Microsoft, the tech behemoth of the time, was attempting to leverage its supremacy in computer operating systems into dominance in the emerging field of web browsing in the 1990s.
Microsoft was sued by the federal government for breaking antitrust laws, and a settlement was struck. The government's antitrust prosecution against Microsoft paved the way for Internet giants such as Google and Facebook to flourish.
The narrative highlights why encouraging competition is so important: it enables for the growth and success of new, ground-breaking businesses, forcing everyone in the marketplace to improve their products and services. Aren't we all relieved that we no longer have to use Bing and can instead use Google?
Big tech businesses today wield far too much control over our economy, culture, and democracy. They've squashed competitors, profited off our personal information, and stacked the deck against everyone else. They've also harmed small enterprises and hampered innovation in the process.
Want to ensure that the next generation of great American technology businesses has a chance to succeed. To do so, we must prevent this generation of huge digital corporations from using their political clout to rewrite the rules in their favour, as well as their financial clout to suffocate or buy out every possible competition.
How the new tech monopolies hurt small businesses and innovation? America’s big tech companies provide valuable products but also wield enormous power over our digital lives. Nearly half of all e-commerce goes through Amazon. More than 70% of all Internet referral traffic goes through sites owned or operated by Google or Facebook
Last June, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law began an in-depth investigation into four major firms Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. After 16 months of hearings, research, and analysis, the panel's findings are out and the results look really bad for every company involved.
After conducting seven hearings, reviewing more than 1.3 million internal documents, conducting more than 240 interviews, and reviewing submissions from 38 antitrust experts, the committee found evidence that all four companies have acted anticompetitively and are continuing to do so today.
Amazon: It’s the everything
Amazon is dominant in online sales, the committee found. Between its first-party sales and its third-party marketplace, Amazon controls roughly 50 percent of the US e-commerce market and a much higher percentage in certain sectors, such as e-books. And the company uses that gatekeeper, monopoly power unfairly, the committee concluded.
Apple: It’s the App Store
Apple controls about 45 percent of the US smartphone market and 20 percent of the global smartphone market, the committee found, and is projected to sell its 2 billionth iPhone in 2021. It is correct that, in the smartphone handset market, Apple is not a monopoly. Instead, iOS and Android hold an effective duopoly in mobile operating systems.
Facebook: It’s the acquisitions
Facebook outright "has monopoly power in the market for social networking," the report concludes, and that power is "firmly entrenched and unlikely to be eroded by competitive pressure" from anyone at all due to "high entry barriers including strong network effects, high switching costs, and Facebook's significant data advantage that discourage direct competition by other firms to offer new products and services."
Google: It’s a lot of bad behavior
Google's position as the dominant search engine is well-cemented. But over the past 20 years, the company has shifted its behavior "to rank search results based on what is best for Google, rather than what is best for search users," the report concludes, "be it preferencing its own vertical sites or allocating more space for ads."
