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Amazon has mostly avoided antitrust scrutiny, but that may change in 2022
By: MarketWatch | December 27, 2021

Amazon.com Inc. has largely escaped the sight of lawmakers in the antitrust battle, but that is changing rapidly and could pose some challenges in 2022.

Congress and the Federal Trade Commission have Amazon in the collective crosshairs entering 2022. While the new bill targets Amazon’s online-selling practices, a longtime adversary sits atop the FTC as it decides how best to keep the e-commerce leader.

The American Innovation and Choice Online Act would restrict major online platforms in favor of their own products or services, a practice known as self-preference.

Prevent major platforms from discriminating between business users in a way that materially harms competition. It will eliminate such common practices as tilting search results in favor of the dominant firm; the need for a business to purchase a major platform’s goods or services in exchange for preferred placement; and unfairly preventing another business’s product from inter-operating with the major platform.

“As the leading digital platforms – some of the biggest companies our world has seen – increasingly prioritize their products and services, we need policies to ensure small businesses and entrepreneurs still have the opportunity to succeed in the digital marketplace. should be made, Klobuchar said in a statement.

The House Judiciary Committee passed a similar bill earlier this year, but it lacks the teeth of the Senate version, and has since delayed consideration on the House floor amid intense industry lobbying.

Representative Ken Buck, R-Colo., ranking member of the House Judiciary Antitrust, opposes Big Tech “knowing that such bills would create competition in the marketplace.”

“Cavalry is on the way,” Buck recently told Axios. “You’ll have a choice of platforms to deal with in the future, and you’re going to be much stronger as a result.”

a recent investigation The Markup found that Amazon often gives its own brand and specialty products a leg up in search results over better-rated competitors — and Amazon is inconsistent in disclosing to shoppers whether those products are Amazon-brand products or exclusive.

Amazon, which did not comply with requests for comment from Businesshala, has warned third-party sellers that the law could jeopardize the ability of third-party sellers to be hosted entirely on its platform, and consumers will be forced to use Amazon. Key may prohibit you from enjoying services such as Prime Shipping.

Antitrust attorney Paul Swanson highly doubts that the bipartisan self-preference bill will “go anywhere” in Congress to “lock-up” Congress in 2022, however. We are more likely to see Jonathan Cantor, who leads the Justice Department’s antitrust division, issue a consent order banning self-preference in lieu of a law, he said.

Even if Amazon avoids new legislation focused on its e-commerce platform as well as a Justice Department investigation, it can expect a long and trying patch with the FTC and its chair , a longtime nemesis that is probably the company’s biggest concern.

FTC Chair Lena Khan came to prominence as the author of “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox,” a 93-page paper that appeared in the January 2017 issue of the Yale Law Journal.

In his paper, Khan argued that Amazon avoided antitrust scrutiny by offering consumers ultra-low-cost products, while deliberately dealing with billions of dollars in losses over the years. The final game, she wrote, was to crush competition in multiple markets to collect sensitive data, gain shares, and establish infrastructure dominance, as illustrated by the company’s current $1.76. trillion market value and estimated A record $470.5 billion in 2021 revenue. In a 2020 letter to shareholders, founder Jeff Bezos said the company’s Marketplace unit Responsible About 60% of Amazon’s retail sales, which come from about 2 million sellers.

Khan proposed rectifying the situation by reverting to the old concept of antitrust law by treating Amazon as a public utility and aggressively regulating them, while promoting healthy competition. This would include allowing competitors to access the Amazon platform on more favorable terms.

While the FTC hasn’t fully ratcheted up Amazon yet, some moves indicate possible paths. Earlier this year, the FTC Allegedly The company’s home security unit, Ring, recommended filing a lawsuit against Amazon over the data-protection breaches, but Khan dropped the case after settlement talks with Amazon. The agency is also reviewing plans to buy MGM Studios for $8.45 billion by Amazon.

Meanwhile, the FTC is filing lawsuits over Amazon’s business practices. The Strategic Organizing Center, a coalition of labor unions, was accused of complaint Filed to the FTC this month that Amazon doesn’t adequately differentiate between its search results and paid ads, potentially “defrauding millions of consumers.”

The suit alleges that more than a quarter of Amazon search results were third-party advertisements, but the company does not explicitly identify which are sponsored results, which may deceive consumers.

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