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FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

ftc.gov

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Re: FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

#131

Post by fragmede »

likpok wrote: post #99
_uhtu wrote: post #3

I'm honestly not sure how you could make the case that they aren't maintaining and abusing monopoly power. I mean they literally blatantly copy the designs of other companies who sell on amazon, then put their own results for their own products higher in search results than what they copied off of. It's incredibly blatantly anti-competitive.

The trouble with this argument (which gets made a lot) is that this is basically every large retailer. Walmart has great value, Safeway has safeway select, Target has good and gather. In all of these cases large retailers take well-performing products (i.e. look at their sales data to see what is selling well) and creates mimics. They put the generics right next to the original products, and then charge the original…

I don't know that it is. Walmarts been repeatedly sued for the same practice, so it's not just Amazon being sued for that behavior.

Re: FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

#132

Post by loeg »

travoc wrote: post #108
jlmorton wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty close! Albertsons owns: Acme Markets, Safeway, Haggen, Jewel-Osco, Kings, Pavilions, Plated, Randalls, Shaw's, Tom Thumb, United Supermarkets, and Vons Kroger owns: Baker's, City Market, Dillons, Food 4 Less, Foods Co., Fred Meyer, Fry's, Gerbes, Harris Teeter, JayC, King Soopers, Kroger, Mariano's, Metro Market, Pay Less, Pick 'n Save, QFC, Ralphs, Ruler Foods, Smith's And now Albertsons and Kroger are mergin…

Not even close. Combining all those brands results in a 13.5% market share.

Albertsons + Kroger is like 90% of the market in Seattle, where I live, though.

Re: FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

#133

Post by varelse »

lvl102 wrote: post #101
jollofricepeas wrote: post #52

FBA seller here. A lot of mom and pop businesses (~$20 million) have been built on Amazon over the past 10 years. Most of us are in the $250k to $5 million dollar range. The impact of Amazon’s monopoly power is felt big time by us as we’re being squeezed with no place left to go online especially post-iOS change. Our second option used to be the Facebook/Instagram/TikTok to Shopify connection but with that being dead…

Not to be rude but you made millions on the backs of Amazon. Now you’re complaining that you have competition.

[dead]

Re: FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

#134

Post by reagan83 »

jollofricepeas wrote: post #52

FBA seller here. A lot of mom and pop businesses (~$20 million) have been built on Amazon over the past 10 years. Most of us are in the $250k to $5 million dollar range. The impact of Amazon’s monopoly power is felt big time by us as we’re being squeezed with no place left to go online especially post-iOS change. Our second option used to be the Facebook/Instagram/TikTok to Shopify connection but with that being dead…

Great insight overall - can you describe more on the FB/IG/TT to Shopify connection not working or now dead?

Re: FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

#135

Post by enriquec »

likpok wrote: post #99
_uhtu wrote: post #3

I'm honestly not sure how you could make the case that they aren't maintaining and abusing monopoly power. I mean they literally blatantly copy the designs of other companies who sell on amazon, then put their own results for their own products higher in search results than what they copied off of. It's incredibly blatantly anti-competitive.

The trouble with this argument (which gets made a lot) is that this is basically every large retailer. Walmart has great value, Safeway has safeway select, Target has good and gather. In all of these cases large retailers take well-performing products (i.e. look at their sales data to see what is selling well) and creates mimics. They put the generics right next to the original products, and then charge the original…

Very true. I find it hard to argue against something like generics - since they increase access and lower price.

Re: FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

#136

Post by dragonwriter »

atlasunshrugged wrote: post #58

Merits of this specific case aside, I find it really interesting that the FTC is going after Amazon now. They have pretty limited resources (especially relative to a massive tech co which can pour money into litigation) and have to pick and choose their battles carefully... I have to admit I'm a little frustrated that they're choosing to go after Amazon, which yes, imo the case definitely has merits and they do shady…

> How about more of a focus on insurers who refuse claims, drug companies flouting the law, PE firms jacking up the cost of housing or contractors gouging the government (and therefore all of us)?

Those aren't FTC issues regardless of merits, so they don't factor into FTC priorities. The first is mostly state insurance regulators, the second doesn't seem to be a violation of existing law (though it might be a legislative issue, mostly at the state or local level like most land use issues), the third is for the inspector-general or similar authority of the agency employing the contractor.

Re: FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

#137

Post by yomlica8 »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #38
travoc wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Grocery stores are not a monopoly.

Neither is Amazon. Aliexpress, Walmart, Newegg are direct competitors selling cheap crap. Then there is Target/Home Depot/Lowes/Staples/Costco/Best Buy/etc

Doesn't Amazon prevent you from selling on other stores for a lesser price? I always thought that was a galling scam and couldn't understand why it was even allowed at all.

Re: FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

#138

Post by thomastjeffery »

my123 wrote: post #37
criddell wrote: post #5

I wish they would add ebook DRM to the list. Amazon has essentially locked the Kindle so that it can only purchase from Amazon and Amazon ebooks can only be used on the Kindle. On top of that, they offer no way of transferring ebooks and, AFAIK, offer no way to remove DRM after a work enters the public domain.

(disclaimer: Amazon employee) For that one, it's mandated by publishers. There's nothing that can be done for e-readers from vendors that don't support third-party applications. Amazon e-books are accessible on Android and other platforms in addition to Kindle devices. Kindle is also not locked to only ebooks from Amazon, but third-party DRM schemes are not supported. Calibre for example comes with good tooling for t…

That's because publishers practice anti-competitive behavior, too.

We need to quit getting lost in the word, "monopoly". No part of this problem is from a single actor dominating the entire market. The problems are anti-competitive behavior and vertical integration.

DRM is literally intended to support copyright monopoly. The entire purpose and function of DRM is to prevent competition in the form of "copyright infringement".

Re: FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

#139

Post by lokar »

reagan83 wrote: post #134
jollofricepeas wrote: post #52

FBA seller here. A lot of mom and pop businesses (~$20 million) have been built on Amazon over the past 10 years. Most of us are in the $250k to $5 million dollar range. The impact of Amazon’s monopoly power is felt big time by us as we’re being squeezed with no place left to go online especially post-iOS change. Our second option used to be the Facebook/Instagram/TikTok to Shopify connection but with that being dead…

Great insight overall - can you describe more on the FB/IG/TT to Shopify connection not working or now dead?

Apple mostly prevents narrow targeting on iOS now

Re: FTC sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power

#140

Post by jedberg »

skilled wrote: post #115
jedberg wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where did that chart come from?

Ahrefs. It’s basically a backend UI for how Google rankings change over time for the entire web.

Fascinating, thank you. I haven't been in the SEO space for a while, so I haven't seen all the fancy tools. Appreciate the info.
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