Author: Geek Planet

Apple Maps is about to lose one of its biggest selling points: being ad-free. So if someone searches for “pizza,” a paid listing could appear above organic results, very similar to how Google Maps already works. Apple says these ads will be clearly labeled and based on relevance, not just who pays the most. Ads, privacy, and the fine print Apple is trying to walk a very careful line here. The company says ads in Maps will keep user data on-device, won’t be tied to your Apple ID, and won’t be shared with third parties. Essentially, it’s trying to enter…

Apple launched the $599 MacBook Neo on March 11, a budget Mac powered by the A18 Pro chip from the iPhone 16 Pro, 8GB of unified memory, and a 13-inch screen. Though it offers decent specifications for the price, there’s a catch: the storage tops out at 512GB.  However, a Chinese repair technician, DirectorFeng, has swapped the default NAND chip for a 1TB chip, effectively unlocking the MacBook Neo’s storage. The technician has posted the entire video on a YouTube channel.  How did DirectorFeng pull this off? DirectorFeng replaced the NAND flash drive soldered to the MacBook’s logic board and…

Despite all the fragmentation in the space, despite the political uncertainty, despite the inconsistent and ever-changing algorithms, social media remains an irreplaceable piece of brands’ and retailers’ marketing strategies. And within those strategies, Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms remain the examples of social marketing success. Interestingly, though, whether Facebook or Instagram comes out on top changes on a regular basis, according to Digiday+ Research surveys conducted among brand and retailer professionals every six months since 2023. Before digging into Digiday’s data specific to Facebook and Instagram, let’s talk briefly about social media’s strength among marketing channels. Digiday’s Q1 2025 survey…

Domino’s Pizza Inc. has announced a significant upgrade to its long-standing Domino’s Tracker, introducing artificial intelligence-driven enhancements and deeper real-time tracking capabilities. The update marks a major step forward for one of the brand’s most recognizable digital features, which has been a core part of its customer experience since its debut in 2008. A Smarter, Real-Time Tracking Experience At the center of the update is a redesigned interface paired with a more advanced tracking system powered by DomOS, Domino’s proprietary operating platform. The new system uses a combination of real-time inputs from store staff and machine learning algorithms to deliver…

In the midst of the retail media network boom over the past two years, retailers including Walmart, Amazon and Target, have increasingly started trying to monetize their creator networks and affiliate programs, according to six agency retail media executives Digiday spoke with for this piece. RMN execs see those monetization efforts as a play to take in more ad revenue, especially the brand marketing dollars retailers have spent the last year vying for.These tactics are formalizing their respective influencer programs as the demand for influencer marketing grows — even as RMNs still face challenges in incremental measurement. Notably, influencer marketing has…

This article, Proposed Oregon Initiative Would Outlaw Animal Agriculture and Hunting, is republished from National Review’s The Corner with the permission of the author. Animal rights activists pretend to be about animal welfare, but in reality, they want to outlaw all instrumental uses of animals. We can see this illustrated in Oregon, where animal rights activists are attempting to qualify Initiative Petition 28 for the November ballot. Proponents claim it is about ending cruelty. But the actual purpose is to effectively outlaw animal agriculture and hunting in the state. First, if passed, the law would create a legal equality between animals and people. From…

It is widely acknowledged that AI companies use web articles to train their models without compensating creators or obtaining permission. Publishers such as The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the Toronto Star have already filed lawsuits against this practice. Now, another prominent organization has joined the legal proceedings. Techcrunch has reported that Encyclopedia Britannica and its subsidiary Merriam-Webster have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that the AI giant committed “massive copyright infringement” by scraping and using nearly 100,000 of its online articles to train its LLMs without permission. What’s this lawsuit about? Britannica claims that ChatGPT generates…

There’s been no shortage of headlines in the last year detailing how X (formerly Twitter), under current owner Elon Musk and CEO Linda Yaccarino, has had a fraught relationship with the advertising industry — sometimes resulting in legal swings taken at some of its players. Market research firm Forrester on Tuesday issued guidance to its clients on how advertisers ought to handle the pressures exerted by X, in a blog post authored by analysts Jay Pattisall and Kelsey Chickering. Titled “X-tortion: How Advertisers Are Losing Control Of Media Choice,” the analysts recommend three steps advertisers should take to maintain as much…

Commerce media is having a moment — and with a market expected to exceed $112 billion in 2025, according to the Winterberry Group, it’s easy to see why. But people keep mixing up retail media and connected commerce, casually swapping one buzzword for the other. They share some DNA, but conflating them is like mistaking the cashier for the entire store.Here’s why commerce media is its own beast, and how marketers are finally waking up to it.  What is connected commerce? Connected commerce is the holy grail of seamless shopping, blending online and offline experiences so shoppers can browse and…

Dell has officially refreshed its Precision lineup with four new laptops, and there’s something here for every professional. The new range includes the Precision 5 Series in 14-inch and 16-inch sizes and the more powerful Precision 7 Series in the same size configurations. All four laptops are designed for users who demand more than a standard laptop can deliver.  All models are powered by the Series 3 Intel Core Ultra processors, with a built-in NPU that handles local AI tasks at up to 50 TOPS. You can spec the Precision 5 laptops with Intel Core Ultra 5, Ultra 7, and…