SearcherAdvertiser Word Matching Games

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Searcher-Advertiser Word Matching Games

• David Bodoff
• Graduate School of Management
• University of Haifa
• partially funded by Caesarea Rothschild Institute
  (CRI)

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Key Question

• A topic can be expressed by a number of
  terms/phrases.
• Will searchers and advertisers forever have this
  problem?
• ? Or, might a terminological convention
  emerge??????? ???????????

3
Key Idea

• Keyword Advertising is a two-sided, dynamic,
  word-choosing game between
• SEARCHERS
• ADVERTISERS
• Therefore, we may expect the solution to evolve

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Player Type 1 Searchers

• Search is iterative
• Searchers carefully choose words, to anticipate
  words in (relevant) content

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SYSTEM
SEARCHER
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SYSTEM
dog kennel
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SYSTEM
puppies
dog kennel
dog kennel
puppies
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SYSTEM
puppies
dog kennel
dog kennel
dog kennel
puppies
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Huh? Just that?
SYSTEM
puppies
dog kennel
dog kennel
puppies
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Maybe Ill try Puppies
SYSTEM
puppies
dog kennel
puppies
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Maybe Ill try Puppies
SYSTEM
puppies
dog kennel
puppies
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Player Type 2 Author or Advertiser

• Searcher has a dual (counterpart) the content
  owner, author, indexer, advertiser
• They are also carefully choosing words, to
  anticipate words used by relevant searchers

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AUTHOR or ADVERTISER
SYSTEM
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I think the word puppies will be used by
interested searchers
AUTHOR or ADVERTISER
SYSTEM
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I think the word puppies will be used by
interested searchers
AUTHOR or ADVERTISER
SEARCHER
I think the word kennel will be used in
relevant sites
SYSTEM
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Consumer
Keyword Advertiser
Searcher
Website author (SEO)
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puppies
AUTHOR or ADVERTISER
SEARCHER
kennel
SYSTEM
!! NO RESULTS !!
!! NO HITS !!
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puppies
Hmm Better try kennel
SEARCHER
kennel
Hmm Better try puppies
SYSTEM
!! NO RESULTS !!
!! NO HITS !!
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kennel
AUTHOR or ADVERTISER
SEARCHER
puppies
SYSTEM
!! HUH ?? NO RESULTS AGAIN ??
!! HUH? NO HITS AGAIN??
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kennel
AUTHOR or ADVERTISER
SEARCHER
puppies
SYSTEM
!! HUH ?? NO RESULTS AGAIN ??
!! HUH? NO HITS AGAIN??
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kennel
AUTHOR or ADVERTISER
SEARCHER
puppies
SYSTEM
!! HUH ?? NO RESULTS AGAIN ??
!! HUH? NO HITS AGAIN??
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kennel
puppies
puppies
kennel
kennel
puppies
puppies
kennel
kennel
puppies
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Game 1

• The Basic Game

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(No Transcript)
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(No Transcript)
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(No Transcript)
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kennel
puppies
puppies
kennel
kennel
puppies
puppies
kennel
kennel
puppies
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kennel
puppies
puppies
kennel
kennel
puppies
puppies
kennel
kennel
puppies
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kennel
puppies
_at_!GRRR
puppies
kennel
match
kennel
_at_!GRRR
puppies
match
puppies
kennel
_at_!GRRR
kennel
puppies
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hmmm
hmmmm
hmmm
hmmm
hmmm
hmmmm
hmmmm
hmmm
hmmm
hmmmm
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kennel
puppies
_at_!GRRR
kennel
puppies
_at_!GRRR
match
kennel
puppies
_at_!GRRR
kennel
kennel
_at_!GRRR
puppies
puppies
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hmmm
hmmmm
hmmm
hmmm
hmmm
hmmmm
hmmmm
hmmm
hmmm
hmmmm
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hmmm
hmmm
hmmmm
hmmm
hmmmm
hmmm
hmmmm
hmmmm
hmmm
PUPPIES!
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Experiment

• 30 rounds of action feedback
• Everyone is shown the text, and two possible
  keywords
• Action Each player must choose of the two
  keywords
• Feedback Matched partner or not?

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Experiment Action

• "???? ??? ???? ??????? ???? ??????, ??? ????? ???
  ???? ?????? ???? ??????? ??? ??????? ??????
  ???????? ??????? ???."
• ??? ??? ?????? ???? ??? ????? ?? ????
• ???
• ????????
• ?? ??/? ?????? ??? ?????? ?? (???/? ???? ????/?
  ?? ??/?) ????? ????? ????? ?????, ????? ?????
  ????? ?????? ??

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Experiment Action

• "New research shows that contrary to the widely
  held belief, there is no evidence that garlic and
  food supplements containing garlic help to reduce
  fats and cholesterol in the blood ."
• ??? ??? ?????? ???? ??? ????? ?? ????
• ???
• ????????
• ?? ??/? ?????? ??? ?????? ?? (???/? ???? ????/?
  ?? ??/?) ????? ????? ????? ?????, ????? ?????
  ????? ?????? ??

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Experiment Feedback
?? ???? puppy ????? ?????? ?? ??? puppy
?? ???? kennel ????? ?????? ?? ??? puppy
?? ???? kennel ????? ?????? ?? ??? kennel
?? ???? kennel ????? ?????? ?? ??? puppy
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Experiment Action round 2

• "???? ??? ???? ??????? ???? ??????, ??? ????? ???
  ???? ?????? ???? ??????? ??? ??????? ??????
  ???????? ??????? ???."
• ??? ??? ?????? ???? ??? ????? ?? ????
• ???
• ????????
• ?? ??/? ?????? ??? ?????? ?? (???/? ???? ????/?
  ?? ??/?) ????? ????? ????? ?????, ????? ?????
  ????? ?????? ??

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Experiment Feedback round 2
?? ???? puppy ????? ?????? ?? ??? puppy
?? ???? kennel ????? ?????? ?? ??? puppy
?? ???? kennel ????? ?????? ?? ??? kennel
?? ???? kennel ????? ?????? ?? ??? puppy
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garlic
???? ??? ???? ??????? ???? ??????, ??? ????? ???
???? ?????? ???? ??????? ??? ??????? ??????
???????? ??????? ???
cholesterol
Time
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garlic
???? ??? ???? ??????? ???? ??????, ??? ????? ???
???? ?????? ???? ??????? ??? ??????? ??????
???????? ??????? ???
cholesterol
Time
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garlic
???? ??? ???? ??????? ???? ??????, ??? ????? ???
???? ?????? ???? ??????? ??? ??????? ??????
???????? ??????? ???
cholesterol
Time
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garlic
???? ??? ???? ??????? ???? ??????, ??? ????? ???
???? ?????? ???? ??????? ??? ??????? ??????
???????? ??????? ???
cholesterol
Time
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garlic
???? ??? ???? ??????? ???? ??????, ??? ????? ???
???? ?????? ???? ??????? ??? ??????? ??????
???????? ??????? ???
cholesterol
Time
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Typical Results
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Theories

• Evolution of language
• Learning
• Conventions (e.g. driving on right side)
• Databases
• Robotics and Artificial Intelligence

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Game 2

• The Wicked Game

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Wicked version

• First, we separate players according to which
  keyword they personally believe is more
  appropriate

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• "???? ??? ???? ??????? ???? ??????, ??? ????? ???
  ???? ?????? ???? ??????? ??? ??????? ??????
  ???????? ??????? ???."
• ??? ???? ?????/?, ???? ???? ?????? ???? ????? ??
  ?????
• ???
• ????????

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kennel
puppies
puppies
kennel
puppies
kennel
puppies
kennel
puppies
kennel
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Wicked version

• This game represents a situation where one side
  (e.g. searchers) would naturally tend to use one
  term, while the other side would naturally tend
  to use another
• myocardial infarction versus heart attack?

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Typical Results
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Some Discussion
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What are the interesting questions?

• What factors determine whether convention will
  emerge, and how fast?
• What factors determine which term (if any)
  emerges as the convention?

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What are the interesting questions?

• What factors determine whether convention will
  emerge, and how fast?
• What factors determine which term (if any)
  emerges as the convention?

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What are the interesting questions?

• What factors determine whether convention will
  emerge, and how fast?
• What factors determine which term (if any)
  emerges as the convention?
• Biggest factor which term is used by more
  players in first round

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kennel
puppies
kennel
puppies
kennel
puppies
kennel
kennel
kennel
puppies
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Which term emerges as convention?

• Biggest factor which term is used by more
  players in first round
• Evolution does not depend only on you and your
  customers, but also on all your competitors and
  all of their customers
• 2-sided market like shopping mall

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Key Points

• Which term is successful? This evolves.
• Evolution depends partly on your choice, and also
  on others choice

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Options?

• If the popularity (and price) of advertising on
  different keywords is likely to evolve over time,
  might there not be a market for options?
• E.g. Today, top bid for kennel is (say) 1 per
  click. You want to guarantee top placement on
  kennel for reasonable price. Will Google sell
  you a call option?

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Game 3

• The Separation Game

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The separation game

• Evolution of terms for one topic, depends on
  evolution of terms for other topics!

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WORDS
TOPIC
Garlic
???? ??? ???? ??????? ???? ??????, ??? ????? ???
???? ?????? ???? ??????? ??? ??????? ??????
???????? ??????? ???
Cholesterol
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WORDS
TOPIC
Garlic
???? ??? ???? ??????? ???? ??????, ??? ????? ???
???? ?????? ???? ??????? ??? ??????? ??????
???????? ??????? ???
???? ???? ??? ???? ???? ????? ???? ??? ????? ????
Cholesterol
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garlic
cholesterol
???? ??? ???? ??????? ???? ??????, ??? ????? ???
???? ?????? ???? ??????? ??? ??????? ??????
???????? ??????? ???
???? ???? ??? ???? ???? ????? ???? ??? ????? ????
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garlic
cholesterol
???? ??? ???? ??????? ???? ??????, ??? ????? ???
???? ?????? ???? ??????? ??? ??????? ??????
???????? ??????? ???
???? ???? ??? ???? ???? ????? ???? ??? ????? ????
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garlic
cholesterol
???? ??? ???? ??????? ???? ??????, ??? ????? ???
???? ?????? ???? ??????? ??? ??????? ??????
???????? ??????? ???
???? ???? ??? ???? ???? ????? ???? ??? ????? ????
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(No Transcript)
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Typical Results
GARLIC
CHOLESTEROL
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Summary -- Key Points

• Which term will match your searchers?
• This may evolve
• OK but will evolve to which term?
• Depends on terms you use
• Depends (positively) on terms other similar
  vendors use
• Depends (negatively) on terms used by related but
  different vendors

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A place to buy new dog
Looks like kennel will win
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A place to buy new dog
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Subject A place to watch my dog
Looks like kennel will win here so,
kennel will lose here
Subject A place to buy new dog
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The End