Digital Platforms Categorization: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation

The rapid expansion of digital platforms has reconfigured industries, markets, and regulatory landscapes, creating complex challenges for managers, researchers, and policymakers seeking to understand, govern, and design platform-based ecosystems. Although platforms have become essential infrastructures that mediate interactions and drive innovation, existing frameworks such as the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA) struggle to address their structural diversity and evolving nature. Persistent conceptual ambiguities further constrain both research and policy. This study develops an integrative and empirically grounded taxonomy for digital platforms to enhance conceptual clarity and regulatory adaptability. Following the taxonomy development methodology proposed by Nickerson et al. (2013), it combines a systematic review of 46 academic papers with an empirical analysis of 180 platforms across nine sectors. The resulting taxonomy comprises 15 dimensions that capture the structural, operational, economic, and technological characteristics of platforms. By providing a coherent and replicable framework, it supports comparative research and informs proportionate regulatory design. The study advances a taxonomy-based approach to platform governance suited to contemporary digital ecosystems.