If you’ve been in the market for almost anything recently, you’ve probably noticed price fluctuations. You place a bicycle on your Amazon wish list at one price, only to see it shoot up a hundred dollars more a few days later, then drop to a hundred less a week or so after that. Everything from airplane tickets to apartment rentals seems subject to dramatic price changes from one day to the next. The way that these price changes are accomplished is through algorithms — complex computerized step-driven formulas that crunch variables related to product and market, then spew out answers.
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Algorithms for Rent: The Price Is Right
Posted by: Patrick Nelson March 12, 2013 05:00 AMIf you’ve been in the market for almost anything recently, you’ve probably noticed price fluctuations. You place a bicycle on your Amazon wish list at one price, only to see it shoot up a hundred dollars more a few days later, then drop to a hundred less a week or so after that. Everything from airplane tickets to apartment rentals seems subject to dramatic price changes from one day to the next. The way that these price changes are accomplished is through algorithms — complex computerized step-driven formulas that crunch variables related to product and market, then spew out answers.