To each and everyone an agent: augmenting web-based commerce with agents
Joakim Eriksson, Niclas Finne, Sverker Janson · 1998
Internet has evolved from an information space to a market space with thousands, potentially millions, of electronic storefronts, auctions and other commercial services. This creates great opportunities, but is not without problems. One major problem is the difficulty of finding relevant offers. Another problem is coping with the multitude of different styles of web-based user interfaces to different marketplaces. Yet another problem is how to automate routine tasks in such an environment. We present one possible solution to these problems. An agent-based market infrastructure, in which agents support all users and services, helps customers and commercial sites find matching interests, and, if desired, negotiate and close deals. The infrastructure is entirely open and decentralized. Each participant has an agent that acts in the interest of its owner. Interaction is entirely symmetric. Any participant can play any role on a market. In this paper we present an integration of such an infrastructure, SICS MarketSpace, with the web. Personal assistant agents help users in their interaction with services and are able to handle routine tasks off-line. Agent-enabled services are able to adapt to the interests of their users, even on their first visit, and are provided with a mechanism to take the first initiative (push) in a highly focused manner. Keywords: agent-based markets, software agents, worldwide web, electronic commerce, personal assistants 1.