How to Slice the Pie? Optimal Share Structure Design in Internet Advertising...

Google Tech Talks June, 9 2008 ABSTRACT Presented by Andrew B. Whinston Center for Research in Electronic Commerce Mccombs School of Business The University of Texas at Austin Based on a joint research with Jianqing Chen and De Liu Abstract: Internet-based advertising continues to increase in importance. Internet advertising providers such as Google and Yahoo! allocate their advertising resources using a novel form of share auctions in which the highest advertiser gets the largest share, the second highest advertiser gets the second largest share, and so on. A share structure problem arises in such a setting regarding how much resources to set aside for the highest advertiser, for the second highest advertiser, etc. We address this problem under a general specification and derive implications on how the optimal share structure should change with advertisers' price elasticity of demand for exposure, their valuation distribution, total resources, and minimum bids. Full Synopsis here: http://docs.google.com/a/google.com/Doc?id=cdvbh2g5_1621cg97gcct Speaker: Dr. Andrew B. Whinston http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_B._Whinston Andrew B. Whinston is an American economist and computer scientist. He is the Hugh Roy Cullen Centennial Chair in Business Administration, Professor of Information Systems, Computer Science and Economics, and Director of the Center for Research in E-Commerce (CREC) in the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. Prof. Whinston is also a fellow of the IC2 Institute, Austin. At the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) in December 2005, Prof. Whinston was awarded "The LEO Award for Lifetime Exceptional Achievement in Information Systems" by the Association for Information Systems (AIS). Andrew Whinston has been a major contributor to the field since information systems began as an academic discipline. His research record is exemplary, his publications are many, his doctoral graduates are found throughout the field in all parts of the world, and his innovative research has enlightened critical developments in the field.