Google institutionalized click-through prediction as a new science of commerce

Evidence

With click-through rates as the measure of relevance accomplished, behavioral surplus was institutionalized as the cornerstone of a new kind of commerce that depended upon online surveillance at scale. Insiders referred to Google’s new science of behavioral prediction as the “physics of clicks.” Mastery of this new domain required a specialized breed of click physicists who would secure Google’s preeminence within the nascent priesthood of behavioral prediction. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 263

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ‘behavioral surplus’ as a cornerstone concept and ‘physics of clicks’ as Google’s insider term for click prediction science.
• XREF: connects to: Markets in future behavior emerged from Google’s predictive analysis of data exhaust — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1066; Google’s early ad-matching patents replaced guesswork with predictive behavioral data — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 245; Click-through pricing shifted ad value from views to measured engagement — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 258 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Google’s quality-score system tied ad placement to measured clicks #exemplifies (0.90) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 890
• Google’s ad-ranking innovation operationalized behavioral surplus as its core asset #expands (0.85) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 239
• Google reimagined search query by-products as a resource for learning #expands (0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 212
• Measuring attention as data enables treating it as a monetizable resource #expands (0.80)