#growing customer interest

[bugblast]

starting the year right with magic and imp :]

[watcherintheweyr]

desperately need people to understand that alicent is a victim but she’s also an abuser and a perpetrator

that she actively makes choices to harm other women because of jealousy and envy and the greed deep in her bones because submitting to suffering didn’t get her what those women fight to grasp for themselves.

she is absolutely a victim, in show.

that doesn’t change that she abused rhaenyra and her children, her own son, most likely helaena given how she flinches every time her mother touches her, and is actively weaponizing the patriarchy of westeros against other women- rhaenyra primarily, but also mysaria and dyana.

she isn’t the moral, righteous force of good that even she thinks she is, she’s a wounded woman directing all of the rot, pain, and fury inside her at the wrong people and forces.

[mymarifae]

have you ever considered that jade's hot

all of the hsr women are hot, man. this is a hoyoverse game. of course they are. what does this have to do with a discussion about her character

[geordiecrow]

wip custom hospitaller

[a-flickering-soul]

Favorite easy recipe?

i love this QUESTION!!! whenever idk what to eat i'll make this lentil soup and it is GREAT it has protein and veggies and it is so good and adaptable and good for meal prep!! i'll put a picture of it here and add the recipe below the cut.

adapted from this recipe

Ingredients: 1 cup red lentils (I’m serious, JUST one cup, it’ll make 3-4 servings), 3 cups low-salt chicken stock or water, mirepoix (diced carrot, celery, onion), 2 hot Italian sausages, a handful of kale (washed, stripped from the stems, and torn into pieces), oil, salt, whole spices (I used cumin, mustard seeds, and black pepper) and 3 tbsp lemon juice

Saute the mirepoix in oil until onions turn translucent, then add the sausage (removed from its casing), break it up, and let it get a little browned. Add in the stock/water and lentils (I added in the kale here too since it’s tough and needs a while to cook) and bring to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer and let it go for 15-30 minutes depending on how quickly your lentils cook, stirring every now and then. Somewhere around here, check for salt and add as much as you want. Right after you take it off the heat, add in the lemon juice. During the last 5 minutes or so, take some oil, heat it up, and fry the whole spices to make tadka (infused oil + bloomed spices). Make sure you keep an eye on it and keep it moving so nothing burns (takes about a minute, should smell really good). Serve with some bread if you want and a drizzle of tadka on top!

Kale can be substituted with any leafy green vegetable (spinach and Swiss chard would probably be really good), the tadka can totally be omitted, and the sausage can be swapped for a nice ham hock, chorizo, etc, or omitted entirely to make it vegan :) also I added extra lemon juice bc I like sour things but u don’t need to. This is also good with some hot sauce and/or Greek yogurt on top too!

[thetimelordbatgirl]

Ngl youtube videos suddenly got me slowly turning into a Justin Russo hater.

[fluffypotatey]

Since I very sincerely doubt Uther managed to kill ALL the Dragonlords (they're knights, not the KGB, and it was a lot easier to disappear back then) imagine them returning to Albion from Rome or whatever to find Cousin Balinor's only son is ruling Camelot and the Druids, is best friends with an immortal knight and one dude that's been raised from the fucking dead, is bonded to THEE oldest dragon they've ever heard of (and who is also nuttier than squirrel stew) and a semi-feral hatchling that barely listens to four (4) people max and hisses/bites/claws at the rest, and oh yeah, is married to a fucking Pendragon.

Family dinners must be a hoot and a half.

oh to be a fly on the wall when they finally make an audience in Camelot. oh to see Merlin's face morph from apprehension to wonder to exhaustion to horror because they're telling Arthur everything they know.

[toytulini]

dont get mad at me this is a subjective opinion but like. like i enjoy stardew a lot and this is by no means a criticism, more of like. just a Wish.

I want a game very similar to stardew valley in terms of play and "difficulty" but animated/artstyle like, botw.

[wellenklavier]

auughh i want to do too many things theres not enough hours in the day or dollars in my bank account

[astrxealis]

did you know i love my friends so much.

[espialsolution]

Can Social Media Marketing Help Your Brand Grow?

In today’s digitally-driven world, social media marketing has evolved from a trendy buzzword to an essential strategy for businesses of all sizes. From startups to established enterprises, leveraging social media platforms can significantly contribute to brand growth. But how exactly can social media marketing help your brand grow? Let’s explore the key ways in which this powerful tool can elevate your brand.

1. Enhanced Brand Awareness

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok offer unparalleled opportunities to reach vast audiences. With billions of users globally, these platforms provide a stage where your brand can gain visibility. By consistently posting relevant and engaging content, your brand can reach people who may never have heard of it otherwise. Social media marketing helps in creating a recognizable brand identity, ensuring that your business remains top of mind for potential customers.

2. Targeted Advertising

One of the standout features of social media marketing services is the ability to target specific audiences with precision. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram allow you to create highly targeted ads based on demographics, interests, behavior, and more. This means you can tailor your marketing efforts to reach people who are most likely to be interested in your products or services, resulting in higher conversion rates. Targeted advertising not only maximizes your marketing budget but also ensures that your brand message reaches the right people at the right time.

3. Customer Engagement and Relationship Building

Brands that actively engage with their audience on social media build stronger relationships with their customers. Responding to comments, answering queries, and even addressing complaints in a timely manner can foster loyalty and trust. Moreover, satisfied customers often share their positive experiences, leading to organic word-of-mouth promotion, which can be incredibly valuable for brand growth.

4. Insights and Analytics

Social media platforms offer robust analytics tools that provide insights into how your content is performing. These tools allow you to track metrics such as engagement rates, click-through rates, and audience demographics. By analyzing this data, you can refine your marketing strategies, focusing on what works and discarding what doesn’t. This continuous optimization is key to growing your brand effectively over time.

5. Increased Website Traffic and SEO Benefits

Social media marketing can drive significant traffic to your website. By sharing blog posts, product pages, and other valuable content on social media, you can entice users to visit your site, where they can learn more about your brand and offerings. Additionally, social media activity can indirectly influence your search engine rankings. While social signals are not a direct ranking factor, they contribute to the overall online presence of your brand, which search engines may consider when ranking your website.

6. Cost-Effective Marketing

Compared to traditional advertising methods, social media marketing is relatively cost-effective. Many platforms offer free account creation and posting options, with the option to run paid campaigns that can fit any budget. This makes social media an accessible tool for businesses of all sizes, particularly for startups and small businesses that may have limited marketing budgets. The return on investment (ROI) from well-executed social media campaigns can be substantial, making it a smart choice for brand growth.

Conclusion

Social media marketing services is a dynamic and versatile tool that can significantly contribute to your brand’s growth. From increasing brand awareness and engagement to driving website traffic and providing valuable insights, the benefits are vast. By strategically leveraging social media, your brand can not only reach new heights but also stay competitive in today’s fast-paced digital landscape.

About The Author

Espial Solutions serve Startups, SME, and large Enterprises,with SEO, SMM, PPC, Branding, and Digital Marketing services. . Contact for More Information!

[approximately12lbs-of-ducks]

For the WIP title ask game, “DSMP space AU where Tommy and Wilbur are both humans that end up with alien crewmates Techno and Philza. Wilbur is known to be human. No one knows tommy is. I’m really normal about this one”! Very curious about this :D

And also if you wanna ramble about your extended Exile AU, absolutely go ahead >:D

*cackles gleefully while rubbing hands togetehr*

SO. In this AU, Tommy is kidnapped when he’s 12. He’s abducted by alien traffickers, and manages to escape and cobble together a life for himself. Details blurry. He learns how to move in a more twitchy, stuttering fashion - kind of like a bird - smoothes out his gait so it looks like he glides more than walks, constantly dyes his hands black using a pigment he commonly finds, holds his hands so his ring and pinky fingers are tucked into his palm and then wears gloves; he also wears a mask, reflective goggles, and then a veil over all of that. He basically does a ton of stuff to obscure his form with clothing and make it so that any human features he can’t hide are altered. He has a heavy accent but knows a fair bit of one of the more common alien dialects, enough to mostly converse with ease. He manages to get hired by Techno and Phil, two aliens, on a really shifty job as an engineer for their ship. Tommy’s been working on repairing ships for a couple years and has a pretty good idea of how they run, and so his boss recommended him when Techno and Phil asked for someone skilled (and who wouldn’t be missed incase they had to. Escort him off ship if yanno what I’m saying (they’re space mercenaries because of course they are)). Tommy takes the job cause it’s even more secluded than the back rooms of a space port, and because it pays mega bucks, and because he’s still trying to find a way home (the hope has dwindled down to almost nothing now but he has to keep ahold of it because he doesn’t know how to keep going without it).

upon boarding the ship, techno and Philza introduce him to another crewmate that they mentioned but Tommy never met before getting hired. His accent is extremely heavy and he clearly knows very little of the common dialect. Tommy thinks his accent is familiar but he just can’t place it - the new crewmate is very enthusiastic and friendly, despite techno and Phil seemingly a bit nervous about the two of them interacting. Tommy is delighted to discover that the crewmate can actually bully him right back, even with his limited vocabulary. It all goes wrong, however, when the next day Phil and techno sit tommy down and introduce him to Wilbur properly. Wilbur. Who is human. Who pulls off his mask to reveal warm brown eyes with white sclera and pale, hairless flesh and eyebrows and a mop of curly brown hair and glasses that are a bit crooked with a crack in them and a smile carefully not showing teeth and Tommy just freezes. and the next few months are frustrating and heartbreaking and it’s so hard. Because Philza and techno are deathly protective of Wilbur and love him, human as he is, and have emphasized so many times tk Tommy that Wilbur will not hurt him, that Wilbur is sentientc that Wilbur is emotional, that Wilbur feels love, that Wilbur has a complex personality - and it’s affirming and it’s terrible and Tommy is far too terrified to chance revealing himself as human. He’s also far too terrified that this is a trap. Is this a shapeshifter who saw a human and learned to mimic them? If he reveals himself as human, will he be locked up and sent to another place to be sold off for experiments or exotic zoos or other even more horrifying acts? Is this Wilbur a lure to catch other humans? Is he actually human, and still a lure, selling out his compatriots? Tommy is terrified. Terrified of being caught and hurt again. is the tune he has stuck in his head a human song? If Wilbur’s human and a traitor, will he recognize the tune if Tommy hums it? Will he put together how much T’mi sounds like ‘Tommy’ with the ‘o’ removed? is this catchphrase from earth that he translated into common a popular enough phrase on earth for Wilbur to get it?

But slowly, as it becomes clear that Wilbur is human and not a traitor or faking being a human, Tommy develops a new fear. He’s drilled his humanity out of himself, he doesn’t act human any way; what if they think HE’S a shapeshifter if he reveals himself? What if Wilbur is the exception and Philza and Techno still throw him out the airlock? Can Tommy even calm himself human? Being around Wilbur makes him realize he’s lost some of his grasp on English, his first language, what used to be his only language, because he’s barely spoken it for five years and he was so young when he was taken. He doesn’t remember much history, art, culture, he doesn’t remember how politics and currency worked, he doesn’t remember geography, he doesn’t know how his own body works, he - never got a chance to learn. He had just started middle school when he was taken and had never been that dedicated to his studies, other than English because he liked stories and making them. The details of what he did learn have become fuzzy. He doesn’t remember the feeling of grass. He doesn’t remember how the glow in the dark stars were arranged on his ceiling. He doesn’t remember how to get to the corner store from his house. He doesn’t remember the lyrics to his moms favourite song. He doesn’t feel human - he let so many details go in favour of survival, and because being human meant he was in danger. Holding onto the things that made him human would have gotten him killed. But each discovery of human experiences he missed, that he forgot, that he can’t remember anymore feels like a knife being pushed into his chest. He should be able to read Wilbur easier than anything else, because they’re the same species, but it’s the same as any other alien - Tommy has to RELEARN what some of Wilbur’s body language means. Tommy doesn’t feel human anymore, and he questions what he’s even trying to go home to.

And to top it all off, Wilbur is hurt that Tommy is ‘afraid’ of him, because at first Tommy avoided him out of terror of being caught, and now out of terror that he’s not good enough to consider himself human. Phil and Techno keep on giving him disappointed looks and talks and Tommy doesn’t know how to explain that he’s not scared of Wilbur hurting him but he’s so scared of what Wilbur Represents. And also the thought thag maybe- Wilbur will reject him. Confirm Tommy’s feelings that he’s not human anymore, be disappointed he can’t bond with Tommy over being from the same planet and speaking the same language. Tommy had a very hard few months lol. After a few months he starts to warm up to Wilbur though and relax around him, thanks to Wilbur’s incessant attempts to make friends with Tommy. He’s still terrified and closed off but he starts to loosen up a bit, and finds himself feeling at home with wil, tech and Phil, and sometimes, even, safe - even though it’s constantly tainted by the guilt of keeping himself hidden.

I’ve run several different scenarios for how Tommy does get revealed to be human; he gets sick and they try to strong arm him into going through the biometric scanner (which he refuses point blank to go into of his own volition), he accidentally responds to Wilbur in English (or similar scenario if Wilbur’s like ‘(in English) what’s this word in common’ and Tommy’s like ‘(in common) it translates to ___’), the ship gets attacked and he sheds his layers for easier maneuverability and also so he can use his nails and teeth and go feral as a treat (but which ultimately reveals him as human), just a gentle admittance to Wilbur one time after Wilbjr talks about earth and Tommy can’t contain his heartbreak anymore ((oh yeah Tommy def has some good angst moments of being homesick and trying to explain to his crewmates that he can’t just go home)); none of them fully satisfy me yet though. I’ll keep running the simulations lol

[bet-on-me-13]

Fenton, the Ghost Hunter Hero

So! When Danny first saw a Ghost attacking his school, he was still terrified of his parents finding out about his Powers.

He looked exactly the same in his Ghost Form, sounded the same, he even had the Hazmat Suit his parents had custom made for him on as a Ghost. There was no way anybody wouldn't immediately find him out if he tried to stop Lunch Lady with his Powers, it was so obvious!

But he couldn't just leave her there. She had crossed through the Portal that he opened, and was attacking his friends. He needed to stop her somehow!

So he tried, he just didn't use his Powers. He stole a bunch of his parents Inventions, fixed the broken ones so they actually worked, and ran in to stop Lunch Lady as a Human. The battle lasted far longer than he would have liked, but eventually he managed to stop her and shove her into the Thermos.

And from there on out, he just kept doing it. Danny became the Town's defacto Hero, since his parents were too Incompetent and he had the ability to actually beat the Ghosts, he had to protect the people he had endangered.

Soon enough people began to notice his Heroics. Mr Lancer didn't stop him when he ran out of the classroom, Dash stopped shoving him in Lockers, and his parents were Ecstatic when they found out he had gone into the "Family Business".

He still kept his Ghost Form hidden from his parents and the Public though. It was still too dangerous.

He only ever used his Ghost Form while in the Ghost Zone so he could blend in, and avoid being attacked by the multiple Ghosts who he had forced back in there. Danny Fenton was a Ghost Hunter, Phantom was just another Ghost wandering the Ghost Zone.

(Though he did gain some infamy by defeating some powerful ghosts, like Aragon or Plasmius)

Years down the line, Fenton remained the respected Ghost Hunting Hero of Amity Park, his greatest accomplishment being the defeat of Pariah Dark, the Ghost King.

That battle had actually drawn outside attention to the town for a change, and it wasn't long before Danny was offered a spot on the Justice League's Junior Team. It wasn't every day when the evil Ruler of another Dimension was defeated by a non-powered Human, so it actually sparked some interest in the Town.

Unfortunately, Danny couldn't accept the Invitation.

If he joined the Justice League, it ws only a matter of time before one of their multitude of Magic Users realized the truth and outed him as a Ghost. He couldn't take that chance.

He was content staying as a small town Hero dealing with a "minor" Ghost Problem, no need to overcomplicate matters.

That is, until the JL contacted him again a few months later. Apparently, their Time Travelers had warned of an Evil Ghost known as Phantom, who would one day grow so powerful he would destroy the world and leave it in ruins. They needed his help as an expert Ghost Hunter to track down Phantom, for the safety of the world.

Problem. This version of Danny had never actually met Dan, since his history went so differently. Now he is terrified of what event could have led to him becoming the Worst Supervillain in History.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Google’s enshittification memos

[Note, 9 October 2023: Google disputes the veracity of this claim, but has declined to provide the exhibits and testimony to support its claims. Read more about this here.]

When I think about how the old, good internet turned into the enshitternet, I imagine a series of small compromises, each seemingly reasonable at the time, each contributing to a cultural norm of making good things worse, and worse, and worse.

Think about Unity President Marc Whitten's nonpology for his company's disastrous rug-pull, in which they declared that everyone who had paid good money to use their tool to make a game would have to keep paying, every time someone downloaded that game:

The most fundamental thing that we’re trying to do is we’re building a sustainable business for Unity. And for us, that means that we do need to have a model that includes some sort of balancing change, including shared success.

https://www.wired.com/story/unity-walks-back-policies-lost-trust/

"Shared success" is code for, "If you use our tool to make money, we should make money too." This is bullshit. It's like saying, "We just want to find a way to share the success of the painters who use our brushes, so every time you sell a painting, we want to tax that sale." Or "Every time you sell a house, the company that made the hammer gets to wet its beak."

And note that they're not talking about shared risk here – no one at Unity is saying, "If you try to make a game with our tools and you lose a million bucks, we're on the hook for ten percent of your losses." This isn't partnership, it's extortion.

How did a company like Unity – which became a market leader by making a tool that understood the needs of game developers and filled them – turn into a protection racket? One bad decision at a time. One rationalization and then another. Slowly, and then all at once.

When I think about this enshittification curve, I often think of Google, a company that had its users' backs for years, which created a genuinely innovative search engine that worked so well it seemed like *magic, a company whose employees often had their pick of jobs, but chose the "don't be evil" gig because that mattered to them.

People make fun of that "don't be evil" motto, but if your key employees took the gig because they didn't want to be evil, and then you ask them to be evil, they might just quit. Hell, they might make a stink on the way out the door, too:

https://theintercept.com/2018/09/13/google-china-search-engine-employee-resigns/

Google is a company whose founders started out by publishing a scientific paper describing their search methodology, in which they said, "Oh, and by the way, ads will inevitably turn your search engine into a pile of shit, so we're gonna stay the fuck away from them":

http://infolab.stanford.edu/pub/papers/google.pdf

Those same founders retained a controlling interest in the company after it went IPO, explaining to investors that they were going to run the business without having their elbows jostled by shortsighted Wall Street assholes, so they could keep it from turning into a pile of shit:

https://abc.xyz/investor/founders-letters/ipo-letter/

And yet, it's turned into a pile of shit. Google search is so bad you might as well ask Jeeves. The company's big plan to fix it? Replace links to webpages with florid paragraphs of chatbot nonsense filled with a supremely confident lies:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/14/googles-ai-hype-circle/

How did the company get this bad? In part, this is the "curse of bigness." The company can't grow by attracting new users. When you have 90%+ of the market, there are no new customers to sign up. Hypothetically, they could grow by going into new lines of business, but Google is incapable of making a successful product in-house and also kills most of the products it buys from other, more innovative companies:

https://killedbygoogle.com/

Theoretically, the company could pursue new lines of business in-house, and indeed, the current leaders of companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Apple are all execs who figured out how to get the whole company to do something new, and were elevated to the CEO's office, making each one a billionaire and sealing their place in history.

It is for this very reason that any exec at a large firm who tries to make a business-wide improvement gets immediately and repeatedly knifed by all their colleagues, who correctly reason that if someone else becomes CEO, then they won't become CEO. Machiavelli was an optimist:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/28/microincentives-and-enshittification/

With no growth from new customers, and no growth from new businesses, "growth" has to come from squeezing workers (say, laying off 12,000 engineers after a stock buyback that would have paid their salaries for the next 27 years), or business customers (say, by colluding with Facebook to rig the ad market with the Jedi Blue conspiracy), or end-users.

Now, in theory, we might never know exactly what led to the enshittification of Google. In theory, all of compromises, debates and plots could be lost to history. But tech is not an oral culture, it's a written one, and techies write everything down and nothing is ever truly deleted.

Time and again, Big Tech tells on itself. Think of FTX's main conspirators all hanging out in a group chat called "Wirefraud." Amazon naming its program targeting weak, small publishers the "Gazelle Project" ("approach these small publishers the way a cheetah would pursue a sickly gazelle”). Amazon documenting the fact that users were unknowingly signing up for Prime and getting pissed; then figuring out how to reduce accidental signups, then deciding not to do it because it liked the money too much. Think of Zuck emailing his CFO in the middle of the night to defend his outsized offer to buy Instagram on the basis that users like Insta better and Facebook couldn't compete with them on quality.

It's like every Big Tech schemer has a folder on their desktop called "Mens Rea" filled with files like "Copy_of_Premeditated_Murder.docx":

https://doctorow.medium.com/big-tech-cant-stop-telling-on-itself-f7f0eb6d215a?sk=351f8a54ab8e02d7340620e5eec5024d

Right now, Google's on trial for its sins against antitrust law. It's a hard case to make. To secure a win, the prosecutors at the DoJ Antitrust Division are going to have to prove what was going on in Google execs' minds when the took the actions that led to the company's dominance. They're going to have to show that the company deliberately undertook to harm its users and customers.

Of course, it helps that Google put it all in writing.

Last week, there was a huge kerfuffile over the DoJ's practice of posting its exhibits from the trial to a website each night. This is a totally normal thing to do – a practice that dates back to the Microsoft antitrust trial. But Google pitched a tantrum over this and said that the docs the DoJ were posting would be turned into "clickbait." Which is another way of saying, "the public would find these documents very interesting, and they would be damning to us and our case":

https://www.bigtechontrial.com/p/secrecy-is-systemic

After initially deferring to Google, Judge Amit Mehta finally gave the Justice Department the greenlight to post the document. It's up. It's wild:

https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-09/416692.pdf

The document is described as "notes for a course on communication" that Google VP for Finance Michael Roszak prepared. Roszak says he can't remember whether he ever gave the presentation, but insists that the remit for the course required him to tell students "things I didn't believe," and that's why the document is "full of hyperbole and exaggeration."

OK.

But here's what the document says: "search advertising is one of the world's greatest business models ever created…illicit businesses (cigarettes or drugs) could rival these economics…[W]e can mostly ignore the demand side…(users and queries) and only focus on the supply side of advertisers, ad formats and sales."

It goes on to say that this might be changing, and proposes a way to balance the interests of the search and ads teams, which are at odds, with search worrying that ads are pushing them to produce "unnatural search experiences to chase revenue."

"Unnatural search experiences to chase revenue" is a thinly veiled euphemism for the prophetic warnings in that 1998 Pagerank paper: "The goals of the advertising business model do not always correspond to providing quality search to users." Or, more plainly, "ads will turn our search engine into a pile of shit."

And, as Roszak writes, Google is "able to ignore one of the fundamental laws of economics…supply and demand." That is, the company has become so dominant and cemented its position so thoroughly as the default search engine across every platforms and system that even if it makes its search terrible to goose revenues, users won't leave. As Lily Tomlin put it on SNL: "We don't have to care, we're the phone company."

In the enshittification cycle, companies first lure in users with surpluses – like providing the best search results rather than the most profitable ones – with an eye to locking them in. In Google's case, that lock-in has multiple facets, but the big one is spending billions of dollars – enough to buy a whole Twitter, every single year – to be the default search everywhere.

Google doesn't buy its way to dominance because it has the very best search results and it wants to shield you from inferior competitors. The economically rational case for buying default position is that preventing competition is more profitable than succeeding by outperforming competitors. The best reason to buy the default everywhere is that it lets you lower quality without losing business. You can "ignore the demand side, and only focus on advertisers."

For a lot of people, the analysis stops here. "If you're not paying for the product, you're the product." Google locks in users and sells them to advertisers, who are their co-conspirators in a scheme to screw the rest of us.

But that's not right. For one thing, paying for a product doesn't mean you won't be the product. Apple charges a thousand bucks for an iPhone and then nonconsensually spies on every iOS user in order to target ads to them (and lies about it):

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

John Deere charges six figures for its tractors, then runs a grift that blocks farmers from fixing their own machines, and then uses their control over repair to silence farmers who complain about it:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/31/dealers-choice/#be-a-shame-if-something-were-to-happen-to-it

Fair treatment from a corporation isn't a loyalty program that you earn by through sufficient spending. Companies that can sell you out, will sell you out, and then cry victim, insisting that they were only doing their fiduciary duty for their sacred shareholders. Companies are disciplined by fear of competition, regulation or – in the case of tech platforms – customers seizing the means of computation and installing ad-blockers, alternative clients, multiprotocol readers, etc:

https://doctorow.medium.com/an-audacious-plan-to-halt-the-internets-enshittification-and-throw-it-into-reverse-3cc01e7e4604?sk=85b3f5f7d051804521c3411711f0b554

Which is where the next stage of enshittification comes in: when the platform withdraws the surplus it had allocated to lure in – and then lock in – business customers (like advertisers) and reallocate it to the platform's shareholders.

For Google, there are several rackets that let it screw over advertisers as well as searchers (the advertisers are paying for the product, and they're also the product). Some of those rackets are well-known, like Jedi Blue, the market-rigging conspiracy that Google and Facebook colluded on:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jedi_Blue

But thanks to the antitrust trial, we're learning about more of these. Megan Gray – ex-FTC, ex-DuckDuckGo – was in the courtroom last week when evidence was presented on Google execs' panic over a decline in "ad generating searches" and the sleazy gimmick they came up with to address it: manipulating the "semantic matching" on user queries:

https://www.wired.com/story/google-antitrust-lawsuit-search-results/

When you send a query to Google, it expands that query with terms that are similar – for example, if you search on "Weds" it might also search for "Wednesday." In the slides shown in the Google trial, we learned about another kind of semantic matching that Google performed, this one intended to turn your search results into "a twisted shopping mall you can’t escape."

Here's how that worked: when you ran a query like "children's clothing," Google secretly appended the brand name of a kids' clothing manufacturer to the query. This, in turn, triggered a ton of ads – because rival brands will have bought ads against their competitors' name (like Pepsi buying ads that are shown over queries for Coke).

Here we see surpluses being taken away from both end-users and business customers – that is, searchers and advertisers. For searchers, it doesn't matter how much you refine your query, you're still going to get crummy search results because there's an unkillable, hidden search term stuck to your query, like a piece of shit that Google keeps sticking to the sole of your shoe.

But for advertisers, this is also a scam. They're paying to be matched to users who search on a brand name, and you didn't search on that brand name. It's especially bad for the company whose name has been appended to your search, because Google has a protection racket where the company that matches your search has to pay extra in order to show up overtop of rivals who are worse matches. Both the matching company and those rivals have given Google a credit-card that Google gets to bill every time a user searches on the company's name, and Google is just running fraudulent charges through those cards.

And, of course, Google put this in writing. I mean, of course they did. As we learned from the documentary The Incredibles, supervillains can't stop themselves from monologuing, and in big, sprawling monopolists, these monologues have to transmitted electronically – and often indelibly – to far-flung co-cabalists.

As Gray points out, this is an incredibly blunt enshittification technique: "it hadn’t even occurred to me that Google just flat out deletes queries and replaces them with ones that monetize better." We don't know how long Google did this for or how frequently this bait-and-switch was deployed.

But if this is a blunt way of Google smashing its fist down on the scales that balance search quality against ad revenues, there's plenty of subtler ways the company could sneak a thumb on there. A Google exec at the trial rhapsodized about his company's "contract with the user" to deliver an "honest results policy," but given how bad Google search is these days, we're left to either believe he's lying or that Google sucks at search.

The paper trail offers a tantalizing look at how a company went from doing something that was so good it felt like a magic trick to being "able to ignore one of the fundamental laws of economics…supply and demand," able to "ignore the demand side…(users and queries) and only focus on the supply side of advertisers."

What's more, this is a system where everyone loses (except for Google): this isn't a grift run by Google and advertisers on users – it's a grift Google runs on everyone.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/03/not-feeling-lucky/#fundamental-laws-of-economics

My next novel is The Lost Cause, a hopeful novel of the climate emergency. Amazon won't sell the audiobook, so I made my own and I'm pre-selling it on Kickstarter!

[ashwhowrites]

Around her finger

Even though Eddie is older than his girlfriend, he's wrapped around her finger

⚠️smut

Eddie wasn't getting any younger and his lack of serious relationships was starting to freak him out. He didn't want to live alone and grow old with no one by his side. He didn't want to end up like Wayne.

Eddie didn't think he would find the girl of his dreams in a bar. He met many girls from bars, but not the same one twice. He never saw the girl who made his heart race and his palms sweat.

Until she started to work there.

Y/N, his amazing and young girlfriend. He was initially nervous about the age gap, but years proved it was not an issue. Their love had nothing to do with their age. She was twenty-five, ten years younger than him. But that's how she liked it. She liked men, men with experience. And she liked men who kneeled down to her.

Eddie was used to having the upper hand, and he figured he would be in this relationship at his age. But he lost count of how many times she had him begging for her touch. She loved having Eddie wrapped around her finger and he loved obeying her.

With her being attractive, young, and a bartender Eddie grew used to the jealousy. But she came home to him every night so he learned to shrug it off.

Eddie was playing pool with his friends, determined to beat Steve. Y/N was working at the bar, sneaking glances at her boyfriend. Eddie would look back, throwing her a wink before he smashed balls into the nets.

Steve groaned as Eddie made another shot.

"Yikes Harrington, looks like the next round is on you," Eddie said smugly, landing a slap to his shoulder.

"Yeah yeah," Steve mumbled, shrugging off Steve's hand. Eddie looked over at the bar, his eyebrows clenched together. Steve followed his look, smirking as he saw a young guy talking to Y/N.

"Uh oh, gonna step in?" Steve said, edging Eddie on.

"Nah, she can handle it," Eddie said, he trusted her, and plus she was just doing her job.

~

"What can I get for you?" Y/N asked, talking loudly as the sound of the bar raised.

"Anything for birthdays?" He asked, leaning forward.

Y/N eyed the boy, he looked young. She tried to guess what age this boy was celebrating, but he honestly looked like a teenager. He had curly brown hair, much shorter than Eddie's. He had dark eyes and tan skin. She could smell his cologne when he leaned in, and it was a husky scent. She hummed at the smell, it was a good one she had to admit.

"Shots," she said with a smirk, "how old are you turning?"

"Twenty-one," the boy said with a smile.

"Fresh blood," she joked with a wink, "Happy birthday, hun." She handed him the list of shots and went to help another customer.

"Any interest you?" Another bartender asked, the boy bit his lip as he looked up. A bit bummed it wasn't the girl he saw first.

"The BS, and could I request it from her?" He nodded his head in the direction of the cute girl.

"Let me ask her," the girl said as she walked over.

"Want to do a BS?"

Y/N looked to see Lauren standing there.

"I don't know, my boyfriend is here and I feel like that's wrong," Y/N admitted as she shrugged her shoulders.

"He's here so just ask him," Lauren said, Y/N nodded and slipped out from the bar as she walked to Eddie.

"There's my girl," Eddie smiled, opening his arms. She rolled her eyes but walked into his arms.

"Question for you," she said as she looked up at him.

"Hm?" Eddie hummed, leaning down to kiss her red lips.

"Kid ordered a BS, but wants it from me. Felt like I should talk to you about it."

Eddie laughed and pecked her lips again, "You don't need my permission for nothing. I trust you, baby girl." He whispered as she gripped her ass. She held back a moan and pushed Eddie away with a smirk.

She walked back to the bar and prepared the shot

~

"What is a BS anyway?" Eddie laughed, preparing to hit his ball

"Seems to be a boob shot," Steve said, his eyes on the bar

"A what?" Eddie said, snapping up straight. He turned around to see Steve so shocked. Eddie turned around and instantly felt his jaw snap shut.

That twig from earlier was taking a shot from his girl's boobs. The crowd cheered and hollered, pissing Eddie off more. But he took a deep breath, it was part of her job and he paid for the shot.

But then the boy went too far. He threw back the shot and then smashed his lips on Y/N. After that, all Eddie saw was red.

Y/N didn't have time to react when the young boy was ripped away from her. She watched as Eddie slammed the boy against the bar.

"Eddie!" She warned, but all he could hear was his heart pounding.

"Apologize," Eddie demanded

"For what? It was on the menu," the boy argued

That seems to piss Eddie off more, causing him to slam the boy against the bar again.

"Disrespecting my girl and kissing her was not what you paid for," Eddie snarled. The boy seemed to get more scared as he connected the dots.

"Eddie, let the boy go," Y/N demanded

Eddie wanted to ignore her but then she snapped her fingers. He turned his head to the sound, letting the boy drop to the floor when he saw the demanding look on her face.

She grabbed his hand and yanked him to the back room. The crowd oo'ed like he was getting dragged to the principal office.

"I'm sor-" but Y/N cut him off

"That was so fucking hot," Y/N moaned, her hands already going for Eddie's pants.

Eddie was shocked but smirked at the switch in gears.

"Yeah?" Eddie asked

She answered by shoving her hand into his pants. He immediately moaned, his eyes clenched in pleasure. Then she dropped down to her knees

"Fuck baby," he moaned, he opened his eyes to look down at her. She was already looking up at him, her mouth stuffed full of his cock. He moaned at the sight and placed his hands in her hair. He bunched her hair into one grip and began to fuck her throat.

His thighs shook in pleasure as he hit the back of her throat. He held it there until she started to gag. The sound sent a shiver right down his spine.

She popped off him, replacing her mouth with her hand. She jerked him off as she cleaned off her lips.

"Oh, Eddie, always so delicious," she purred, knowing the effect of her words.

Eddie felt his stomach tighten as the words went straight to his cock in her hands.

"Showing that boy who I belong to, huh? I can't tell you how many times I wanted to do that when those sluts eye fuck you." She growled, moving her hand faster around him.

"Always think about shoving you right against that pool table and making everyone watch you cry for me," she taunted. Eddie whimpered at the thought. He loved the image his brain was creating.

"Feels so good," he moaned, bucking up his hips to add more pleasure. He looked down at her, watching her mouth move as she continued to tease him with her words as her hand moved fast around him.

"Yeah? Who's making you feel good?" She edged. "Who's little bitch are you?'

Eddie felt tightness building in his stomach as the nickname left her lips. He bucked his hips faster as he felt his orgasm approaching.

"Your bitch," he whined. "Need-" he cut himself off with a loud moan.

Y/N smiled as his cock released spurts of cum all over her hand. She rubbed him through it.

He panted as he finished all over himself. A fucked out smile on his face as she stood up. She washed off her hands before she helped him clean up.

"I love you," she said, softly pecking his lips.

"God, I love you" he whispered against her lips.

Tags!

@bmunson86 @mxcheese @ladymunsonmain @michaelfuckinglangdon @z0mbie-blah @biittersweet @mirrorsstuff @somethingvicked @micheledawn1975 @ago-godance @magnificantmermaid @tlclick73 @hargrovesswifee @cityofidek @silky-luxe @lokiofasgard616 @loving-and-dreaming @eddiemunsonsbitch69 @thegemaqua @ashlynnkennedy @strangerthingsstories5255 @harringt8ns @pleasinghellfire @whoscamila @stusdollface93 @gretavankleep37 @bellaisswagger @arlxt @ineedmentalhelp123

[shegetsburned]

❝ the prince’s jewel ❞ w. ryomen sukuna 𝜗𝜚.

BRIDGERTON AU⌇

• — dear gentle reader. this author feels not all is fit to print when so much is already known by far too many members of the ton when it comes to the mighty prince sukuna. though delighted by the frenzy of competition, this author believes that the prince will not participate in any courting exchange, despite his great desire to sire an heir or perhaps his desire to be known as the ton’s number one rake.

.nsfw.

₊˚ପ⊹ prince!sukuna who’s known throughout the whole kingdom to be a ruthless but laid-back ruler, having little to no interest in his subjects. barely governing as it is, he prefers to enjoy the wealth that his title has given him without an ounce of empathy for his poor subordinates. boredom has brought him to london where he believes to find at least some sort of entertainment to pass his time.

₊˚ପ⊹ prince!sukuna who has no shame showing himself at the entrances of brothels and shady bars with ladies wrapped around his arms. never denying any of his endeavours and laughing in the face of scandals. when his name makes the header of the society’s paper, his grin grows the more larger.

₊˚ପ⊹ prince!sukuna who believes that, if he is to be married, his highness deserves none other than the diamond of the season, chosen by the queen for her beauty, elegance, purity and grace; you.

he has absolutely everything to envy; perfect musculature, charm, alluring beauty, enormous wealth and bewitching gaze which, without a doubt, attracts most ladies on display. he has many choices and doesn’t want to settle for any pathetic young girl that would throw herself at his feet. the diamond has to be his.

₊˚ପ⊹ prince!sukuna who, as soon as he laid eyes on you, never hid his desire to rip your pretty dress apart with his perverted gaze. as you gracefully walked before the queen, his eyes travelled from your lips, trailing down to your appetizing curves moulded by your tight corset. the gown you wore had every man in the room breaking their neck to catch a glimpse of the diamond.

₊˚ପ⊹ prince!sukuna who has learned about the custom of a man calling upon a lady and visiting her at her home, which he is way too indifferent to do. instead, sukuna sends you tons of enormous bouquets. gorgeous flowers that mostly scare off callers from their beauty and expansiveness. he might refuse to visit, but his gifts are enough for you to consider his proposal rather quickly.

₊˚ପ⊹ prince!sukuna who couldn’t care less about etiquettes or manners. you danced with another man? he’d immediately interrupt the two of you, groping your gown and pulling you closer with a nasty smirk. another suitor’s writing his name on your dance card? prince sukuna stares him down, tearing the piece of paper and pulling the string around your wrist to whisper in your ears insanities none would dare hear in a ballroom.

₊˚ପ⊹ prince!sukuna whose favourite past time is to lead you in the pleasure garden, making sure every suitor, every mama and every lady of the ton has seen you walk beside the prince to the dark walk. he’s always determined to take it a step further. wether it’s with a curious hand on your ass, with his teeth around your earlobe or with his lips tasting your neck, his addiction is the more clearer.

₊˚ପ⊹ prince!sukuna who has shown everyone that none other than him should court you and you let him. you let him have a hold on you and on your chances of ever securing a proposal with another suitor. most indeed believe prince sukuna has already stolen your honor even though, despite his most inappropriate gestures, hasn’t declared you his just yet. torturing you with sneaky glances and provocating promises became rather quickly the talk of the ton which suited him entirely.

₊˚ପ⊹ prince!sukuna who, after several weeks, finally called on you. you’re more than surprised when he bribes your chaperone to let you two talk in private. without lying to himself or to you, he explains the reasons for his visit. truth is, the prince’s tired of waiting and he wants to consume your innocence while he still can.

₊˚ପ⊹ prince!sukuna who has you riding his entire length in your bed chamber. innocent puffy lips whining and moaning out his name. tits bouncing frenetically while his claws spreads your ass, leaving an odious mark. an inexperienced debutante like you, euphorically drunk on his dick, had the prince sukuna going for hours. hickies and teeth marks covered your chaste figure, officially claiming you as his. his hands explored every inch of your skin, planting his nails into the fat of your ass every time you bounced on him to lead you further down so you felt him deeper.

₊˚ପ⊹ prince!sukuna who, after an intense session of fucking and taking your innocence away, doesn’t bother helping you clean up, enjoying the sight of your messed up hair and teared-up dress. he leaves you exhausted in your wet sheets, with the promise of stealing you away to his kingdom the next time you would see him. the only thing he left behind is a lecherous diamond eager for her prince to come back and take much more than just her innocence.

© shegetsburned 2024 please do not repost/edit/or claim my writing as your own