Business information

Business information is one of the three main segments of the information industry. The other two segments are scientific, technical and medical (STM) and educational and training content.

Where much of the content industry revenues are advertising-driven, the business information segment remains largely driven by paid content, either via subscription or transaction (pay-per-view).

The primary forms of business information include:

• News
• Market research
• Credit and financial information
• Company and executive profiles
• Industry, country and economic analysis
• IT research

The primary business information formats can be divided into the following categories: ^[1]

• Basic reference sources such as guides, bibliographies, dictionaries, almanacs, encyclopedias, handbooks, yearbooks and internet resources
• Directories
• Periodicals and newspapers
• Loose-leaf services
• Government information and services
• Statistics
• Electronic business information

While Wall Street's thirst for information traditionally drove the business information market, its use is much more widespread today. In addition to the financial markets, business information is used heavily for sales and marketing, competitive intelligence, strategic planning, human resources and many other strategic business functions.

There are more than 210^[2] providers of business information. While the Internet has made it easier for business information publishers to deliver content directly to their users, there remains a strong market for aggregators of such content which package and customize business information.

References