The internet moved power toward whoever owns the customer relationship

Ben Thompson’s 2015 framework begins with the cost of distribution. Before the internet, controlling scarce supply or expensive distribution could secure a business’s position. When distribution and transaction costs collapse, the advantage can move to whoever attracts and retains users.

An aggregator assembles suppliers around that demand. A better experience brings more users; their presence attracts more suppliers; greater supply can improve the experience again. Suppliers that once controlled access to customers become interchangeable inputs to someone else’s product.

Google illustrates the shift in information. Airbnb applies related logic to accommodation: rooms remain physical, but discovery, booking and trust can be reorganized through a digital customer relationship.

This is a framework for locating bargaining power, not a claim that every internet business becomes a monopoly. Its enduring question is which part of a market becomes plentiful and modular—and which company gets to organize the demand for it.