It depends on how you measure that. They certainly were the first to make serious money by using simple regression to suggest 'people also bought'. In general

It depends on how you measure that. They certainly were the first to make serious money by using simple regression to suggest 'people also bought'. In general I think that all of the personal surveillance / categorization will end up being more truly profitable (as opposed to 'twinkie calorie' profits of ad networks) as they are used to suggest price points for products and services rather than to direct attention to products.