Publications

April 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Internet Securities, Inc.: Path to Sustainability

By: Lynda M. Applegate, William R. Kerr and Ryan Johnson

Founded in 1994 when the Internet was still a "toy for techies," the case is set in 1998 when Internet IPOs were red-hot. Internet Securities provides hard-to-find financial, business, economic, and political information on emerging markets. Information from over 600... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Model; Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Cash Flow; Initial Public Offering; Analytics and Data Science; Growth and Development Strategy; Valuation

Article

Technological Mediation and Commercial Development in the Early Internet Access Market

By: Shane Greenstein

04 Jun 2014
What Do You Think?

Does Internet Technology Threaten Brand Loyalty?

topic is "like the story of King Midas, we will be starved by the excess of golden information." Still others suggested that marketers have little to fear, especially if they are willing and able to strengthen their brands. As... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Advertising; Consumer Products; Technology

July 1999 (Revised January 2000)
Case

Yahoo!: Business on Internet Time

By: Jan W. Rivkin and Jay R. Girotto

In the wake of major competitive moves, CEO Tim Koogle and his senior team at Yahoo!, an Internet portal, must decide whether and how to adjust their strategy. Following deals between AOL and Netscape, Excite and @Home, Infoseek and Disney, and Snap and NBS, Yahoo!... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Organizational Structure; Industry Structures; Internet and the Web; Risk Management; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Information Technology Industry; Web Services Industry

August 2018 (Revised February 2023)
Case

Hubble Contact Lenses: Data Driven Direct-to-Consumer Marketing

By: Jill Avery and Ayelet Israeli

As its Series A extension round approaches, the founders of Hubble, a subscription-based, social-media fueled, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand of contact lenses, are reflecting on the marketing strategies that have taken them to a valuation of $200 million and debating... View Details

July – August 2010
Article

Vision Statement: Mapping the Social Internet

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski and Tommy McCall

Fresh data on internet user behaviors around the globe show an East-West divide. View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Emerging Markets; Social and Collaborative Networks; Internet

16 Mar 2009
Research & Ideas

When the Internet Runs Out of IP Addresses

The Internet is running out of room. Experts predict that in two or three years we will run out of Web addresses, so-called IP addresses, that can be assigned to new Internet-based sites and services. Each site is assigned a unique number... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Telecommunications

July 2021
Article

Outsourcing Tasks Online: Matching Supply and Demand on Peer-to-Peer Internet Platforms

By: Zoë Cullen and Chiara Farronato

We study the growth of online peer-to-peer markets. Using data from TaskRabbit, an expanding marketplace for domestic tasks at the time of our study, we show that growth varies considerably across cities. To disentangle the potential drivers of growth, we look... View Details

Keywords: Two-sided Market; Two-sided Platforms; Peer-to-peer Markets; Platform Strategy; Sharing Economy; Platform Growth; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Strategy; Market Design; Network Effects

September 1999 (Revised November 2000)
Case

Swatch Group, The: On Internet Time

By: Luc R. Wathieu, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

Under the leadership of Nicholas Hayek, the Swatch Group, makers of the Swatch watch, is widely credited with revitalizing the Swiss watch industry by offering a consistent set of brands addressing all segments of the global watch market. New opportunities beyond the... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry

March 2017 (Revised May 2019)
Case

Marketing Transformation at Mastercard

By: Sunil Gupta, Srinivas K. Reddy and David Lane

Since 2013, Mastercard CMO M.V. Rajamannar (Raja) had transformed the firm's marketing by using unique experiences, digital technology, and social media to intensify linkages not only with cardholders, but also with Mastercard's direct bank and merchant stakeholders.... View Details

Keywords: Mastercard; Financial Services; Ingredient Brand; B2B2C; Experiential Marketing; Digital Marketing; ROI; Marketing; Customer Focus and Relationships; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Brands and Branding; Internet and the Web; Investment Return; Financial Services Industry

January 2019 (Revised February 2024)
Teaching Note

Hubble Contact Lenses: Data Driven Direct-to-Consumer Marketing

By: Ayelet Israeli

Teaching Note for HBS No. 519-011. As its Series A extension round approaches, the founders of Hubble, a subscription-based, social-media fueled, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand of contact lenses, are reflecting on the marketing strategies that have taken them to a... View Details

Research Summary

Internet Auctions for Close Substitutes

(with Eric Budish)

This is mainly an experimental project where we compare many auction designs in a market for close substitutes. We hypothesize some information will not get to market if there is sequential bidding and/or a hard close, and that this will... View Details

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Throwing Your Opponent: Strategies for the Internet Age

The Internet is changing the nature of competition in virtually every industry. And according to HBS professor David Yoffie, competing in the Internet age is more than just a matter of having to do... View Details

Keywords: by Daniel Penrice

16 May 2000
Research & Ideas

Getting the Message: How the Internet is Changing Advertising

that marketers began to think of the Web as an advertising medium, U.S. Internet advertisers spent $940 million; a year later, that number had almost doubled, and some put it as high as $4 billion in 1999.... View Details

Keywords: by Susan Young

Research Summary

Markets and Market Design

The topic on which I currently spend the most of my research energy is the study of strategic interaction and reputation systems on eBay and similar markets from an applied, market design perspective. The rise of the Internet allowed a whole new generation of markets... View Details

June 2002
Article

The Timing of Bids in Internet Auctions: Market Design, Bidder Behavior, and Artificial Agents

By: Axel Ockenfels and Alvin E. Roth

Keywords: Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Internet and the Web; Markets; Design; Behavior; Internet and the Web

2008
Chapter

Innovation and the Evolution of Market Structure for Internet Access in the United States

By: Shane Greenstein