Episode 669: A or B : Planet Money These days A/B testing is everywhere. It's shaped almost every website, some stores and even some school lessons. Today, the most meta episode ever. Planet Money A/B tests a show about A/B testing.

Episode 669: A or B

Episode 669: A or B

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Kristen Clark/NPR
Shoe store&#039;s camera tracking customers for A/B testing.
Kristen Clark/NPR

Dan Siroker wanted to increase the percentage of people who signed up for Obama's email list. So he created two versions of the website. Half the visitors saw version A with the "Sign up" button, and half saw version B, "Learn more".

That's A/B testing. And it is everywhere. It shapes everything online. It's invading stores. And schools. Even the first paragraph of this post was A/B tested. Today on the show: What you want and how we, and the rest of the world, give it to you.

Music: Barry Donnelly's "Awakening 1" and Aaron Gilbert and David Walters's "Take It Up (a)." Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Spotify/ Tumblr.