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The Achilles’ heel of the platform business model: Disintermediation

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  • Ladd, Ted

Abstract

Multisided marketplaces have become fixtures in many contemporary industries. From Amazon to Google, platforms dominate entire markets and have become some of the world’s most valuable companies. Despite their success, these companies have a subtle but potentially fatal weakness: disintermediation. This occurs when buyers and sellers find each other on the platform and then bypass that very platform—and its commission—to complete their transaction directly, off of the platform. This article compiles and illustrates the causes of and remediations to platform disintermediation.

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  • Ladd, Ted, 2022. "The Achilles’ heel of the platform business model: Disintermediation," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 277-289.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:65:y:2022:i:3:p:277-289
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2021.02.049
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Gala, Kaushik, 2024. "Digital Davids, global Goliaths, and the Web3 sling," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 5-17.

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