Yet as these cyberskeptics crowed, a company called Overture Services was pioneering an innovative…

Yet as these cyberskeptics crowed, a company called Overture Services was pioneering an innovative advertising application for the new medium. When Web surfers carried out searches, it turned out, they welcomed related ads. And if they clicked on one, the advertiser paid the search engine. Google soon implemented this system on a mammoth scale and turned clicks into dollars. Advertisers could calculate their return on investment down to the penny. In this domain, the insights of a Mad Man counted for nothing. Search ran on numbers. The quants rushed in.

Can Social Media Sell Soap?
A more likely answer is this: When big new phenomena arrive on the scene, it's hard to know what to count. We've seen…nyti.ms