In March 1999, a small number of Californians discovered a new world called "Norrath", populated by an exotic but industrious people. Having just returned from a dangerous exploratory journey through this new world, I can report a number of interesting findings about its people and economy....

An important phenomenon on the Internet has been the emergence of "infomediaries" or Internet referral services such as Autobytel.com and Carpoint.com in the automobile industry, Avviva.com in real estate and Healthcareadvocates.com in medicine. These services offer consumers the opportunity to...

While the Internet has apparently become a major source of information about many items, including real estate, travel, computer equipment, books, records, and automobiles, little is known about how it is used, and about its impact on search behavior. The objective of this study is to shed light...

Although much excitement has arisen over the potential for "interactivity" on the Web, very little is understood about what exactly creates a sense of interactivity and what impact it has on user behavior. Businesses are spending millions of dollars to add interactivity to their Web sites, in...