Purpose: This article is based on a systematic and comprehensive review of the literature on two-sided platforms, the business structure based on the concept of matchmaking groups of customers (e.g. Uber or Airbnb). The research aims to identify gaps in the existing literature while providing a structured summary of the existing knowledge in the field. Finally, we propose a conceptual framework enabling platform thinking, the ability to see hybrid multi-sided platforms as a useful resource-orchestration structure to unveil innovation opportunities.Design/methodology/approach: This study adopts a bibliometric approach, combing co-citation and text mining analyses of 196 papers, also implementing a longitudinal analysis that highlights the evolution of the field since its inception till today.Findings: The novel aspect of the paper consists in taking a purely managerial stance of a very peculiar kind of platform, merging existing knowledge in comprehensive frameworks while providing potential avenues for research.Research limitations/implications: From an academic perspective, this research highlights the double nature of two-sided platforms: as an operational choice or as a way to exploit (digital) assets and reach the economic sustainability. A research agenda is proposed, based on three pillars: a side-based standpoint, a business model perspective and an evolutionary stance to see how these businesses may evolve.Practical implications: The research identifies different literature streams that may help practitioners in identifying how two-sided platforms may help them in fostering innovation.Originality/value: The identification of two-sided platforms as a different way to create value (transaction platforms) or to capture value (non-transaction platform), enhancing the debate on this innovative business model. A research agenda to bring the field forward is proposed.

Consumers are getting used to receiving free services in many different fields, and the popularity of the mobile app industry is feeding this phenomenon. Historically, advertising—a typical two-sided market mechanism—is the primary method that companies relying on a free-to-consumers business model have used to appropriate value in digital environments. But new strategies are needed to make free services sustainable and profitable in the long term. At the same time, companies are gathering a huge amount of data from consumers, especially through mobile apps, by leveraging the sensors embedded in smartphones; this data represents a powerful new source of value. Through a case study analysis, we show how leveraging a two-sided structure can enable companies to capture value from user-sourced data, enabling a sustainable free-to-consumers business model. In this model, users are more than eyeballs to be targeted with advertising; they become data providers, and companies may capture value by using that data to customize advertising messages, leverage e-ethnography to improve their own core offer, serve as fodder for research, or create knowledge for third parties.