We all cope differently — I wrote sixty songs during the three months that my mom was dying. I was disgusted with my muse, who had ghosted me for years and chose the end of her life to set a fire in me. But you can’t deny it—you can’t be holding your mom’s hand and…

Transcribing the search history of “Rachel” —

There’s no ‘right’ way to quarantine — What will you do with your time in quarantine? Will you optimize your skill set? Will you maximize your time at home by fine-tuning the same professional skills you’ve been fine-tuning for years? If not, there are a spate of articles I can show you that might make you feel…

And how you can, too — 2019 is all about the essay that explains how the writer made hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars through their writing online—seemingly overnight. The best of these essays reveal that you too can make a lot of money through your writing online by following a few formulaic tips, provided by…

Our new house is haunted by the dark witticisms of a robot — I write about the dark side of Google marketing. So I feel like any day now, I’m going to be black-bagged and tossed in the back of a Google Street View car. My wife is as paranoid as I am. But she hasn’t asked me to stop writing. Instead, when…

Sometimes bait-and-switch is obvious, but the tactics grow sneakier every day — “Redirection” is a catchall term for a form of bait-and-switch deception used by Google marketers. A helpful ad on Google will match a searcher’s keywords with a relevant landing page, but redirect ads provide counter-messaging and often alternative destinations that go against the search words. For example, if you search…

We’re trained to serve ads in your moments of quiet desperation — Today, three out of four smartphone owners turn to Google first to address their immediate needs. As a result, Google marketers like me must survive on our ability to play on your impatience and impulsiveness when you’re using a mobile device. We must be there to serve you an ad…

An insider’s account of the dark side of search engine marketing — When lazy journalists are pessimistic about Amazon’s Alexa or Google Home, they say stuff like: “Even Orwell couldn’t have predicted that we’d willingly bring Big Brother into our own homes.” What they fail to mention is our willingness to exchange privacy for convenience didn’t start with the advent of virtual…

And when to worry — Thirtysomethings today — who can understand them? Unable to express themselves in real life, thirtysomethings only show their true nature in text messages. (Cut them some slack! They’re just realizing their dreams are unachievable.) Text message slang helps thirtysomethings define their connections, feel accepted, and gain independence. …