Digital markets, gatekeepers, and the cost of access

# Digital markets, gatekeepers, and the cost of access

Digital work markets grew quickly because they solved two old problems at once: discovery and trust.

Search, comparison, reviews, messaging, hiring, and payment moved into one system. That made access faster, broader, and more efficient.

But it also made visibility, ranking, and platform dependence much more important than before.

The deeper shift is not that middlemen disappeared. Old gatekeepers lost power. New digital gatekeepers emerged in their place through commissions, service fees, subscriptions, promoted placement, and ranking logic.

Once access flows through a system, that system starts shaping who gets seen, trusted, and chosen.

Read more:

- https://www.thethriv.com/blog/the-price-of-intermediation

- https://www.thethriv.com/blog/when-gatekeepers-lose-control