The UK markets authority has reached agreements with Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg’s businesses Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB) to help protect fair competition on Amazon Marketplace and Meta’s Facebook Marketplace.
The competition watchdog said in a statement today that it has accepted commitments from Amazon and Meta that were drawn up following investigations into their retail platforms last year.
In July 2022, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into concerns that Amazon gave “unfair advantage” to its own retail business over and above competing sellers that used its marketplace.
Amazon was also accused of prioritising sellers that used its warehouse and delivery services over other logistics businesses, and the CMA initiated a consultation on the US giant’s proposed resolutions this July.
The UK markets regulator said Amazon has agreed to ensure third-party Marketplace sellers can “compete on a level-playing field” and that UK customers can access the best deals.
“By giving independent sellers that use the Marketplace a fair chance of their offers being featured in the ‘Buy Box’, the commitments will help ensure that customers do not miss out on attractive product offers,” the CMA said in a statement.
The CMA said it plans to appoint an independent trustee to monitor compliance in line with the commitments, which include a pledge from Amazon not to use marketplace data for its own benefit.
“Amazon will be prevented from using Marketplace data it obtains from third-party sellers to give itself an unfair competitive advantage and will allow sellers to negotiate their own delivery rates directly with independent providers of Prime delivery services,” the CMA said.
Following a separate investigation into competition on Facebook’s marketplace, Meta has also agreed not to exploit advertising customers’ data in order to protect consumers.
Meta has also pledged to limit its use of ad data after the CMA identified the risk of “unfair competitive advantage that could distort competition”.
Ann Pope, Senior Director for Antitrust Enforcement at the CMA, said: “We have accepted Amazon’s commitments as they help thousands of independent UK sellers to compete on a level playing field against Amazon’s own retail arm. This should also mean customers get access to the best product offers.
“The commitments secured from Meta mean the firm cannot exploit advertising customers’ data to give itself an unfair advantage – and as such distort competition.
“Having assessed the commitments and the feedback received, including from sellers, advertisers and customers, we believe both sets of commitments address the specific competition concerns we had here in the UK.”