Self-preferencing

Apps, Designation Decision, Digital, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, Enforcement, Equal treatment, European Commission, Fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND), Google, Self-preferencing

(University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) became entirely applicable on 7 March 2024. By then, the gatekeepers issued their compliance reports documenting their technical solutions and implementation of the DMA’s provisions under Article 11 DMA as well as their reports on consumer profiling techniques as required under Article 15 DMA (see here). I will be covering…

Abuse of dominance, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital Markets Act, European Commission, Google, Proportionality, Remedies, Self-preferencing, Statement of Objections

(Leiden University & KU Leuven)/ /Leave a comment

Google’s behaviour in the advertising technology sector (Ad Tech) is under attack or, at the very least, it is being intensely scrutinised on both sides of the Atlantic. Google is already subject to several antitrust suits in the U.S. lodged against it by the Department of Justice (DoJ) and individual States. In the European Union,…

Abuse of dominance, Apple, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Google, Japan, Market study, Self-preferencing

(Hirayama Law Offices)/ /Leave a comment

Summary The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) published a 157-page report on 9th February 2023 (see here the press release), focusing on issues in the market structure and the lack of competitive pressure in the markets of essential software for smartphones (mobile OS) and app distribution services, both of which Apple and Google mainly provide….

Abuse of dominance, Guidelines, KFTC, Online platforms, Platforms, Self-preferencing, South Korea

(ICR Law Center, Korea University)/ /Leave a comment

It would no longer be surprising to see competition or regulatory authorities blaming digital platforms for favouring their own services on their own platforms. In particular, in Europe, seeing the General Court’s Google decisions (see e.g., Johannes Persch’s blog posts on Shopping and Android) and the self-preferencing obligation of the Digital Markets Act (see, e.g.,…

Digital Markets Act, European Commission, Google, Self-preferencing

(University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

The DMA will start to apply in March 2024. The European Commission (EC) has acquired the compromise to make the process of the DMA’s future implementation, monitoring and oversight of compliance as transparent as possible. In this same vein, the first of the DMA’s stakeholders’ workshops was held on the 5th of December on the…

Abuse of dominance, Advertising, Algorithms, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digitisation, E-commerce, Effects-based, European Union, Evidence, General Court of the European Union, Google, Online advertising, Online platforms, Self-preferencing

(University of Mannheim)/ /1 Comment

The long-awaited Google Shopping judgment is out (see the press release here and the full decision here). The General Court has dismissed Google’s action almost in its entirety, upholding the fine of € 2.42 billion that the EU Commission issued in 2017 on the company for abusing its dominance as a search engine by favouring…

Amazon, Apple, Brand Gating, Digital economy, Germany, Self-preferencing

(University of Vienna, Austria)/ /4 Comments

The German Federal Cartel Authority continues its campaign against tech-giants by once again launching a probe into Amazon. This time, Amazon is not the only company affected. The authority also takes a closer look at Apple. Amazon has contracts with Apple, according to which only Apple dealerships and Amazon can offer Apple products on the…

Abuse of dominance, Comparison shopping, Digital competition, Google, Self-preferencing, Türkiye

, (ACTECON)/ /1 Comment

On 29th of July, Google announced[1] that starting from 10th of August, it will be removing shopping ads (or “the Shopping Unit” as referred by the TCA as well as by the EU Commission) from its search pages in Turkey. According to the tech giant, the decision was taken because of the uncertainties surrounding the…

Online advertising, Self-preferencing, Türkiye

, (ACTECON)/ /Leave a comment

The issue of the “appropriate claimant” or the capacity to sue always comes into question at the stage of the judicial review of the decisions of the competition authorities. It is not as easy as it may seem from the first glance, and the case law of the Administrative courts in Turkey is a proof…