Online travel agents good or bad for the hotels?

Thought of discussing my Dual Degree (AIT, Bangkok & ESCP, Paris) Research Study/Thesis

Do Online Travel Agents (Expedia, Agoda, HRS etc) dominate the distribution of online hotel bookings for hotels? What can hotels do to avoid commission payments and get direct bookings?

Can Hotels survive without Online Travel Agents and by relying on other marketing methods through Facebook, Twitter, Search Engine Optimization, own website, Google Adwords etc?

1 Minute survey for Hotels - Protected content

We have 5 hotels who are part of this study for in-depth analysis - So if any hotel wants to be part of this study, can feel free to let me know and it will be published.

I will share the results once the study is completed. Hope to get some insights from all of you and industry experts. Thanks.