In spring 2010, accounting firm Deloitte sampled 60,000 of Aviva USA’s recent applicants for life insurance. It built a predictive model that, instead of relying on an applicant’s check-up with a doctor, used medical histories, industry-shared data from past applications, and consumer data – such as income and favourite TV shows – from profiling firm Equifax. Deloitte tested half of the sample with traditional underwriting methods, half with the predictive model. According to John Currier, chief actuary for Aviva, “the use of third-party data was persuasive across the board.”
To say thanks to the first 1,000,000 people who liked them on Facebook, Porsche put all of their names on a 911 GT3 R, put it up online and made it searchable. [via]
Read moreBreakup Notifier
Waiting out a relationship? Thanks to Facebook relationship status, there’s an app for that.
Facebook Photo Activity: The average Facebook user now has 97,000 photos in his or her network. And with 6 billion new photos being uploaded to Facebook every month, that number’s only getting bigger every minute.
Read moreSteve Jobs, Eric Schmidt and Mark Zuckerberg to Meet With President Obama Thursday in San Francisco
Steve Jobs, Eric Schmidt and Mark Zuckerberg to Meet With President Obama Thursday in San Francisco
I’d love to hear anything Steve Jobs has to say in a conversation about fixing things in this country. And while I’m sure Schmidt’s presence will only fan the flames of Glenn Beck’s towering inferno of crazy (see below), the former Google CEO has got some time on his hands and could make a great political advisor. As for Zuckerberg: if he couldn’t stop sweating on stage with Swisher and Mossberg, I hope he brings the prescription-strength anti-perspirant tonight.
Watch for the Mark Zuckerberg Cameo on SNL Tonight
Watch for the Mark Zuckerberg Cameo on SNL Tonight
Rumors swirling that the Facebook founder will join the man who played him in The Social Network, Jesse Eisenberg, for an appearance in tonight’s show, for which Eisenberg is the host.
New Estimate: Facebook Books $1.86B in 2010 Advertising
New Estimate: Facebook Books $1.86B in 2010 Advertising
Perhaps most interesting: growth seems to be fueled by self-service customers, not large advertisers. And while an annual number of $1.68Bn doesn’t even reach what Google books in a month, you have to believe the folks in Mountain View really hate seeing Zuck & Co. encroaching fast on the self-serve online ad territory they so thoroughly dominated for the last half decade.
(DISCLOSURE: The Daily Bunch charitable trust is a GOOG shareholder.)
New Estimate: Facebook Books $1.86B in 2010 Advertising
New Estimate: Facebook Books $1.86B in 2010 Advertising
Perhaps most interesting: growth seems to be fueled by self-service customers, not large advertisers. And while an annual number of $1.68Bn doesn’t even reach what Google books in a month, you have to believe the folks in Mountain View really hate seeing Zuck & Co. encroaching fast on the self-serve online ad territory they so thoroughly dominated for the last half decade.
TrojanWire 