How To Make Money Online: The Infomediary Business Model

This model, as pertaining to websites or the digital age, was first discussed by Michael Rappa in "Business Models On The Web" section 5 of Managing The Digital Enterprise.  In the paper he summarizes The Infomediary Business Model as:
Data about consumers and their consumption habits are valuable, especially when that information is carefully analyzed and used to target marketing campaigns. Independently collected data about producers and their products are useful to consumers when considering a purchase. Some firms function as infomediaries (information intermediaries) assisting buyers and/or sellers understand a given market.  --- Source 
He goes on to give example of these platforms and includes Advertising Networks (DoubleClick), Audience Measurement Services (Nielsen Ratings), Incentive Marketing (Customer loyatly programs like Coolsavings), and Metamediary (edmunds).

The basic idea is that the business model turns on information collected from one party an used by another party to sell that party goods or services.  Wikipedia defines the term "infomediary" to mean:
An infomediary works as a personal agent on behalf of consumers to help them take control over information gathered about them for use by marketers and advertisers. The concept of the infomediary was first suggested by former McKinsey consultant John Hagel III and former Harvard Business School professor Jeffrey Rayport in their article The Coming Battle for Customer Information. It also appeared in the book Net Worth.
 In today's era of technology, this business model is used in conjunction with other business models on blogs, ecommerce sites, media outlets and major search engines.  Basically the gathering of data from a website visitor, a search engine user or social media site member (like Facebook) give the service provider or advertiser a large advantage when targeting advertisement or sales.  See what Webopedia has to say about Infomediary, and what the Free Encyclopedia of Ecommerce has written about the subject.

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Hope this was helpful,

The PushYourRank Team
Author: Nicholas Coriano

About The Author: Nicholas Coriano is an Entrepreneur, Web Developer, Social Media Marketer, SEO Consultant and the founder of this blog and The NewYorkWebsiteDesignCenter.com.  While developing websites for his own businesses and marketing his entrepreneurial ventures online, he began blogging useful tips and "how-to" articles on PushYourRank.com for reference purposes.  To retain Nicholas for help with your Website, Social Media, SEO or other online/technology needs, email PushYourRank@Gmail.com

About PushYourRank.com: PushYourRank.com (the Blog) is a blog that helps small businesses, start-ups, developers, amateurs website builders, bloggers and entrepreneurs develop their websites, their social media presence, their search engine optimization techniques and more ....online.  The Blog publishes articles about Ecommerce, Email Marketing and How To Make Money Online...as well as any topic that pertains to the Internet or Online.  If you need help developing a website, SEO or Social Media outsourcing, see NewYorkWebsiteDesignCenter.com, if you would like to advertise or have us publish an article on a certain subject, please email us at PushYourRank@Gmail.com