Google Alerts pretty much only alerts me of news stories. Unless it would show up in Google News, new links never make it to my e-mail.
For example, a customer posted a nice video review of Improvely on YouTube today which I can find through Google limiting the date range to today with the "Search Tools" button. No e-mail from Google, despite the alert set up for the brand name.
On the other hand, I have one set up for "Surface Pro" and get daily e-mails when the big tech blogs mention it. Smaller blogs and forums, which are no doubt talking about Surface often too, never show up in those alerts. The e-mails even say "News" up top [1].
A few years ago, every mention would trigger an alert. Something did change. 3rd-party apps like Mention [2] alert me more often.
For example, a customer posted a nice video review of Improvely on YouTube today which I can find through Google limiting the date range to today with the "Search Tools" button. No e-mail from Google, despite the alert set up for the brand name.
On the other hand, I have one set up for "Surface Pro" and get daily e-mails when the big tech blogs mention it. Smaller blogs and forums, which are no doubt talking about Surface often too, never show up in those alerts. The e-mails even say "News" up top [1].
A few years ago, every mention would trigger an alert. Something did change. 3rd-party apps like Mention [2] alert me more often.
1: http://i.imgur.com/XeXDUG4.png
2: https://en.mention.net/