European watchdog set to launch inquiry into Amazon
monopoly watchdog could launch a major antitrust investigation into Amazon as soon as this week.
Margrethe Vestager, the European competition commissioner, is planning to open a formal inquiry into Amazon’s use of data from third-party merchants that sell through its site, Bloomberg reported.
Ms Vestager launched a preliminary investigation into Amazon last year, when she revealed that she had turned her attention from Google to the ecommerce giant. At the time, she said: “If you, as Amazon, get the data from smaller merchants that you host… do you then also use this data to do your own calculations as to what is the new big thing, what is it that people want, what kind of offers do they like to receive, what makes them buy things?”
This investigation could lead to fines or restrictions in the way Amazon operates. Ms Vestager has led a crackdown on Silicon Valley’s technology behemoths during her term in office, handing Google €8.2bn (£7.4bn) in fines, scrutinising Apple over taxes and Facebook for its data practices.
Amazon, which has released thousands of its own products on its website in recent years, denied yesterday that it uses sales data from independent merchants to compete with them.
Nate Sutton, a lawyer for the company, told a US Congressional committee that it does not favour Amazon -branded products in search results, and claimed it merely makes decisions based on what customers want. “We apply the same criteria whether you’re a third-party seller or Amazon,” he said.
The company bore the brunt of questioning at a House judiciary committee hearing, at which Google, Facebook and Apple were also questioned about their alleged monopoly positions.