The Benefit of Software Middlemen in Information E-markets: An Empirical Study
Itai Yarom, Claudia V. Goldman, Jeffrey S. Rosenschein

Abstract

Information marketplaces enable trade of information; buyers and sellers may be humans, or automated agents that represent them. In this paper, we introduce a new type of participant into electronic information marketplaces, namely the InfoCenter agent, which can not only buy and sell information, but can also procure and sell manipulated (i.e., processed) information. We explore the effects that InfoCenters have on the marketplace and on the other agents that participate in it. We show that the benefits of extending an information E-marketplace with InfoCenter agents are twofold. First, InfoCenters can help buyers obtain better information; second, InfoCenter agents can help sellers gain higher profits. We explore further the advantages of implementing intelligent InfoCenters, i.e., agents whose behavior is shaped by artificial intelligence techniques including: planning in order to choose wisely which information processing services they shall approach, communication protocols to interact with buyers in order to adjust the supply to the specific demand, and decision-making algorithms for choosing what information to offer. Over all configurations studied, we have empirically tested the influence of different pricing algorithms and payment methods on the buyers', sellers', and InfoCenters' behaviors.