BBC: Apple charged over ‘anti-competitive’ app policies. “Apple has been charged with breaking EU competition rules over the way it runs its App Store. European Commission anti-trust regulator Margrethe Vestager tweeted that ‘consumers are losing out’. It relates to charges brought two years ago by music streaming app Spotify which claimed that Apple was stifling innovation in that industry.”
Reuters: U.S. antitrust senators query Google over testimony meddling concerns. “U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee sent a letter to Google on Tuesday saying they were ‘deeply troubled’ by what they called a possible attempt to influence witness testimony following a statement at a congressional hearing by a Match executive.”
Bloomberg: Senate to Call Spotify, Match at Apple, Google Antitrust Hearing. “Google will send a top policy executive to testify at Wednesday’s Senate app store antitrust hearing, while legal executives from Spotify Technology SA, Tile and Match Group Inc. will serve as witnesses, according to people with knowledge of the matter.”
The Verge: Google reportedly ran secret ‘Project Bernanke’ that boosted its own ad-buying system over competitors. “Google wrote in the unredacted filing that data from Project Bernanke was ‘comparable to data maintained by other buying tools,’ according to the Journal. The company was able to access historical data about bids made through Google Ads, to change bids by its clients and boost the clients’ chances of winning auctions for ad impressions, putting rival ad tools at a disadvantage. Texas cited in court documents an internal presentation from 2013 in which Google said Project Bernanke would bring in $230 million in revenue for that year.”
From the Congressional Research Service, and in PDF form: Facebook’s Acquisition of GIPHY: Potential Competition Issues. “Facebook is now facing antitrust lawsuits, some of which focus on its past acquisitions. This Insight discusses how Facebook’s acquisitions can affect competition in digital advertising and the potential implications of the antitrust lawsuits on Facebook’s acquisition of GIPHY.”
CNBC: Facebook’s acquisition of Giphy to face in-depth UK competition probe. “Britain’s competition regulator said Thursday that it was referring Facebook’s acquisition of GIF database Giphy for an in-depth investigation. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently completed its initial probe into the Facebook-Giphy merger — which has already closed — and concluded that the deal raises competition concerns.”
Reuters: UK antitrust regulator prepares to investigate Facebook – FT. “Britain’s competition regulator is set to begin an antitrust investigation into Facebook Inc in the next few months, after similar actions into Google and Apple early this year, Financial Times reported on Friday.”
BNN Bloomberg: Google Makes Bid to Move Texas Monopoly Case to California. “A Google lawyer told U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan on Thursday during a hearing in Plano, Texas, that the case has no special connection to Texas and mirrors claims in lawsuits already filed in California. The company is battling three government claims of abuse of monopoly power. Google’s search business was targeted in separate lawsuits filed by the U.S. Justice Department and a group of states. The complaint in Texas focuses on digital advertising.”
Politico: How Washington fumbled the future. “Few moments in the power struggle between Washington and Silicon Valley have inspired more anger and bafflement than one in January 2013, when antitrust regulators appointed by former President Barack Obama declined to sue Google. The decision still rankles the company’s rivals, who have watched the search giant continue to amass power over smartphones, data-hoovering devices and wide swaths of the internet, unimpeded by laws meant to deter monopolies.”
Reuters: Exclusive: Google’s privacy push draws U.S. antitrust scrutiny – sources. “Google’s plan to block a popular web tracking tool called ‘cookies’ is a source of concern for U.S. Justice Department investigators who have been asking advertising industry executives whether the move by the search giant will hobble its smaller rivals, people familiar with the situation said.”
Reuters: More U.S. states join Texas-led antitrust lawsuit against Google. “Four more states have joined a lawsuit filed by Texas and others against Alphabet Inc’s Google that accuses it of breaking antitrust laws to boost its already dominant advertising business, the Texas attorney general said on Tuesday.”
Wired: Big Music Needs to Be Broken Up to Save the Industry. “THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC has shattered the music industry. By taking away live music for what will likely be 18 months or more, Covid has ended the revenue stream that animated an entire music ecosystem. This is particularly true for independent artists with few other means of making a living in today’s industry. Musicians lost two-thirds of their typical income in 2020. Live music revenue fell 85 percent. The Save Our Stages bill, passed in December as part of the second round of pandemic relief, has offered a lifeline. But even after it’s again safe to see a live gig, the underlying driver of the music industry’s deep inequity will persist.”
CNN: Google and Microsoft are in a public feud. “Google and Microsoft openly sparred on Friday as the latter prepared to testify at a Congressional hearing focusing on Big Tech’s impact on local news. Microsoft (MSFT) targeted Google’s dominance in advertising as it described in congressional testimony how the tech industry has contributed to the erosion of local journalism.”
Economic Times / Bloomberg: Google faces ‘very large’ EU Ad probe. “European Union Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Google faces a ‘very large investigation’ into its advertising business, adding a new front to a decade-long antitrust battle.”
CNET: Facebook wants court to dismiss antitrust lawsuits. “Facebook is pushing back against antitrust lawsuits filed by the US Federal Trade Commission and 48 state attorneys general, alleging they failed to show that the social media giant illegally stifled competition and harmed consumers.”
