blog // engineering guides
How the decision layer
is actually built.
Practical, vendor-neutral guides to ranking, recommendations, and monetization on consumer platforms. Written to explain how these systems work, not to sell you one.
# 01 / guides
Ranking and decisioning, explained end to end.
Each guide takes one system apart: the stages, the tradeoffs, the failure modes, and where a decisioning API fits if you would rather not build it. Start anywhere.
candidate generation, ranking, serving, evaluation, and the build-vs-buy call
retrieval, ranking, and the serving stack behind a personalized recommender
auctions, pacing, and pricing paid slots against the organic order
take-rate, sponsored listings, and balancing buyers, sellers, and supply
why the two stages are different problems, and where each one belongs