BU Cyber Alliance Hosts 5/7 Seminar, Featuring John Byers

12:30 PM – 2:00 PM on Monday, May 7, 2018
BU School of Law (Room 1503), 765 Commonwealth Avenue

Targeted Online Advertising:  A View From the Inside
John Byers 
Professor, Computer Science

Abstract: Recent revelations, especially those relating to Cambridge Analytica’s access to private information of Facebook users, have raised issues of data privacy and user targeting to an unprecedented level of public awareness. In this talk, Byers aims to provide some new insights on targeted advertising, from the perspective of an advertiser, drawing from his experience serving as founding Chief Scientist at Cogo Labs, an ad tech incubator in Kendall Square, since 2005.

First, he will present technical mechanisms advertisers use to share user data behind the scenes, including the prevalent use of MD5 hashes, cookie syncing, and daisy chaining. He then plans to explore some of the economic consequences of data sharing, notably, a “rich get richer” phenomenon that can arise amongst advertisers for relatively undifferentiated goods: those with the most data can build the best targeted models, and thereby gain a competitive advantage in future customer acquisition, enhancing their data advantage. All else being equal, this process favors incumbents over new market entrants, and arguably confronts advertisers with a moral hazard, in which excessive data sharing sacrifices user privacy yet incurs very low risk to less scrupulous advertisers themselves.

Bio: John W. Byers is Professor of Computer Science and Data Science Faculty Fellow at Boston University. He is also founding Chief Scientist and a member of the Board of Directors at Cogo Labs, a technology incubator based in Cambridge, MA, where he has held an executive role since its founding in 2005. Dr. Byers received his B.A. in Computer Science, Economics, and Mathematics at Cornell University (1991), and his Ph.D.
in Computer Science at the University of California at Berkeley (1997).

Professor Byers’ academic research centers on data-analytic and algorithmic challenges in two disciplines: the empirical study of Internet platforms and the science of computer networking. His recent data-driven research on platforms has studied the reputational impacts of running a Groupon offer, the impact of Airbnb on the hotel industry, and the utility of rating and review sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor. His published work includes two articles honored with Test of Time awards and has received over 11,000 citations.

At Cogo Labs, Professor Byers helps research and design the company’s proprietary technology platform, consisting of methods for online advertising, algorithmic marketing, and data analytics that help power incubated portfolio companies from inception to profitability and beyond. To date, three Cogo portfolio companies have been acquired.