Competing cybermediaries

We examine a price competition game between two intermediaries offering to match two sides of a market on the Internet. Competition is characterized b y asymmetric network externalities. We account for some specificities of cy bermediation, in particular access versus usage pricing and the possibility of using the services of several intermediaries. When only registration fe es are used and agents register with at most one cybermediary, there exists an equilibrium where one firm corners the market with positive profits. In troducing either fees contingent on successful matching or the possibility of registration with two cybermediaries make these profits vanish. Other ty pes of equilibria are discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V, All rights reserved.