Interesting article on marketwatch this weekend by Amy Hoak.  The link from the Marketawatch Real Estate  page is, "Can home buyers, sellers benefit on the Web without agents?"  Sounds kind of like your typical "we've got all the information so we don't need you over paid agents" article.  Then you go to it and find the article is titled "Virtual vindication for real estate agents."

Here's just a few quotes to wet your appetite:

• Without brokers, home buyers and sellers find limited success on the Web
• His story helps illustrate how the Internet, while undoubtedly growing in popularity as a tool for buyers and sellers alike, has turned out to validate the role of the real estate professional.
• the housing slowdown now unfolding only underscores how crucial of a role that brokers have
• What the Internet does is educate consumers about what's out there, preparing them for the real estate road ahead of them.
• the Internet has become more of a research tool for prospective home buyers and sellers -- not a replacement for a real estate professional
• sellers may want to consider an agent's online marketing plan before giving him or her the job of selling their house

Interesting reading.