Seth Stephens-Davidowitz

Many companies are unduly wary of big data—they see it as meaningless, or too abstract, or just too, well, big. But to Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, analyzing vast tracts of information—especially search results, clicks—can be vital to discovering counterintuitive insights about how consumers really behave. It’s not enough to ask customers what they want; in fact, what they reveal in feedback is often a distortion of their real beliefs. Instead, intelligent companies pay attention to measurable behavior—hits, decisions, purchases—to give consumers what they actually want (even if those ‘wants’ aren’t what they’re always willing to admit). In this talk, Stephens-Davidowitz maps out the secrets behind some of the Internet’s biggest businesses. He offers insights on rapid experimentation and cutting-edge advertising techniques. And, drawing on a host of case studies and hidden experiments, he shows how all the world’s a lab—if you know how to test it.