Addressing the problem of relevance
According to this short clip from consumer data wiz Andreas Weigend, former Chief Scientist for Amazon, the answer does not lie in smarter algorithms—he believes we have reached the ceiling there. Instead, Weigend believes the answer lies in smart incentives to encourage people to provide information about themselves. That by providing critical information that allows companies to help address questions the consumer has they allow those companies to serve them better. This allows companies to reward the attention of their consumers more richly and disappoint them less.
It doesn’t take much imagination to see how this philosophy has been baked into Amazon’s platform. For those concerned about privacy—this is only an issue when it is used inappropriately. If data collection is transparent and used in clearly relevant ways, then it becomes the basis for customer loyalty. Moreover, the loyalty is not based on rewards systems that cost the company money, it is based on the fact that customer’s are prone to transact more with the companies that serve them best!
