EC Takes Antitrust Action Against Amazon, Meta

Amazon will stop using non-public marketplace seller data for its retail business, among other commitments accepted Tuesday by the European Commission after an antitrust investigation. The EC in 2020 said the company's reliance on marketplace sellers' non-public business data to calibrate its retail decisions distorted fair competition on its platform and prevented effective competition. It also preliminarily decided Amazon was giving preferential treatment to its own retail business and to sellers that use its logistics and delivery services over other sellers who used Buy Box and Prime. In response, Amazon made several commitments, which the EC market-tested. Amazon then revised its proposal and agreed to commitments such as making the Buy Box offer more prominent; being more transparent with sellers and carriers about the commitments and their new rights under them; and introducing a centralized complaint mechanism for all sellers and carriers to use in case of suspected non-compliance. The EC said the final commitment would ensure the company doesn't use marketplace seller data for its own operations and that it gives non-discriminatory access to Buy Box and Prime. Amazon will be bound by several of the commitments for seven years, and by others for five years, to be monitored by an independent trustee. In case of non-compliance, the EC can, as one option, fine Amazon up to 10% of its total annual revenue without having to first find an infringement of EU antitrust rules. Amazon is pleased it has addressed the EC concerns and resolved the matters, a spokesperson emailed. "While we continue to disagree with several of the preliminary conclusions the European Commission made, we have engaged constructively to ensure that we can continue to serve customers across Europe and support the 225,000 European small and medium sized businesses selling through our stores." The European Consumer Group (BEUC) said the agreement should mean Amazon "will offer consumers greater choice on its online marketplace so that consumers can more easily shop around for the best deals." However, users will benefit only if the EC closely monitors compliance, BEUC added. Separately, the EC notified Meta Dec. 19 it tentatively concluded the company violated EU antitrust rules by distorting competition in the markets for online classified ads: "The Commission takes issue with Meta tying its online classified ads service, Facebook Marketplace, to its personal social network, Facebook." It's also concerned the company is "imposing unfair trading conditions on Facebook Marketplace's competitions for its own benefit." Meta can review the EC documents and request a hearing to present its side. The claims are "without foundation," Meta Head of EMEA Competition Tim Lamb emailed. Instead, Meta's product innovation is "pro-consumer and pro-competitive."