Network Analysis of Intermediaries in Ecommerce

E-commerce from the point of view of network science can be characterized as bipartite network. One part of such a network is made up of users and the other part is by electronic shops (e-shops). Transactions between these groups can be represented by user-to-e-shops edges. Edges can be weighted, when weight can express the size of the transaction, etc. Similarly, nodes can be assigned a similar parameter, node strength. It may mean reputation, the size of e-shop, ability to buy, etc. In this paper, we look at the situation where other entities enter such ecommerce bipartite network. These entities will occupy a central position between the aforementioned two parts of the originally bipartite network, affect relationships and change the topology of original bipartite network. Gaining a central position is beneficial due to the relative simplicity of the possibility to influence of other agents. Central position defines an information broker who accesses information and integrates it through social links. In this paper we study the properties of intermediaries and show its distribution characteristics in dependence of behavior of users and e-shops.