<p>In the Samuelson's definition of public good, the good must be <strong>non-excludable</strong> and <strong>non-rivalrous</strong>.</p>

<p>Hyperlinks (if public and pointing to public pages) are <strong>non-excludable</strong>, and --to the condition of not overloading the hosted content-- <strong>non-rivalrous</strong>.</p>

<p>The frequency of publication (and other criterions) of hyperlinks pointing to specific pages/domain, is used by ranking algorithms as a proxy of relevance for the users. </p>

<p>Hyperlinks through ranking algorithms create a <strong>positive externality</strong> (i.e. access to more relevant web-pages). 
To the extent that the access to the result of those ranking algorithms is not excludable (you don't need to log in the use google, duckduckgo, etc), you can say that the result of this positive externality is a public good.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-30T09:05:06.830Z
2018-05-01T21:44:47.730Z
2018-05-01T21:44:47.730Z
Adrien Pacifico
<p>Links analysis algorithms on the web take the incoming links to a webpage as a sign of its popularity. Given this, can we consider web hyperlinks, in aggregate, as a kind of public good? I am curious if anyone has looked at it from this perspective.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-30T16:47:06.017Z
Are you speaking more about a) the invention as a concept, or b) the application such as harvesting such data, or c) some other conceptualization?
nathanwww
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-05-01T02:39:09.873Z
@nathanwww: I'm afraid I don't understand your question. I would just like to know if hyperlinks on the web constitute a public good.
Joebevo
<information><public-goods>
Is a hyperlink a kind of informational public good?
Joebevo
# Is a hyperlink a kind of informational public good?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-04-30)

Links analysis algorithms on the web take the incoming links to a webpage as a sign of its popularity. Given this, can we consider web hyperlinks, in aggregate, as a kind of public good? I am curious if anyone has looked at it from this perspective.

**Tags:** information, public-goods

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Are you speaking more about a) the invention as a concept, or b) the application such as harvesting such data, or c) some other conceptualization?  
> **username_0**: @username_1: I'm afraid I don't understand your question. I would just like to know if hyperlinks on the web constitute a public good.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-04-30. Score: 5

In the Samuelson's definition of public good, the good must be **non-excludable** and **non-rivalrous**.

Hyperlinks (if public and pointing to public pages) are **non-excludable**, and --to the condition of not overloading the hosted content-- **non-rivalrous**.

The frequency of publication (and other criterions) of hyperlinks pointing to specific pages/domain, is used by ranking algorithms as a proxy of relevance for the users.

Hyperlinks through ranking algorithms create a **positive externality** (i.e. access to more relevant web-pages).
To the extent that the access to the result of those ranking algorithms is not excludable (you don't need to log in the use google, duckduckgo, etc), you can say that the result of this positive externality is a public good.


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