Click-Through Rates and Mobile Devices
Click-through rates (CTR) have proven over time to be extremely important in determining how popular a certain link will be among users who search for certain keywords. The metric was originally used for solely desktop users because mobile devices were not able to use search engines years ago, but now, with the development of technology, […]
Information cascades in social media
In the article, the author argues that Google Plus offers a better platform for businesses, so the public should considering switching over. The features of Google Plus that make it superior to the likes of Facebook or LinkedIn are the Communities feature and the Hangout feature. The Communities feature connects users with a shared interest, […]
American Presidential Primaries and Information Cascades
An Information Cascade occurs when an individual bases his decision on his observation of the actions of other people, rather than his own information signals. Social observers have long recognized that this effect rises from human beings’ deep-rooted proclivity to imitate. Countless models, spanning many fields ranging from politics to finance to medicine, exhibit the effects of […]
Weak Ties At Work
Most people tend to think that strong ties are the most important ties to make. However, making weak ties seems to be just as important, especially in the workplace. Strong ties tend to create a network that does not reach very far—you are likely to know many of the same people as your strong ties […]
More than just a Web Search algorithm: Google’s PageRank in non-Internet contexts
Most people familiar with web development and the Internet in general have heard of PageRank, Google’s most famous search result ranking algorithm. Far less well known, however, are the remarkably wide variety and surprising power of applications of the PageRank algorithm in non-Internet contexts. While it’s unclear whether PageRank will ever find as much success […]
It’s more than just CTR, Lysol
As discussed in class, Google features both sponsored slots on their results page in addition to the list calculated by their algorithm. Well, Lysol wasted little time in taking advantage of the recent Ebola crisis and used it to their advantage to increase their internet traffic. As most people are aware, Ebola has recently skyrocketed […]
The Driving Force Behind Today’s “Follow” Culture
Direct benefit is the idea that as more people engage in an action, it becomes more beneficial for you to also engage in the action; this is frequently seen in social media. In other words, people will not join a social media site unless they have people of interest who are also joining the same […]
Bayes’s theorem and bias
http://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2014/sep/28/belief-bias-and-bayes When one thinks about probability and statistics, it makes sense to associate these topics of study with hard numbers, facts, or conclusions made on actual collected data. While it can admittedly be very easy to misinterpret or misrepresent certain data sets, probability and statistics still base themselves on the scientific method. In class, we […]
Advertisement Slots are Disapppearing
The internet is a wonderful and scary place. It has proven time and time again that it is a beast that cannot be controlled. Those who wish to make a profit off of it must know the consequences, as there is little stability with it. As consumers grow smarter and more wary of advertisements, they […]
Google Ad Prices Drop while Clicks Increases
Recent data from Google’s last quarterly report, released on September 30th, shows an interesting trend, Google’s cost-per click prices are decreasing even though the number of “aggregate paid clicks” increased significantly. The decrease in cost-per click prices is not necessarily a surprise, there’s been a steady decline in the average price for the past three […]
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