So, as you say, whilst the big brands will dominate the big picture of search (due to relative SEO hegimony), the principles of the long tail really apply in making their inventory sweat harder. ie, if you search for ‘random book’ there are two ‘Long Tail’ beneficiaries…. i) Amazon, because Amazon rules the Google waves and ii) Random Book publisher, because Amazon is strong and able enough to stock it. ….and not necessarily the small, niche competitors to Amazon.

Without search hegemony (eg, Amazon coming out top on SEO and brand terms) the long tail idea may not work…. ie, you need Gorillas to hold inventory. In other words, Long Tail doesnt necessarily mean that loads of niche players can duke it out on search engines catching small sprats… But it does mean that those brands that already have huge brand and search footprints can stock huge catalogues in the knowledge that their listings will usually float to the top of any search activity.

So, its not necessarily egalitarian in practice – allowing the small companies to compete with Amazon’s ….but it does allow random inventory to get shifted from within big shops…. ie, in this example, the beneficiaries are the product publishers/manufacturers/etc and not the small retailers/etailers