---
title: "Shopbots and Pricebots"
authors:
  - "Amy Greenwald"
  - "Jeffrey O. Kephart"
doi: ""
url: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1999/73"
pdf: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1999/0073.pdf"
venue: "Proceedings of the Sixteenth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence"
year: 1999
pages: "506-510"
track: "Distributed AI"
keywords:
---

# Shopbots and Pricebots

Amy Greenwald, Jeffrey O. Kephart

*Proceedings of the Sixteenth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence*, pages 506-510.

## Abstract

Shopbots are agents that automatically search the Internet to obtain information about prices and other attributes of goods and services. They herald a future in which autonomous agents profoundly influence electronic markets. In this study, a simple economic model is proposed and analyzed, which is intended to quantify some of the likely impacts of a proliferation of shopbots and other economically-motivated software agents. In addition, this paper reports on simulations of pricebots - adaptive, pricesetting agents which firms may well implement to combat, or even take advantage of, the growing community of shopbots. This study forms part of a larger research program that aims to provide insights into the impact of agent technology on the nascent information economy.