Online platforms

Abuse of dominance, Advertising, Algorithms, Apple, Big data, Data protection, Digital economy, Digital Markets Act, Digital Services Act, E-commerce, European Union, Facebook, France, Google, Online advertising, Online advertising restrictions, Online platforms, Platforms

(BEUC, the European Consumer Organisation) and (University of Vienna, Austria)/ /2 Comments

Recently, Google and Apple have changed their policy for targeted online advertising. Privacy-conscious users have been switching to alternatives for years, however, completely avoiding being tracked by online tech giants is virtually impossible. Nevertheless, the online ad industry has grown tremendously in the last decade, and targeted behavioural advertising has become ubiquitous in the online…

Algorithms, China, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, Digital Services Act, Market definition, Online platforms

(University of Macau)/ /Leave a comment

On 7 February 2021, the Anti-Monopoly Commission of the State Council issued the Anti-Monopoly Guidelines for the Platform Economy (the Guidelines) clarifying the application of the Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) to the potential anti-competitive practices of the online platforms. The issuance of the Guidelines sends a clear message to the online platforms that antitrust enforcement in…

Algorithms, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, Digital Services Act, Intellectual property (IP), International Law Talk, Online platforms, Platforms, Podcast

(University of Vienna, Austria)/ /Leave a comment

The Kluwer Competition Law Blog is very happy to announce the first competition law issue of the International Law Talk Podcast. Just before Christmas, I talked to Gabriella Muscolo, Commissioner of the Italian Competition Authority, a specialist for big data, IP and competition law. We covered the whole bandwidth of big data and competition law,…

Abuse of dominance, Amazon, Digital markets, E-commerce, European Commission, European Union, Online platforms

(Vienna University of Economics and Business)/ /Leave a comment

Large platforms acting as “digital gatekeepers” are increasingly drawing competition agencies’ attention. While no legal definition of a “gatekeeper” has been laid down yet,[1] this concept is meant to cover platforms that rely on significant network effects. A “gatekeeper” may also be a go-between, controlling access from one point to another. However, gatekeepers may refuse…

Algorithms, Big data, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, Digital Services Act, E-commerce, European Commission, European Union, New Competition Tool, Online platforms, Platforms, Vestager

(Loyens & Loeff, Netherlands) and (Loyens & Loeff)/ /Leave a comment

“I’ve been wondering how to give a metaphor because these are two quite complex proposals. And the best thing I came to think of was the first-ever traffic light that brought order in the streets, that was actually in the US, in Cleveland Ohio. And that was invented as a response to a major technological…

Competition law, Concentrations, Digital markets, Ex ante regulation, Joint ventures, Mergers, Netherlands, Online platforms, Uncategorized

(Bird & Bird, The Netherlands) and (Bird & Bird)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction On 20 May 2020 the Dutch competition authority (“ACM”) conditionally cleared a new joint venture between transport company Pon Netherlands B.V. (“Pon”) and Dutch rail operator NS Groep N.V. (“NS”) creating a Mobility as a Service (“MaaS”) platform. The case was referred to the ACM by the European Commission (“Commission”) under Article 9 of…

Competition, Digital markets, Digitisation, Netherlands, Online platforms

(Bird & Bird, The Netherlands) and (Bird & Bird)/ /1 Comment

Introduction In 2019 several studies have been published and discussions took place about digitalisation, online platforms and competition law. Many of us will probably have read the so-called Crémer, Furman, Stigler, and Lear-reports. The Netherlands did not lag behind. The Dutch government published amongst others a vision on data sharing between businesses and an updated…

Competition law, Court of Appeal, Digital markets, Germany, Online platforms, Vertical restraints

(Heinz & Zagrosek Partner mbB, Germany)/ /1 Comment

On June 4, 2019, the Düsseldorf Court of Appeal quashed the decision of the Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) prohibiting Booking.com to operate so-called narrow most favored nation (MFN) clauses (or best price clauses) on its hotel booking platform with hotels in Germany, see press release here.  It thereby set a (preliminary) end to a long saga…

European Union, Merger control, Online platforms

(EY Law)/ /Leave a comment

The European Commission’s Chief Competition Economist in a recent presentation specifically referred to the notion of “platform envelopment” and the possibilities of leverage.[1] His social-media posts about the power of search engines and browsers to gain advantages in other areas, such as videos, maps and shopping, suggest a sense of insecurity about the growing influence…

Abuse of dominance, Big data, Data protection, Facebook, Germany, Online platforms

(Heinz & Zagrosek Partner mbB, Germany)/ /Leave a comment

On February 7, 2019, Germany’s Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) issued its long-awaited decision in the Facebook case, see press release and background paper in English here. It qualifies Facebook’s current practice of collecting and matching data of its users from third-party services/websites, including on What’sApp and Instagram, without explicit consent as an abuse of dominance.  Facebook…