Pretty much every industry that has bankrolled agencies would have people believe otherwise. Associations and consortiums spend considerable time and money try

Pretty much every industry that has bankrolled agencies would have people believe otherwise. Associations and consortiums spend considerable time and money trying to convince people of the importance of their role in the whole process. Prime example: the ridiculousness of commercials for the National Association of Realtors. Travel agents, literary agents, Realtors, temp agencies, even stock brokers have seen the hyper-competitive market diminish the need for them in the whole process of adding value. More often than not, they end up taking so much of the economic surplus from the transactions that they actually end up harming both parties (in terms of producer and consumer surplus, that is see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_surplus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_surplus) Information asymmetry is one thing that agencies have used traditionally to exploit parties. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_asymmetry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_asymmetry. But as it becomes less expensive to exchange information, those who have traditionally profited from doing so have more to lose. Hence dumb commercials. I think when/if I go back to grad school, this will be the topic of my dissertation. It's a fascinating subject that really explores some intricacies in economics, and how technology is changing the landscape.