More and more customers would rather go to Web sites that aggregate product information than to the individual company pages that generate and present the raw data. That’s because aggregating information often adds value to it—especially when one type is mashed up with another, such as it is at real estate sites where crime data are mapped along with house listings or at travel sites that post each flight’s on-time record. But aggregation presents a quandary for senior executives who believe what pundits and consultants have been telling them for decades: Information is a vital organizational asset that must be tightly controlled.Companies are often surprised to find that they benefit from having their information pooled. Setting data free broadens a firm’s presence in the marketplace and lowers the cost of providing information to users. It also gives customers a better experience (travel sites, for example, compete on the basis of how easy they make it for customers to reach a good decision) and allows a company to focus on its core competencies. Meanwhile, the aggregators drive business back to the source companies.