Internet

Search and Advertising

Economists are interested in how the design of ad auctions affects search engine revenues, and how access to the Internet – and thus to search engines – affects retail prices and possibly leads to higher prices for certain consumers.

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TAP Blog

Private browsing: What it does – and doesn’t do – to shield you from prying eyes on the web

Carnegie Mellon University computer science and privacy expert Lorrie Cranor and her colleague Hana Habib, Graduate Research Assistant with CMU, explain what the private-browsing tools available with most browsers actually provide users. They clarify: “don’t confuse privacy for anonymity.”

Lorrie Faith Cranor

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Fact Sheets

Search Engines, Advertising, and Auctions

Search engines – such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, and a variety of other smaller search engines – help users find what they are looking for online by finding web pages that match user-entered keywords. Search engines are free to users, but typically earn revenue through paid advertising.

Quote

This Deal Helped Turn Google Into an Ad Powerhouse. Is That a Problem?

“If I knew in 2007 what I know now, I would have voted to challenge the DoubleClick acquisition,” — William Kovacic, Professor of Law, George Washington University
William E. Kovacic
The New York Times
September 21, 2020

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Featured Article

Shining a Light on Dark Patterns

Some user interfaces include “dark patterns” that exploit cognitive bias to manipulate users. Two experiments show that subtle dark patterns are more dangerous, because consumers are less likely to reject them.

By: Lior Strahilevitz, Jamie Luguri

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