The growth in internet adoption, among both businesses and consumers, has led to an explosion in the volume of data in the world. This has naturally led to more entrepreneurial interest, resulting in numerous data-based ("big data" or "artificial intelligence") startups and new business models claimed to be built on "data network effects". It is usually believed that more data leads to stronger data network effects, but this is often not the case. Data network effects are more misunderstood, much rarer, more difficult to establish and even harder to recognize than "traditional" network effects.
