Making New Markets [Archive.org URL]

The limitations of space have long dictated the economics of exchange transactions […] In the Network Economy, the limitations of space no longer apply […] But a funny thing happened on the path to frictionless capitalism. The economics of distance died, but the economics of attention took its place […] But in many markets, customers find themselves overwhelmed with vendors clamoring for their attention, and vendors find themselves in a desperate battle to acquire customers. Customers still need to search, evaluate, negotiate, and configure products on their own. What customers gained in reduced transportation costs, they seem to have lost in increased search costs. These search and evaluation costs continue to create significant friction in commerce.

So is frictionless commerce a mirage? How can we address the problem of attention poverty if every marketer wants to reach customers directly? And what is the future of middlemen in networked commerce? Will we see fewer middlemen, as the proponents of disintermediation suggest? Or will we see more middlemen, as the proponents of infomediation argue?

The answers to these questions depend on understanding a new breed of intermediary called metamediaries, who will operate in new kinds of markets called metamarkets.

Editor’s Note: see also, “Secrets of the You-Niverse”

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