#google analytics account

[polygondotcomvideoproducer]

ough I fucking hate google

[as1ficon1calworld]

[sheryasharmak1]

Elevating Your Digital Marketing with Expert PPC Campaign Management Services

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Conclusion

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[thatpunnyperson]

I'm going to be honest here and say that I get Immediately Suspicious of blog that follow me without having interacted with any of my posts. Like, where did you come from, what made you want to follow me, are you a particularly intricate bot with a full blog of seemingly unrelated stuff?

It's weird, and if a blog follows me without previously interacting with my posts, and then doesnt interact with any of my posts for a few days, I hit those "report spam" and "block" buttons. I'm taking zero chances with the potential for bots

[iyohme]

A six-tatami room, my pretty castle

A secret place nobody ought to enter (yeah)

-GHOST FOOD

I lied, have a brainworm and now i must spit it out

We know the confinement phase with the Wayne Family after the abduction, right? Right!

I raise: gamer reader with the mindset of 'Well, I get to live here for free (and I'd be a DUNCE to refuse in this economy,) so I might as well just make myself comfortable (or as comfortable as I can.)'

Dick and Tim can and will preen when you invite them to play multiplayer games. Casually ask them if they know so-and-so, then watch them either A.) listen to you yap about artifact drop rates in Genshin Impact (Tim), or B.) actively pull up their phone to google said game and immediately create an account (Dick).

With his analytical mind, Tim can and WILL enjoy Genshin's artifact farming and character building phase. Dude hates the open world exploration but is much more amenable to it if it's co-op with you, the favorite sibling. Thinks about rigging the game's code so you'll get the artifact drops you want, but decides against it because if HYV bans his account, then no more co-op exploration time with batsib :C. Dude might also enjoy indie RPGmaker games, especially ones with more complicated puzzles and mysteries.

Dick on the other hand has shit Genshin character builds. Tim bullies him for it. You build Dick's teams for him anyway because he has insane 50/50 pull luck, so who's laughing now? Prefers the open-world exploration aspect of the game with you, and his characters tend to run out of stamina and drown in the early phases lmao. Dick likes boss and domain runs; and to the trained eye, one can see that Nightwing might incorporate some of the more plausible moves of your mains into his fighting. Might also enjoy chill games like Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley!

Jason in one word is a genwunner. Dude is stuck in 'there are only 151 Pokémon' mode. Call him old-fashioned, but handheld consoles are the way to go for Red Hood: compact, can be carried, and you can play with them anytime and anywhere. When you pull up an emulator and explain that "Yeah, since the game isn't sold anywhere anymore, it's like a courtesy thing in fandom I guess, to distribute it discretely. Keeps the game alive. Still a form piracy though. Please don't tell Ba--uh, Dada."

We already know: Damian likes FPS games. Probably blocked by a lot of Valorant players with how sharp his tongue is. Still the best carry of all time though--only for his favorite, blood-related sibling (you). The rest can get sniped. Greyson and Todd, mostly. Would probably enjoy the newer Resident Evil series; though if you want, he would just about play any game with you. I imagine he'd like the horror, FPS, and art intersection in the Fatal Frame series.

Harmless secret and not-really crime with the new sibling he (lovingly) bullies (but no one else should bully)? Hell yeah. Watch him run through the damn mew glitch with one hand behind his back and catch you the three legendary bird Pokémon in record time. If forced to play a newer game, Jason would enjoy Bloodborne, probably. And HADES, especially if you mention how "Wow, you look a LOT like Prince Zagreus, big brother," watch him fold like a wet rag after giving you a noogie lmao. If you bargained really well, you could get him to play Zenless Zone Zero; dude would be a Billy Main. Also probably beats your ass in Tekken, so you bribe beg Damian to step in as proxy.

Because I play Hoyogames (and because you can co-op with up to three people in Genshin), I imagine Damian would also play with you. Being a child (despite being an assassin,) he'd definitely pick the opposite of whatever player character you choose. You chose Stelle? He gets Caelus. You choose Aether? He gets Lumine. You choose Belle? He chooses Wise. It's a comforting, smile-bringing thought to him, that you are siblings even inside fictional worlds. Any playable character with a canonical sibling that you get? He's getting the other pair. It'd be cute, except his team comps get messy, so you run it through tests. (All according to his plan, heheh.)

Cass is one step ahead of everyone and was probably the one to suss out your gaming hobby. She spots your collection of Visual Novels, and puts it to good practice to watch and read with you. Would probably enjoy VNs like Doki Doki Literature Club. Probably would also play Dungeon Exploration RPGs like Momodora and Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight. Has the uncanny ability to never get lost in game dungeons. Stuck in an area? Cass is on the case!

Bruce frowns upon too much gaming, so he regulates your game hours (and has a timetable for everyone) regarding which game to play. Alfred also enforces it. So does Barbara. You do get to wheedle him into playing Pokémon Sword or Shield with a bit of begging and "Look Dada, I named my Crobat after you!" watch him soften when he googles and sees that Crobat only evolves after maximum friendship levels. He might like psychological thriller mystery pointer games that can be played in increments like Fran Bow, maybe? And battle royale games like Tekken: Bruce has a competitive streak a mile wide and will not go easy on you. Is very smug upon winning. If you get him as a proxy in Tekken, Jason will bolt because he will not be betting about staying over for dinner. The match would be rigged in Bruce's favor anyway.

Barbara on the other hand, loves hack and slash games. Get her to play HADES and compete on who has the fastest runs, and she will take up the next few hours of the game time schedule, much to her smug delight. She'd also love the atmosphere of the indie RPG Horror Ib, I think? The whole surreal, comfortable horror interspersed with time limit puzzles really does get adrenaline flowing after all. Gets very alert when playing Chilla's Art games and side-scrollers like Tsugunohi. Subtle horror is very much up her alley.

All in all, isn't this quite a comfortable life? A bit lonely perhaps, you could say, but with a family who loves you above all else and endless games, what else could you need?

Stay with them.

They'll die without you, after all.

[reallygoodplants]

Low-Effort Tasks to help save OFMD

Writing emails, crafting posts, pestering friends and collegagues to sign the petition... These can be hard some days (or all of the days).

If you're low on spoons but still want to help, here are some things you can do.

Most only take a few seconds and can be done on half a working braincell.

You can do them any day, no matter what else is going on with the campaign.

Do as few or as many of these as you like. Every bit helps.

🖱 Click some links

This boosts stats and metrics that streaming platforms look at.

Google

Wikipedia

IMDB

Rotten Tomatoes

TV Stats

✏ Vote for OFMD and Vico in the Queerties

No login required. You can vote once a day on multiple devices.

Our Flag Means Death for TV Comedy

Vico Ortiz for TV Performance

💜 Like/Reblog others' posts on Twitter, Insta, Youtube etc.

These are just examples for our hashtags on some platforms - go wherever you feel comfortable.

Twitter: #SaveOFMD - #AdoptOurCrew

Instagram: #saveofmd - #ourflagmeansdeath - #adoptourcrew

Facebook: #saveofmd - #adoptourcrew - #ourflagmeansdeath

��� Follow SaveOFMDCrew and AdoptOurCrew on Social Media. Like/Reblog their posts.

This gives their accounts more weight and the campaign more impact/visibility.

SaveOFMDCrew: YouTube - TikTok - Instagram - Mastodon - Facebook - Tumblr - Twitter

AdoptOurCrew: Twitter - Instagram

📺 Watch Our Flag Means Death

This boosts streaming and audience interest numbers.

if you don't have a Max-subscription, both seasons are now available on iPlayer. Other streaming platforms like Prime also work.

rumour has it that torrenting numbers are also counted by analytics sites...

📺 Watch Related Shows on Netflix, Prime & Apple TV

This helps to show those streaming platforms that there is interest in those themes/actors.

go to a platform you're subscribed to and search for "Our Flag Means Death", then watch one of the suggested shows. Give it a like.

Also look for shows/movies that feature any of the OFMD actors

📜 Enjoy OFMD Fic and Art - Kudos, Like, Reblog

Art and stories are important, and artists/writers need support. That's why we're doing all this in the first place.

Read a fic. Give kudos (or leave a 🧡 or "second kudos" in the comments).

Reblog your favourite fanart (again).

🍵 Take Care of Yourself

We're in it for the long haul and you should never feel bad about doing "too little".

Eat, hydrate, sleep, take your meds.

Take breaks from the campaign. We'll be there when you come back 💜

---

ETA: One more thing I forgot to add

🙏 Request OFMD on Netflix

No text needed, just type in the title of the show.

[treason-and-plot]

Storytelling Secrets

I was tagged by @mysimsloveaffair! Thanks so much my dear friend. I'm going to play pretty fast and loose with this tag lol because like you I'm not 100% sure what the brief is!

I'm pretty much a pantser when it comes to writing. That's my first big *secret*, although I always have vaguely formed ideas for my characters' story arcs. Reader opinion can always influence my storylines though!😄

Google analytics terminated their Adsense contract with me when I posted the Roy/ Crystal/ Saoirse posts at the Pink Pony back in 2020. Apparently I was promoting prostitution which was a violation of their terms. I was only earning approx $80 a month from ads so it wasn't a huge blow but I was shocked they were monitoring my content so closely!

I dislike Anya's name but it's too late to change it now. Not that I dislike the name Anya per se, I just don't think it suits her.

Mia doesn't have Simstagram anymore because the first few days after she created an account she was followed by hundreds of men, and she was shocked to discover that she was 'acquainted' with most of them! So she got freaked and terminated her account.

Here's a spoilery secret: Anita will find herself in a dangerous situation when she goes back to work. And it won't be with a criminal!

I would like to tag @gaiahypothesims @zosa95 @miss-may-i @kimmiessimmies and @windermeresimblr . No pressure as always!

[herejusttosufferalong]

You know, usually the simplest answer is the correct one, but the problem here is the simple answers just don’t make sense with what we have seen. That is why this fandom is pulling out the spreadsheets, Google docs, SM receipts, data analytics, tarot decks, and astrology charts and having 3 hour livestreams every other day to try to make sense of this mess! And we might be getting kind of close? The theories are starting to converge and account for all of the inconsistencies, but if they are even close to the truth this is one of the wildest things I’ve seen. My tinfoil hat is on and I am not leaving the restaurant!

.

[janmisali]

What makes you think that YouTube overestimates the number of male subscribers though? The poll in the community tab, while it provides a smaller percentage than the YT stats, still shows a clear male overrepresentation in your audience. Maybe there is something to it?

youtube doesn't know the gender of most of its users. youtube only knows your gender if your youtube account is connected to a google account that has gender specified (assuming that's accurate and up-to-date).

for literally everyone else, youtube guesses your gender based on what videos you watch. it's unclear exactly how much of the gender data youtube analytics gives is imaginary, but it's definitely more fake than real. (if "0.7% user-specified" means the thing it appears to mean, all the gender data is imaginary, but I'd rather assume that youtube is just explaining the concept of "people who specified a gender other than female or male on their google accounts" badly)

unfortunately, this is (somehow) even worse than it sounds. a somewhat reasonable thing to do would be to guess people's genders probabilistically, like a weighted average of the known-gender distributions of all the videos you watch. say, "this user is 60% likely to be male, 30% likely to be female, and 10% likely to be User Specified" or whatever. still a wild thing to do, but at least it would mean the Imagined Data would still be like kinda meaningful.

youtube does not do this. it just, assigns you a gender. (it does this, of course, so it can know which gender-targeted ads to show you.) in the above example, this hypothetical user would be Assigned Male at Google, just taking whichever of the strict boxes al-Gorithm deems the most likely.

what this means is that if you're, for example, a youtuber who makes videos that appeal to an audience that's around 60% male, everyone whose gender youtube doesn't know who watches your videos (and other videos that appeal to that 60% male demographic) is Assigned Male at Google.

so, I have Very Good Reasons to suspect that youtube's claim that my audience is 82% male is Somewhat Exaggerated.

[beespaceprogram]

Sticker Cutter Research

I was looking into getting a sticker cutting machine, and I decided to start by looking into cricut which is a well known brand. I had a look at what models they had than their feature etc, but what I was most concerned about was their software. Printer companies like to lock you into a defacto subscription to support hardware you don't really own, and as I was to discover, cricut are operating in a similar way.

The cricut software is online-only*. To cut your own designs you need to use their software to upload your art to their server. There's no way to cut a new design without a logged-in cricut account and an internet connection. At one point in 2021 they flirted with limiting free accounts to 20 uploads/month but backed down after huge community backlash, as far as I can tell.

The incident spawned several community efforts to write open-source firmware for cricut hardware. Some efforts were successful for specific models/serial numbers, but require cracking open the case and hooking in to the debug contacts to flash the chip; not exactly widely accessible. Another project sought to create a python cricut server you can run locally, and then divert the app's calls to the server to your local one.

I restarted my search, this time beginning with looking for extant open-source software for driving cutters, and found this project, which looks a little awkward to use, but functional. They list a bunch of cutter hardwares and whether they're compatible or not. Of those, I recognised the sihouette brand name from other artists talking about them.

I downloaded the silhouette software to try like I did w the cricut software, and immediately it was notable that it didn't try to connect to the internet at all. It's a bit clunky, in that way printer and scanner software tends to be, but I honestly greatly preferred using it to cricut's sluggish electron app⁺. Their software has a few paid tiers above the free one, adding stuff like sgv import/export/and reading cut settings from a barcode on the input material. They're one-off payments, and seem reasonable to me.

This is not so much a review, as sharing some of the research I've done. I haven't yet used either a cricut or a silhouette, and I haven't researched other brands either. But I wanted to talk about this research because to me, cricut's aggressively online nature is a red flag. Software that must connect to a server to run is software that runs only at the whim of the server owner (and only as long as it's profitable to keep the server up). And if that software is the only thing that will make your several hundred dollars worth of plastic and (cheap, according to a teardown I read) servos run, then you have no guarantee you'll be able to run it in the future.

Do you use a desktop cnc cutter? What has your experience been like with the hardware and software? Do you have any experience from home printers with good print quality and user-refillable ink cartridges?

* Cricut's app tried to connect to more than 14 different addresses, including facebook, youtube, google analytics, datadoghq.com, and launchdarkly.com. Launch Darkly are a service provider that help software companies do a whole bunch of things I'm coming to despise, for example, they offer infrastructure for serving different features to different demographics and comparing results to control groups. You know how at various times you've gotten wildly different numbers of ads than your friends on instagram? They were using techniques like this to work out how many ads they could show without affecting their pickup/engagement rates. Scummy stuff.

⁺ Electron apps are web-pages pretending to be applications. They use heaps of ram, tend to have very poor performance, and encourage frustrating UI design that doesn't follow OS conventions. Discord's app is a notable example of an Electron app

[bcacstuff]

This is the data from the app I use shows

Cait has gained +27,900 followers during the last 30 days and daily +930 but for Sam is daily +432 and during the Last 30 days +12,960 followers

What you see is a snapshot from the last month with the average number of new followers. It's a nice indication, but for marketeers not really interesting as it doesn't break the numbers down to daily growth in real time that can be connected and explained to a certain event happening.

Number are one thing, the other thing is to try and find an explanation for it. That is what marketeers do to adjust and imporve a marketing strategy.

If we take for instant the numbers of Cait's IG. We know she doesn't post much, is not a real influencer of anything. Just sometimes a post of a product, something she endorses.

Now we have seen her wrap posts on 25th October, the video has 279k likes, almost 2M870k views, and 11k comments, the slides post has 307k likes and 7k comments, which both are outstanding compared to the other posts

Note, the other posts are all accepted posts, originally posted by the OL_Starz account, (and one by Paleyfest) the top one and the bottome one are on SH's IG accepted as a post as well. This is important, as the likes and comments are coming from more accounts, not only her IG. But the wrap video and post with slides are on her IG and not on others, so these likes and comments are solely hers.

This all translates very obviously in her followers growth.

you are correct about the gain of almost 28k new followers over the month, but as you can see the biggest amount are gained starting on the day she posted the wrap video and slides. Which not only gained likes and comments but followers as well.

I think this is crystal clear, and I think anyone with a couple of brain cells can understand how marketeers would/could use these analytics if this is about a product, or say an influencer on IG.

This isn't really the case for Cait's IG, as she is not an active influencer, not even an active social media user. She occasionally posts about the projects she has worked on and work events.

Her growth for the next month will most likely be a lot lower, unless there is some big news she can share. We've seen f.i the last big growth when she was promoting her movie with Orlando Bloom in Toronto (I shared those numbers at some point). So all I can conclude from this analysis is that to me this looks normal and completely organic.

As for Sam, what we've been talking about in the other post is the huge fluctuation within 10-15 hours. That is not normal. Sure you can come up with all kind of explanations. Fact is that along all the time that I have watched his followers growth over quite some years now, I have never seen this huge fluctuations within such a short time interval and it is a weird phenomena. I do not see this on other accounts I've watched. Note that his follower growth is more interesting (to him) from a marketing pov as he is actively advertising his product (at nausea).

So that is why analytics are interesting, and why I find it interesting. [and for the people in the back, no you don't have to watch it 24/7 to get the numbers and educate yourself about what they mean or not, or when one sees a striking change which is interesting to watch as well as try to find a good reason for it, not just put a wet finger in the air, or google for 10 minutes and then claim you educated yourself!] (I suggest try to ask Google who is Caitriona's husband for a change)

[melyzard]

Time for a new edition of my ongoing vendetta against Google fuckery!

Hey friends, did you know that Google is now using Google docs to train it's AI, whether you like it or not? (link goes to: zdnet.com, July 5, 2023). Oh and on Monday, Google updated it's privacy policy to say that it can train it's two AI (Bard and Cloud AI) on any data it scrapes from it's users, period. (link goes to: The Verge, 5 July 2023). Here is Digital Trends also mentioning this new policy change (link goes to: Digital Trends, 5 July 2023). There are a lot more, these are just the most succinct articles that might explain what's happening.

FURTHER REASONS GOOGLE AND GOOGLE CHROME SUCK TODAY:

Stop using Google Analytics, warns Sweden’s privacy watchdog, as it issues over $1M in fines (link goes to: TechCrunch, 3 July 2023) [TLDR: google got caught exporting european users' data to the US to be 'processed' by 'US government surveillance,' which is HELLA ILLEGAL. I'm not going into the Five Eyes, Fourteen Eyes, etc agreements, but you should read up on those to understand why the 'US government surveillance' people might ask Google to do this for countries that are not apart of the various Eyes agreements - and before anyone jumps in with "the US sucks!" YES but they are 100% not the only government buying foreign citizens' data, this is just the one the Swedes caught. Today.]

PwC Australia ties Google to tax leak scandal (link goes to: Reuters, 5 July 2023). [TLDR: a Russian accounting firm slipped Google "confidential information about the start date of a new tax law leaked from Australian government tax briefings." Gosh, why would Google want to spy on governments about tax laws? Can't think of any reason they would want to be able to clean house/change policy/update their user agreement to get around new restrictions before those restrictions or fines hit. Can you?

SO - here is a very detailed list of browsers, updated on 28 June, 2023 on slant.com, that are NOT based on Google Chrome (note: any browser that says 'Chromium-based' is just Google wearing a party mask. It means that Google AND that other party has access to all your data). This is an excellent list that shows pros and cons for each browser, including who the creator is and what kinds of policies they have (for example, one con for Pale Moon is that the creator doesn't like and thinks all websites should be hostile to Tor).

[sflow-er]

To August anon 2

Sorry it's taken me so long to reply! I don't know if you'll even see this as I've decided not to risk the backlash of putting it on the main tag, but I hope you do.

[Earlier posts: August anon 1, August anon 2]

I want to curate the discussion a bit now that you've shifted part of the focus on Sara. I don't share your position of liking both her and August for being 'morally dark' people, and I fear it may be a bit jarring to any Sara fans reading this. So I've decided to screenshot your message and put it under the cut instead of replying directly.

We disagree on some fundamental things when it comes to August's and especially Sara's characterisation, and I doubt we're going to reach consensus. But that's okay! I'm just going to explain some parts of my POV below, and then we can agree to disagree. There are also a few areas where we seem to be getting our wires crossed (e.g. what we mean by 'understanding' the consequences) so I want to clear those up.

Most of this rambling essay was written before the S3 trailer came out, so I'm not focusing much on the glimpses we see of them in the trailer. But I am still using the spoiler tags just to be safe.

CW: negative take on Sara (but the anon actually likes her); couple of suicide mentions

Okay so... I'm going to start by clarifying a couple of things:

Understanding vs. understanding

Infantilising vs. taking young age into account

When I talk about August and the consequences, I'm not saying he lacks the intellect or analytical thinking to know/predict them. I'm saying he lacks the empathy and relevant frames of reference to understand them. I think we're just using the word 'understand' to mean different things - maybe internalise, empathise or relate would be a better choice for what I mean by it?

To revisit my previous example, August as an incredibly privileged member of the elite cannot understand i.e. relate to Simon's experience as someone whose ability to make his own reputation and get by on his own merit has been permanently affected by the video. As a very confidently straight man, he also cannot relate to Wille's experience as someone whose non-straight sexuality, a deeply personal and private thing that he wasn't even done figuring out, has suddenly been exposed to the world and potentially even some homophobic hate.

I'm not saying this to infantilise, defend, or excuse August. I'm saying it because to me, it partly explains why it's so easy for him to dismiss the harm to Simon and see his betrayal of Wille as just a matter of loyalty - the only moral code he knows - instead of something that would've been wrong no matter who the victim was. It's a thought pattern that stems from his upbringing and worldview, and it would have to be dismantled for him to feel proper remorse. Which I think would probably take professional help at this point.

(I agree with you that August would be extremely prejudiced against Boris. A glimpse of him googling therapy providers or booking an appointment for after graduation might feel more realistic to me - but I guess it depends on what the writers want to do with him. We already saw very quick progress with Wille in S2 so it's safe to say they can take some liberties.)

I still believe that August will lose his social status in S3, likely towards the end. But it's fair that you don't, and the trailer is certainly edited to support your position. If he retains his status, then you may be right about him remaining the same old asshole! If he does lose it, then my original point about him likely not being resilient enough to cope with the consequences still stands. He is very much the kind of person to whom suicide is the "proud" way out compared to the shame of losing everything.

Now, the age thing.

Respectfully, I think you may be ascribing too much meaning to August and Sara being of age in S2 (note that Sara was still 17 when she made the deal with August in S1). Eighteen is the age of legal adulthood, yes, but it doesn't make them fully grown and mature adults in the (neuro)biological, psychological or social sense.

[This feels like a good point to say that I am not going to try to account for Sara's neurodivergence here. I definitely don't have the insight, so if anything I've written below is in any way inaccurate or offensive to persons with AuDHD, please let me know!!]

Firstly, it's important to note that that the human brain matures gradually and unevenly. The prefrontal cortex i.e. the 'reasoning centre' only matures in the mid-to-late 20s, while parts that handle things like right/wrong, risk/reward, and emotional responses (e.g. the amygdala) mature earlier. This can cause teens and young adults to struggle with things like impulse control, assessing the long-term consequences of their actions, understanding others' emotions, and rational decision-making in situations that trigger a strong emotional response. Reason can get overtaken by emotion on a chemical level; sometimes the young person can't even fully explain afterwards why they did something they rationally knew was wrong all along.

[I don't think August was in a particularly analytical state of mind when he decided to post the video. He was an intelligent but emotionally unstable and empathically challenged 18-year-old who felt like he had nothing left to lose and the only moral code he knew (i.e. loyalty) was obsolete. He was also still stewing in the emotional turmoil of his humiliation and likely stuck in a negative feedback loop. It feels very plausible to me that he could be in a very bad place for a pretty long time and still function enough to plan his revenge (more on the revenge part below).]

Secondly, both August and Sara have also had some pretty traumatic experiences (Sara's bullying, August's dad's suicide, the influence of both their dads while they were still in their lives). These may have impacted their emotional and psychological development in various ways and created some thought patterns. Not to play arm-chair psychologist, but I don't think it's a coincidence August's decision to post the video is related to his family estate and legacy, while Sara's decision to make a deal with August is related to the threat of being sent back to Marieberg.

[This feels particularly relevant for Sara, whose bullying was brutal and long-term enough for her to have to repeat a year. The negative attention on Simon after the video probably seemed less severe in comparison, and also like a 'first incident' (in fact, she might have even felt like Linda was applying a different standard to Simon's ordeal compared to hers by immediately wanting to take them both out of Hillerska).]

[I vehemently disagree with Sara's idea that the damage to Simon was already done and it wouldn't have made a difference whether he knew who was responsible, but I think it matters to some extent that she didn't know the history between Simon and August. To her, the video probably seemed like something that was mostly between August and Wille. That idea was likely reinforced by August consistently dismissing Simon's side of it - and also by Simon seemingly moving on with Marcus and no longer being the talk of the school after Christmas. This kind of rationalisation may have even made Sara feel better about pursuing a relationship with August in S2.]

[I also think Sara probably felt like she had the right to be selfish after everything she'd been through. Simon's support during her bullying wasn't conditional; she didn't feel like she "owed him" any sacrifices. It was clearly Simon's idea to follow Sara to Hillerska, and she may have even felt like he was hovering a bit (I doubt S1E1 was her first time saying she was fine now and he didn't have to be there). Then, Simon started to keep secrets and even see Micke for reasons Sara didn't know, altering the terms of their relationship, while Sara was finally daring to dream of things she'd been denied for so long. Friends, a better future, even romance. To her, it felt extremely unfair to have to give all that up and go back to a school that was a nightmare to her but not to Simon. Especially when her and Simon's lives weren't as intertwined anymore and she finally felt like she was gaining some agency in her own.]

Thirdly (circling back to the point about maturity), it's good to keep in mind that both August and Sara are still in the high-school phase of life. A phase when most people are a bit selfish, and their past and current dramas and dreams for the future are everything to them. They haven't really acquired much experience or long-term perspective yet. So I really don't think we can call them that much more mature in the social sense than, say, Wilhelm and Simon. They are still messy teens living their messy teen lives, shaped by their upbringing and limited life experience, all the while thinking they are basically grown adults.

So am I saying all this to infantilise August and Sara and excuse their actions? I'm sure it sounds that way; hence, not putting this on the main tag.

But the way I see it, to infantilise them would be to say they weren't responsible for their actions or didn't know what they're doing. They are responsible, and they do know. All the factors laid out above (and also in my previous August posts) explain their reasoning and actions to some extent, but they do not excuse them. The fact still remains that they both applied their best judgment and deliberately chose to do the thing that they knew was wrong.

You're right that they took time to consider their decisions in S1, although I don't think we can know for sure exactly how long August takes. The timeline is a mess at that point; he is still at the Palace wearing the same outfit when the others make their statement, and I doubt he could've been there overnight. But he does take several hours in any case, and although he isn't thinking rationally at that point, he still knows what he's doing is wrong. In fact, he does it with the sole intention of hurting others, which makes it all the more reprehensible.

I just want to caution against labelling him as some evil, fundamentally unfeeling mastermind. He's just a very selfish and immature young man with a very warped view of the world, who needs to see some consequences for his own sake as much as his victims'. I think part of the reason we saw him turn so soft with Sara in S2 was to underline that he is capable of empathy and caring; it's just a matter of unlocking those emotions. They haven't exactly been nurtured growing up, so he is only applying them to the people he deems "worthy", instead of all his fellow human beings. That selective empathy is another thing he seriously needs to work on, alongside the lack of accountability.

As for Sara, she takes several days to consider what to do about the video, which makes her betrayal of Simon more severe. But as explained above, it's so much more nuanced than her not caring about him. (Or indeed her being some poor victim who didn't know what she was doing and fell in love with The Devil! Don't get me wrong, August definitely let her believe she was guiding him in a better direction, which may have even pushed some Micke buttons in her subconscious and/or memories of Simon's insistence that everyone deserves a second chance... But she still made her own decisions and is responsible for them.)

It's easy to forget that we do in fact see Sara aware that her actions are wrong even before the end of S2. She looks conflicted/unsure when she and August make out in S1E6, cries when Simon earnestly proclaims "I like you when you are you" and "I'm trying to be your friend again because I need you" after she has just betrayed him, and again looks conflicted when the siblings talk about loving the "wrong person" in S2E5. She did some very selfish things and hid them for much too long, yes, but I believe her regret is genuine. It will take some skilful writing to make her and Simon reconcile in a way that makes sense, doesn't feel rushed or reduce her to an archetype, and doesn't just magic away her leftover feelings for August (as those will probably take some time to clear out). But I do have faith it can be done.

So I think that just about covers what I wanted to say. This isn't a comprehensive essay by any means, and I'm sure it won't go down well with everyone. I also don't expect it to change your mind about these characters, anon, and that's okay!

I mostly just wanted to push back on the notion that Sara and August being 18 means all their bad decisions are now on par with bad decisions taken by fully grown adults and their character development is now set in stone. I highly doubt the show will end with them both proudly standing behind their poor choices - I can certainly see August doing that if he doesn't see any repercussions, but not Sara.

In any case, thank you for taking the time to explain your point of view on these characters, and sorry again for taking so long to respond!

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT SEO & MARKETING NEWS FOR ECOMMERCE, JULY 2024

If you are new to my Tumblr, I usually do these summaries of SEO and marketing news once a month, picking out the pieces that are most likely to be useful to small and micro-businesses.

You can get notified of these updates plus my website blog posts via email: http://bit.ly/CindyLouWho2Blog or get all of the most timely updates plus exclusive content by supporting my Patreon: patreon.com/CindyLouWho2

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

There is a relatively new way to file copyright claims against US residents, called The Copyright Claims Board (CCB). I wrote more here [post by me on Patreon]

After a few years of handwringing and false starts, Google is abandoning plans to block third-party cookies in Chrome. Both Safari and Firefox already block them. 

When composing titles and text where other keywords are found, it can be useful to have a short checklist of the types of keywords you need, as this screenshot demonstrates. While that title is too long for most platforms and search engines, it covers really critical points that should get mentioned in the product description and keyword fields/tags as well:

The core keywords that describe the item

What the customer is looking to do - solve a problem? Find a gift? Feel better? 

What makes the product stand out in its field - why buy this instead of something else? Differentiating your items is something that should come before you get to the listing stage, so the keywords should already be in your head. 

Relevant keywords that will be used in long tail searches are always great add-ons.

What if anything about your item is trendy now? E.g., sustainability? Particular colours, styles or materials/ingredients are always important.  

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

Google’s June spam update has finished rolling out. And here is the full list of Google news from June. 

Expect a new Google core update “in the coming weeks” (as if we needed more Google excitement).

Google’s AI overviews continue to dwindle at the top of search results, now only appearing in 7% of searches.

Despite Google trying to target AI spam, many poorly-copied articles still outrank the originals in Google search results. 

Internal links are important for Google SEO. While this article covers blogging in particular, most of the tips apply to any standalone website. Google also recently did a video [YouTube] on the same topic. 

Google had a really excellent second quarter, mostly due to the cloud and AI. 

Not Google

OpenAI is testing SearchGPT with a small number of subscribers. Alphabet shares dropped 3% after the announcement. 

SOCIAL MEDIA - All Aspects, By Site

General

New social media alert: noplace is a new app billed as MySpace for Gen Z that also has some similarities with Twitter (e.g., text-based chats, with no photos or videos at this time). iOS only at the moment; no Android app or web page. 

Thinking of trying out Bluesky? Here are some tips to get the most out of it. 

Facebook (includes relevant general news from Meta)

Meta’s attempt at circumventing EU privacy regulations through paid subscriptions is illegal under the Digital Markets Act, according to the European Commission. “if the company cannot reach an agreement with regulators before March 2025, the Commission has the power to levy fines of up to 10 percent of the company’s global turnover.”

If you post Reels from a business page, you may be able to let Meta use AI to do A/B testing on the captions and other portions shown. I personally would not do this unless I could see what options they were choosing, since AI is often not as good as it thinks it is. 

Apple’s 30% fee on in-app ad purchases for Facebook and Instagram has kicked in worldwide as of July 1. 

Facebook is testing ads in the Notifications list on the app. 

Meta is encouraging advertisers to connect their Google Analytics accounts to Meta Ads, claiming “integration could improve campaign performance, citing a 22% conversion increase.”

Instagram

The head of Instagram is still emphasizing that the number of DM shares per post is a huge ranking factor. 

LinkedIn

Another article on the basics of setting up LinkedIn and getting found through it. 

You can now advertise your LinkedIn newsletters on the platform. 

Pinterest

Pinterest is slowly testing an AI program that edits the background of product photography without changing the product. 

Is Pinterest dying? An investment research firm thinks so. 

Reddit

If you want to see results from Reddit in your search engine results, Google is the only place that can happen now. 

More than ever, Reddit is being touted as a way to be found (especially in Google search), but you do have to understand how the site works to be successful at it. 

Snapchat

Snapchat+ now has 9 million paying users, and they are getting quite a few new personalization updates, and Snaps that last 50 seconds or less. 

Threads

Threads has hit 175 million active users each month, up from 130 million in February. 

TikTok

TikTok has made it easier to reuse your videos outside of the site without a watermark. 

TikTok users can now select a custom thumbnail image for videos, either a frame from the clip itself, or a still image from elsewhere.  

Twitter

You can opt out of Twitter using your posts as data for its AI, Grok. 

YouTube

YouTube has new tools for Shorts, including one that makes your longer videos into Shorts. 

Community Spaces are the latest YouTube test to try to get more fan involvement, while moving users away from video comments.

(CONTENT) MARKETING (includes blogging, emails, and strategies) 

Start your content marketing plans for August now, including back-to-school themes and Alfred Hitchcock’s birthday on August 13. 

ONLINE ADVERTISING (EXCEPT INDIVIDUAL SOCIAL MEDIA AND ECOMMERCE SITES) 

Google Ads now have several new updates, including blocking misspellings. 

Google’s new Merchant Center Next will soon be available for all users, if they haven’t already been invited. Supplemental feeds are now (or soon will be) allowed there. 

STATS, DATA, TRACKING 

Google Search Console users can now add their shipping and return info to Google search through the Console itself. This is useful for sites that do not pay for Google Ads or use Google’s free shopping ads. 

BUSINESS & CONSUMER TRENDS, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE 

The second part of this Whiteboard Friday [video with transcript] discusses how consumer behaviour is changing during tight economic times. “People are still spending. They just want the most for their money. Also, the consideration phase is much more complex and longer.” The remainder of the piece discusses how to approach your target market during these times. 

Prime Day was supposedly the best ever for Amazon, but they didn’t release any numbers. Adobe Analytics tracked US ecommerce sales on those days and provides some insight. “Buy-now, pay-later accounted for 7.6% of all orders, a 16.4% year-over-year increase.”

MISCELLANEOUS

You know how I always tell small business owners to have multiple revenue streams? Tech needs to have multiple providers and backups as well, as the recent CrowdStrike and Microsoft issues demonstrate. 

If you used Google’s old URL shortener anywhere, those links will no longer redirect as of August 25 2024. 

[digitalmarketing091]

10 Essential Digital Marketing Tips to Boost Your Business in 2024

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, businesses of all sizes must stay up-to-date with the latest marketing strategies. The internet has changed the way consumers interact with brands, and as we approach 2024, mastering digital marketing will be more critical than ever. To help you stay competitive and drive meaningful results, here are 10 essential digital marketing tips that will elevate your business in the coming year.

1. Optimise for Voice Search

With the growing popularity of voice-activated devices like Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple’s Siri, voice search has become a key component of how people find information online. In fact, it's expected that over 50% of all searches will be voice-driven. Unlike traditional text-based searches, voice searches tend to be more conversational and long-tail. 

To optimise your website for voice search, start by incorporating natural language into your SEO strategy. This means using question-based keywords that reflect how people speak, such as “Where can I find the best digital marketing tips?” Additionally, focus on featured snippets and providing concise, relevant answers, as these are often used by voice assistants to respond to queries.

2. Leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Your Campaigns

Artificial Intelligence is transforming the way businesses approach digital marketing. From chatbots to data analytics, AI enables companies to better understand customer behavior, predict trends, and create highly personalized marketing experiences. AI-driven tools can automate tasks like email segmentation, content recommendations, and customer service interactions, allowing businesses to save time while improving engagement.

For example, AI-powered chatbots can enhance customer experiences by providing instant responses to common inquiries, even outside of business hours.  AI can also help businesses optimise their ad campaigns by analysing large amounts of data and suggesting improvements based on performance.

3. Prioritise Video Marketing

Video content is now an indispensable part of any digital marketing strategy. By 2024, it’s estimated that video will account for 82% of all online traffic. This makes video marketing one of the most effective ways to capture your audience’s attention. Whether it’s through YouTube, Instagram Stories, TikTok, or live streaming, video allows you to engage customers in ways that text or images simply can’t.

To maximise the impact of your video content, focus on creating short, engaging videos that are informative and entertaining. Live video is also becoming more popular, with platforms like Instagram and Facebook offering live streaming capabilities that allow you to interact with your audience in real-time. Demonstrating your products or services, hosting Q&A sessions, or sharing behind-the-scenes content can help build a more personal connection with your audience.

4. Collaborate with Social Media Influencers

Influencer marketing is no longer just a trend—it’s a powerful tool for businesses to increase brand awareness and drive conversions. By partnering with influencers who have a loyal following, you can leverage their credibility and reach new audiences. In 2024, micro-influencers (influencers with smaller, highly engaged audiences) are expected to play a more significant role, as they often have more authentic interactions with their followers compared to larger influencers.

When selecting influencers to collaborate with, ensure they align with your brand’s values and target demographic. Authenticity is key—today’s consumers can easily spot a partnership that feels forced or inauthentic. Focus on building long-term relationships with influencers rather than one-off promotions for more meaningful engagement.

5. Enhance User Experience (UX) on Your Website

User experience is central to the success of any digital marketing strategy. A poorly designed website can drive away potential customers and negatively impact your search engine rankings. Google places a strong emphasis on Core Web Vitals, which measure aspects like page load speed, interactivity, and visual stability.

As we move into 2024, it’s essential to ensure that your website is optimised for both speed and mobile friendliness. More than 50% of web traffic now comes from mobile devices, so if your site isn’t mobile-friendly, you could be losing a significant portion of your audience. Focus on providing a seamless, intuitive experience with easy navigation and fast load times to keep visitors engaged.

 6. Master SEO: Focus on High-Quality Content

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a long-standing digital marketing technique that continues to evolve. As Google’s algorithms become more sophisticated, the emphasis has shifted from keyword stuffing to creating high-quality, informative content. In 2024, businesses should focus on producing valuable, long-form content that addresses the needs and pain points of their audience.

To improve your SEO, conduct thorough keyword research and create content that provides in-depth answers to commonly asked questions in your industry. Use internal linking to guide visitors to other relevant pages on your website and ensure that your content is updated regularly to remain fresh and relevant.

7. Invest in Paid Advertising

While organic reach is still valuable, the rise of paid advertising offers a more direct way to target specific audiences. Platforms like Google Ads, Facebook, and Instagram allow businesses to use highly targeted advertising to reach potential customers based on demographics, interests, and online behaviour. 

In 2024, consider experimenting with a mix of search ads, social media ads, and display ads to diversify your strategy. Retargeting campaigns, which focus on users who have already visited your site, are particularly effective at converting potential customers who didn’t purchase their first visit.

8. Use Email Marketing to Nurture Leads

Email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to nurture leads and maintain customer relationships. In 2024, personalisation will be key to running successful email campaigns. Use behavioural data to send personalised emails based on your audience’s past interactions with your brand. Whether it's a product recommendation, an abandoned cart reminder, or a birthday discount, personalising your emails can significantly improve open and conversion rates.

Additionally, focus on building your email list organically and create   engaging, mobile-friendly templates that grab attention. Incorporate   dynamic content that adapts to the recipient’s preferences to make your emails more relevant and engaging.

 9. Incorporate User-Generated Content (UGC)  

User-generated content (UGC) is a powerful form of social proof that can influence purchase decisions. Customers are more likely to trust the opinions of their peers than traditional advertising. Encourage your customers to share their experiences with your products or services on social media, and showcase UGC on your website and marketing channels.

UGC can take the form of reviews, testimonials, photos, and videos   from customers. By featuring authentic content from real users, you can build trust with potential customers and foster a sense of community around your brand.

10. Utilise Data Analytics to Drive Decisions  

Data analytics is the foundation of a successful digital marketing strategy. By tracking the performance of your campaigns, you can make   data-driven decisions that improve your ROI. Tools like Google Analytics, social media insights, and marketing automation platforms can provide valuable information on how your audience interacts with your content, website, and ads.

In 2024, focus on real-time analytics to track user behaviour and adjust your marketing strategies on the fly. Use data to identify trends, test new ideas, and continuously refine your approach to maximise results.

    Conclusion   

Digital marketing is an ever-changing field, and staying ahead of the trends is essential for business growth. By incorporating these 10 essential digital marketing tips, you’ll be well-prepared to navigate the challenges of 2024 and beyond. From optimising for voice search and embracing AI to mastering video marketing and enhancing your SEO efforts, each of these strategies will help you boost your business and stay ahead of the competition. Start implementing these tips today and watch your business soar to new heights in the digital world!

[digitaldetoxworld]

Boost Your Career: Enroll in Online Courses Today google ads

 Introduction

Key Components of Google Ads

Keywords: 

These are the words or phrases that ability customers search for while looking for products or services. Businesses use keywords to target their advertisements to relevant audiences.

Ad Groups: 

Ad businesses are collections of related commercials and keywords. This allows to prepare your campaigns and improve concentrated on.

Ads: 

These are the text or image-primarily based advertisements that seem on Google Search results pages or on websites in the Google Display Network.

Bidding: 

This is the procedure of placing a most bid for each keyword. The better your bid, the much more likely your ad is to seem on the pinnacle of the quest results web page.

Quality Score: 

This is a metric that measures the relevance and great of your advertisements and touchdown pages. A better excellent score can result in lower charges and better ad performance.   

Types of Google Ads Campaigns

Search Network Campaigns: 

These campaigns goal users who're actively attempting to find services or products the use of specific keywords.

Display Network Campaigns: 

These campaigns target customers primarily based on their pursuits, demographics, and browsing behavior.

Video Campaigns: 

These campaigns target customers who are watching films on YouTube and different video platforms.

Shopping Campaigns: 

These campaigns sell products at once from your online keep.

Creating a Google Ads Campaign

To create a Google Ads marketing campaign, you may need to comply with those steps:

Set up a Google Ads account: 

Create a unfastened account and provide your billing information.

Choose a campaign type: 

Select the kind of marketing campaign that first-rate suits your goals.

Set your finances:

 Determine how a whole lot you need to spend for your campaign.

Target your target audience: 

Use key phrases, demographics, and pastimes to target your commercials to the right people.

Create your ads: 

Write compelling ad replica that includes your keywords and encourages clicks.

Monitor and optimize:

 Regularly reveal your marketing campaign's overall performance and make adjustments as wanted.

Best Practices for Google Ads

Keyword Research: 

Use key-word studies gear to identify relevant keywords in your commercial enterprise.

Ad Copy: 

Write clean, concise, and compelling ad reproduction that includes your keywords.

Landing Pages: 

Ensure that your landing pages are relevant to your ads and provide a extremely good person revel in.

A/B Testing: 

Experiment with one-of-a-kind ad versions to see what works excellent.

Tracking and Analytics: 

Use Google Analytics to song the performance of your campaigns and make facts-pushed selections.