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The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge
Caveat venditor-let the seller bewareWhile marketers look for more ways to get personal with customers, including new tricks with “big data,” customers are about to get personal in their own ways, with their own tools. Soon consumers will be able • Control the flow and use of personal data• Build their own loyalty programs• Dictate their own terms of service• Tell whole markets what they want, how they want it, where and when they should be able to get it, and how much it should costAnd they will do all of this outside of any one vendor’s silo. This new landscape we’re entering is what Doc Searls calls The Intention Economy-one in which demand will drive supply far more directly, efficiently, and compellingly than ever before. In this book he describes an economy driven by consumer intent, where vendors must respond to the actual intentions of customers instead of vying for the attention of many.New customer tools will provide the engine, with VRM (Vendor Relationship Management) providing the consumer counterpart to vendors’ CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems. For example, imagine being able to change your address once for every company you deal with, or combining services from multiple companies in real time, in your own ways-all while keeping an auditable accounting of every one of your interactions in the marketplace. These tantalizing possibilities and many others are introduced in this book.As customers become more independent and powerful, and the Intention Economy emerges, only vendors and organizations that are ready for the change will survive, and thrive. Where do you stand?
318 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 10, 2012
34 people are currently reading
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 19, 2012
I was really excited to read The Intention Economy because it is one of the first efforts I've seen to extend popular privacy concerns into the realm of the economics of personal data and user empowerment. I've been pursuing these ideas in talking about the nature of our transactional relationships with internet services and companies by "paying with our data," and we've seen early signs of this in the World Economic Forum's discussion of personal data as a new asset class.
Searls's strongest explanation comes in describing the underlying problem in the existing internet economy that gives data use power to companies: it's all based on those boilerplate, impossible-to-parse terms of service that operate as "contracts of adhesion." Contracts of adhesion is an old idea, introduced by Friedrich Kessler to describe the heavily biased positioning of bargaining power with the company. These contracts exist to allow for mass production and consumption at scale, but they get in the way of principles of "freedom of contract". So how do we put users on a more level [contractual] playing field with companies?
Searls proposes that control over the terms of data use need to lie with the user, and that fourth party data brokers (also called data lockers) could negotiate and manage our terms and our data on our behalf to share with the services that need access to our data. Terms might include things like "If we cease our relationship, you can keep my data but not associate any PII with that data." While customer relationship management (CRM) platforms have been around for more than ten years to help companies manage interactions with and data about customers, Searls suggests that we've been missing the mirrored pair on the customer side of the relationship, which he's deemed vendor relationship management (VRM).
While I'm excited about shifting the dynamic of predominant economic models as they relate to data, Searls' book falls short in a couple of key ways:
- It's too optimistic. Searls doesn't address or even acknowledge the of the limitations and challenges (most obviously, inertia) that would prevent The Intention Economy from realization. It's too easy to punch holes.
- Searls puts too much focus on and faith in the tools. He says, "We didn’t need a car, a copier, a radio, or a smartphone until we saw one and said to ourselves, 'I need that.'…SO, THEN Customer liberation requires necessity-mothering inventions." I tend to disagree. While developing tools to enable these markets is important, making customers aware of the problem, and making them aware of an alternative model, is a bigger challenge, first. One audience member in Searls's book talk asked: "Customers are lazy. What's going to make them want to do anything about this?" Sure, having tools that make this as easy and seemless as possible is going to make adoption go a lot more smoothly, but there won't be a market if enough consumers don't see this as a clear problem. The popular media's coverage of privacy concerns over the last year has certainly raised the level of discourse, but it's mostly been focused on fear mongering. We haven't seen much in terms of alternative models for moving forward, and that's what conscientious consumers should pick up from this book.
- Searls doesn't address the elephant in the room, which is: why should we trust fourth parties with our data anymore than we trust Facebook or Target? Might it just be the case that the fourth party managing our data for us will just end up being one of the companies that already has a lot of our data already? Will Facebook become our data broker, like it's already our identity manager (given all the startups using Facebook for signup and login)? That possibility seems more likely to me, given the concentration of users already captured on these platforms. It's harder to imagine one of the current data locker startups rising to the top to come between us and Facebook (unless of course they got bought by Facebook). But even for Facebook to become our data broker, the dominant economy of the internet will have to shift way from advertising to create something that looks a little like Searls's Intention Economy. He doesn't make this argument, though, since he's so invested in those VRM startups.
Aside from this more glaring problems, Searls's writing is full of awkward, imperfect metaphors like calf-cows relationships ("The World Wide Web has become a World Wide Ranch, where we serve as calves to Web sites’ cows, which feed us milk and cookies.") and Chinese walls between advertisers and consumers ("If advertisers would peek over on our side of the Chinese wall, they would see two icebergs toward which TV’s Titanic is headed, and both promise less tolerance for advertising.").
All that being said, The Intention Economy is bold, and it's hard to cover all the bases when your arguments are so radical. But it's also hard to convince others to rally around the cause if there are too many questions left unanswered.
Searls's strongest explanation comes in describing the underlying problem in the existing internet economy that gives data use power to companies: it's all based on those boilerplate, impossible-to-parse terms of service that operate as "contracts of adhesion." Contracts of adhesion is an old idea, introduced by Friedrich Kessler to describe the heavily biased positioning of bargaining power with the company. These contracts exist to allow for mass production and consumption at scale, but they get in the way of principles of "freedom of contract". So how do we put users on a more level [contractual] playing field with companies?
Searls proposes that control over the terms of data use need to lie with the user, and that fourth party data brokers (also called data lockers) could negotiate and manage our terms and our data on our behalf to share with the services that need access to our data. Terms might include things like "If we cease our relationship, you can keep my data but not associate any PII with that data." While customer relationship management (CRM) platforms have been around for more than ten years to help companies manage interactions with and data about customers, Searls suggests that we've been missing the mirrored pair on the customer side of the relationship, which he's deemed vendor relationship management (VRM).
While I'm excited about shifting the dynamic of predominant economic models as they relate to data, Searls' book falls short in a couple of key ways:
- It's too optimistic. Searls doesn't address or even acknowledge the of the limitations and challenges (most obviously, inertia) that would prevent The Intention Economy from realization. It's too easy to punch holes.
- Searls puts too much focus on and faith in the tools. He says, "We didn’t need a car, a copier, a radio, or a smartphone until we saw one and said to ourselves, 'I need that.'…SO, THEN Customer liberation requires necessity-mothering inventions." I tend to disagree. While developing tools to enable these markets is important, making customers aware of the problem, and making them aware of an alternative model, is a bigger challenge, first. One audience member in Searls's book talk asked: "Customers are lazy. What's going to make them want to do anything about this?" Sure, having tools that make this as easy and seemless as possible is going to make adoption go a lot more smoothly, but there won't be a market if enough consumers don't see this as a clear problem. The popular media's coverage of privacy concerns over the last year has certainly raised the level of discourse, but it's mostly been focused on fear mongering. We haven't seen much in terms of alternative models for moving forward, and that's what conscientious consumers should pick up from this book.
- Searls doesn't address the elephant in the room, which is: why should we trust fourth parties with our data anymore than we trust Facebook or Target? Might it just be the case that the fourth party managing our data for us will just end up being one of the companies that already has a lot of our data already? Will Facebook become our data broker, like it's already our identity manager (given all the startups using Facebook for signup and login)? That possibility seems more likely to me, given the concentration of users already captured on these platforms. It's harder to imagine one of the current data locker startups rising to the top to come between us and Facebook (unless of course they got bought by Facebook). But even for Facebook to become our data broker, the dominant economy of the internet will have to shift way from advertising to create something that looks a little like Searls's Intention Economy. He doesn't make this argument, though, since he's so invested in those VRM startups.
Aside from this more glaring problems, Searls's writing is full of awkward, imperfect metaphors like calf-cows relationships ("The World Wide Web has become a World Wide Ranch, where we serve as calves to Web sites’ cows, which feed us milk and cookies.") and Chinese walls between advertisers and consumers ("If advertisers would peek over on our side of the Chinese wall, they would see two icebergs toward which TV’s Titanic is headed, and both promise less tolerance for advertising.").
All that being said, The Intention Economy is bold, and it's hard to cover all the bases when your arguments are so radical. But it's also hard to convince others to rally around the cause if there are too many questions left unanswered.
March 10, 2016
Yawn. Another book in the Malcolm Gladwell style. One idea that could form a solid journalistic article that has been puffed up into a book.
The argument is basic and self evident. 'We' are moving from an attention economy to an intentional economy. Consumers are empowered and the web will require a greater array of relationships between business and their customers.
That is it.
Yawn.
Give it a miss.
The argument is basic and self evident. 'We' are moving from an attention economy to an intentional economy. Consumers are empowered and the web will require a greater array of relationships between business and their customers.
That is it.
Yawn.
Give it a miss.
September 16, 2017
The end of corporatism. How net heads will help society on creating smart and easy to use tools for managing your personal data. An end for the corporate having the upper hand of controlling and planning our customer journey and a beginning for the individual to show their intention.
You may be confused on the difference between net heads and net bells. It is very straightforward. Net-heads enables us on becoming more productive members of society. Instead of making a profit from a product, they created free useful products so everyone could add more value than without. Net-bells, in contrast, are dogs wagging their tails hoping their master will give them a treat. Net-hands, on the other hand, care about their integrity and providing services without gimmicks. It is the net-heads that provided the Linux environment system and the Internet protocols that we use today. We take for granted on the flexibility of the systems we use and how we connect with each other. Most of the systems that operate today run under Linux and open source software. There is a huge negligence from the community and are seriously underfunded for its contribution value. Quoting from the report "Roads And Bridges: The Unseen Labor Behind Our Digital Infrastructure", after the Heartbleed bug, Marquess took to the Internet to make an impassioned public plea for funding stating “These guys don’t work on OpenSSL for money. They don’t do it for fame. They do it out of pride in craftsmanship and the responsibility for something they believe in. There should be at least a half-dozen full-time OpenSSL team members, not just one, able to concentrate on the care and feeding of OpenSSL without having to hustle commercial work". This giving is the same giving as a couple bringing offsprings to our world. They do this act of goodness without expecting something back as a reward. Similarly, it is no wonder Steve Jobs named one of his computer projects as "Lisa", which was the name of her real daughter. These projects are like their own little babies and a deep care is taken for them in order for them to become valuable and useful assets through our society. It is thanks to those pioneers and builders that we were able to horizontally spread so everyone is able to enjoy a better customer experience. With big companies like Google and Facebook, we have: 1. The Android, an open operating system for mobile devices. 2. Several open source development tools that were used internally from those companies. A lot of innovation related to customer experience that is fairly new comes at a great cost. The time of research, designing, gathering the resources, is not an easy task. Take, for instance, Apple, which tries to provide revolutionary forms of customer experience vertically through innovative products that only a few and the rich can afford. Nevertheless, we should try to optimize existing processes that in today's world are perceived as costly. However, we should not cling on those processes once they are efficient enough. Optimizing existing innovations is like working with a kettle. When the water boils enough, there is a whistle that says enough is enough and we need to move on improving the next existing innovations that are not affordable. In other words, we have to be every so often vertical as well.
We have to be Steve Jobs and say we can do better and even better than what our customer experience could be. This community so far created a set of builders that manifested the world where each of us had a better customer experience. However, let us admit one thing for sure: A need for better customer experience is overestimated. A need for a society with more customers showing their intentions is underestimated. We need a new Steve Jobs that focuses on better customer intent instead of a better customer experience. We need leaders that drive the car instead of builders that build a car. We need to incorporate righteousness not only by providing better customer experience, but to keep everyone have a conscious voice that they are able not only to speak it but to navigate it and reach it. Where instead all of the planning is done by corporations, individuals play not only an influential role but are the ones that initiate the pivots for where corporations have to head next. This in part requires us to change our mindset from ones that focus on providing only a better customer experience to a one that takes accountability that all of us can a have a more meaningful role than what we take part of today. This dance has been one where corporations that was forced and never apologized when they stepped over our shoes and it has to be changed to a one where each dance has the respect of the sensitivities of our partners.
Society today is plagued with customers that do not have intent. Instead of customers with intent, we have passive consumers. In the online Recode article "The Rise of Data Natives", there is a trend where Data Natives (the next generation of society after the "Digital Natives") on a Store of Starbucks not only want to use the Starbucks app but also "want" the app to "know" their favorite drinks — and when to suggest a new one. It seems our next generation want an application that is customer-centric instead of customer-driven. We are further away than original before for the average individual bringing up their own intent explicitly. If we do not provide the tools that enable a two-way road where also the average individual can express their own intent (CRM, I am talking to you), the more corporations will do all the planning for us. In order for setting the other sideline of the road, we need to allow each individual to have its own personal data store that is very responsive through API on taking and accepting requests. That initiative is called VRM. In a world where we live with the internet of things and more mobile technologies, this is starting to become an infrastructure that is more enabling than ever before. The book discusses the many initiatives that have gone through on providing this system of thought where the customer can be reached instead of being captivated. With machine learning tools that are handed to the few that derive biases of our own intentions, to little to no liabilities when our personal data is misused and breached, to providing inaccurate information of our self and limiting the choices of our preferences to only the most popular ones, there is more a need than ever for the individual to step in and have a side version of their own demands. With how current online agreements are a contract of adhesion, there is no much the individual can do to this day.
This has to be flipped one day and humbly speaking, there are four pillars if done properly can make the individual exponentially a more trusting entity than a corporation. The author says that there is a lot of MLOTT (Money Left On The Table) where people can give to others without a second thought whenever they appreciate a specific service. But I begged to differ, as I know for the fact that most do not have a lot of money left on the table because of the following reasons:
1. Make Sure People Are Healthy: We need to make the commitment where people prioritize their health issues and keep their bodies straight and fit to prevent the inevitable. After all, an ounce of prevention is a pound of cure. I think people will not have clear intents when their bodies preoccupy them (painkillers are not the ultimate solution).
2. Make Sure People Are Merited By Value: We live today in disrupting times where Artificial Intelligence is removing those mundane jobs that can be replaced with computers. In the online HBR cover story "Inside Facebook's AI workshop", Artificial intelligence is not used anymore only by experts of the field, but your average Joe employee, by making the user interface of those AI solutions simple. For this reason, we have to keep people ahead of the curve on bringing value to society before they fall in a deep hole. For people who have families and others to take care of, this weight is even further for them to take themselves back on their own two feet. If people can barely pay their next bills, not due to extravagant lifestyle choices, then how can we assume what they can offer when they can't keep up with themselves?
3. Make Sure They Do Micro Accounting: A lot of the stuff that we use and buy as a service we seem worthy may not be worthy of the actual value. I think being accountable on investing in products and services that will add value to the long-term is a step that people should already start making it as a habit. It will eventually be a cornerstone habit for people actually putting money on the table at the right place.
4. Make Sure They Have a Growth Mindset and a deep care how our brain works: If the physical constraints are lifted from the above three, then according to Maslow's Pyramid, they have the ability to self-actualize. But it's best we self-actualize in a way where we all live in harmony instead of stepping others in order to reach the top. In that sense, we won't be any different than what corporations do these days. Education focuses a lot on giving us a foundation on how to be able to survive with a technical field of our choice in our society instead of how to be a morally ethical good being with the rest of the members of our community. This was part optional for the education system to teach because we so far lived a life where we most were responsible to follow the status quo and be passive. In the intention economy, this will not be an option, it will be mandatory for everyone to have some form of good intent, or otherwise, without good intent, the wheels won't keep rolling.
Please read this book as this is only one out of the few authors that go beyond the Advertimania we have today for improving our own customer experience and unearthing our customer intent in order to keep the books between demand and supply on balance. The only reason I gave it four stars is because this book is very open-ended that needs you to take the time to look at the many references the author goes through in order to have a more better clear picture. Other than that, it is very well organized and provides as much historical background to understand how we ended up in this current situation mess besides all the good intentions the founders of the internet envisioned.
My last parting words are that there are supporting movements for individuals that have lost their time spent by the influences of corporations. Tristan Harris, behind the movement "Time Well Spent", discusses in of his 2017 Ted Talks "How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day" on the different tactics companies use on taking most of the attention from you. Taking away of our attention may not be harmful, but it is definitely psychological. If the person submits their time to others than spending something more purposeful, we are decreasing the value of what each individual is worth, stagnating the economy on the long term. So if you care about the world where people can take their own small ships and traverse their own adventures rather others letting them do the handling for them, let's make the Intention Economy a reality in order to have a more accurate model of the supply and demand market.
The internet is free, but our data is not free. It is not a "chance". It is "guaranteed". One day, we will definitely flip that card with the words engraved: "Get Out Of Jail, Free". To use or not to use the card? Time to make the switch.
You may be confused on the difference between net heads and net bells. It is very straightforward. Net-heads enables us on becoming more productive members of society. Instead of making a profit from a product, they created free useful products so everyone could add more value than without. Net-bells, in contrast, are dogs wagging their tails hoping their master will give them a treat. Net-hands, on the other hand, care about their integrity and providing services without gimmicks. It is the net-heads that provided the Linux environment system and the Internet protocols that we use today. We take for granted on the flexibility of the systems we use and how we connect with each other. Most of the systems that operate today run under Linux and open source software. There is a huge negligence from the community and are seriously underfunded for its contribution value. Quoting from the report "Roads And Bridges: The Unseen Labor Behind Our Digital Infrastructure", after the Heartbleed bug, Marquess took to the Internet to make an impassioned public plea for funding stating “These guys don’t work on OpenSSL for money. They don’t do it for fame. They do it out of pride in craftsmanship and the responsibility for something they believe in. There should be at least a half-dozen full-time OpenSSL team members, not just one, able to concentrate on the care and feeding of OpenSSL without having to hustle commercial work". This giving is the same giving as a couple bringing offsprings to our world. They do this act of goodness without expecting something back as a reward. Similarly, it is no wonder Steve Jobs named one of his computer projects as "Lisa", which was the name of her real daughter. These projects are like their own little babies and a deep care is taken for them in order for them to become valuable and useful assets through our society. It is thanks to those pioneers and builders that we were able to horizontally spread so everyone is able to enjoy a better customer experience. With big companies like Google and Facebook, we have: 1. The Android, an open operating system for mobile devices. 2. Several open source development tools that were used internally from those companies. A lot of innovation related to customer experience that is fairly new comes at a great cost. The time of research, designing, gathering the resources, is not an easy task. Take, for instance, Apple, which tries to provide revolutionary forms of customer experience vertically through innovative products that only a few and the rich can afford. Nevertheless, we should try to optimize existing processes that in today's world are perceived as costly. However, we should not cling on those processes once they are efficient enough. Optimizing existing innovations is like working with a kettle. When the water boils enough, there is a whistle that says enough is enough and we need to move on improving the next existing innovations that are not affordable. In other words, we have to be every so often vertical as well.
We have to be Steve Jobs and say we can do better and even better than what our customer experience could be. This community so far created a set of builders that manifested the world where each of us had a better customer experience. However, let us admit one thing for sure: A need for better customer experience is overestimated. A need for a society with more customers showing their intentions is underestimated. We need a new Steve Jobs that focuses on better customer intent instead of a better customer experience. We need leaders that drive the car instead of builders that build a car. We need to incorporate righteousness not only by providing better customer experience, but to keep everyone have a conscious voice that they are able not only to speak it but to navigate it and reach it. Where instead all of the planning is done by corporations, individuals play not only an influential role but are the ones that initiate the pivots for where corporations have to head next. This in part requires us to change our mindset from ones that focus on providing only a better customer experience to a one that takes accountability that all of us can a have a more meaningful role than what we take part of today. This dance has been one where corporations that was forced and never apologized when they stepped over our shoes and it has to be changed to a one where each dance has the respect of the sensitivities of our partners.
Society today is plagued with customers that do not have intent. Instead of customers with intent, we have passive consumers. In the online Recode article "The Rise of Data Natives", there is a trend where Data Natives (the next generation of society after the "Digital Natives") on a Store of Starbucks not only want to use the Starbucks app but also "want" the app to "know" their favorite drinks — and when to suggest a new one. It seems our next generation want an application that is customer-centric instead of customer-driven. We are further away than original before for the average individual bringing up their own intent explicitly. If we do not provide the tools that enable a two-way road where also the average individual can express their own intent (CRM, I am talking to you), the more corporations will do all the planning for us. In order for setting the other sideline of the road, we need to allow each individual to have its own personal data store that is very responsive through API on taking and accepting requests. That initiative is called VRM. In a world where we live with the internet of things and more mobile technologies, this is starting to become an infrastructure that is more enabling than ever before. The book discusses the many initiatives that have gone through on providing this system of thought where the customer can be reached instead of being captivated. With machine learning tools that are handed to the few that derive biases of our own intentions, to little to no liabilities when our personal data is misused and breached, to providing inaccurate information of our self and limiting the choices of our preferences to only the most popular ones, there is more a need than ever for the individual to step in and have a side version of their own demands. With how current online agreements are a contract of adhesion, there is no much the individual can do to this day.
This has to be flipped one day and humbly speaking, there are four pillars if done properly can make the individual exponentially a more trusting entity than a corporation. The author says that there is a lot of MLOTT (Money Left On The Table) where people can give to others without a second thought whenever they appreciate a specific service. But I begged to differ, as I know for the fact that most do not have a lot of money left on the table because of the following reasons:
1. Make Sure People Are Healthy: We need to make the commitment where people prioritize their health issues and keep their bodies straight and fit to prevent the inevitable. After all, an ounce of prevention is a pound of cure. I think people will not have clear intents when their bodies preoccupy them (painkillers are not the ultimate solution).
2. Make Sure People Are Merited By Value: We live today in disrupting times where Artificial Intelligence is removing those mundane jobs that can be replaced with computers. In the online HBR cover story "Inside Facebook's AI workshop", Artificial intelligence is not used anymore only by experts of the field, but your average Joe employee, by making the user interface of those AI solutions simple. For this reason, we have to keep people ahead of the curve on bringing value to society before they fall in a deep hole. For people who have families and others to take care of, this weight is even further for them to take themselves back on their own two feet. If people can barely pay their next bills, not due to extravagant lifestyle choices, then how can we assume what they can offer when they can't keep up with themselves?
3. Make Sure They Do Micro Accounting: A lot of the stuff that we use and buy as a service we seem worthy may not be worthy of the actual value. I think being accountable on investing in products and services that will add value to the long-term is a step that people should already start making it as a habit. It will eventually be a cornerstone habit for people actually putting money on the table at the right place.
4. Make Sure They Have a Growth Mindset and a deep care how our brain works: If the physical constraints are lifted from the above three, then according to Maslow's Pyramid, they have the ability to self-actualize. But it's best we self-actualize in a way where we all live in harmony instead of stepping others in order to reach the top. In that sense, we won't be any different than what corporations do these days. Education focuses a lot on giving us a foundation on how to be able to survive with a technical field of our choice in our society instead of how to be a morally ethical good being with the rest of the members of our community. This was part optional for the education system to teach because we so far lived a life where we most were responsible to follow the status quo and be passive. In the intention economy, this will not be an option, it will be mandatory for everyone to have some form of good intent, or otherwise, without good intent, the wheels won't keep rolling.
Please read this book as this is only one out of the few authors that go beyond the Advertimania we have today for improving our own customer experience and unearthing our customer intent in order to keep the books between demand and supply on balance. The only reason I gave it four stars is because this book is very open-ended that needs you to take the time to look at the many references the author goes through in order to have a more better clear picture. Other than that, it is very well organized and provides as much historical background to understand how we ended up in this current situation mess besides all the good intentions the founders of the internet envisioned.
My last parting words are that there are supporting movements for individuals that have lost their time spent by the influences of corporations. Tristan Harris, behind the movement "Time Well Spent", discusses in of his 2017 Ted Talks "How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day" on the different tactics companies use on taking most of the attention from you. Taking away of our attention may not be harmful, but it is definitely psychological. If the person submits their time to others than spending something more purposeful, we are decreasing the value of what each individual is worth, stagnating the economy on the long term. So if you care about the world where people can take their own small ships and traverse their own adventures rather others letting them do the handling for them, let's make the Intention Economy a reality in order to have a more accurate model of the supply and demand market.
The internet is free, but our data is not free. It is not a "chance". It is "guaranteed". One day, we will definitely flip that card with the words engraved: "Get Out Of Jail, Free". To use or not to use the card? Time to make the switch.
February 11, 2013
This is a great book to start your exploration of Vendor Relationship Management, Personal Clouds and the shift of (at least some) control from companies to consumers. It is part vision and part documentary since Doc tells us of work already being done across several fronts in this field.
There are, however, a few pieces that have yet to be ironed out. For example, as a security specialist I'm a little uncomfortable with the notion that a 3rd party will have data that paints an extremely intimate picture of the individual. There is too much possibility for abuse by the custodian of the data, government, or hackers. We also do not currently have a legal framework capable of dealing with the issues inherent with this sort of data aggregation.
On the other hand, the data could be encrypted in such a way that the broker delivers the data to the 3rd party but cannot themselves access it. Although this is a better model in terms of data sharing, it requires a level of sophistication on the part of the consumer to properly manage cryptographic keys. Security is my job and I see large corporations that don't get it right. If millions of individuals had to manage their crypto keys, the percentage that would leave themselves wide open would be high given the current technology.
After reading this book I'm a lot more optimistic about a future in which consumers and vendors are closer to parity in their relationships, however it is a cautious optimism. As this is built out, we'll need to get off our collective butts and solve some of the bigger technological security issues that have been hanging around for years unsolved.
There are, however, a few pieces that have yet to be ironed out. For example, as a security specialist I'm a little uncomfortable with the notion that a 3rd party will have data that paints an extremely intimate picture of the individual. There is too much possibility for abuse by the custodian of the data, government, or hackers. We also do not currently have a legal framework capable of dealing with the issues inherent with this sort of data aggregation.
On the other hand, the data could be encrypted in such a way that the broker delivers the data to the 3rd party but cannot themselves access it. Although this is a better model in terms of data sharing, it requires a level of sophistication on the part of the consumer to properly manage cryptographic keys. Security is my job and I see large corporations that don't get it right. If millions of individuals had to manage their crypto keys, the percentage that would leave themselves wide open would be high given the current technology.
After reading this book I'm a lot more optimistic about a future in which consumers and vendors are closer to parity in their relationships, however it is a cautious optimism. As this is built out, we'll need to get off our collective butts and solve some of the bigger technological security issues that have been hanging around for years unsolved.
November 8, 2021
(full review here)
The Intention Economy outlines Searls’ vision for a better internet. It centers on a tool called a Vendor Relationship Manager (VRM). Consumers would use the VRM to manage their relationships with various organizations.
Most of Searls’ thinking centers on commercial transactions. I admit that I’m skeptical of this premise. It reminds me of previous utopian visions centered on trade, such as Thomas Watson’s “World Peace through World Trade” when he was the head of IBM. I did my best to approach Searls’ work with an open mind, regardless.
Contracts of Adhesion vs. Freedom of Contract
Contracts of Adhesion underpin some of the most nefarious and absurd abuses of power on the world wide web. They are first encountered when you agree to a “Terms of Service” that you never read. These contracts can be summarized as “An agreement where one side has all the bargaining power [… presented on an] essentially a ‘take it or leave it’ basis without giving consumers realistic opportunities to negotiate terms that would benefit their interests.” Friedrich Kessler argued that “mass production and mass distribution made this new type of contract inevitable.” While it was thought that so-called Contracts of Adhesion might be unenforceable, the recent precedence in American courts suggests otherwise.
Thus Kessler was right, when he suggested in 1943 that the only way to move from Contracts of Adhesion that hold individuals prisoner to Freedom of Contract that empowers people to make fair decision is to break up monopolistic practices. Monopolies at post-Industrial scale lead to Contracts of Adhesion while competition naturally lead to Freedom of Contract.
Freedom of Contract is also natural on the internet. The conditions to facilitate this freedom is unique to the internet in the same way that Contracts of Adhesion were natural to the Post-Industrial era; the internet combines the power of software automation combined with the reality that each party is functionally equidistant to every other party.
Interoperable Commons
The current internet, comprising of walled gardens that enforce Contracts of Adhesion, ensures that data generated by my identity cannot work on any other system. There is no technological reason for this reality. It is seen as a way to maximize profits by protecting intellectual property.
The future internet built upon a Freedom of Contract would still allow services to profit from data generated by my identity. But the individuals on the system could also directly benefit from the arrangement while having more control over their data.
In other words, just because you can claim some ownership of the data I produce on your website, it doesn’t mean that you can do anything you want with it. This is similar to home ownership. Just because I own my home, it doesn’t mean I can turn it into a bicycle factory.
Searls sees VRMs as a way to re-center the internet around interoperable standards that can benefit everyone in the commons, including governmental and commercial interests.
Advertising and Customer Acquisition
Searls spends a long time talking about advertising in The Intention Economy.
He sees three inefficiencies: enclosed markets (by geography, walled gardens, etc…), captive customers (by loyalty cards, logins, etc…), and ineffective advertising.
The latter includes the much-vaunted targeted advertisements. At their optimum, targeted ads reduce “of all human interactions and interests into sets of data points that can be analyzed and traded,” opines Randall Rothenberg of the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
Rather than surveil customers, Searls essentially suggests that VRMs help people express their intentions. Sellers get more accurate information about a person’s need and individuals get to control what information they share. This is the ultimate win/win depicted in The Intention Economy.
The author plays out convincing scenarios where this might be beneficial to both parties. I am convinced on the merits, but only in a vacuum. The strongest aspects of The Intention Economy are those moments where Searls focuses on the historical context. I included much of that analysis in this review.
The full title of this book is The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge. Historically speaking, markets have been underpinned by exploitation, externalities, and collusion. Even advanced 20th century markets required legislation to protect consumers. A book like The Intention Economy would benefit greatly from caution rather than utopian thinking. I enjoy the author’s optimism, but the book too often echos those 1990s dreams of a disembodied cyberspace meritocracy. That vision could have benefited from a skeptic’s eye, just as the one laid out in The Intention Economy.
The Intention Economy outlines Searls’ vision for a better internet. It centers on a tool called a Vendor Relationship Manager (VRM). Consumers would use the VRM to manage their relationships with various organizations.
Most of Searls’ thinking centers on commercial transactions. I admit that I’m skeptical of this premise. It reminds me of previous utopian visions centered on trade, such as Thomas Watson’s “World Peace through World Trade” when he was the head of IBM. I did my best to approach Searls’ work with an open mind, regardless.
Contracts of Adhesion vs. Freedom of Contract
Contracts of Adhesion underpin some of the most nefarious and absurd abuses of power on the world wide web. They are first encountered when you agree to a “Terms of Service” that you never read. These contracts can be summarized as “An agreement where one side has all the bargaining power [… presented on an] essentially a ‘take it or leave it’ basis without giving consumers realistic opportunities to negotiate terms that would benefit their interests.” Friedrich Kessler argued that “mass production and mass distribution made this new type of contract inevitable.” While it was thought that so-called Contracts of Adhesion might be unenforceable, the recent precedence in American courts suggests otherwise.
Thus Kessler was right, when he suggested in 1943 that the only way to move from Contracts of Adhesion that hold individuals prisoner to Freedom of Contract that empowers people to make fair decision is to break up monopolistic practices. Monopolies at post-Industrial scale lead to Contracts of Adhesion while competition naturally lead to Freedom of Contract.
Freedom of Contract is also natural on the internet. The conditions to facilitate this freedom is unique to the internet in the same way that Contracts of Adhesion were natural to the Post-Industrial era; the internet combines the power of software automation combined with the reality that each party is functionally equidistant to every other party.
Interoperable Commons
The current internet, comprising of walled gardens that enforce Contracts of Adhesion, ensures that data generated by my identity cannot work on any other system. There is no technological reason for this reality. It is seen as a way to maximize profits by protecting intellectual property.
The future internet built upon a Freedom of Contract would still allow services to profit from data generated by my identity. But the individuals on the system could also directly benefit from the arrangement while having more control over their data.
In other words, just because you can claim some ownership of the data I produce on your website, it doesn’t mean that you can do anything you want with it. This is similar to home ownership. Just because I own my home, it doesn’t mean I can turn it into a bicycle factory.
Searls sees VRMs as a way to re-center the internet around interoperable standards that can benefit everyone in the commons, including governmental and commercial interests.
Advertising and Customer Acquisition
Searls spends a long time talking about advertising in The Intention Economy.
He sees three inefficiencies: enclosed markets (by geography, walled gardens, etc…), captive customers (by loyalty cards, logins, etc…), and ineffective advertising.
The latter includes the much-vaunted targeted advertisements. At their optimum, targeted ads reduce “of all human interactions and interests into sets of data points that can be analyzed and traded,” opines Randall Rothenberg of the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
Rather than surveil customers, Searls essentially suggests that VRMs help people express their intentions. Sellers get more accurate information about a person’s need and individuals get to control what information they share. This is the ultimate win/win depicted in The Intention Economy.
The author plays out convincing scenarios where this might be beneficial to both parties. I am convinced on the merits, but only in a vacuum. The strongest aspects of The Intention Economy are those moments where Searls focuses on the historical context. I included much of that analysis in this review.
The full title of this book is The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge. Historically speaking, markets have been underpinned by exploitation, externalities, and collusion. Even advanced 20th century markets required legislation to protect consumers. A book like The Intention Economy would benefit greatly from caution rather than utopian thinking. I enjoy the author’s optimism, but the book too often echos those 1990s dreams of a disembodied cyberspace meritocracy. That vision could have benefited from a skeptic’s eye, just as the one laid out in The Intention Economy.
June 3, 2017
A great book that brings forward the need of designing impartial system in the "new" economy. A system where consumers will "be able" to "manage" their "relationship" with sellers. The book is backed by heavily researched content and is a joy to read as a User focus group member in design and technology domains. However, I do feel that the book is feebly stretched and starts getting a bit redundant. Redundant is good for the memory but bad if it gets uninteresting.
I would recommend reading it though.
I would recommend reading it though.
February 7, 2018
For us who have experienced the digital revolution from mainstream computers, personal computers, data communication, internet, wireless access it's time to take back the ownership of all personal data we supply to companies and organizations with the ability to use it, not for our benefit, but more for their own. Doc Searls is one of the pioneers behind the movement to regain ownership of your own personal data. He inspires the new generation with his arguments for "conversations" between sovereign actors, which today is manifested as "customertech".
March 31, 2013
"Caveat Venditor - Let the Seller Beware"
So proclaimed Doc Searls in The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge. Co-author of the legendary The Cluetrain Manifesto, Searls' main thesis is that customers - like markets - should be free.
According to Searls, empowered customers should not be shackled to the chains of big business like "calves" forced to suckle many different "cows". Their personal data - demographics, buying behaviours, online surfing patterns - should not be owned by companies. They should also not be subjected to the hassles of having to deal with a hundred different vendor forms, systems or "loyalty" cards.
Through tools like Vendor Relationship Management (VRM) and Customer Commons, customers of the future can exert a lot more influence in their transactions with sellers. They can issue personal Requests For Proposals (RFPs) for vendors to bid for. They can also procure what they need, want or desire more naturally based on their intentions. This allows the provision of goods and services to be truly tailored to individual needs, wants and desires.
This democratisation of buyer-seller relationships entails several factors:
1) Admitting that much of advertising and promotions are bubbles about to burst, and that market research, customer analytics, and big data (huge data sets that track individual behaviours) are all guesswork at best.
2) Pushing for changes in lopsided laws which favour the writing of one-sided adhesion contracts (legally binding agreements where one side has all the bargaining power and the other can only "take it or leave it") to ones that support the freedom of equitable contracts.
3) Bringing "agency" (ie ability to act for one self) back to the individual customer. He or she then has the freedom to choose what, when, how, and where he/she should transact, with whom, and on mutually agreeable terms. The analogy is like driving your own car as opposed to using a retailer's shopping cart.
4) Embracing freedom, liberty and openness on the Internet through Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) code. This removes the "captive market" business models adopted by old phone and cable companies. At the same time, the concept of "Customer Commons" where the customer retains autonomous control over his or her personal data, desires and intention are respected.
5) Liberating customers through the development of VRM tools. These function as instruments of intention that tap on the power of the "Live Web" (real time, real place, unwalled). They organise "user-driven" personal data which allows customers to direct their own experiences and create personal "clouds"/data stores enabled by universal Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). New forms of micro-accounting for individuals, like EmanciPay and ascribenation, allows payment and delivery to be dovetailed with intent.
6) Creating "fourth parties" acting as agents of customers aligned to their interests (rather than that of suppliers). These associates should not be locked in to customers, but be substitutable. They should also be held accountable to their clients, be independent, and allow customer data portability.
7) Encouraging businesses to "lead and be led" by customers in a dance where VRM and CRM systems can work symbiotically and seamlessly in an automated fashion. To do so, businesses need to adopt live and evented APIs in their systems, put a leash on legal, and support a free and open Internet. What's more, they should follow and adopt tools developed by the VRM community, stop collecting customer data without permission, and provide customers unfettered access to their personal data.
As an intellectual and academic - the author is a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University - Doc Searls' crystal ball gazing tend to be a little utopian.
Sceptics would argue that it is nigh impossible to get telcos and cable companies to relinquish customer lock-in and other traditional sources of income. Sorting through the mess of personal data, systems and payment options may also be an onerous task.
Having said that, the idea of a more democratic "world wide marketplace" where customers are free agents unfettered by binding contracts is an alluring one.
By embracing free and open markets, open-source movements, personal data, VRM tools, and fourth parties, customers can escape being "captured" by asymmetrical relationships biased towards sellers. Such a marketplace may also work towards the benefit of sellers, eliminating the need for costly guesswork and optimising linkages between intention and purchases.
Let me end with a quote from The Intention Economy (there are lots in there) which nicely summarises its core vision:
"We can all connect now, more easily than ever. We can make our intentions known personally and in ways that can cause and sustain genuine relationships. And, where no relationship is required, we can connect, do business, and move on, with less cost and hassle than ever."The Intention Economy: When Customers Take ChargeDoc Searls
So proclaimed Doc Searls in The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge. Co-author of the legendary The Cluetrain Manifesto, Searls' main thesis is that customers - like markets - should be free.
According to Searls, empowered customers should not be shackled to the chains of big business like "calves" forced to suckle many different "cows". Their personal data - demographics, buying behaviours, online surfing patterns - should not be owned by companies. They should also not be subjected to the hassles of having to deal with a hundred different vendor forms, systems or "loyalty" cards.
Through tools like Vendor Relationship Management (VRM) and Customer Commons, customers of the future can exert a lot more influence in their transactions with sellers. They can issue personal Requests For Proposals (RFPs) for vendors to bid for. They can also procure what they need, want or desire more naturally based on their intentions. This allows the provision of goods and services to be truly tailored to individual needs, wants and desires.
This democratisation of buyer-seller relationships entails several factors:
1) Admitting that much of advertising and promotions are bubbles about to burst, and that market research, customer analytics, and big data (huge data sets that track individual behaviours) are all guesswork at best.
2) Pushing for changes in lopsided laws which favour the writing of one-sided adhesion contracts (legally binding agreements where one side has all the bargaining power and the other can only "take it or leave it") to ones that support the freedom of equitable contracts.
3) Bringing "agency" (ie ability to act for one self) back to the individual customer. He or she then has the freedom to choose what, when, how, and where he/she should transact, with whom, and on mutually agreeable terms. The analogy is like driving your own car as opposed to using a retailer's shopping cart.
4) Embracing freedom, liberty and openness on the Internet through Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) code. This removes the "captive market" business models adopted by old phone and cable companies. At the same time, the concept of "Customer Commons" where the customer retains autonomous control over his or her personal data, desires and intention are respected.
5) Liberating customers through the development of VRM tools. These function as instruments of intention that tap on the power of the "Live Web" (real time, real place, unwalled). They organise "user-driven" personal data which allows customers to direct their own experiences and create personal "clouds"/data stores enabled by universal Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). New forms of micro-accounting for individuals, like EmanciPay and ascribenation, allows payment and delivery to be dovetailed with intent.
6) Creating "fourth parties" acting as agents of customers aligned to their interests (rather than that of suppliers). These associates should not be locked in to customers, but be substitutable. They should also be held accountable to their clients, be independent, and allow customer data portability.
7) Encouraging businesses to "lead and be led" by customers in a dance where VRM and CRM systems can work symbiotically and seamlessly in an automated fashion. To do so, businesses need to adopt live and evented APIs in their systems, put a leash on legal, and support a free and open Internet. What's more, they should follow and adopt tools developed by the VRM community, stop collecting customer data without permission, and provide customers unfettered access to their personal data.
As an intellectual and academic - the author is a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University - Doc Searls' crystal ball gazing tend to be a little utopian.
Sceptics would argue that it is nigh impossible to get telcos and cable companies to relinquish customer lock-in and other traditional sources of income. Sorting through the mess of personal data, systems and payment options may also be an onerous task.
Having said that, the idea of a more democratic "world wide marketplace" where customers are free agents unfettered by binding contracts is an alluring one.
By embracing free and open markets, open-source movements, personal data, VRM tools, and fourth parties, customers can escape being "captured" by asymmetrical relationships biased towards sellers. Such a marketplace may also work towards the benefit of sellers, eliminating the need for costly guesswork and optimising linkages between intention and purchases.
Let me end with a quote from The Intention Economy (there are lots in there) which nicely summarises its core vision:
"We can all connect now, more easily than ever. We can make our intentions known personally and in ways that can cause and sustain genuine relationships. And, where no relationship is required, we can connect, do business, and move on, with less cost and hassle than ever."The Intention Economy: When Customers Take ChargeDoc Searls
May 5, 2017
Interesting book with a lot of theory. In particular though, the last few chapters are very insightful and worth a read.
May 18, 2013
If it seems like a long treatise on the topic, it's because it's thorough. What I enjoyed most about Searls' critique of the current state of the customer experience was his continued focus on having automation catch up so customers are again in control. He covers several foundational concepts, like contracts of adhesion and captive markets. These are balanced equally with practical topics like applications to travel and healthcare. Overall, I found this to be thoughtful, informative, and distinct from anything else I've read recently in the genre.
November 19, 2012
Well written but I found it more of a manifesto than anything else - he paints a utopian/distopian picture of the future in the first part but then doesn't (to me at least) make a viable case for how or why this will occur, except that he and a bunch of others think it would be a great idea.
January 22, 2013
Great book that projects how customers will continue to use the web to wrestle back control over vendors. Doc Searls writes a thought provoking piece as he, and the team at ProjectVRM, try to keep ahead of the changing landscape. I'd say he's about one year ahead of anyone I've read in this field.
December 6, 2012
This book is "out there", meaning it presents an idea that is still in the concept stage and can't be implemented for quite a while. Interesting concept of a CRM for a consumer to indicate wants or needs to retailers but not very applicable to current business.
Read
January 29, 2016Thought-provoking, well-researched essay on the future of the Internet. The author claims that the Internet is still (only) in its caveman days, and presents his ideas of how it will evolve. Somewhat technical in parts, I think it is required reading for all entrepreneurs.
August 30, 2014
Interesting views, but tends to berate and lament, without a lot of analysis. More anecdotal than prescription based. Insightful.
December 12, 2012
This is the future, it's you! Doc has been talking about VRM for years, this is his manifesto, enjoy and plan your next career moves accordingly!
March 10, 2013
An excellent discussion of where the economy should go as IT transforms the commercial processes we are so used to.
March 21, 2015
Antiquated as it us today, I can't imagine it had value when first printed.
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