Latest news with #April2024
Hospitality Net
a day ago
- Business
- Hospitality Net
Food for Thought: Is Traditional Search Dead?
A recent post on LinkedIn declared the end of the search engines as we know them. the list even declared 'R.I.P. Search.' This is in tune with an avalanche of recent headlines arguing that traditional search is dead due to the rise of AI Search via the generative AI platforms ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, etc. Some experts herald the end of Google's monopoly on search and claim that traditional search marketing is becoming obsolete. Let's not get carried away. The rumors about the inevitable end of the 'traditional' search engines like Google at the hands of AI Search are highly exaggerated. According to latest data by SEMrush, people interact with search engines 34 TIMES more often than with AI search. During the reported period of April 2024-March 2025, the global search engines received 1,863 billion visits (-0.5% YoY), while the global AI Search chatbots 55.2 billion +(81% YoY). In other words, AI Search was in the rise over the past year, but still received 34 times less visits than traditional search engines. There is an additional wrinkle to the story: the data for traditional search engines does not include the queries on Google, Bing, etc. that were answered by AI, which blurs the boundaries between traditional search and AI. For example, Google uses its Gemini AI to provide answers in its Answer Box in its SERPs. Today, nearly 60% of Google searches end up as zero-click queries i.e. people find enough information in the Gemini AI-powered Answer Box and do not need to click on any of the organic or sponsored links. Bing uses a combination of ChatGPT and its proprietary Prometheus AI and Copilot AI in its Answer Box to boosts its conversational search capabilities, provide a more interactive user experience and up-to-date and context-rich answers, especially for current events and trends. So, should hoteliers abandon their traditional search marketing initiatives? Definitely not! Search marketing on Google and all of its formats: Google Ads (GA), Google Hotel Ads (GHA), organic listings (SEO) consistently contributes to over 50% of hotel website bookings. In the same time, hoteliers should not ignore the rising AI Search. The most immediate priority is to optimize the property for AIO (Artificial Intelligence Optimization), the AI version of SEO. In the AI world, stuffing your website content with SEO keyword terms and aiming to rank for keywords no longer applies. In other words, your website is no longer the primary source of influence. The era of earning recognition has arrived. How do you achieve that? Invest in content marketing with the goal to be cited in places of relevance. SEO company VertoDigital's audits show that only 25% of AI answers are pulled from website content, in this case hotel website content. The rest comes from citations about the hotel in social media, online publications, YouTube, travel-related sites and blogs, customer reviews, etc.
CTV News
3 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Top 5 most expensive homes for sale in Sturgeon County in May 2025
'There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort,' though it's doubtful Jane Austen was referring to basement saunas, home theatres and backyard putting greens when she said it (though the wine cellars might have met with her approval). In April, CTV News Edmonton looked at some of the most expensive homes for sale in St. Albert. Four of those listings are still up and one appears to have been relisted, but it's time for a short jaunt outside city limits to Sturgeon County. In April, there were 4,012 new residential units for sale in the Greater Edmonton Area, according to the Realtors Association of Edmonton. That number is up 908 per cent from March and a 4.8 per cent increase from April 2024. There were 2,710 residential unit sales in April, with 1,576 of those being detached homes. That marked an increase of 10.2 per cent from March and a 14.7 per cent decrease from April 2024. The average price for a detached home in April was $585,707 (1.8 per cent higher than in March), which, as usual, is far below the price point of the homes on display this month. 'We've seen inventory levels decline in the negative double digits for the better part of the last 12 months, and the dwindling supply has put pressure on home prices,' association board chair Darlene Reid said in the monthly statistics report. 'That pressure won't alleviate unless this upward trend for inventory continues well past the busy season. We can still expect prices to continue to increase in the short term through the warmer months.' Detached homes averaged 29 days on the market in April, one day less than in March. Now, it's time to look at the most expensive homes for sale in Sturgeon County on in May 2025: 5 - $2.9M bungalow in Riverstone Pointe Expensive real estate A home for sale in rural Sturgeon County. ( Starting northeast of St. Albert is this 3,122-square-foot bungalow. The home sits on a 0.96 acre lot with mature plants, a water feature and a putting green. Expensive real estate A home for sale in rural Sturgeon County. ( The inside features six bedrooms, a home theatre, gym, wet bar, games room and a gourmet kitchen. The heated garage is also nearly the size of the main floor, being 2,800 square feet, and includes an RV bay. Expensive real estate A home for sale in rural Sturgeon County. ( Built in 2007, the house has had renovations and upgrades, including a new furnace, boiler and windows. The home is located at 111 25015 Twp. Rd. 544A and the listing has been up for 56 days. 4 - $3M bungalow in Riverstone Pointe expensive real estate A home for sale in rural Sturgeon County. ( A stone's throw away, relatively speaking considering the size of the lots, from the previous entry is this 5,493-square-foot bungalow. The property is a little bigger at 1.06 acres, though it trades the putting green for a backyard basketball/sports court while keeping other features like the fire pit. expensive real estate A home for sale in rural Sturgeon County. ( If being inside is more to your liking, the gourmet kitchen, games room and home theatre may be of interest. The basement also sports a study/library-like living room area. expensive real estate A home for sale in rural Sturgeon County. ( The home is located at 37 Riverridge Rd. and the listing has been up for 211 days. 3 - $3.3M mansion in River's Gate expensive real estate A home for sale in rural Sturgeon County. ( According to Forbes, a mansion (in the U.S. at least) is a home with at least 8,000 square feet, so this 8,980-square-foot home in River's Gate should qualify. Food will be on the mind in this home with an 'opulent' chefs kitchen, a second butlers kitchen, private dining room and a wine cellar. expensive real estate A home for sale in rural Sturgeon County. ( The six-bedroom home also comes with the standard (at least as this list is concerned) home theatre and a games room. The lot is smaller than the last two homes, at 0.53 acres, and doesn't come with any sports courts, though it does back onto the Sturgeon River and sits next to the Sturgeon Valley Golf and Country Club. expensive real estate A home for sale in rural Sturgeon County. ( The home, built in 2015, is located at 205 25122 Sturgeon Rd. and the listing has been up for three days days. 2 - $3.4M bungalow in Riverstone Pointe expensive real estate A home for sale in rural Sturgeon County. ( Back in the bungalows of Riverstone Point is this 3,624-square-foot home. Inside there are four bedrooms, games, theatre and fitness rooms, plus a wine cellar. expensive real estate A home for sale in rural Sturgeon County. ( The home also boasts a library with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and a sliding ladder. The property is 0.72 acres, with plenty of garden space in the back. expensive real estate A home for sale in rural Sturgeon County. ( Back in the front, the home boasts a drive-through portico with iron stone, copper chimneys, capolas and an iron security gate. The home, built in 2009, is located at 53 Riverridge Rd. and the listing has been up for 75 days. 1 - $3.7M bungalow in Sturgeon Crest expensive real estate A home for sale in rural Sturgeon County. ( Last, but never least (price-wise), is this 2,986-square-foot bungalow. The listing describes it as being reminiscent of the stone farmhouses of Burgundy, with wooden beams accenting the roof throughout the main floor. expensive real estate A home for sale in rural Sturgeon County. ( In addition to the standard games and workout rooms, the basement of this home boasts a sauna. Upstairs houses a gourmet kitchen and just outside it a carriage house with a separate living space. expensive real estate A home for sale in rural Sturgeon County. ( The home also has the largest plot of land on the list, with 2.03 acres. Built in 2017, it's located at 21B 25012 Sturgeon Rd. and the listing has been up for 241 days.
SBS Australia
5 days ago
- General
- SBS Australia
Bondi stabbing victims' families share impact statements at inquest
Bondi stabbing victims' families share impact statements at inquest Published 29 May 2025, 9:12 am Harrowing impact statements describing the immense loss felt by victims' families were read out in the New South Wales Coroner's Court today. It was the final day of evidence at the inquest into the April 2024 Bondi Junction stabbing attack.
Globe and Mail
27-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
4 Catalysts That Caused Bitcoin to Hit Its Highest Price Yet
Bitcoin 's (CRYPTO: BTC) price is a bit less than $110,000 per coin as of this writing, right near its all-time high, and right in the midst of what might be a generational bull run for the asset. There's a solid chance it could keep powering on higher and higher over the coming quarters. But this favorable setup isn't the result of chance, nor is it (yet) the result of a binge on speculative purchasing. Instead, there are four key catalysts that helped Bitcoin to get where it is right now. And they will stay in play too, which means they could keep driving the price up. Let's take a look at each to understand them a bit better. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More » 1. The halving last year Bitcoin undergoes a halving roughly every four years, the most recent of which happened in April 2024. The halving is perhaps the single most important catalyst for the coin because it determines the reward that miners get when they successfully mine a new block. After the halving, the supply of newly produced Bitcoin is cut in half. That almost always leads to a supply shock wherein the amount of the coin in regular circulation becomes tightly constrained relative to demand from buyers. In other words, halvings are one of the main mechanisms by which the coin's price can be expected to rise over time, and the price is currently getting sharply pushed up by the impact of the last one. The next halving is slated for April 2028, so plan accordingly. 2. Public and private adoption of Bitcoin Right now is a golden age of all kinds of investors with deep pockets buying or resolving to hold Bitcoin. Whenever one of them announces their intentions, it's a catalyst for the asset. Take, for instance, the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, which, if implemented, would make the U.S. government into an entity with a policy of retaining the coin over the long term rather than selling it. Other countries are debating whether to implement similar policies. States like Texas and even some cities are also considering and going through the political process to initiate new Bitcoin reserves of their own. States like North Carolina are debating bills that would allow for public pension funds to be partially invested in the asset. And New York City is at least thinking about whether a municipal reserve fund would make sense. Furthermore, other institutional investors like major banks are adding the coin to their balance sheets, both for holding and for offering services to their clients. And between all of the players above competing to buy more coins, it's no surprise that the price is higher than before. 3. The global movement toward hard money Amid the trend of broadening adoption of the coin, there's a parallel catalyst that's just as strong: the desire for stores of value that can't be eroded by inflation in the same way as fiat currency. Consider that for a fiat currency, such as the U.S. dollar, the circulating supply only shows a trend toward increasing over time. Therefore the purchasing power per unit of currency tends to decline over time. And, in the aftermath of the inflation of the past few years, investors are extremely sensitive to those facts. For Bitcoin, the reverse situation is true. The circulating supply only gets tighter due to the halvings. That means it's a logical place for investors to park their value to avoid having it get eroded by inflation. Other assets that fill the same role, like gold, have also been popular places to store value. These trends aren't about to lose steam. 4. Hype driven by famous buyers Like it or not, people tend to react positively when there's a well-known evangelist for an asset. Bitcoin has quite a few of those. Take for instance Strategy 's founder Michael Saylor, who simply can't seem to stop buying hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin on a weekly basis. Strategy owns about $59 billion of the coin, and Saylor has resolved to never sell it unless absolutely necessary to preserve his company. So that means he's going to be talking his book to the public as frequently as possible for as long as it's possible to do so. That generates more enthusiasm for the coin, and it might even attract a few new holders along the way. And while it isn't as strong a catalyst as the others I've mentioned here, it's still a relevant factor that's driving the price of the coin higher and higher over time. Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now? Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $639,271!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $804,688!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is957% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to167%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 19, 2025
Fox News
24-05-2025
- Fox News
19 billion passwords have leaked online: How to protect yourself
Passwords are outdated, and it's time for both tech companies and users to move on. There, I said it. Like it or not, the weakest link in cybersecurity is anything that relies on human input. While organizations continue to invest in firewalls and endpoint security, the most persistent vulnerability remains the human password. The internet has long struggled with poor password practices, but a recent discovery highlights just how serious the problem is. Security researchers have uncovered more than 19 billion newly leaked passwords, collected from hundreds of breaches between April 2024 and April 2025. An astonishing 94% of these passwords were either reused, predictable or both. Between April 2024 and April 2025, data from nearly 200 separate cybersecurity incidents became publicly available, as discovered by Cybernews. These were not isolated events. They involved massive leak repositories including combolists, stealer logs and compromised databases. In total, over 3 terabytes of raw leaked data were analyzed, comprising more than 19 billion passwords. Only 6 percent of these, just over 1.1 billion, were unique. Among the most used passwords, "123456" appeared in over 338 million instances. Words like "Password" and "admin" followed close behind, despite years of public warnings. Such defaults often originate from devices like routers or enterprise tools, where they are rarely changed and frequently reused elsewhere. Personal names remain a common pattern as well. The name "Ana" appeared in nearly 179 million passwords, followed by countless other first names and name-based combinations. Pop culture, food, cities and even swear words were frequent themes. Words like "Mario," "love," "pizza," "Rome" and various profanities were not just creative choices. They are now security liabilities. Even worse, attackers do not need to guess anymore. They have automation. Credential stuffing tools now run through billions of known passwords across hundreds of platforms, breaching accounts at success rates as high as two percent. That equates to thousands of compromised profiles, bank accounts, emails and cloud tools every single day. According to CyberNews researcher Neringa Macijauskaite, the core issue is not just weak passwords but how often they are reused. Only six percent of passwords are unique. For most users, security depends entirely on two-factor authentication, if it is enabled at all. Most passwords fall between eight to 10 characters, with eight being the most common. Around 27 percent of them contain only lowercase letters and digits, making them highly vulnerable to brute force attacks. Less than 20 percent use a mix of cases and numbers, and only a small fraction includes symbols. Despite widespread education efforts, user habits remain stagnant, but one positive trend has emerged. In 2022, only one percent of passwords used a mix of lowercase, uppercase, numbers and symbols. Now that figure has grown to 19 percent, likely driven by stricter password requirements across platforms. Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web. Reused or weak passwords pose a massive threat, not just to individuals but to organizations. A single compromised password can trigger a domino effect, exposing multiple accounts across services. Consider using a password manager to generate and store complex passwords. Get more details about my best expert-reviewed Password Managers of 2025 here. Protecting your data requires a mix of smart security habits and reliable tools. Here are four effective ways to keep your information safe. 1. Enable two-factor authentication (2FA): Even if your password is stolen, 2FA adds an extra layer of security by requiring a second form of verification, such as a code from an authentication app or biometric confirmation. Cybercriminals rely on stolen usernames and passwords to break into accounts, but with 2FA enabled, they cannot gain access without the additional security step. Make sure to enable 2FA on important accounts like email, banking and work-related logins. 2. Use strong antivirus software and be cautious with downloads and links: Infostealer malware is the root cause of why your password is out there. It often spreads through malicious downloads, phishing emails and fake websites. Avoid downloading software or files from untrusted sources, and always double-check links before clicking them. Attackers disguise malware as legitimate software, game cheats or cracked applications, so it is best to stick to official websites and app stores for downloads. The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe. Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices. 3. Keep software updated: Cybercriminals exploit outdated software to deliver malware. Keeping your operating system, browsers, and security software up to date ensures that known vulnerabilities are patched. Enable automatic updates whenever possible, and install reputable antivirus or endpoint protection software that can detect and block infostealer threats before they compromise your system. 4. Consider a personal data removal service: These services can help remove your personal information from data broker sites, reducing your risk of identity theft, spam and targeted scams. While no service can guarantee the complete removal of your data from the internet, a data removal service is really a smart choice. They aren't cheap, and neither is your privacy. These services do all the work for you by actively monitoring and systematically erasing your personal information from hundreds of websites. It's what gives me peace of mind and has proven to be the most effective way to erase your personal data from the internet. By limiting the information available, you reduce the risk of scammers cross-referencing data from breaches with information they might find on the dark web, making it harder for them to target you. Check out my top picks for data removal services here. When it comes down to it, passwords just aren't cutting it anymore. The sheer number of leaked passwords and the fact that so few are unique show how vulnerable we really are. Cybercriminals are getting smarter and faster, but we don't have to make it easy for them. By using password managers, enabling two-factor authentication, keeping our software updated and considering extra privacy tools, we can take back some control over this situation. It might take a little effort to change old habits, but the peace of mind you get is worth it. How many of your accounts use the same password or a variation of it? Let us know by writing us at For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Follow Kurt on his social channels: Answers to the most-asked CyberGuy questions: New from Kurt: Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
