1.5 What is intermediation?

Intermediation is the process of creating a new or online middleman. An online auction site like Ebay is an intermediator.

For consumers, intermediators are a new middleman. Before the Internet consumers had few choices for exchanging information and products. The breadth and depth of the Internet provides consumers with a new, more efficient, and wider market place. For most businesses intermediation has existed. The Internet provides a method of providing a more efficient market for the exchange of goods and services.