Trending: public /trending on a real source, and the promo actually granted

app/(app)/dashboard/ads/new/form.tsx

@@ -245,6 +245,9 @@ export function NewAdForm() {
           />
           <span>
             <span className="font-medium">Target trending topics</span>
+            <a href="/trending" target="_blank" className="ml-2 text-xs underline">
+              See what is trending
+            </a>
             <span className="block text-xs text-[var(--color-muted)]">
               Show this campaign where its subject is what people are asking about right now, on
               pages about that subject. Includes 90 days of premium delivery with every click

app/(marketing)/trending/page.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+import Link from "next/link";
+import { serviceClient } from "@/lib/supabase/service";
+import { currentTrends } from "@/lib/ads/trends";
+import { TREND_WINDOW_DAYS, trendsAreStale } from "@/lib/ads/trending";
+
+export const metadata = {
+  title: "Trending topics — what the open web is writing about this week",
+  description:
+    "The subjects independent blogs and news sites are writing about more than they were last week, measured across hundreds of thousands of feeds and updated daily.",
+  alternates: { canonical: "/trending" },
+  openGraph: {
+    title: "Trending topics on the open web",
+    description: "What blogs and news sites are writing about more than they were last week.",
+    url: "/trending",
+  },
+};
+
+// The source moves once a day, so an hour is plenty fresh.
+export const revalidate = 3600;
+
+const LIMIT = 50;
+
+function change(now: number, before: number): string {
+  if (before === 0) return "new";
+  const ratio = now / before;
+  return ratio >= 10 ? `${Math.round(ratio)}x` : `${ratio.toFixed(1)}x`;
+}
+
+function updated(iso: string): string {
+  return new Date(iso).toLocaleDateString("en-US", { month: "short", day: "numeric", timeZone: "UTC" });
+}
+
+export default async function TrendingPage() {
+  const topics = await currentTrends(serviceClient(), { limit: LIMIT, includeStale: true });
+  const newest = topics.reduce<string | null>(
+    (latest, topic) => (!latest || (topic.ingestedAt ?? "") > latest ? (topic.ingestedAt ?? latest) : latest),
+    null,
+  );
+  const stale = topics.length > 0 && trendsAreStale(newest);
+
+  return (
+    <div className="mx-auto max-w-3xl px-6 py-14">
+      <h1 className="text-3xl font-bold tracking-tight">Trending topics</h1>
+      <p className="mt-3 text-[var(--color-muted)]">
+        What English blogs and news sites are writing about more than they were last week, by how many
+        feeds used the subject in a headline. It comes from{" "}
+        <a href="https://rssamp.com" className="underline">
+          RSSAmp
+        </a>
+        , a sample of its feeds, so read it as movement rather than a census.
+      </p>
+
+      {stale && newest && (
+        <p className="card mt-6 p-3 text-sm text-[var(--color-muted)]">
+          This list is from {updated(newest)} and is out of date, so it is not steering any ads right now.
+        </p>
+      )}
+
+      {topics.length === 0 ? (
+        <p className="card mt-8 p-5 text-sm text-[var(--color-muted)]">
+          The first weekly comparison is still being worked out. Check back shortly.
+        </p>
+      ) : (
+        <div className="mt-8 overflow-x-auto">
+          <table className="w-full text-sm">
+            <thead>
+              <tr className="border-b border-[var(--color-border)] text-left text-xs uppercase tracking-wider text-[var(--color-muted)]">
+                <th className="py-2 pr-3 font-medium">#</th>
+                <th className="py-2 pr-3 font-medium">Subject</th>
+                <th className="py-2 pr-3 text-right font-medium">Feeds, {TREND_WINDOW_DAYS}d</th>
+                <th className="py-2 pr-3 text-right font-medium">Week before</th>
+                <th className="py-2 text-right font-medium">Change</th>
+              </tr>
+            </thead>
+            <tbody>
+              {topics.map((topic, index) => (
+                <tr key={topic.topic} className="border-b border-[var(--color-border)]">
+                  <td className="py-2 pr-3 text-[var(--color-muted)]">{index + 1}</td>
+                  <td className="py-2 pr-3 font-medium">{topic.label ?? topic.topic}</td>
+                  <td className="py-2 pr-3 text-right tabular-nums">{topic.mentions}</td>
+                  <td className="py-2 pr-3 text-right tabular-nums">{topic.priorMentions}</td>
+                  <td className="py-2 text-right tabular-nums">{change(topic.mentions, topic.priorMentions)}</td>
+                </tr>
+              ))}
+            </tbody>
+          </table>
+          {newest && <p className="mt-3 text-xs text-[var(--color-muted)]">Updated {updated(newest)}.</p>}
+        </div>
+      )}
+
+      <div className="card mt-10 p-5">
+        <h2 className="font-semibold">Run ads where these subjects are read</h2>
+        <p className="mt-1 text-sm text-[var(--color-muted)]">
+          Trending targeting prefers your campaign on pages about a subject that is moving, when your own
+          page is about it too.
+        </p>
+        <Link href="/dashboard/ads/new" className="btn btn-primary mt-3 inline-block">
+          Create an ad
+        </Link>
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  );
+}

app/actions/ads.ts

@@ -334,7 +334,10 @@ export async function saveCampaign(input: {
   // normally, which the detail page shows by having no promo line at all.
   let promoDays: number | undefined;
   if (input.trendingTopics) {
-    const granted = await grantTrendingPromo(supabase, { userId: user.id, campaignId: campaign.data.id, note: "trending targeting enabled in the dashboard" });
+    // The service client: ad_promos is written by us, never by its owner (it
+    // has no insert policy), so under the user's session this failed silently
+    // and the promised ninety days never started.
+    const granted = await grantTrendingPromo(serviceClient(), { userId: user.id, campaignId: campaign.data.id, note: "trending targeting enabled in the dashboard" });
     promoDays = granted.state.active ? granted.state.daysRemaining : undefined;
   }
 

app/api/cron/ad-trends/route.ts

@@ -1,10 +1,8 @@
 // Pull the trend list in. Run it hourly.
 //
-// Server to server in both directions: this route is gated on CRON_SECRET the
-// same way every other cron route is, and it presents SAMEBRAIN_SECRET to the
-// source. Neither secret belongs in a committed .env file — both are set on
-// the Railway service and kept in the vault (logicsrc team
-// `crawlproof-com--prod`).
+// Gated on CRON_SECRET the same way every other cron route is. The caller is the
+// `crawlproof ad-trends` line in anthony's crontab on dev2: nothing else runs
+// this, and for eight weeks nothing did.
 //
 // A failed pull is not an outage. Serving keeps using the stored list until it
 // ages out (TREND_MAX_AGE_HOURS), and after that every campaign simply falls
@@ -35,8 +33,7 @@ export async function POST(req: Request) {
 
   const windowDays = Number(new URL(req.url).searchParams.get("window")) || TREND_WINDOW_DAYS;
   const result = await ingestTrends(serviceClient(), {
-    url: env.samebrainUrl,
-    secret: env.samebrainSecret,
+    url: env.trendUrl,
     windowDays,
   });
   if (!result.ok) return NextResponse.json({ ok: false, error: result.error }, { status: result.status });

app/sitemap.ts

@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ export default async function sitemap(): Promise<MetadataRoute.Sitemap> {
     { url: `${base}/press`, changeFrequency: "monthly", priority: 0.6 },
     { url: `${base}/blog`, changeFrequency: "weekly", priority: 0.8 },
     { url: `${base}/recent`, changeFrequency: "hourly", priority: 0.9 },
+    { url: `${base}/trending`, changeFrequency: "daily", priority: 0.8 },
     { url: `${base}/bot`, changeFrequency: "monthly", priority: 0.5 },
     { url: `${base}/privacy`, changeFrequency: "yearly", priority: 0.3 },
     { url: `${base}/terms`, changeFrequency: "yearly", priority: 0.3 },

lib/ads/trending.ts

@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@
 
 import { DEFAULT_BID_CREDITS } from "./pricing";
 
-/** The only trend source today: chovy.com's SameBrain read on what founders are building. */
-export const TREND_SOURCE = "samebrain";
+/** RSSAmp's weekly read of what its blogs and news sites write about more than last week. */
+export const TREND_SOURCE = "rssamp";
 
 /** Default window to target on, matching what the source ranks over. */
 export const TREND_WINDOW_DAYS = 7;
@@ -45,7 +45,10 @@ export const TREND_MATCH_MULTIPLIER = 4;
 
 export type TrendSignal = {
   source: string;
+  /** Stemmed for matching ("midterm result"). Compare on this. */
   topic: string;
+  /** The subject as it was written ("midterm results"). Show this. */
+  label?: string;
   score: number;
   mentions: number;
   priorMentions: number;

lib/ads/trends.ts

@@ -1,13 +1,9 @@
 // Pulling the trend list in, and reading it back out.
 //
-// chovy.com's SameBrain endpoint answers "what are founders trying to build
-// this week" as a list of subjects with a score. This module fetches that over
-// a shared secret, normalises it, and stores it as targeting signals. Serving
-// reads `currentTrends`; nothing on the serving path ever reaches chovy.com.
-//
-// The secret lives in the vault (logicsrc team `crawlproof-com--prod`) as
-// SAMEBRAIN_SECRET and is set as an environment variable on the Railway
-// service — never in a committed .env file.
+// RSSAmp answers "what is the open web writing about more than last week" as a
+// list of subjects with a score (rssamp.com/api/trending, public, no key). This
+// module fetches that, normalises it, and stores it as targeting signals.
+// Serving reads `currentTrends`; nothing on the serving path ever reaches RSSAmp.
 
 import type { SupabaseClient } from "@supabase/supabase-js";
 import {
@@ -65,6 +61,7 @@ export function parseTrendPayload(
     signals.push({
       source,
       topic,
+      label: String(row.topic ?? "").trim().slice(0, 80) || topic,
       score: clampNumber(row.score, 0, 1_000_000, 0),
       mentions: Math.round(clampNumber(row.count ?? row.mentions, 0, 1_000_000, 0)),
       priorMentions: Math.round(clampNumber(row.prior_count ?? row.priorMentions, 0, 1_000_000, 0)),
@@ -78,17 +75,16 @@ export function parseTrendPayload(
 }
 
 export type TrendSourceConfig = {
-  /** Base URL of the trend source, e.g. https://chovy.com */
+  /** Base URL of the trend source, e.g. https://rssamp.com */
   url: string;
-  secret: string;
   windowDays?: number;
   limit?: number;
 };
 
 /**
  * Ask the source what is trending.
  *
- * Server to server, bearer secret, short timeout: this runs on a schedule and
+ * Server to server, short timeout: this runs on a schedule and
  * a trend list is never worth holding a request open for. A failure here is
  * not an outage — serving falls back to the stored list, and past
  * TREND_MAX_AGE_HOURS to no trend targeting at all.
@@ -97,18 +93,17 @@ export async function fetchTrends(
   config: TrendSourceConfig,
   fetchImpl: typeof fetch = fetch,
 ): Promise<{ ok: true; signals: TrendSignal[]; generatedAt: string | null } | { ok: false; status: number; error: string }> {
-  if (!config.url) return { ok: false, status: 503, error: "No trend source configured (SAMEBRAIN_URL)." };
-  if (!config.secret) return { ok: false, status: 503, error: "No trend source secret configured (SAMEBRAIN_SECRET)." };
+  if (!config.url) return { ok: false, status: 503, error: "No trend source configured (TREND_URL)." };
 
   const windowDays = Math.round(clampNumber(config.windowDays, 1, 90, TREND_WINDOW_DAYS));
   const limit = Math.round(clampNumber(config.limit, 1, 200, 50));
   const base = config.url.replace(/\/$/, "");
-  const url = `${base}/api/samebrain/trending?window=${windowDays}&limit=${limit}`;
+  const url = `${base}/api/trending?window=${windowDays}&limit=${limit}`;
 
   let response: Response;
   try {
     response = await fetchImpl(url, {
-      headers: { authorization: `Bearer ${config.secret}`, accept: "application/json" },
+      headers: { accept: "application/json" },
       signal: AbortSignal.timeout(15_000),
     });
   } catch (error) {
@@ -149,6 +144,7 @@ export async function storeTrends(
   const rows = signals.map((signal) => ({
     source,
     topic: signal.topic,
+    label: signal.label ?? signal.topic,
     mentions: signal.mentions,
     prior_mentions: signal.priorMentions,
     score: signal.score,
@@ -212,6 +208,7 @@ export async function ingestTrends(
 type TrendRow = {
   source: string;
   topic: string;
+  label: string | null;
   mentions: number | null;
   prior_mentions: number | null;
   score: number | null;
@@ -223,6 +220,7 @@ type TrendRow = {
 const rowToSignal = (row: TrendRow): TrendSignal => ({
   source: row.source,
   topic: row.topic,
+  label: row.label ?? row.topic,
   score: Number(row.score) || 0,
   mentions: Number(row.mentions) || 0,
   priorMentions: Number(row.prior_mentions) || 0,
@@ -250,7 +248,7 @@ export async function currentTrends(
   try {
     const { data, error } = await sb
       .from("ad_trend_topics")
-      .select("source, topic, mentions, prior_mentions, score, window_days, generated_at, ingested_at")
+      .select("source, topic, label, mentions, prior_mentions, score, window_days, generated_at, ingested_at")
       .eq("source", source)
       .eq("window_days", windowDays)
       .order("score", { ascending: false })

lib/env.ts

@@ -61,13 +61,8 @@ export const env = {
   // Tor SOCKS5 proxy for reaching .onion targets, e.g. socks5h://127.0.0.1:9050.
   // Empty = .onion audits/ads are unreachable (fail with a clear message).
   torSocksUrl: process.env.TOR_SOCKS_URL ?? "",
-  // SameBrain — chovy.com's read on what founders are asking to build this
-  // week, which the ad network targets on. The secret is the same value the
-  // source has; both live in the vault (logicsrc team `crawlproof-com--prod`)
-  // and are set on the Railway service, never in a committed .env file.
-  // Unset means no trend ingestion, which degrades to no trend targeting.
-  samebrainUrl: process.env.SAMEBRAIN_URL ?? "https://chovy.com",
-  samebrainSecret: process.env.SAMEBRAIN_SECRET ?? "",
+  // Where the trending subjects come from. Public, so no key.
+  trendUrl: process.env.TREND_URL ?? "https://rssamp.com",
   workerUrl: process.env.WORKER_URL ?? "",
   workerSecret: process.env.WORKER_SHARED_SECRET ?? "",
   cronSecret: process.env.CRON_SECRET ?? "",

supabase/migrations/20261107020000_ad_trend_topic_label.sql

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+-- `topic` is stemmed for matching ("midterm result"), which is no way to show a
+-- subject to a person. The public /trending page shows this instead.
+alter table public.ad_trend_topics add column if not exists label text;
+
+-- The list from the old source: stale since 2026-09-12, and never subjects.
+delete from public.ad_trend_topics where source = 'samebrain';

tests/ads-trending.test.ts

@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ import { campaignBodyFromArgs, promoLine, parseArgs } from "@/cli/index";
 const DAY = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
 
 const signal = (topic: string, score = 10): TrendSignal => ({
-  source: "samebrain",
+  source: "rssamp",
   topic,
   score,
   mentions: 5,
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ describe("matching a campaign to a page", () => {
 describe("the trend payload another service sends", () => {
   it("keeps what it can use and drops the rest", () => {
     const parsed = parseTrendPayload({
-      source: "samebrain",
+      source: "rssamp",
       window_days: 7,
       generated_at: 1_757_500_000_000,
       topics: [