There are some very powerful benefits that accrue from the use of HTTP based Hypermedia. 7 that come to mind immediately include:

1. Structured & Platform Independent Enterprise Data Virtualization -- concrete conceptual level access and provisioning of abstract domain entities such as Customers, Orders, Employees, Products, Countries, Competitors etc.
2. Distributed Application State (REST) -- application state transitions via links
3. Structured Data Representation (Linked Data) -- whole data data representation via links
4. Structured Identity (WebID) -- verifiable distributed identity
5. Structured Profiles (FOAF) -- platform independent profiles for people and organizations
6. Articulation of Structured Value Propositions (GoodRelations) -- Product & Service Offers, Business Entities, Locations, Business Hours, etc.
7. Structured Collaboration Spaces (SIOC) -- Blogs, Wikis, File Sharing, Discussion Forums, Aggregated Feeds, Statuses, Photo Galleries, Polls etc.