Michelle ThompsonWebsites consent to cease actions that provide them an unfair advantage over customers and merchants.
The UK’s competition watchdog announced that it has obtained guarantees from Facebook’s owner Meta and Amazon to safeguard customers on its marketplaces.
The settlements follow separate investigations by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into Facebook Marketplace’s owner, Meta, and Amazon, which both retails its own goods and permits merchants to do so through its online marketplace.
Investigating whether Amazon had been giving its own brands and those utilizing its logistical services an unfair edge over third-party rivals on its marketplace, the watchdog started its probe last summer.
The UK probe and a related investigation by the EU Commission were prompted by several stories claiming that Amazon replicated products using the data of third-party vendors.
According to the commission, Amazon’s UK marketplace may be engaging in anti-competitive actions that put customers at a disadvantage.
Amazon has finally consented to provide independent sellers with an equal opportunity to have their offerings displayed in the “buy box” on the website, which is where the majority of platform transactions occur.
It will also be against the law for Amazon to use marketplace data that it purchases from independent merchants to gain an unfair competitive edge. Additionally, it must let retailers directly bargain with independent providers for their delivery costs.
Similar promises were also made by Amazon in December of last year in response to the EU probe.
According to the CMA, Meta has pledged not to use its Facebook Marketplace to profit from the data of its advertising clients.
Future advertisers on Meta platforms will be able to choose not to have their data utilized by Facebook Marketplace rivals to enhance the retail platform.
According to the CMA, Meta has also promised to restrict the amount of advertising data it uses in product development.
“We have accepted Amazon’s commitments as they help thousands of independent UK sellers to compete on a level playing field against Amazon’s own retail arm,” stated Ann Pope, senior director for antitrust enforcement at the competition watchdog. Additionally, it should imply that clients have access to the greatest deals on products.The company is prohibited from using advertising customers’ data to provide itself an unfair advantage and, as a result, distort competition, according to Meta’s pledges.
A representative for Amazon stated: “We have worked cooperatively with the CMA and we are pleased with this resolution, which will protect our capacity to support our customers as well as the more than 100,000 small and medium-sized companies that sell through our UK store.”
According to a representative for Meta, “We applaud the CMA’s decision to conclude its investigation into Marketplace based on the promises made by Meta to implement procedures and controls intended to verify and validate that advertiser data from rival companies is not used in Marketplace.”
The agreements precede the digital markets, competition and consumers bill, new legislation that could subject large tech companies to multibillion-pound fines for violating consumer protection laws. The law, which is currently making its way through parliament, aims to address issues like difficult-to-cancel subscriptions and phony internet reviews.
