# Google Alert Strategy for Repair Leads

## The Problem

Canadian regional subreddits have **very low posting volume** for repair-related topics. Alerts with narrow site filters like `site:reddit.com/r/kitchener` + specific repair keywords return **zero results** because:

1. Small subreddits (r/kitchener, r/waterloo) have <10 repair posts per month
2. Google Alerts only fires on **newly indexed content**
3. Over-specific queries (23 site filters + 40 keywords) get truncated by Google

## Recommended Approach

### Option 1: Location-Based (Broader Coverage) ⭐ RECOMMENDED

Use **city names as keywords** instead of site: filters. This catches repair requests across ALL platforms (Reddit, Facebook, Kijiji, forums, classifieds).

**Example:**
```
("macbook repair" OR "macbook won't turn on" OR "logic board repair")
("Toronto" OR "Mississauga" OR "Kitchener" OR "Waterloo")
-job -jobs -hiring
```

**Pros:**
- Catches repair requests on ANY website (not just Reddit)
- Much higher chance of results
- Simpler queries = more reliable alerts

**Cons:**
- May include irrelevant mentions of city names
- Requires more filtering

**File:** `docs/google-alerts-broad.md`

---

### Option 2: Intent-Based (High Quality)

Focus on **explicit repair requests** using intent keywords like "repair shop recommendation", "where to repair", "anyone repair".

**Example:**
```
("repair shop recommendation" OR "where to repair" OR "anyone repair")
("macbook" OR "iphone" OR "console")
site:reddit.com
```

**Pros:**
- High-quality leads (people actively seeking repair services)
- Works across all subreddits
- Clear buying intent

**Cons:**
- Lower volume (people don't always use these exact phrases)
- Misses passive mentions ("my macbook died")

**File:** `docs/google-alerts-broad.md` (bottom half)

---

### Option 3: Regional Reddit (Original Approach)

Split Canadian subreddits into 5 regions with specific repair keywords.

**Example:**
```
(site:reddit.com/r/ontario OR site:reddit.com/r/toronto OR site:reddit.com/r/mississauga)
("macbook repair" OR "macbook won't turn on" OR "logic board repair")
-entertainment -movie -music
```

**Pros:**
- Very targeted to specific subreddits
- Clean results (only Reddit posts)
- No city name false positives

**Cons:**
- **Very low volume** on small subreddits
- May go weeks without a match
- Only catches Reddit (misses Kijiji, Facebook, etc.)

**File:** `docs/google-alerts.md`

---

## Testing Your Alerts

Before creating an alert, **test it in Google Search first:**

1. Copy the query from the code block
2. Paste into [google.com](https://google.com) (NOT Google Alerts)
3. Check the results:
   - **10+ recent results** = Alert will work well ✅
   - **1-5 results** = Alert might work, but low volume ⚠️
   - **0 results** = Alert will never fire ❌

### Example Test Queries

Test these in Google Search right now:

**Broad (should return 100+ results):**
```
"macbook repair" ("Toronto" OR "Mississauga")
```

**Regional Reddit (may return 0-5 results):**
```
site:reddit.com/r/kitchener "macbook repair"
```

**Intent-based (should return 20+ results):**
```
site:reddit.com "where to repair" ("macbook" OR "iphone")
```

---

## Recommendation

**Start with Option 1 (Location-Based)** from `google-alerts-broad.md`:

1. Set up the 4 core services (Data Recovery, MacBook, Console, iPhone)
2. Monitor for 1 week
3. If too much noise, switch to Option 2 (Intent-Based)
4. Only use Option 3 (Regional Reddit) if you specifically want Reddit-only leads

The broad queries will get you actual results. The regional Reddit ones are technically correct but may never fire due to low post volume.

---

## Why the Original Queries Didn't Work

The validation report identified these issues:

1. **Too many site filters** (23 vs limit of ~8-12)
2. **Too many OR terms** (40+ vs limit of ~28-32)  
3. **Too long** (1,100+ chars vs limit of ~512)
4. **`ALERT_NAME:` marker** was being searched as literal text
5. **Over-specific keywords** + **low-volume subreddits** = zero matches

Even after fixing the technical limits, the fundamental issue remains: **small Canadian subreddits don't have enough repair posts to trigger daily alerts**.