Analysis and Design of an Agent Searching Algorithm for e-Marketplaces

Abstract. Recently, agent techniques in electronic marketplaces (e-marketplaces) bring B-to-B trading into a new era. However, not much analysis on the behavior of agents has been reported. In this paper, based on the ant algorithm in network routing, we introduce a jumping (searching) model for agents in an e-marketplace network. However, we should be aware that if there are too many agents in the e-marketplace network, they will use up all communication bandwidth and computing resource. It is inevitable to investigate the behavior of agents, such as agent population. Based on the existing results in the ant algorithm in network routing, we present the behavior of agents in an e-marketplace network. Hence, we can control the agent population by setting the appropriate agent generation rate

A Quantitative Analysis of the User Behavior of a Large E-Broker

The Internet and the World Wide Web provide a global virtual marketplace. However, there is little information about the behavior of e-commerce users worldwide. The goal of the paper is twofold. First, we give an overview of the architecture and implementation of the Miner Family of Web Agents for e-commerce. Then, we present a quantitative study of the user behavior of a large e-broker (i.e., the BookMiner). Considering that the e-broker is used by a large number of users that only speak Portuguese and live in Brazil, we discuss the influence of regional and cultural issues on the e-commerce activities. Although the Web opens a company to a global market, our findings clearly indicate that e-commerce is strongly tied to regional issues, such as language, national customs and regulations, currency conversion and logistics. Also, the Internet infrastructure, mainly the intercontinental links, affects the user behavior.