Weak antitrust enforcement has led to a dramatic reduction in competition and innovation in the tech sector. Google allegedly snuffed out a competing small search engine by demoting its content on its search algorithm, and it has favored its own restaurant ratings over those of Yelp. Amazon crushes small companies by copying the goods they sell on the Amazon Marketplace and then selling its own branded version. This can create a conflict of interest that undermines competition. Many big tech companies own a marketplace - where buyers and sellers transact - while also participating on the marketplace. Using Proprietary Marketplaces to Limit Competition.Rather than blocking these transactions for their negative long-term effects on competition and innovation, government regulators have waved them through.
Google has snapped up the mapping company Waze and the ad company DoubleClick. Amazon has used its immense market power to force smaller competitors like to sell at a discounted rate. Facebook has purchased potential competitors Instagram and WhatsApp. To restore the balance of power in our democracy, to promote competition, and to ensure that the next generation of technology innovation is as vibrant as the last, it’s time to break up our biggest tech companies.Īmerica’s big tech companies have achieved their level of dominance in part based on two strategies: More than 70% of all Internet referral traffic goes through sites owned or operated by Google or Facebook.Īs these companies have grown larger and more powerful, they have used their resources and control over the way we use the Internet to squash small businesses and innovation, and substitute their own financial interests for the broader interests of the American people. Nearly half of all e-commerce goes through Amazon. How the new tech monopolies hurt small businesses and innovationĪmerica’s big tech companies provide valuable products but also wield enormous power over our digital lives. That’s why my administration will make big, structural changes to the tech sector to promote more competition - including breaking up Amazon, Facebook, and Google. To do that, we need to stop this generation of big tech companies from throwing around their political power to shape the rules in their favor and throwing around their economic power to snuff out or buy up every potential competitor. And I want to make sure that the next generation of great American tech companies can flourish. I want a government that makes sure everybody - even the biggest and most powerful companies in America - plays by the rules. And in the process, they have hurt small businesses and stifled innovation. They’ve bulldozed competition, used our private information for profit, and tilted the playing field against everyone else.
Today’s big tech companies have too much power - too much power over our economy, our society, and our democracy. Aren’t we all glad that now we have the option of using Google instead of being stuck with Bing? The story demonstrates why promoting competition is so important: it allows new, groundbreaking companies to grow and thrive - which pushes everyone in the marketplace to offer better products and services. The government’s antitrust case against Microsoft helped clear a path for Internet companies like Google and Facebook to emerge. The federal government sued Microsoft for violating anti-monopoly laws and eventually reached a settlement. In the 1990s, Microsoft - the tech giant of its time - was trying to parlay its dominance in computer operating systems into dominance in the new area of web browsing.
It’s a great story - but also one that highlights why the government must break up monopolies and promote competitive markets. Now they are among the most valuable and well-known companies in the world. Twenty-five years ago, Facebook, Google, and Amazon didn’t exist.
0 kommentar(er)
