Some recent antitrust news

Here are excerpts from several articles.

U.K. Competition Regulator to Review Merger Investigations: The regulator said it would set up a new outreach program to hear more feedback from investors and startups on its deal reviews by Edith Hancock of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"The CMA [ U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority] has faced criticism in recent years over how it handles high-profile merger reviews, with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying a month ago that the country’s regulators need to prioritize economic growth.

“We take seriously any concerns that the way in which the regime is applied could chill investment,” Cardell said. [Sarah Cardell, the CMA’s chief executive] “This is a unique moment to deliver a new regime that is targeted on driving benefits for the U.K. economy.”"

"Where it is possible to use remedies to preserve competition while delivering benefits from growth and from investment in infrastructure or technology, the CMA should do that, Cardell said.

“That doesn’t mean we should lower the bar to allow any anti-competitive merger to get through because there’s a sort of half baked remedy in place, but we absolutely should be straining every sinew to test whether there is an effective remedy that can deliver those benefits,” she said."

U.K. Competition Watchdog Recommends Investigating Apple, Google Mobile Ecosystems: The CMA said Apple and Google have an effective duopoly on mobile ecosystems by Edith Hancock of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority said Friday that its experts recommended investigating Apple and Google’s dominance in smartphones under the country’s new digital competition rules, alleging the tech giants can manipulate users into choosing their own apps and services over rivals’."

"The CMA can investigate companies it believes have so-called strategic market status through ownership of platforms such as smartphone operating systems and app stores. If it decides they have that status, it can then restrict how they run those platforms by banning them from favoring their own products and services over rivals’."

"Most of the issues the group found relate to how web browsers work on Apple’s iPhones, the CMA said. Apple’s Safari browser is set as a default on iPhone operating systems.

It said Apple’s terms for browser developers prevent them from offering new features, adding that some rivals complained that they can’t offer faster webpage loading on iPhones. According to the CMA, a revenue-sharing agreement between Google and Apple significantly reduced their incentive to compete for mobile browser users on Apple’s smartphones.

Apple said it disagreed with the findings, adding that forcing the company to change to comply with U.K. tech rules would undermine user privacy and security."

EU Drops Probe of Apple’s Treatment of Rival Audiobook, Ebook Developers in App Store: The commission said that closing the probe doesn’t mean Apple hasn’t broken EU rules by Edith Hancock of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"The European Union’s competition watchdog closed an investigation into how Apple treats rival audiobook developers in its App Store."

"The European Commission said on Friday that it dropped a probe that began in 2020 after a rival developer withdrew its own complaint. The regulator examined whether Apple broke EU antitrust laws by forcing developers to use its own in-app purchase software and stopping them from advertising better deals outside of the App Store."

Google’s Government Foes Are Aiming Too High: Proposal to give up search and user data faces long odds but still raises the stakes for the company by Dan Gallagher of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"The Justice Department’s proposed remedies to address anticompetitive behavior by the search giant were unveiled late Wednesday. Google was found to have engaged in such behavior in August by a federal judge, who called the 26-year-old company a “monopolist” that used illegal practices to maintain its dominance of the world’s search market.

Some of the DOJ’s proposals were expected, such as the divestiture of the Chrome browser and a ban on payments to Apple in exchange for default or preferred placement of Google’s search engine on Apple’s devices. But others came as a surprise, including a proposal the government described as “Restoring Competition Through Syndication And Data Access.” This involves Google providing its search index—essentially the massive database it has about all sites on the web—to rivals and potential rivals at a “marginal cost.” Google would also have to give those same parties full access to user data and advertising data at no charge for 10 years."

"the company also didn’t become the dominant name in internet search simply by forking over billions of dollars to Apple, or by pushing its service onto Android phone users. It was already powering more than 90% of the world’s search activity in 2009 just months after the first Android phone was released. And Google was first added to dictionaries as a common shorthand for search in 2006—a year before the first iPhone was launched. 

That required significant investments in its own technology. Google spent an average of 12% of its annual revenue on capital expenditures in the years from 2001 to 2010, well before it had any cloud-computing or artificial-intelligence business to speak of."

Google Proposes Further Changes to Search Results in Europe: The company said it must make substantial changes to comply with EU legislation by Dominic Chopping of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"Under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, Google said it had to make substantial changes to the services it can provide in the continent, including redesigning certain features and removing others to ensure its own services aren’t favored over competitors.

The company made several changes to Google Search to boost the prominence of comparison sites in categories like flights, hotels and shopping."

"Google said it is proposing further changes that will allow users to choose between results that take them to comparison sites and results that take them directly to supplier websites"

"it will offer new formats that allow comparison sites and suppliers to show more information about what is on their websites"

EU Ends Probes on Amazon, Starbucks, Fiat Tax Deals After Court Defeats: Crackdown on international companies’ tax breaks has been a cornerstone of departing Commissioner Vestager’s enforcement policies by Edith Hancock of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"The European Union’s competition regulator formally closed probes into Amazon, Starbucks  and Fiat’s European tax cases, bringing an end to three of its attempts to crack down on international companies’ tax deals after court defeats.

The regulator’s largely symbolic decision Thursday came after EU courts ruled between 2019 and 2023 that the bloc’s executive was wrong to charge the Netherlands and Luxembourg with giving companies unfair advantages through tax breaks in a string of in-depth state-aid investigations."

"The investigations that EU regulators closed Thursday threatened to derail the commission’s crackdown when they were struck down in court. The effort got a new lease of life in September when judges ordered Apple to pay Ireland 13 billion euros, equivalent to about $13.74 billion, plus interest, in taxes.

EU judges confirmed in the recent Apple ruling that the European Commission was right in challenging certain aggressive tax-ruling practices and set the benchmark to assess tax-planning practices in other judgments, Vestager said." [Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager]

Canada Sues Google, Alleging Anticompetitive Online-Ad Practices: Accusations are the latest antitrust headache for the tech giant by Paul Vieira of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"Canada’s antitrust watchdog alleges that Google acted unlawfully in building market share in the online-advertising business, marking the latest regulatory headache for the tech giant."

"The antitrust watchdog [Canada’s Competition Bureau] wants the tribunal to force the company to sell two crucial pieces of advertising-market software and pay a fine of as much as 3% of the company’s global revenue."

"In a written statement, Google’s vice president of global advertising, Dan Taylor, said the complaint filed by Canada’s antitrust watchdog “ignores the intense competition where ad buyers and sellers have plenty of choice.” He added that the company looks forward to making its case in court."

"The antitrust watchdog wants the tribunal to prohibit Google from engaging in anticompetitive behavior and force the company to sell two of its ad-tech tools: its ad exchange, known as AdX; and an ad server, known as DFP. The watchdog is also seeking a fine of as much as 3% of Google’s worldwide revenue.

In its complaint, the watchdog said Google has unlawfully tied together its different ad-tech products, hamstrung rivals’ ability to compete and purposely thwarted new software that threatened its market power."