metamediary
n. An intermediary who gathers and coordinates the products and services offered by intermediaries who specialize in specific areas.
Also Seen As
Etymology
Examples
2000
A new breed of intermediate institutions is emerging to inform and advise customers, and to simplify their dealings with product and service providers. These metamediaries dramatically improve the efficiency and effectiveness of transactions in the Networked Economy. Metamediaries also redraw the boundaries of markets by creating metamarkets, which have no parallel in the physical world.
—Mohandir Sawhney, “Making New Markets,” Business 2.0, March 01, 2000
1999
As place and time become increasingly irrelevant in the networked economy . . . specialised mediators will offer better products and services at lower costs than full-service mediators. But in doing so, customers will be faced with a dizzying array of specialised product and service providers. Mohanbir Sawhney argues that this will in turn result in the emergence of "metamediaries", who will reassemble the offerings into bundles that are logically related from the customer's perspective.
—“The new middlemen in the networked economy,” The Financial Times (London), May 01, 1999
1999 (earliest)
Q But there are other instances, such as Edmunds.com, where what's going on is a new intermediary inserting itself.

A Absolutely, yes. From speaking to a variety of people, the in-phrase for that seems to be meta-mediary.

The notion is that these people bring together a whole pile of products and services that relate to a particular industry - so in the automotive area Edmunds is bringing together insurance providers, people who find dealers, warranty suppliers and so on, the whole shooting match under one roof.
—Ian Stobie & Martin Butler, “Way forward for ebusiness,” Computing, March 18, 1999
Notes
Veterans say the informal intellectual gatherings that once ruled have been replaced by executive class chic, the 'billionaires brunch' and competition for entry into discussion groups that cover topics such as 'The Five Biggest Misconceptions Salon Westerners Have About Asia (and Vice Versa),' 'Meta-markets and Meta-mediaries: The Future of Meditation in a Networked Economy,' 'Bridging the 'Techknowledgy' Gap' and, a personal favorite, 'Nightcap with Yasser Arafat.'
—Tom Hogue, “World class recess: Deep thinking in Davos,” National Post (Canada), February 08, 1999
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