Success of one man after using Bayes’ Theorem to correctly predict the 2012 Presidential election
By using the Bayes’ theorem, statistician Nate Silver correctly predicted the 2012 Presidential election. Bayes’ theorem is a formula that was created by Thomas Bayes to “provide a way to revise existing predictions or theories given new or additional evidence” (Investopedia). Silver drew significant attention in 2012 after correctly forecasting the election outcomes in all […]
How Microsoft is Leveraging Network Dynamics to Increase its Mobile Foothold
Long a dominant market leader in computer software due to its Windows operating system and Office software, Microsoft has struggled to gain a similar foothold in the mobile space. Its Windows Phone operating system has lagged behind Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS, while its Office suite has struggled against a number of different applications optimized […]
How much do companies lose when Google Ads go down
http://www.businessinsider.com/doubleclick-for-publishers-down-2014-11 The linked article discusses some of the effects of one of Google’s main ad services, DoubleClick going down for well over an hour on Wednesday, November 12th. Specifically the ad server for publishers went down. This is more or less the service in which Google runs the modified second price auction that we discussed […]
WhatsApp and the Erosion of the Network Effect
The article that I read for this blog post was titled “WhatsApp and the Erosion of the Network Effect” and was published by The Atlantic. The article was published when Facebook purchased WhatsApp for $19 billion and analyzes how this purchase demonstrates a reduction in the influence of the Network Effect. The main point that […]
Intro to information cascades with uneven signal reliabilities
When we were working with information cascades in class, we operated under two very large assumptions about the environment of the experiment–there is a 50-50 chance that the experiment is in a predetermined “good” or “bad” state. In addition, we assumed that a “bad” state has the same probability of showing a low signal […]
YouTube Music Key: The New Spotify?
Last Wednesday, YouTube revealed YouTube Music Key, a “long-awaited upgrade of its music offerings that will include higher-quality audio for most songs”. At the price of $10 a month, users will not only receive higher quality music, but removal of YouTube’s numerous ads, the use of Google Play Music services, and offline viewing. Although YouTube is […]
Reverse Network Effects
http://www.wired.com/2014/03/reverse-network-effects-todays-social-networks-can-fail-grow-larger/ The author makes very strong arguments when describing how, for web services, networks effects can work in reverse and the growth of a network can lower the value of the service. The article does a very good job discussing the factors that make network effects work. These factors are listed as connection, content, […]
Kickstarter and Game Theory
http://www.documentary.org/content/kickstarter-effect-fundraising-game-theory The article talks about making a Kickstarter for a documentary about eminent domain. Kickstarter is a funding site that lets someone publish a project they want funded, and people can donate for incentives. What makes Kickstarter different from straight up funding is that the money pledged is only received if the goal is met. […]
Competition in Advertising
Google has long been an advertising giant in cyberspace, but lately there have been some signs they have competition. The following article, http://qz.com/291356, posted by quartz, discusses the shift in advertising power on the web. They point out that Google has seen “slowing” revenue growth from advertising. They also discuss how Facebook on the other […]
Following the Crowd and the Rise of the Islamic State
Almost everyone has heard of the Islamic State by now. It is an extremist group in the middle east that has shocked the world with its rapid rise to power in that region – and its ability to maintain power and keep its territory under control. An article by the guardian, titled “Islamic State: what […]
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