Search Engines like Altavista offer a free search services and create a flow of trafic and consequently a strong brand name which allows them to sell complementary products like individual search software and access to their index data base. There may be a positive spillover towards Digital Equipments , the mother company, on the sale of computers Industries are breaking up. Insurance products are sold via the Internet by new intermediaries like InsWeb and even insurers themselves enter into direct sales via the Internet, like in the case of Zurich Direct . Another type of intermediary, the CyberAgent is proposed by QuickQuote the innovator in the field of direct Internet quote systems, which allow Internet users to get immediate quotes. It is likely that prices will be significantly lower when insurance is traded via the Internet, and this will have a significant impact on prices of non-Internet insurance as well.
Secure transactions exist, but few people dare to buy via the Internet.
Dubious business practices are likely to be discovered and commented in consumer's rigths newsgroups. Confidence seems to be a keyword for the moment.