the new floors would get paint on them and you’d have to go back and tend to the floors again later.

When a browser loads a webpage, it goes through a process called (coincidentally) “painting.” Each page is “painted” as the browser receives bits of data from the webpage’s source code. This painting process can either be executed efficiently (i.e. painting walls before refinishing floors), or it can be done in a more chaotic out-of-order fashion that requires several trips back to the beginning of the process to redo or fix or add something that could’ve/should’ve been done earlier in the process.

Image source: WebPageTest.org Test Result (Filmstrip View)

Here’s where things can get technical, but it’s important to do whatever you can to help your site drive the “track” more efficiently.

Caching is a concept that every website should have in place to make loading a webpage easier on the browser. It already takes long enough for a browser to process all of a page’s source code and paint it out visually to the user, so you might as well have that source code ready to go on the server. By default, without caching, that’s not the case.

Without caching, the website’s CMS and the server can still be working on generating the webpage’s source code while the browser is waiting to paint the page. This can cause the browser to have to pause and wait for more code to come from the server. With caching, the source code of a page is pre-compiled on the server so that it’s totally ready to be sent to the browser in full in one shot. Think of it like a photocopier having plenty of copies of a document already produced and ready to be handed out, instead of making a copy on demand each time someone asks for one.

Various types and levels of caching can be achieved through plugins, your hosting company, and/or via a CDN (Content Delivery Network). CDNs not only provide caching, but they also host copies of the pre-generated website code on a variety of servers across the world, reducing the impact of physical distance between the server and the user on the load time. (And yes, the internet is actually made up of physical servers that have to talk to each other over physical distances. The web is not actually a “cloud” in that sense.)

Getting back to our race car analogy, utilizing caching and a CDN equals a much faster trip around the racetrack.

Those are two of the basic building blocks of efficient page painting, but there are even more techniques that can be employed as well. On WordPress, the following can be implemented via a plugin or plugins (again, WP Rocket and Imagify are a particularly good combo for achieving a lot of this):

Asynchronous and/or deferred loading of scripts. This is basically a fancy way of referring to loading multiple things at the same time or waiting until later to load things that aren’t needed right away.

Preloading and prefetching. Basically, retrieving data about links in advance instead of waiting for the user to click on them.

Lazy loading. Ironic term being that this concept exists for page speed purposes, but by default, most browsers load ALL images on a page, even those that are out of sight until a user scrolls down to them. Implementing lazy loading means telling the browser to be lazy and wait on loading those out-of-sight images until the user actually scrolls there.

Serving images in next-gen formats. New image formats such as WebP can be loaded much faster by browsers than the old-fashioned JPEG and PNG formats. But it’s important to note that not all browsers can support these new formats just yet — so be sure to use a plugin that can serve up the next-gen versions to browsers that support them, but provide the old versions to browsers that don’t. WP Rocket, when paired with Imagify, can achieve this.

Image source: WP Rocket plugin settings

Optimize for Core Web Vitals

Lastly, optimizing for the new Core Web Vital metrics (Largest Contentful Paint, First Input Delay, and Cumulative Layout Shift) can make for a much more efficient trip around the racetrack as well.

Image source

These are pretty technical concepts, but here’s a quick overview to get you familiar with what they mean:

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) refers to the painting of the largest element on the page. Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool will tell you which element is considered to be the LCP element of a page. A lot of times this is a hero image or large slider area, but it varies from page to page, so run the tool to identify the LCP in your page and then think about what you can do to make that particular element load faster.

First Input Delay (FID) is the delay between the user’s first action and the browser’s ability to respond to it. An example of an FID issue would be a button that is visible to a user sooner than it becomes clickable. The delay would be caused by the click functionality loading notably later than the button itself.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) is a set of three big words that refer to one simple concept. You know when you’re loading up a webpage on your phone and you go to click on something or read something but then it hops up or down because something else loaded above it or below it? That movement is CLS, it’s majorly annoying, and it’s a byproduct of inefficient page painting.

In conclusion, race car > golf cart

Page speed optimization is certainly complex and confusing, but it’s an essential component to achieve better rankings. As a website owner, you’re in this race whether you like it or not — so you might as well do what you can to make your website a race car instead of a golf cart!

Best of the MarTechBot showcases the MarTechBot’s responses to prompts submitted by readers. See more about how marketers are using MarTechBot here. The language model is based on content from MarTech embedded on top of ChatGPT. The editors of MarTech selected this response for its usefulness and have supplemented it with additional relevant content.

I am the first generative AI chatbot for marketing technology professionals. I am trained with MarTech content. Here’s something somebody asked me! After that, how to improve prompts to get even better answers from me.

Prompt:

How to source first-party data for a CDP?

Answer:

To source first-party data for a Customer Data Platform (CDP), you can follow these steps:

1. Identify your data sources: Determine the various touchpoints where you collect customer data, such as your website, mobile app, CRM system, email marketing platform, social media platforms, and any other relevant sources.

2. Collect data from your website and app: Implement tracking codes or tags on your website and mobile app to capture user interactions, such as page views, clicks, form submissions, and purchases. This data can include demographic information, browsing behavior, and transaction history.

3. Integrate with your CRM system: Connect your CDP with your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to import customer data, including contact information, purchase history, customer preferences, and any other relevant data points.

4. Import data from other marketing platforms: Integrate your CDP with other marketing platforms you use, such as email marketing software, social media advertising platforms, and marketing automation tools. This allows you to import data related to email campaigns, social media interactions, and other marketing activities.

5. Leverage offline data sources: If you have offline touchpoints, such as in-store purchases or call center interactions, find ways to capture and integrate that data into your CDP. This can be done through manual data entry, data import processes, or by using tools that bridge the gap between offline and online data.

6. Implement data capture strategies: Use various methods to collect additional first-party data, such as surveys, preference centers, contests, and promotions. Encourage customers to provide their information voluntarily and ensure compliance with data privacy regulations.

7. Ensure data quality and accuracy: Regularly clean and validate your data to maintain its quality and accuracy. Remove duplicate records, correct any errors, and update outdated information.

8. Establish data governance policies: Define clear guidelines and processes for data collection, storage, and usage. Ensure compliance with data privacy regulations, such as GDPR or CCPA, and obtain proper consent from customers for data processing.

9. Continuously update and enrich your data: Regularly update your customer profiles with new data points and enrich them with additional information, such as social media profiles, behavioral data, or third-party data sources.

10. Regularly analyze and segment your data: Utilize your CDP’s capabilities to analyze and segment your first-party data. This allows you to create personalized marketing campaigns, target specific customer segments, and gain insights into customer behavior and preferences.

By following these steps, you can effectively source first-party data for your CDP and leverage it to drive personalized marketing efforts, improve customer experiences, and achieve your marketing objectives.

Updated prompt:

Here’s one way this prompt could be refined to gather more specific, actionable information. MarTechBot now has 10+ personas to provide more targeted responses. For this prompt, try selecting the marketing operations (MOps) persona. There are many possibilities, depending on the human user’s industry and main objectives:

Before we start, in addition to your other context, you lead marketing operations for a regional auto repair chain. How will you source first-party data for a new CDP? Please list four actions your team should prioritize. Please list the benefit for each action along with any marketing technology tool the company should use for the action. Please keep responses simple.

The key elements and enhancements to this prompt are as follows:

(Task)

How will you source first-party data for a new CDP?

(Context)

You lead marketing operations for a regional auto repair chain.

(Format)

Please list four actions your team should prioritize. Please list the benefit for each action along with any marketing technology tool the company should use for the action.

(Tone)

Please keep responses simple.

Dig deeper: How Coca-Cola activated an enterprise CDP

Updated answer:

To source first-party data for a new Customer Data Platform (CDP) for your regional auto repair chain, here are four actions your team should prioritize:

1. Implement website tracking: Use a web analytics tool like Google Analytics to track user behavior on your website. This will provide valuable insights into customer preferences, interests, and interactions, helping you personalize marketing efforts and improve customer experience.

2. Capture customer information at touchpoints: Utilize a CRM system like Salesforce or HubSpot to capture customer information at various touchpoints such as online bookings, service inquiries, or loyalty program sign-ups. This will enable you to build a comprehensive customer profile and tailor marketing campaigns based on individual preferences.

3. Leverage email marketing campaigns: Utilize an email marketing automation tool like Mailchimp or Marketo to send targeted email campaigns. By analyzing customer responses and engagement metrics, you can gather valuable data on customer preferences, interests, and purchase behavior.

4. Encourage customer feedback and reviews: Implement a customer feedback system, such as SurveyMonkey or Trustpilot, to collect feedback and reviews from customers. This will provide valuable insights into customer satisfaction, preferences, and areas for improvement, helping you enhance your marketing strategies and customer experience.

Benefits of these actions:

1. Improved personalization: By tracking website behavior and capturing customer information, you can personalize marketing efforts, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.

2. Enhanced customer profiling: By integrating CRM systems, you can create comprehensive customer profiles, enabling targeted marketing campaigns and better understanding of customer needs.

3. Data-driven decision-making: Analyzing email campaign metrics and customer feedback will provide actionable insights for data-driven decision-making, optimizing marketing strategies and improving ROI.

4. Increased customer satisfaction: Gathering customer feedback and reviews will help identify areas for improvement, allowing you to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Please note that the specific marketing technology tools mentioned are examples, and you should choose the ones that best fit your organization’s needs and budget.

Now it’s your turn to give MarTechBot a try. It’s free and includes multiple expert personas to choose from, as well as an image generator.

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To know and be known is the essence of a relationship. To know — and understand — your customers, you need to listen to them. It seems so obvious, yet many marketing efforts miss this perspective. For all the claims of being “customer-obsessed,” brand stories focus too much on the brand itself and not the reason for its existence. 

B2B buyers need even more empathy, information and reassurance when deciding to purchase. Here are some key ways to ensure the customer’s voice is captured and conveyed to help establish a long-term, mutually valuable relationship.

1. Recognize who the hero is 

Customers aren’t interested in your story; they’re interested in learning how your product or service will help them survive or thrive in their story, according to Donald Miller, who developed the StoryBrand framework. 

The customer is the hero, while your brand is the guide in navigating and successfully overcoming the customer’s problem. Focus your marketing on making your customer the star, demonstrating the benefits they’ll gain from your brand. Save your company’s story and accomplishments for the boilerplate and your website’s About Us page.

2. Create your customer personas 

Starting out in public relations, knowing your audience is one of the most important lessons you learn and carry with you. For example, don’t pitch a reporter who doesn’t even cover your industry. You have to do research to understand who you need to communicate with, what messages will resonate with them and which channels will be most effective in delivering the messages. 

In addition to demographics, look at psychographics that include values, interests, priorities and also potential objections. Although buyer personas are fictitious representations of customers, they must be based on reality. That means conversing with existing clients and prospects and incorporating those insights into your profiles. 

Dig deeper: How to develop a winning B2B ideal customer profile

3. Build your brand for them 

The art and science of branding is about creating a lasting impression in consumers’ minds, distinguishing your brand’s goods and services from those of others in the market. Again, establishing or refreshing your brand isn’t about you. It’s about your customers. What promise of value are you making to them, and why is that important to them? 

I work with many highly specialized technology companies and organizations that get caught up in their industry’s jargon or way of talking about their products and services. But B2B buyers are humans after all. Be sure the messages you or your agency partners develop are clear and compelling, and don’t shy away from humor or other emotional appeals. Test your concepts with some of your customers, especially if translations will be required for global adoption. 

Dig deeper: Building a brand strategy: Essentials for long-term success

4. Quote them whenever you can

In my first job at a software company, I was the customer communications manager responsible for documenting case studies. This role produced success stories and videos that helped close new business, provided quotes for press releases and publications and featured speakers at our annual user conferences. I talked to hundreds of people who used our software and cultivated relationships that were beneficial in terms of PR for us and them. 

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Nothing is more powerful than your customers’ stories — including reviews and mentions in social media posts. Don’t forget to ask if they’re interested in writing a guest blog. Some organizations won’t go on record. Even if this is a challenge, capture the narratives about the problems solved and the results achieved. This information can still shape your marketing and influence buying decisions, even without revealing the source.

5. Ask for feedback and do something with it 

In the software job I mentioned, I also managed the annual customer satisfaction survey, collaborating with an external firm to update the survey, conduct interviews and provide the results. 

That was a while ago, so numerous tools are now available to digitize informal or pulse surveys and formal NPS and CSAT programs. Integration with CRM and customer success systems is also possible, giving organizations a more comprehensive view of how their products and services are helping customers. 

This feedback — good and bad — needs to make its way to the appropriate departments for action. Commend employees who ensured an implementation occurred on time and within budget and let product management know if there are repeated questions or complaints about a particular feature. 

If your company has a product forum, you’ll want to monitor it for trends and insights and run those up the chain as well. You also might get some good ideas for blogs, webinars or other marketing materials.  

Ensure your marketing efforts reflect the voice of your customers

“What’s in it for me?” This is the fundamental question prospects and existing customers seek to answer when they encounter your marketing, whether that’s your website, a webinar or a conversation. If you don’t clearly articulate how you can solve — or keep solving — their problems and make their lives better, you’ll probably be ignored. 

Avoid wasting time and resources by tuning into your customers and being vulnerable enough to hear what they say. Then harness that information in ways that inspire you, your creative talent, the sales team and those who make your products. Customer-focused, value-based messages will take your marketing where it needs to go.  

Dig deeper: How to build a B2B brand that delivers lasting value

The post 5 big ways to turn up the voice of your customer in your marketing appeared first on MarTech.

A new study by search industry expert Rand Fishkin has revealed that Google’s rollout of AI overviews in May led to a noticeable decrease in search volume, particularly on mobile devices.

The study, which analyzed millions of Google searches in the United States and European Union, sheds light on the unexpected consequences of AI integration.

AI Overviews Rollout & Reversal

In May 2024, Google rolled out AI overviews in the United States, which generate summaries for many search queries.

However, the feature was met with mixed reactions and was quickly dialed back by the end of the month.

In a blog post published on May 30, Google admitted to inaccurate or unhelpful AI overviews, particularly for unusual queries.

Google says it implemented over a dozen technical improvements to its systems in response.

A subsequent study by SE Ranking found the frequency of these summaries decreased, with only 8% of searches now triggering an AI Overview. However, when shown, these overviews are now longer and more detailed, averaging 25% more content.

SE Ranking also noted that after expansion, AI overviews typically link to fewer sources, usually around four.

Decline In Mobile Searches

Fishkin’s analysis reveals that the introduction of AI Overviews coincided with a marked decline in mobile searches in May.

While desktop searches saw a slight increase, the drop in mobile searches was significant, considering that mobile accounts for nearly two-thirds of all Google queries.

This finding suggests that users may have been less inclined to search on their mobile devices when confronted with AI-generated summaries.

Fishkin commented:

“The most visible changes in May were shared by both the EU and US, notably… Mobile searches fell a considerable amount (if anything spooked Google into rolling back this feature, I’d put my money on this being it).”

He adds:

“If I were running Google, that dip in mobile searches (remember, mobile accounts for almost 2/3rds of all Google queries) would scare the stock-price-worshiping-crap outta me.”

Impact On Overall Search Behavior

Despite the dip in mobile searches, the study found that search behavior remained relatively stable during the AI overviews rollout.

The number of clicks per search on mobile devices increased slightly, while desktop clicks per search remained flat.

This indicates that while some users may have been deterred from initiating searches, those who did engage with the AI Overviews still clicked on results at a similar or slightly higher rate than the previous months.

Implications For Google & the Search Industry

The study highlights the challenges Google faces in integrating AI-generated content into its search results.

Additionally, the research found other concerning trends in Google search behavior:

Low Click-through Rates: Only 360 out of every 1,000 Google searches in the US result in clicks to non-Google websites. The EU fares slightly better with 374 clicks per 1,000 searches.
Zero-click Searches Dominate: Nearly 60% of searches in both regions end without any clicks, classified as “zero-click searches.”
Google’s Self-referral Traffic: About 30% of clicks from US searches go to Google-owned properties, with a somewhat lower percentage in the EU.

Why SEJ Cares

This study underscores the need for adaptable SEO strategies.

As an industry, we may need to shift focus towards optimizing for zero-click searches and diversifying traffic sources beyond Google.

The findings also raise questions about the future of AI in search.

While major tech companies continue to invest in AI technologies, this study suggests that implementation may not always yield the expected results.

Featured Image: Marco Lazzarini/Shutterstock