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CS 410/510 Top: Markets and the Internet
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CS 410/510 Top: Markets and the Internet

Credit Hours:

4/3

Course Coordinator:

Nirupama Bulusu

Course Description:

This course will explore the interplay of the Internet, crowds and markets with the examples of Amazon, Netflix, Groupon, eBay, Yelp, Trip Advisor, Mechanical Turk, Google, Facebook and BitCoin. In particular, we will study how the Internet enables companies to exploit and profit from the "long tail" of human interests. Specific topics covered include auctions and sponsored search markets, reputation systems and collaborative filtering, personalization, privacy and tracking on the Internet, incentives and crowd sourcing, virtual currencies (e.g.. Bitcoin), social marketing, networked pricing, and prediction markets.

Prerequisites:

CS 350, STAT 451 or equivalent (Recommended)

Goals:

Upon the successful completion of this class, students will be able to:

 

  1. Explain fundamental ideas in graph theory, and how they can be used to model network effects, both in Internet social networks and Web Search.
  2. Explain fundamental ideas in game theory including games and evolutionary game theory.
  3. Apply game theory to analyze strategic behavior in auction design.
  4. Explain the fundamental ideas in matching markets linking sellers and buyers.
  5. Explain the fundamental ideas behind power laws, including long tails, and explore the relationship between the Internet, the long tail of human interests and monetization.
  6. Explain the fundamental concepts underpinning auctions, including when auctions are appropriate and types of auction formats.
  7. Compare and contrast different auction formats including first price auctions and second price auctions.
  8. Explain how generalized second price auctions can be used to enable sponsored search markets on the Web.
  9. Explain network models and how they can be used to drive viral growth in the Consumer Internet.
  10. Explain the fundamental ideas behind virtual currencies.
  11. Explain the fundamental ideas behind prediction markets and why they are effective.

Textbooks:

"Networks, Crowds, and Markets: Reasoning About a Highly Connected World", David Easley and Jon Kleinberg, Cambridge University Press, 2010.

We will be using the online pre-print version of the book.