Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · 1d

oh wow, that's super cool

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · 3d

A Reddit mod has spent years tearing down the coding bootcamp space, relentlessly attacking the leading bootcamp: Codesmith. This is, by far, the most fucked up thing I've seen on Reddit: larslofgren.com/codesmith-re...

The Story of Codesmith: How a Competitor Crippled a $23.5M Bootcamp By Becoming a Reddit Moderator

Let’s say you decide to start a coding bootcamp. Your background is in pedagogy and you love teaching. Your parents were teachers. You find a co-founder, raise a bit of money, and pour your soul into ...

larslofgren.com

3 2 11

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · 16d

Easiest way to know I'll have to overall a WordPress site? # of plugins.

Less than 10: Things are tight. Nothing to worry about.
10-20: Some loose ends to deal with.
20+: Buckle up.

1

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · 18d

Investigative research is just like product development. Once you stop getting surprised by stuff, it's time to build and ship.

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · 23d

An idiot going nowhere and a true pro going long is often indecipherable for years at a time.

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · 26d

Amazing, just got my first fake DMCA takedown.

Holy shit are these things easy to abuse.

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · Sep 11

I gotta admit it, when you start with really high quality content and ask an AI tool to create content based on it (headlines, promotional emails, social posts, etc), that AI content gets exceptionally good.

It's all about having that quality base though. No base = AI slop

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · Sep 10

I'm a broncos fan but I do not want a broncos phone

1

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · Sep 10

No black color for the Apple 17 Pro. da fuq

First time in a decade I'm not immediately buying the new one

1

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · Sep 2

So far, the Google monopoly ruling appears toothless to me.

If I was a Google exec, I'd be celebrating right now. Some reporting requirements, need to build a syndication service and offer it at cost, and no more exclusivity contracts. Pretty easy to check all those off.

1

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · Aug 14

I take enormous delight in writing a take down piece on a shady company and then ranking for their brand term in google.

Just saw a new one pop.

Hit #3 for vendafly.

I cackle like an idiot every time this happens.

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · Aug 13

One of the most frustrating parts of this AI hype cycle is how it completely sucks the air out of the room for any other type of content.

1

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · Aug 1

There's a non-zero chance that Reddit gobbles up high-intent search demand, then ChatGPT, etc grab everything else. Leaving Google with fuck all

1

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · Jul 31

Dead giveaway for AI content: "Why X Matters". AI tools love that god damn phrase.

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · Jul 22

I never thought I'd think wistfully of featured snippets, like a long lost childhood toy

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · Jul 21

Sigh... the #1 rank for "calendly alternatives" is an exact match .org domain.

It's also the top listed resource in the AIO.

-DR of 16
-An extremely low effort 1 page website
-No affiliate links

My bet is they're selling placements on the page to some of the vendors.

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · Jul 14

So is Google's AI push killing the open web?

I'm already seeing it first hand.

I know of multiple sites (DRs of 90+ and 1 is a top 100 domain) that are slashing content budgets. Blogs are on life support. They've decided to ride the decline.

Everyone is starting to move on.

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · Jul 10

So about those HCU sites getting a bump in the current Google algo update...

Can confirm.

If you're wondering if I did anything to site: I unpublished about 30% of the site when it was first hit and then haven't touched it in 9 months. So not much.

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · Jul 9

I'm about to show you how to save 75 CENTS per month on your Medium subscription.

Let's ignore any questions about why someone would have a Medium subscription in the first place.

1. Go to you billing and then choose to cancel.

2. You'll get a 15% discount for 3 months. BAM.

You're welcome.

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · Jul 8

I may have gotten another affiliate scammer banned. And there's a Medium affiliate scam loophole that's wide open for getting page 1 rankings in Google. Anyone can do it.

larslofgren.com/medium-affil...

The Stupidly Simple Medium Hack That's Generating Page 1 Rankings in 2.5 Months - Lars Lofgren

Reddit ain’t the only cheatcode to ranking in Google. Medium is also ripe for the picking. I’ve seen a bunch of Medium articles ranking on page 1 for super valuable terms in Google. So I decided to fi...

larslofgren.com

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · Jul 2

Used Gusto for 10ish years. Support isn't nearly as good as it used to be but we've never had problems with payroll. I'd stay away from Deel and Rippling even though they're hot right now.

If you want a second option, I'd look at BambooHR. I used them briefly, they seemed fine.

1 1

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · Jul 2

Since everyone is abusing the fuck out of brand mentions and social upvotes, links might become the best signal of quality again. The irony.

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · Jul 2

fwiw, links matter a lot less than they used to. And most of the data I'm seeing indicates that brand mentions matter a lot more for getting featured in AI tools.

Most online marketers I know are switching to old-school PR and ditching link building entirely.

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · Jun 30

I'll start getting optimistic about Google algo updates when Google stops forcing their teams to roll them out during major holidays.

1

Lars Lofgren @larslofgren.bsky.social · Jun 27

thanks Daniel!

1