IDG Contributor Network: The rise of big data marketplaces
Thanks to the ever-marching progression of Moore’s Law, we’re moving into the era where data itself becomes a traded commodity. Before we look at this megatrend and how it will almost certainly impact nearly everything and everyone on Earth in some form, let’s take a brief look at where we’ve been:
Online marketplaces for goods and services
We know them and, in some cases, love them: Amazon, eBay, E*TRADE, Match.com (why not?), just about everything conceivable has found its way online and into our Internet-enabled handheld devices. Add to that the emergence of the hosted services à la Airbnb, Uber and so many more. In all cases, the ‘datafication’ of what, who, where and when have brought an unprecedented level of ease, speed and most interestingly, expectation of same, to nearly everyone with a smartphone, tablet or laptop. To qualify as a marketplace, a company must facilitate the buying and selling of goods and/or services through some form of curation, and generally produces its revenues through taking a percentage of the transactions, subscription fees, or a combination of the two.
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