[chillee]

I don't think people actually use Vickrey auctions in practice (although it's likely to use some of the same ideas). Even though it has some really cool properties (you're theoretically perfectly incentivized to bid your real price), it has some weaknesses in real life "imperfect" auctions (as an example, weak to collaboration from what I remember).

But seriously, auctions in general (ad auctions yes, but also many other "kinds" of marketplaces, like zillow for ex) are a super huge application of algorithmic game theory. I took a course in Algorithmic Game Theory with Eva Tardos, and she was constantly being asked by companies like Facebook for consulting on their auctions. Google also has a whole team of algorithmic game theory type people for their ads too.

Facebook actually has a meeting room named after her.

[wenc]

Yes algorithmic game theory is what I'm getting at. I wonder if you know of any talks about tech companies implementing game theory algorithms in production systems? You mentioned Facebook but they don't seem to have any talks at conferences on the topic. What other companies do you know that implement game theory algorithms?