3. Distribution and information intermediaries

Once the content is technically available on Internet, there is still a long way to go before it can set in motion a commercial transaction. As the Internet service providers are so fond of saying, creating a Website is like printing 1,000 publicity leaflets and leaving them in a cupboard ; as long as the site isn't known, its efficiency is negligible.

The traditional reply is that the site must be promoted by means of cross-referencing on the search engines or by advertising. The answer is unfortunately far from that simple, as various intermediaries will come between the connection to Internet and the end of a sale.

Let's suppose that you want to find an international marketing consultant on Internet, that you don't know of any companies and that none of your friends can give you a relevant address. Alone with your computer, what will you do ?

The first solution : you connect to your Internet access provider, Club Internet, and find yourself on its home page http://www.clu-internet.fr. You click on BUSINESSES and find a selection of Websites listed by category. You click on IMPORT/EXPORT which takes you to a selection of a dozen sites, of which one, called French overseas trade - http://www.commerce-exterieur.gouv.fr lists the points of economic growth throughout the world. You connect to one, which puts you in contact with a specialised consultant. Three intermediaries (Club-Internet, the overseas trade site and the economic growth point) came to your help in finding the information you wanted. It doesn't matter whether they have done it free or have been paid, you have used information intermediaries.

Second solution : you known the search engines, and you connect directly to Yahoo! France - http://www.yahoo.fr. You carry out a research on three key words at once : International Marketing Consultancy. Yahoo sends you several sites on the first page, one of which is Outline Corp - http://www.outlinecorp.com : international marketing consultancy, market surveys, product development, organisation, advertising and commercial projects on the North American market, and Website conception. In this case, only one intermediary was needed, but of a completely different nature to those in the above example.

Third solution : you work in the printing industry and you know a federal site for those connected with the graphics industry, Graphic Village - http://www.graphic-village.fr. You click on ADVICE to find an expert, or you ask questions in a discussion group. Here is a new form of intermediary : the virtual community.

Let's suppose now that you want to organise a business trip overseas, following the consultancy service that you've bought. You reconnect to Graphic Village, click on ORGANISE A VOYAGE and search through the options from a travel agent such as Degriftour, who has signed an agreement with Graphic Village to be promoted to members of this community. Degriftour in turns consults a data base to find out flight information to your destination and finally reserves your ticket with a company such as Lufthansa. Here are two more types of intermediaries.

We've just seen how complicated distribution on Internet can be. Even if each intermediary charges relatively little, the number of information intermediaries is significant, as numerous start-up businesses try to become essential intermediaries on Internet. It is fairly hard to sort out these information intermediaries. So let's now try to analyse the different levels of mediation in more detail.

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