Google has awarded a grant to a group of 20 PIs (including myself) from three universities in Israel for the study of “electronic markets and auctions”. It is defined rather widely from basic Algorithmic Game Theory type issues to more applied ad-auction questions and spans a spectrum of researchers from CS, AI, GT, EE, IE, math, economics, and business. The crucial point is that this is academic non-Google-specific research and its results will be normally academically published.
Here is the official press release, and here is the post on Google’s research blog.
The list of PIs is:
- Hebrew University: Danny Dolev, Jeffrey S. Rosenschein, Noam Nisan (Computer Science and Engineering); Liad Blumrosen, Alex Gershkov, Eyal Winter (Economics); Michal Feldman and Ilan Kremer (Business). The last six are also members of the Center for the Study of Rationality.
- Tel Aviv University: Yossi Azar, Amos Fiat, Haim Kaplan, and Yishay Mansour (Computer Science); Zvika Neeman (Economics); Ehud Lehrer and Eilon Solan (Mathematics); and Gal Oestreicher (Business).
- Technion: Seffi Naor (Computer Science); Ron Lavi (Industrial Engineering); Shie Mannor and Ariel Orda (Electrical Engineering).
Many observers are curios about Google’s motives in such a grant. It seems that Google is simply trying to support basic research in an area which is crucial for it, while strengthening its ties with researchers, students, and the academia in this area.
Turing's Invisible Hand 
Many many congratulations. Really happy to see some familiar economics and cs-econ names in the list. Google surely knows how to use its money.
Hi, is there any other similar grant in other countries? If not, I wonder why Google love Israel so much…
See the general Google research grants page: http://research.google.com/university/relations/research_awards.html and especially the “focused grants”: http://research.google.com/university/relations/focused_research_awards.html
My answer to the question: “why should large companies support basic research” is “Why should Belgium support basic research”?
Public good anyone?
I don’t understand that point. Of course a country has a much larger interest in the long-term social good (which you could argue basic research works towards) than a company. Google is traded at the stock market, and thus Google works for the stock holders, i.e., its owners, who care about revenue. Ultimately, any decision Google makes should primarily maximize its revenue, not the social good. Or am I missing something?
What does Google Research do recent days? The same as Microsoft research?
Dear Hmm,
This is indeed an interesting issue. You can read more about it here http://gilkalai.wordpress.com/2008/06/06/what-do-firms-want/
Three points:
1) You said that Google’s decisions primarily reflects revenues maximization. Fine! But when you say “primarily” do you allow for some “secondary” goals.
2) When it comes to huge companies the connection between maximizing revenues and producing social good is much more complex.
3) Suppose that the head of Facebook has other puroses for the company beside maximizing revenues. (Well, he is doing fine also in terms of maximizing revenues.) Is it forbidden?
[…] On June 19th, there will be an Ad-auctions Workshop in Tel-Aviv, co-located with the Game-Theory Workshop that will be held on June 20-23. The ad-auction workshop is supported by the Google Grant for Electronic Markets and Auctions. […]
[…] at the Institue of advanced studies at ther Hebrew University, with additional funding from the Google grant on electronic markets and auctions, as well as from Microsoft. The worskhop was packed with over 100 registered participants, A […]