Rand Fishkin
@randfish.bsky.social
Cofounder of SparkToro, Alertmouse, & Snackbar Studio. Geraldine's husband.
This is a phenomenal game. If you loved classic CRPGs (Planescape, BG2, et al.), this is not just a love letter, it's a sprawling, hilarious, deeply enjoyable, unique experience.
Christoffer Bodegård@chrisbodegard.bsky.social · 2mo agoESOTERIC EBB IS NOW - FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY... -20% OFF! (Until June 10th)
My friends at Balsamiq have taken a bold new direction, switching from being a wireframing tool to an AI prototyping tool.
Balsamiq@balsamiq.bsky.social · 4mo agoNEW: AI prototyping + the Balsamiq MCP server, now in Balsamiq Cloud. It's the product building workflow that puts your users first:
NEW: AI prototyping + the Balsamiq MCP server, now in Balsamiq Cloud. It's the product building workflow that puts your users first:
The statistic that 90% of searches happen on Google is outdated. The real number is more like 73% according to new research by @randfish.bsky.social. @clairecarlile.bsky.social and I talk about Rand’s findings and more in today’s podcast episode. Watch the full episode below!
Contact Page Improvement, Bing vs ChatGPT, Google Posts Masterclass |E23 The Whitespark Local Update
YouTube video by Whitespark
youtu.be
👀 Interesting research from @randfish.bsky.social sharing how AIs are highly inconsistent when recommending brands or products: Does this means that AI tracking is useless? No! The key is what Rand mentions at the end: ...
"AIs almost never give the same list of brands/recs in the same order"... from new research by @randfish.bsky.social "...any tool that gives a “ranking position in AI” is full of baloney": sparktoro.com/blog/new-res...
NEW Research: AIs are highly inconsistent when recommending brands or products; marketers should take care when tracking AI visibility - SparkToro
The Problem: For the last few years, companies have been investing inordinate sums into AI tracking and AI visibility for their brands and products.
sparktoro.com
NEW research: sparktoro.com/blog/new-res... If you give ChatGPT the same request for product recommendations 100X, will you ever get the same list twice? And what does that answer mean for folks who try to track their brand presence in AI tools? Finally, some real answers 🧐
“Hello, can I interest you in some times?” “Oh, no thank you. I’ve had enough of these unprecedented times.” “Don’t, worry, we only provide precedented times.” “In that case, I’ll take some.” “Alright then, here are your precedented times. By the way, the precedent is 1933 Germany. No refunds.”
Pricing is marketing and this is excellent marketing.
Ash Wayling (M0D3Rn)@ashwayling.bsky.social · 7mo agoThe developers of PEAK explain pricing
NEW post: sparktoro.com/blog/the-5-b... I made 5 predictions for the marketing world in 2026 based on these 5 big trends we're seeing. Feel free to fight with me in the comments AFTER you've read the piece 😉
The 5 Big Trends that Will Dominate Marketing in 2026 - SparkToro
I find most end-of-year prediction and crystal ball-gazing listicles to be trash. They don't prove their assertions, use anecdotes rather than data at
sparktoro.com
www.getflack.com/p/responding... Great analogy "Imagine a thermostat for your credibility. If you’re above their setpoint, people feel you’re overrated and want to bring you down; if you’re below it, people feel you’re underrated and want to build you up."
When someone says they hate your product with a burning passion
How to reset the thermostat, and CodeRabbit as a case study
getflack.com
Tip 50% or better for the next eight days. Make a reservation for a restaurant in January. Buy a round for the neighborhood bar. Be a hero.
"It's Holocaust $#*&" Exactly. Love these two.
Rudbeckia@rudbeckia.bsky.social · 8mo agoI love my two blackout drunk Minnesota sons
Want a quick way to (potentially) pay for gifts? Take our survey! We're looking for responses to our 2026 trends report to fully capture the state of the market. Two responders will be selected for a $500 Amazon gift card. Survey only takes ~3 minutes: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
A nonviolent, fascinating, but still a “firearms in America related story.” Nothing bad happens, but skip it if you don’t want to read about guns. It starts with trying to legally and ethically dispose of a gun.
www.nubero.ch/blog/017/ never expected to enjoy a piece like this as much as I did (which was a lot!)
More Than Skin Deep – A Polemic on the Importance of Beauty
The Nuberodesign Blog
nubero.ch
I wonder if younger folks read takes like this and think "I don't care about whether AI or artists made it, just gimme the content," aftermath.site/ai-pendleton... Or are they, too, sad for what we're about to lose.
Adventure Time Creator on AI: ‘We’re Cooked’
Pendleton Ward sees his fellow Cartoon Network all-stars’ new Adult Swim special, The Elephant, as “the last squirts of human creativity.”
aftermath.site
I'm going to share a dark secret with all of you. My Kindle reading habits are those of a thirsty, middle-aged white lady who cannot get enough romantasy. And apparently this gentleman is my type? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
www.reddit.com/r/NewsStarWo... Seems to me like the solution is what Uniqlo does -- put all the items on the counter and the computer instantly tells you how much you owe and what you're buying. No need to scan.
From the NewsStarWorld community on Reddit: TheStreet: Amazon solves Walmart, Target, and Kroger’s shoplifting problem.
Posted by coinfanking - 48 votes and 49 comments
reddit.com
A new study of the last 50 years of US pop music shows “a significant increase in stress-related language, alongside declines in positive sentiment and lyrical complexity.”
Societal crises disrupt long-term increases in stress, negativity, and simplicity in US Billboard song lyrics from 1973 to 2023 - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Societal crises disrupt long-term increases in stress, negativity, and simplicity in US Billboard song lyrics from 1973 to 2023
nature.com
The Results: 📈 +309% average click difference vs control 📊 +4.32% impressions for the test group
Today, I read the most important AI post of the year: sparktoro.com/blog/never-a... It's from @britneymuller.bsky.social. The topic: Why you cannot ask an AI how or why it gave you a particular response. Because it will lie to you 👇
Never Ask an AI Tool How It Came Up with That Answer - SparkToro
This post on LinkedIn by Britney Muller is, IMHO, the most important short piece on AI you'll read this year. It's so critical to understand what she's
sparktoro.com
What this makes me think: We're winning more with humans, Direct, Social, and Referral for the most part indicate that the content we are putting out is getting progressively more eyeballs, more shares, etc. Meaning we are DEFINITELY creating human value and HOPEFULLY algorithmic value too.
NEW post: sparktoro.com/blog/the-202... Thanks to the tireless work of @paddymoogan.bsky.social, our survey of 200+ digital agency owners is now live featuring answers to critical questions about the field's health, growth, and threats. 👇
The 2025 State of Digital Agencies: it's still rough out there, but slowly improving; and is AI really a threat? - SparkToro
Introduction from Rand: I care deeply about the consulting world in digital marketing. These people are my friends, my colleagues, my fellow speakers, and
sparktoro.com
NEW post: sparktoro.com/blog/the-7-m... Buyer journeys on the web moved from the familiar, funnel-shaped process to a pinball-machine-shaped one... And us marketers are facing 7 problems as a result. My latest #5MinuteWhiteboard 👇
The 7 Marketing Problems Pinball-Shaped Buyer Journeys Create - SparkToro
Last week, I showed you how Internet buyer journeys have transformed from the cleaner, more predictable funnel model of the 2000-2015 web into something
sparktoro.com
Best new feature Google's built in years. Yes, including all the AI stuff.
NEW: sparktoro.com/blog/the-pin... Buyer journeys don't look like funnels anymore. IMO, they're like pinball machines -- people bounce around between sources before, during, even after purchases to numerous sources of influence regardless of what message you intended to put where 👇
The Pinball Customer Journey Has Replaced the Marketing Funnel - SparkToro
I like the marketing funnel. It's a great analogy, and has served me well for years. I *STILL* think it works reasonably well as a way to describe how
sparktoro.com
NEW post: sparktoro.com/blog/welcomi... I'm honored to announce that the incredibly talented, deeply kind, shockingly on-top-of-everything @kristym.bsky.social has joined SparkToro, Snackbar Studio, & Alertmouse as my Chief of Staff. 💗💗💗
Welcoming Kristy Morrison as Chief of Staff - SparkToro
Story time—late last year, I developed a painful, still-undiagnosed condition in my hands, likely from repetitive stress. Blah blah chronic pain, it's
sparktoro.com
Google Alerts: Sorry we got nothin' Alertmouse: Golden cheddar baby!! 🧀
