The Internet is a network of networks, and its value lies in the connections it enables. As managers and entrepreneurs try to measure that value, they have paid a great deal of attention to two types of networks. The simplest is the one-to-many—or broadcast—network, through which a central supplier broadcasts information to a large number of users. An example is the Web portal, which delivers news and other content to many visitors. More complex, and more valuable, is the one-to-one—or transactional—network, which connects individual users with other individual users to exchange information or complete other transactions. Common examples are e-mail and instant messaging.
A version of this article appeared in the February 2001 issue of Harvard Business Review.
