Measuring digital intermediation services

Tina Highfill and Brian Quistorff

September 14th, 2023; FCSM

The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not 

necessarily represent the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis or the U.S. 

Department of Commerce.
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What are digital intermediation services?

Digital intermediation services are often defined by two characteristics:

1. An online interface that facilitates, for a fee, the direct interaction between 

multiple buyers and multiple sellers 

2. The platform does not take economic ownership of the goods, nor does it 

provide the services that are being sold

OECD nomenclature: financial digital intermediation services are included in the 

category “financial services predominately operating digitally” and are inherently 

separate from all other digital intermediation services 
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Why measure digital intermediation services?

• Identify areas where digital 

transformation is occurring and 

impacting production and consumption

• Understand the contribution of these 

services to GDP, productivity

Measurement challenge: identifying and quantifying these services 

across multiple industries

Gross Earnings in Platform Gig Work

Source: The Evolution of Platform Gig Work, 2012-2021 (Garin, 

et al., 2023)
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NAICS description NAICS code

Taxi service 48531

Local messengers and local delivery 49221

Data processing, hosting, and related services 518210

Web search portals and all other information services 51929

Other financial transactions processing and clearing house activities 52232

Passenger car rental 532111

Truck, utility trailer and recreational vehicle (RV) rental and leasing 532120

Employment placement agencies and executive search services 561310

Other travel arrangement and reservation services 561590

Industries related to digital intermediation services as 

identified by Statistics Canada 
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Industries related to digital intermediation services as 

identified by BEA multinational enterprises survey

NAICS description NAICS code

Utilities 22

Manufacturing 31-33

Wholesale trade 42

Retail trade 44-45

Transportation 48

Information 51

Finance and insurance 52

Real estate, rental, and leasing 53

Professional, scientific, and technical services 54

Management of companies and enterprises 55

Administrative and waste services 56

Health care and social assistance 61

Arts, entertainment, and recreation 71

Accommodation and food services 72

Other services 81
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Top-down approach to measuring rideshare digital 

intermediation services: rideshare example

NAICS 48531/taxi services

Census 

electronic 

revenue 

share = 

Z%

BEA gross output, 

adjusted to 

remove output by 

drivers = 

$A

Gross output from digital orders = 

$A * Z% =

$B

X

1 2

3
7

Top-down approach to measuring rideshare digital 

intermediation services: rideshare example

NAICS 48531/taxi services

Census 

electronic 

revenue 

share = 

Z%

BEA gross output, 

adjusted to 

remove output by 

drivers = 

$A

Gross output from digital orders = 

$A * Z% =

$B

Gross output for digital 

orders of taxi services 

provided by taxi 

companies

= $B * y

Gross output for digital 

intermediation services 

provided by rideshare 

platforms

= $B * (1-y)

X

y = Share of taxi services’ gross 

output paid to taxi companies 

from digital orders originating 

from the taxi company’s own 

website or app

1 2

3

4

5
8

Bottom-up approach to measuring rideshare digital 

intermediation services: rideshare example

Company Public Financial Filings 

Information (SEC 10-K) 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Lyft U.S. revenue $1,060 $2,157 $3,616 $2,365 $3,208

Uber

“Mobility” revenue $7,278 $9,288 $10,707 $6,089 $6,953

U.S. share of total revenue 55% 60% 65% 59% 58%

U.S. mobility estimate $4,007 $5,543 $6,972 $3,614 $4,021

Note: dollars in millions (U.S.)
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Millions of U.S. dollars

Gross output 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Using financial reports for rideshare 

companies (bottom-up) $5,067 $7,699 $10,588 $5,979 $7,229

Using electronic revenue for taxi services 

industry (top-down) $6,333 $6,942 $7,089 $3,777 $4,605 

Estimating digital intermediation services for rideshare: 

experimental results from two approaches

-60%

-30%

0%

30%

60%

2018 2019 2020 2021

Annual growth
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Millions of U.S. dollars

Gross output 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Using financial reports for travel services 

companies (bottom-up) $7,613 $8,566 $9,694 $5,605 $10,624

Using electronic revenue for travel agencies 

industry (top-down) $15,685 $16,498 $18,378 $10,044 $22,451 

Estimating digital intermediation services for travel 

services: experimental results from two approaches

-100%

-50%

0%

50%

100%

150%

2018 2019 2020 2021

Annual growth
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Takeaways

• Estimated digital intermediation services for rideshare, travel services, 

and food/grocery delivery services represented about $31b in 2021 

U.S. gross output (~1% of Digital Economy)

• Both approaches had similar growth rates for many years, though 

levels were sometimes not very close

• Both approaches have weaknesses

BEA Working Paper: Measuring Digital Intermediation Services: 

Experimental Estimates of Gross Output for Rideshare, Travel Services, 

and Food/Grocery Delivery Service Platforms
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Next steps

• Some version of these estimates may be included in our Digital 

Economy Satellite Account statistics

• Continue research and collaboration with other statistical agencies 

and OECD to identify and quantify these services