Key Takeaways
- Amazon may face an EU investigation next year over allegations of favoring its own brand products.
- The company denies violating the DMA, stating its ranking models treat Amazon and third-party products equally and that it has cooperated with the EU.
- If found guilty of breaching the DMA, Amazon could face a fine of up to 10% of its global annual revenue.
The EU has been giving big tech companies sleepless nights since it passed the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in 2022. The new regulations aim to challenge the power of tech giants by leveling the playing field for smaller businesses and startups. They also make it easier for people to move between competing online services, such as social media platforms, internet browsers, and app stores. The EU has already been investigating Apple, Google, and Meta under the DMA, and next year, it may even launch a probe into Amazon to determine if it favors its own brand products.
Reuters reported that Amazon will likely face an EU investigation next year into whether it favors its own brand products on its online marketplace. The decision to start the probe will be up to Teresa Ribera, the new EU antitrust chief, who takes over next month from Margrethe Vestager, the current chief, who’s stepping down after two terms.
Amazon denies that it violated the DMA and says it has worked constructively with the commission on its plans. In a compliance report published in March, Amazon claimed that its ranking models don’t differentiate between products sold by Amazon Retail or third-party sellers, nor between its own products and those from other brands.
The EU investigation could bring a hefty fine
There are a lot of big “ifs” here, but if the EU does launch an investigation into Amazon and finds it guilty, the U.S. online retailer could be hit with a fine of up to 10% of its global annual revenue. EU antitrust regulators already started investigating Apple, Meta, and Google back in March over issues like high fees and giving preferential treatment to their own apps on their platforms. And in January, Apple had to let iOS users download third-party app stores to comply with the EU’s latest rules.
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