Part 1: Your Friend, the Podcaster

Please respond to the following email from a friend of yours, who happens to be a wildly

popular podcaster, in a way that responds to your friend's questions. HI FRIEND!

I can't believe I'm writing you this, but my podcast has gotten so popular that Spotify has offered me an exclusive contract. There's a lot of money involved, but if I take the offer, my podcast won't be available ANYWHERE ELSE but Spotify. I'm afraid my fans will be mad at me.

As you know, my fans love the "open" nature of the internet. They have protested a lot of proposed government policies that would reduce competition on the internet. If my podcast is only available on Spotify, my fans won't be able to choose to listen to me on their preferred audio application. If I make a bad decision, I'm worried my fans will refuse to listen to me on a platform they don't like, or get mad at me for "selling out" by taking money from a big tech company. I want to be really clear about what they might think of me if I take this contract.

Can you answer the following questions to help me make my decision?

1. I've heard a bit about how the history of the internet is what made it so open: everyone can access content on the internet no matter who made their device, and no matter what software they're using to access the content. Why has this attribute, the internet's interoperability, been attractive to people who developed content for the internet?
2. A lot of my fans quote the Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace by John Perry Barlow. What is the point of what Barlow wrote? Do you think he would be mad at me if I chose to limit where I made my podcast available? Why or why not?
3. I'm a little confused. My internet-loving fans are always complaining about the government, but I also heard that the internet was a government project. Why was this technology attractive to government scientists?
4. I've heard that in the past Apple has been criticized by fans for investing in closed systems and limiting consumers' choices, like when they launched the iPhone. Can you give me an example of that, and why some people don't like these decisions from Apple?
5. Finally, what should I do? Is it worth it to take the deal? What should I consider in making the decision? I don't want to make the wrong move for my career, but I also know some of the most popular public figures in the U.S., like Michelle Obama and Joe Rogan, have signed similar contracts with Spotify.

Part 2: Priscilla's Veggie Dogs

Please respond to the following email from a friend of yours, who has just launched a

vegetarian hot dog company, in a way that responds to your friend's questions. Friend

Help me out here! I know you loved my vegetarian hot dogs when you came over to my barbecue in 2019 (can you believe it's been that long???). During the pandemic, I've developed a business that has shipped my veggie hot dogs Priscilla's Veggie Dogs to my customers. Business is fairly strong, but I'm having a few issues with the way my website shows up in Google results. Can you answer the following questions about the issues I'm currently having? Thanks for the help!

1. First off, I hired a consultant who told me that I needed to get as many people as possible to link to my website as possible, especially if that was the only place that people can order my veggie dogs. What's the relationship between Google's PageRank algorithm and links, and what should I do with the consultant's advice?
2. My consultant has said that I could use "black hat" techniques like J.C. Penney used if I wanted to get better placement in Google results really fast, but the consultant also said it's dangerous to do that. What did they mean, and what's the worst that could happen?
3. My consultant says he does search engine optimization (SEO)? What is that and what does it entail?
4. I'm doing a lot of good business, but I feel like I keep hearing from vegetarians that haven't found me even though they were searching online for vegetarian hot dogs. I started to ask them what they were searching, and I've found out that when people search for "veggie dogs delivery," the only thing that comes up is vegetarian dog food, not my vegetarian sausages. My best friend works for Google and has asked me about my business before. Do you think I should tell my best friend about this problem? Do you think he would do anything about it if he found these results?
5. You may remember that I had a business partner in my previous business. Well, he's REALLY jealous of me and my veggie dog company, and he has a lot of followers on Instagram. I just realized that when you Google the phrase "miserable failure," the first result is my bio page on my website. I feel deep in my soul that my business partner has something to do with this. Am I being paranoid? If it's him and his followers, how did they do that?

Thanks for all of your help! Come on over to the backyard now that you're vaccinated, and I'll show you some of the new recipes I've made.

XOXO, Priscilla