« Incentives | Main | Mexican update »
Evil, ticket-gulping bots?
What high tech wonder-tools does RMG use to defeat Ticketmaster's captchas, the annoying jumble of characters used to prove your humanity? Is it Optical Character Recognition? Something even more futuristic, maybe web 3.0-ish? Nah. Cipriano Garibay, president of RMG Technologies, boasts: "We pay guys in India $2 an hour to type the answers."
Here is the full story of why concert events must move more and more toward market-clearing prices. Thanks to Aaron Steinberg for the pointer.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on December 21, 2007 at 02:11 PM in The Arts | Permalink
Comments
There is a very informative article on "breaking" captchas (not cheating with humans, of course) at Coding Horror:
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001001.html
It's a good read if a bit technical.
Posted by: Brian Dailey at Dec 21, 2007 2:25:59 PM
Can someone help me understand why limited-seating events do not charge market-clearing prices? And why they keep the price of each ticket fixed? I've never understood this...
Posted by: G at Dec 21, 2007 2:37:59 PM
I've read that some of it has a little to do with PR concerns: the various professional leagues, for example, often want to cultivate an image of "family affordability" - differential pricing (with exorbitant prices for the most coveted seats) could destroy that image and affect long-run business.
Posted by: Riemannian at Dec 21, 2007 2:57:33 PM
We need government to regulate this, before it gets out of control like mortgage lending!
Posted by: Jay at Dec 21, 2007 3:08:10 PM
G:
To borrow from another popular economist (I forgot where I read this!): The band's etc. make more money from selling CD's , branded-T shirts and other merchandise etc. AFTER the concert. It is only their target audience (say college kids) who buy's those items later. Now if they allowed the market to set those prices the wrong("rich") kind of people would buy them! The kind that would NOT later be expected to contribute significantly to merchandise sales.
Posted by: Raul at Dec 21, 2007 3:20:14 PM
Tyler, one way to make those captchas less annoying is if you have the mental satisfaction that those 10 seconds figuring out a text jumble is not totally a wasted effort. Look at this interesting "recaptcha" project at CMU which tries to make OCR(Optical Character Recognition) a little better:
http://recaptcha.net/whyrecaptcha.html
Maybe you should plug that mechanism in for MR comments posting?
Posted by: Raul at Dec 21, 2007 3:28:50 PM
Riemannian, G -- IIRC, when Jerry Buss bought the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the first things he did was to dramatically increase the differences between the prices of the least and most expensive tickets. Substantially jacking up the cost of the courtside seats earned more revenue of course, and may have made them a more comfortable environment for Jack Nicholson and the like. He also dropped the prices of the "nosebleed" seats by quite a bit, making it easier for families and non-movie-starts to come to games, and keeping the arena full of fans. Again, it's been a while, but I remember this as being widely praised and emulated. Just for kicks, I looked to see what Knicks tickets cost right now -- they range from $10 to $3000, which sounds like a pretty big range to me. Pop stars may use a different calculus....
Posted by: Alex R at Dec 21, 2007 4:27:08 PM
When it comes to pop music (or "almost famous" music types), I think the issue comes down to age of your fans.
If you are a new hip band then your fans are likely 12 to 20-something customers who can't pay a lot for tickets, but who over time could turn (or keep) your band into a mass market phenomenom that rakes in recorded music sales and things like t-shirts.
If you are the Rolling Stomes or the Eagles and your fans are often gray haired, you can afford to charge super high prices and that will cover lost music sales down the line from disgusted poor and middle class former fans.
Posted by: happyjuggler0 at Dec 21, 2007 5:57:40 PM
Actually, I think MR should do away with the captcha. Its irritating, and I often get mistaken for a bloody bot.
Posted by: Chewxy at Dec 21, 2007 6:00:49 PM
I am also unclear on why there is room for such massive arbitrage on concert tickets. The two explanations presented so far in the comments (PR and increased sales of paraphernalia) are not especially convincing as general rules.
Posted by: Daniel Leavitt at Dec 21, 2007 6:27:35 PM
Chewxy:
It wastes 20 secs. yes, but I didn't realize people had so much trouble reading the letters!
Posted by: anon at Dec 21, 2007 8:51:47 PM
Its because 99% of people who want to see a particular event are willing to pay only face value for tickets while the other 1% is willing to pay many times face value. So despite the existence of some people who are willing to pay big money for certain events, Ticketmaster can't sell the tickets for more because then most of the other people wouldn't buy the tickets.
A good recent example is the X-Box 360 release. A few people were willing to pay $1000 or more for them, but most people who bought them weren't willing to pay much more than the $400 they paid.
Posted by: Hei Lun Chan at Dec 21, 2007 8:54:27 PM
"We pay guys in India $2 an hour to type the answers"
Smart, but spammers have had another better solution: They hosted their own pornographic site and needed users to solve a captcha to view their pics.
Guess where this captchas came from? Do people see subtle creative arbitrage there? Maybe Tyler and Alex are already raking in tons of moolah by making us solve their captchas! LOL
Instead of porn they provide economic tidbits; whatever works, I guess!
Posted by: Raul at Dec 21, 2007 9:00:16 PM
Interesting point by happyjuggler.
Posted by: sa at Dec 21, 2007 10:22:13 PM
I would submit that outsourced micro-work like this probably is a large part of whatever web-3.0 turns out to be. It's certainly futuristic enough for my tastes.
Posted by: Dave at Dec 22, 2007 9:56:16 AM
hi,I University majoring in the legal profession.After graduation,I 徵信 the work of the strong interest.Has worked in several徵信社.Has a wealth of experience. Now I immigrants France,Hope to continue to engage in the work of徵信 credit.
now, is to wake up every day to drink 咖啡, shopping. I hope that early awareness of Boles.
thanks,thank very much.
Posted by: Tonny at Mar 18, 2008 2:46:10 AM
Posted by: Alii at Apr 3, 2008 10:31:12 PM
Tiffany Replica Jewelry/a>
Links of London Jewelry
Replica Links of London Jewelry
Links of London Replica Jewelry
Posted by: aion kina at Mar 19, 2009 11:13:27 PM
花蓮,旅遊租車,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花東旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮租車,花蓮旅遊,租車,花蓮旅行社,花蓮旅遊景點,花蓮旅遊行程,花蓮旅遊地圖,花蓮一日遊,花蓮租車,花蓮租車旅遊網,花蓮租車,花蓮租車,花蓮租車,花東旅遊景點,租車,花蓮旅遊,花東旅遊行程,花東旅遊地圖,花蓮租車公司,花蓮租車,花蓮旅遊租車,花蓮租車,花蓮旅遊,花蓮賞鯨,花蓮旅遊,花蓮旅遊,租車,花蓮租車,花蓮租車 ,花蓮 租車,花蓮,花蓮旅遊網,花蓮租車網,花蓮,租車,花東 旅遊,花蓮 租車,花蓮,旅遊,租車公司,花蓮,花蓮旅遊,花東旅遊,花蓮地圖,包車,花蓮,旅遊租車,花蓮 租車,租車,花蓮租車資訊網,花蓮旅遊,租車,花東,花東地圖,租車公司,租車網,花蓮租車旅遊,租車,花蓮,賞鯨,花蓮旅遊租車,花東旅遊,租車網,花蓮海洋公園,租車 ,花蓮 租車,花蓮,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車公司,租車花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮租車公司,花蓮一日遊,花蓮包車,花蓮租車網,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮旅行社,花東旅遊,花蓮包車,租車,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮一日遊,租車服務,花蓮租車公司,花蓮包車,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮租車公司,花蓮一日遊,花蓮包車,花蓮租車網,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮租車公司,花蓮一日遊,花蓮租車,租車網,花蓮租車公司,花蓮旅遊,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮租車公司,花蓮租車公司,花蓮一日遊,租車,租車服務,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮租車公司,花蓮一日遊,花蓮旅遊,花蓮賞鯨,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮租車公司,花蓮一日遊,花蓮包車,花蓮租車網,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮租車公司,花蓮一日遊,租車花蓮,花蓮租車,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮租車公司,花蓮一日遊,租車花蓮,花蓮租車,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮租車公司,花蓮一日遊,花蓮包車,花蓮,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮租車公司,花蓮一日遊,花蓮包車,花蓮租車,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮租車公司,花蓮一日遊,花蓮包車,花蓮租車,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮租車公司,花蓮一日遊,花蓮包車,花蓮租車網,租車公司,花蓮租車,花蓮租車公司,花蓮一日遊,花蓮旅遊,花蓮旅遊租車,花蓮租車網,花蓮租車,花蓮一日遊,租車花蓮,花蓮租車,花蓮旅遊租車,花蓮租車,花蓮租車旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮旅遊,花蓮旅遊,花蓮包車,花蓮溯溪,花蓮泛舟,花蓮溯溪,花蓮旅遊,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,租車公司,花蓮旅遊租車,花蓮租車,租車,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花東旅遊,花蓮賞鯨,花蓮旅遊,花蓮泛舟,花蓮賞鯨,花蓮溯溪,花蓮泛舟,花蓮泛舟,花蓮溯溪,花蓮旅遊,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花東旅遊,花蓮,花東,花蓮旅遊,花東旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮,花東,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花東旅遊,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,租車,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮旅遊租車,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮,花東旅遊萬事通,花蓮旅遊,租車,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮租車,花蓮租車,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮租車,花蓮包車,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮太魯閣,花蓮包車,花東旅遊,花蓮旅遊行程,花蓮旅遊,花蓮 租車,花蓮租車,花蓮租車旅遊,花蓮旅遊租車,租車,花蓮旅遊推薦,花蓮旅遊包車,花蓮租車,花蓮,花蓮租車,花蓮地圖,花蓮旅遊,花蓮旅遊資訊網,花蓮旅遊景點,賞鯨,花蓮旅遊行程,花蓮旅遊,花蓮旅遊租車,花東旅遊景點,花東旅遊行程,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,租車,花東旅遊,花蓮旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮,旅遊達人,旅遊達人blog,花蓮租車旅遊資訊網,花蓮,租車,花蓮,花東旅遊,地圖,租車,賞鯨泛舟溯溪,租車,[ 芝麻店家 ] 花蓮租車旅遊資訊網,花蓮租車-行易花蓮旅遊租車資訊網 ,旅遊網,旅遊景點,花蓮行程,花蓮,花東,旅遊租車,旅遊,花蓮,租車,花東旅遊,花蓮租車旅遊,行易旅遊民宿資訊網,花蓮,旅遊,花蓮,一日遊,花蓮好玩的地方,花蓮,,一日遊,花東,租車,旅遊,花蓮旅遊,花東旅遊,花蓮租車,花蓮租車,花蓮旅遊-花東旅遊萬事通,花蓮民宿,花蓮民宿 ,花蓮民宿,花蓮民宿
Posted by: 花蓮租車 at Jun 2, 2009 11:35:40 AM
