Google is already responding to 15% of searches using an artificial intelligence system called RankBrain (RB). Even though RB is only one of the 200 factors of Hummingbird, Google’s current algorithm, RB is considered to be the third most important signal in determining ranking behind content and links. RB is essentially a query interpretation model and a work in progress, intending to improve Google’s understanding of searcher intent.

The launch of the Hummingbird algorithm, in 2013, was already a fundamental shift in the way Google processed queries by placing greater emphasis on natural language and considering context and meaning over individual keywords. Its goal was to leverage 15+ years of data and user analysis that Google has collected to deliver contextually appropriate answers by searching for entities instead of keywords.

RB is using a machine learning method called Word2vec that groups keywords into semantic and syntactic concepts. An accuracy study (Altszyler et al., 2016) found that Word2vec outperforms other word-embedding technique (LSA) when it is trained with medium to large corpus size (more than 10 million words).

Does that actually change how we do SEO?

In a world where ‘content is king’ and backlinks are critical to better rankings, SEOs need to focus on creating unique, high-quality, unduplicated and utterly authentic content that is entertaining, useful and interesting.

Over time, domains must build a solid reputation based on the signals they want to serve, realizing that RankBrain creates an environment in which a site can become known for delivering a quality content that rewards content creators who create topic clusters. Google now looks at the scope of content being created by a given URL instead of an individual post as its own SEO opportunity.

Larry Kim, founder and CTO of WordStream, suspects that RankBrain’s “Relevance Score” is the same as AdWords’ “Quality Score.”

Google uses the Quality Score with AdWords, the Display Network, YouTube Ads and Gmail Ads. It’s been so successful that Facebook Relevance Score and  Twitter Quality Adjusted Bids are largely the same concept. If Larry Kim is right the strategy to beating the Quality Score algorithm is just a matter of beating the expected click-through rate for a given ad spot.

Click-through rate (CTR) is the ratio of users who click on the link / number of total users who view a page, email or ads. It is commonly used to measure the success of an online advertising campaign.

In most cases, a 1.5% – 2% click-through rate would be considered successful, though the exact number is debated and varies depending on the situation.

Basically, SEOs need to strive to have higher than anticipated or expected engagement metrics, based on a variety of criteria, including query, device type, location and time of day.

GO THERE EARLY. People just can’t get enough of this place. The line is crazy, sun, snow, rain or ice. But it worth it. It’s a bit of a student place and one should not worry about the decor. Important part is food and prices are good. Located near the Guy-Concordia metro (St. Mathieu exit) expect a good 20 min line up outside of the restaurant. Try spicy tuna kimbap, kimchi pancake and beef stir fry.

The flavors are incredible, the spice level is just right and the menu, though limited, is developed to perfection. The pork belly ramyun seems to be a big favorite closely followed by the seafood topokki.

Ganadaramtl 

An interesting out-of- place in Montreal’s Chinatown is this Taco joint. It can get pretty crowded in there, but you can get some very authentic, tasty tacos for a fair price. Georgeous classic margaritas, tantalizing tacos, and mescal and maybe the best guacamole in Montreal. Highly recommend are the frijoles refritos, a delicious black bean puree with feta and served with tortillas; and the chicharron de queso, a crispy taco made entirely out of cheese! Gringa quesadilla with marinated pork and cheese and pineapple is crazy tasty.

lacapitaltacos.ca

This restaurant is so popular a small waiting can last up to an hour. In the world of food in Montréal, some places like this one, have simply everthing going for itself. From the warm welcome when you walk in you can enjoy Syrian food at its finest. Even the kids have a good time. If you manage to get a table (no reservations) the dégustation menu is 28$ per adult and you get a whole 3 service of different meals to enjoy. Lamb, filet mignon, hummus and much more. We especially loved the Mouhamara and Moussaka.

Petitalep.com

Agrikol is a new dangerously fun Hipster-Haitian spot on Amherst in what looks like an apartment building. Decor reflects laid back Haitian culture and the back of the restaurant opens up the ceiling over two floors. Try the jerk chicken, avocado salad, beans and rice. Food is lovely and service is great. The restaurant is a great place to meet friends and enjoy the music and relax.

agrikol.ca

Lines often last up to 45min. Everyone agrees this place is better than Romados. Plates are huge. Chicken can’t be beat. Fries are amazing and so is the chorizo. What people often don’t mention is that they have amazing Natas and other typically Portuguese deserts. They are all fresh and made in house and just as good as the chicken and chorizo!

mapoulemouillee.ca

A cold, cloudy and rainy mid-February weekend, after St-Valentines and right before the Academy Awards, might be the worst and the most uncertain time for the box office. However, Disney’s executives weren’t worried. By late January they knew they were dealing with a colossal social phenomenon and a new fictional universe that will sustain franchise development for decades to come. Black Panther was set to dominate pop-culture conversations and to inspire music, fashion and beauty trends for the rest of 2018.

Disney VP of marketing Asad Ayaz, responsible for Marvel movies, did everything right. He invested mega-bucks into sports ads that were viewed by African-American audiences, including a debut trailer during the NBA Finals. He picked up a Hip-Pop artist, Kendrick Lamar, to curate the soundtrack (Black Panther album debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200 album chart) and Janelle Monáe, a cyborg-fixated afro-futuristic singer with indefinable sexuality, to join the promo team.

However, something else was also going on. By mid-December, all over U.S., hundreds of grassroots events were put together by black communities to raise funds for tickets for as many kids as possible. The hyper-interest generated by the movie inspired Frederick Joseph, a NYC marketing consultant, to create the #BlackPantherChallenge with the goal of raising $10k to benefit the children of Harlem. Within days, the hashtag raised more than $40k.

#BPC campaign has caught attention of celebrities such as Octavia Spencer, Ellen DeGeneres and Viola Davis who raised thousands more and pledged to pay for the cost of the movie screenings. CNN reported  that over all challenge has raised nearly $800,000 for kids in 50 countries.

Coogler and the film’s stars, including Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan and Danai Gurira, were sent on a major marketing world tour, including stops in South Korea, Kenya, Nigeria and Europe where they coordinated screenings and staged premieres.

And just before the release date, Disney’s Marketing team noticed growing interest among young women and promptly organized “Welcome to Wakanda: Fashion for the Black Panther Era” at the same time as the NY Fashion Week on February 12th.

And then, Black Panther made history. Its record-shattering opening weekend earned a staggering $242 million in U.S., the second highest 4-day in domestic box office history. It is currently projected to generate over $1.2b worldwide.

The film hit a 97% ‘fresh”‘rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is poised to become a breakthrough moment in black cultural representation, and Hollywood’s tipping-point-movie where afro-centric narratives directed by black directors with majority black casts are able to generate huge profits by appealing to all audiences.

Even though Afro-futurism existed for the most of the 20th century, cultural critics coined the term only in 1994 to describe works of artists and designers who have creatively fused science fiction, magic-realism and Afro-centricism in order to re-examine historical events by imagining alternative futures.

Seminal Afro-futuristic works include the novels of Samuel R. Delany, paintings of Jean-Michel Basquiat, photography of the Jamaican feminist Renée Cox and compositions of jazz legend Sun Ra.

In the early 2000s Erykah Badu, Rihanna and Beyoncé incorporated metallics and other cyborg themes into their style, but the breakthrough came from a 22-year-old singer Janelle Monáe who, influenced by Metropolis, Blade Runner and Star Wars, injected Afro-futurist aesthetics in urban modern music and fashion and started applying them to themes of sexuality, feminism and prejudice.

Concurrent with the above developments, Reynaldo Anderson released the manifesto “Afrofuturism 2.0 and the Black Speculative Arts Movement” where he defines Afro-futurism 2.0 as: “The early twenty-first century technogenesis of Black identity […] appropriating the influence of network software, database logic, cultural analytics, deep remixability, gender fluidity, posthuman possibility, that has grown into an important Diasporic techno-cultural Pan African moment.”

The film has multiple emancipated female characters who un-apologetically kick ass. Their leading role in the Black Panther narrative is something that should not be considered secondary. When feminist American civil rights advocate Kimberle Crenshawe coined the term ‘intersectionality’, she referred to a unique type of oppression that black women were dealing with since they had two separate forces working against them: Being female and being black. This concept became an important part of critical race theory. The black women of Black Panther are central to the story because they are fully realized complex characters who just happen to be black; they earn our respect through their strength and femininity, the positions they take up and their vulnerability. In many ways it can be said that Black Panther is a triumph of Fourth-wave feminism.

Disney tried to make it feel “like a cultural event,” said Asad Ayaz. Was it robust planning or a spontaneous and circumstantial incident? Who knows. Maybe in part because of the rise and proliferation of social media platforms or maybe because of the current socio-political polarization of the western world. One thing is certain. A precedent setting art film (Black Panther) has emerged from the comic book universe as a mytho-poetic homage to the identity, the colour spectrum, mysticism and the beauty that is Africa — and as such its reach is global.

KEY SUPEERHEROS RELEASE DATES FOR 2018/19

• Black Panther release date: Feb 16, 2018
• Avengers: Infinity War / The Avengers 3 release date: May 4, 2018
• Ant-Man & The Wasp release date: Jul 6, 2018
• Captain Marvel release date: Mar 8, 2019
• The Avengers 4 / Untitled Avengers Movie release date: May 3, 2019
• Untitled Spider-Man: Homecoming Sequel release date: Jul 5, 2019