Hagel and Rayport (1997) use ‘infomediary’ specifically to refer to sale of customer
information, although it is sometimes used more widely to refer to sites offering detailed
information about any topic. Traditional infomediaries are Experian (www.experian.com)
and Claritas (www.claritas.com) which provide customer data for direct marketing or
credit scoring. Such companies now use the web to collect additional customer informa-
tion from prize draw sites such as Email Inform (www.emailinform.com). An example of
an infomediary providing detailed information about a sector, in this case e-marketing
topics, is E-consultancy (www.e-consultancy.com).
A further type of intermediary is the virtual marketplace or virtual B2B trading commu-
nity mentioned earlier in the chapter.CHAPTER 2· THE INTERNET MICRO-ENVIRONMENT
Activity 2.6 Kelkoo.com, an example of revenue models for new
intermediariesPurpose
To provide an example of the services provided by cybermediaries and explore their viability
as businesses.Questions
1 Visit the Kelkoo web site (www.kelkoo.com) shown in Figure 2.26 and search for this book, a
CD or anything else you fancy. Explain the service that is being offered to customers.
2 Write down the different revenue opportunities for this site (some may be evident from the
site, but others may not); write down your ideas also.
3 Given that there are other competing sites in this intermediary category, such as Shopsmart
(www.shopsmart.com), assess the future of this online business using press releases and
comments from other sites such as Moreover (www.moreover.com).
visit the
w.w.w.Figure 2.26Kelkoo.com, a European price comparison siteInfomediary
An intermediary
business whose main
source of revenue
derives from capturing
consumer information
and developing detailed
profiles of individual
customers for use by
third parties.