I hope you enjoyed this exciting election weekend in Singapore! Here’s this week’s list.
What I read this week
Fitting in nicely with living in Singapore as well as my interests in history and food and of course, recent trade news, I read The Spice Ports: Mapping the Origins of Global Sea Trade. I’d heard much of the information before through histories of specific places and books like Guns, Germs, and Steel, but this was a nice deep dive into this specific area. It was great to see that the author kept referencing that Chinese, Arab, and other Asian traders had been plying the waters long before the Europeans “discovered” these crops. But their advanced technology allowed them to dominate the industry once they arrive, and build up the cities and industries in the region. To me, this time period of the 1500s to 1800s would have one of the most interesting to live in, with the world pretty much mapped out but still so many unknowns and unexplored places. I also find it fascinating that some of these spices which drove so much trade, like mace, nutmeg, and cloves aren’t a big part of our flavorings today.
Poor customer service experience this weekend
I unfortunately had a very poor online customer service this weekend. When I needed some help setting up a new domain I bought with the same hosting company I’ve used for almost 3 years, I was quite happy that I only had to choose a couple of options before I got to talk to a real person. Unfortunately, the rest of the interaction didn’t go so well. I was recommended to renew a service early to get access to the new entitlements that weren’t included when I first paid, but after paying almost $400, it turns out those services won’t be included until my original renewal date. The good thing is that they are processing my refund, which is why I’m not naming and shaming. However, a couple of things stood out to me. The first is that some of these companies have fantastic introductory offers, but your price goes way up after you are a customer and your offer ends. In this particular industry, I guess it is because it is too much of a hassle for many people to switch providers. But that’s not a good reason, customer retention is so much cheaper than customer acquisition, they should be paying more attention to it. The other thing is that these customer service people didn’t have any power or leeway in serving me. I doubt a fully AI bot would be better, but whichever companies use, they ought to give them more power to keep customers happy.
Podcast I listened to this week
The episode of Lex Fridman and Narendra Modi came out about a month ago, but I finally had a chance to listen to it. It’s quite a deep dive, covering everything from his personal background and the discipline behind his routines to his perspectives on leadership and India’s cultural identity. What stood out to me were the discussions around India’s role in global geopolitics, the approach to complex international relations, and the future of technology, including AI, within the nation. For anyone interested in leadership on a global scale, the dynamics of democracy, or the intersection of technology and governance, this episode offers plenty of food for thought. I love living in a time when we can hear world leaders like this talk for over 3 hours and learn more about them and their vision.
Interesting marketing news this weekend
I read an interesting analysis on Search Engine Land this week looking at the impact of Google’s AI Overviews. Based on data from Kevin Indig and Similarweb, it seems that while people might be visiting Google Search more often since AI Overviews rolled out (US visits up 9%), metrics like time-on-site and pages-per-visit are actually flat or declining. The thinking is that users are getting their answers directly from the AI summary and then leaving, a kind of “resolve and leave” behaviour. Honestly, this resonates with my own experience. I find myself using the AI Overviews quite a bit, and often, the summary is satisfying enough that I don’t need to click through to other websites. With Google stating these overviews now reach over 1.5 billion users monthly, it’s definitely a significant shift in search behaviour that marketers need to keep a close eye on and consider in our strategies.
Have a great end to your weekend!