Infomediary

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.^[1] It also appeared in the book Net Worth.^[2]

Infomediaries operate on the assumption that personal information is the property of the individual described, not necessarily the property of the one who gathers it. The infomediary business model recognizes that there is value in this personal data and the infomediary seeks to act as a trusted agent, providing the opportunity and means for clients to monetize and profit from their own information profiles.^[3]

One of the first focused implementations of the infomediary concept was an online advertising company called AllAdvantage launched in 1999.^[4] While that company did not survive, in more recent years there has been renewed interest in the infomediary concept, with entrepreneurs and investors building companies to identify and leverage the market value of consumers' information.^[5]

References

1. Hagel III, John (Jan–Feb 1997). "The Coming Battle for Customer Information". Harvard Business Review. Retrieved 2012-09-14.
2. Hagel, John (January 1999). Net Worth. Harvard Business School Press. ISBN 0-87584-889-3.
3. Sarkar, Christian (2002-06-01). "Infomediation: Interview with John Hagel". OneWWWorld. Archived from the original on 2008-05-05. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
4. McNaughton, Kora (1999-03-30). "Pay per view ads get new twist". CNET News.com. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
5. "Start-Ups Aim to Help Users Put a Price on Their Personal Data". New York Times. 12 February 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2012.