"Digital Advertising Auctions: From Theory to Practice (and Back)"
Bio
Michael Ostrovsky is the Fred H. Merrill Professor of Economics at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Co-Director of the NBER Working Group on Market Design. His research is in the areas of game theory, market design, industrial organization, and finance. The topics of his research include congestion pricing, carpooling, and autonomous transportation; the properties of internet advertising auctions; the use of choice-screen auctions as an antitrust remedy; the aggregation of information in financial markets; and the formation of supply chain networks. In addition to his academic work, Michael has advised various companies on issues related to online advertising, marketplace design, bidding strategies in complex auctions, and antitrust enforcement. He has also co-founded Topsort, a venture-backed start-up providing advertising auction infrastructure to retailers and marketplaces. Michael received his PhD in Business Economics from Harvard University and his BAS in Mathematics and Economics from Stanford University.
Presentation Abstract
I will talk about my experience in the area of digital advertising auctions, from the initial papers on the topic, to consulting engagements and joint research with companies running ad auctions, to founding an ad auctions start-up. In particular, I will emphasize the interplay between economic theory and business practice in the ad auctions space.
Referenced Papers
- https://web.stanford.edu/~ost/papers/cycling.pdf
- https://web.stanford.edu/~ost/papers/gsp.pdf
- https://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~hal/Papers/2006/position.pdf
- https://doi.org/10.1145/1250910.1250918
- https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/725702
- https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.07685
- https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20220699&&from=f