Ben is a senior advisor at Geradin Partners. Ben operates at the intersection of software, law, and economics. He combines these disciplines to bring unique benefits to clients and the public. Whether uncovering the complicated workings of a new product, or identifying the harms from a powerful gatekeeper, Ben writes software to prove what’s going on, then analyzes and explains in unmatched clarity.

Ben was previously the Chief Economist for Web Experiences, Strategy, and Policy at Microsoft. In that role, he advised the company about a variety of questions at the intersection of software, strategy, economics, and public policy. His marquee contribution was measuring the productivity benefits of Microsoft’s AI tools via efficient and scalable lab experiments.

For eleven years, Ben was a faculty member at the Harvard Business School, where he studied and taught about the economics of online markets. His work combined software engineering with legal and economic analysis, aiming to understand both how online markets function and also how they might improve.

Ben was early to see the concerns associated from powerful tech platforms. A decade ahead of the pack, he flagged the problem of growing market concentration in Internet search including risks for advertisers. He was the first to uncover Google’s “MADA” contract which forced phone manufacturers and telcos to preinstall all its apps if they wanted Google Play and YouTube — requirements that then-CEO Eric Schmidt had denied in sworn testimony.

• In an expert report and oral testimony, Ben proved the security defects of an early video streamer, supporting plaintiffs’ claims of copyright infringement. Ben’s testimony yielded a preliminary injunction and later a permanent injunction that ceased the streamer’s operations — the first.COM to be shut through litigation.
• Ben was the first to reveal the Mobile Application Distribution Agreement (MADA) contract which forced phone manufacturers and telcos to preinstall all its apps if they wanted Google Play and YouTube — requirements that then-CEO Eric Schmidt had denied in sworn testimony.
• Ben proved Google Toolbar continued to track user browsing even after users pressed a button to “disable” it and even after it disappeared from screen.
• Ben proved that Facebook revealed users’ names and details to advertisers, though the company had specifically promised the contrary.
• Ben led the fight against deceptive advertising software, “spyware” and “adware.” He was the first to irrefutably prove, through screen-capture video, malware sneaking onto users’ computers through security exploits without user consent.
• Ben pressed ad networks to cease placements that simultaneously drained advertisers’ budget and funded the Internet’s dark alleys. In advertiser class action litigation, Ben forced Yahoo to let advertisers opt out of the most noxious placements.

• Ph.D. in Economics, Harvard Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (2007). Dissertation: Topics in Internet Advertising
• J.D., Harvard Law School (2005)
• A.M. in Statistics, Harvard Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (2002)
• A.B. in Economics, Harvard College (summa cum laude, phi beta kappa)(2002)

United States – Massachusetts and Washington