Sponsored search market index

Micah Adler visited and it helped me recall shared experiences working on problems in a different world and context (parallel algorithms, scheduling problems, and a rope burning puzzle from long ago). Of course both of us had a life within a different context now, and so, we discussed a different set of problems.

In particular, I got a chance to pose a problem I think of as a big picture question of some larger relevance (I am not an expert on markets, and this may not be such an interesting/challenging problem, but those disclaimers aside, in any case, here it is): Much like indices for tracking the market for various materials/stocks, can we design one for tracking the market of sponsored search ads? Definitions aside, the engineering part of collecting relevant data may be fun too.

ps: Mitt Romney: I Love Data.