Platforms

Ancillary, Digital competition, Digital economy, European Court of Justice, Market definition, Platforms, Pricing

(Leiden University)/ /Leave a comment

The recent judgment of the CJEU in Booking.com represents yet another development in the long series of cases concerning price parity clauses in the platform economy. In Booking.com’s case, the judgment represents the end of the line for its parity clauses. In its greater context of applying EU competition law in the digital economy, the…

Abuse of dominance, Concentrations, Digital, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, Dutch clause, European Commission, Ex ante regulation, Merger control, Merger notification, National competition authorities (NCAs), Platforms

(University Villanueva, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

On 14 July 2023, the European Commission launched its second template relating to the gatekeeper’s compliance with Article 14 of the DMA (the Template), i.e., their obligation to inform about any intended concentration involving core platform services or any other services in the digital sector or enabling the collection of data (Article 14(1) of the…

Data protection, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital Markets Act, European Commission, Ex ante regulation, Online advertising, Online advertising restrictions, Online platforms, Platforms, Privacy, Regulation

(University Villanueva, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

The DMA will start to apply on March 2024. Starting on the 2nd of May, the gatekeepers have a maximum of two months to notify their gatekeeper status to the European Commission (EC). The European Commission (EC) has acquired the compromise to make the process of the DMA’s future implementation, monitoring and oversight of compliance as…

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

(Kyoto 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.,…

Facebook, Merger control, Merger Thresholds, Platforms, United Kingdom

, (Northeastern University)/ /1 Comment

When, why, and on what evidence can a competition regulator in one jurisdiction push for divestments in global deals? An increasingly active UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) has been making its presence known, not least in technology mergers. This blog post will review core questions from Meta/Giphy relevant to advising on UK merger clearance…

Abuse of dominance, European Commission, Facebook, Platforms, Tying and Bundling

(Leiden University)/ /Leave a comment

Factual background Just before 2022 ended the Commission sent a statement of objections to Meta regarding the potential abusive behaviour of Facebook. According to the statement of objections, Facebook may be engaging in (i) abusive tying practices with regard to Facebook Marketplace as users (i.e. consumers) that log into Facebook and are automatically also offered…

Digital markets, European Commission, Evidence, Innovation, Market definition, Platforms

, , , (White & Case)/ /Leave a comment

On 8 November 2022, the European Commission launched a public consultation on its draft revised Market Definition Notice. The new Notice provides detailed explanatory guidance based on the recent case law of the European Commission and the European Court of Justice. It takes into account the latest market developments, in particular, competition on non-price elements…

Digital economy, Digital markets, European Union, Labour market, Platforms, Restriction by object

(University of Copenhagen)/ /Leave a comment

After deliberating on the matter for a year, DG COMP on the 9th of December published its draft guidance on the application of Article 101 on collective bargaining of the self-employed. This is done in response to the rise and proliferation of the online economy, centred specifically on platforms and greater reliance on freelancers and…

Abuse of dominance, Digital economy, Digital Markets Act, European Court of Justice, Fundamental rights, Ne bis in idem, Platforms

(White & Case)/

In my second post on matters related to the DMA Proposal (see for another post here), I would like to draw the readers’ attention to the role of the Court of Justice. I am not going to touch upon potential challenges of the DMA or questions of judicial review of acts taken by the Commission…

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…