Amazon might be celebrating 25 years since its founding, but British regulators have no interest in gifting the trillion-dollar company a break for its birthday. Instead, the government is pressing the pause button on Amazon's delivery business in the UK, signaling growing concern with the e-commerce giant's ever-expanding size.
Mark Douglas, the CEO and founder of the tech advertising firm Steelhouse, told Cheddar Friday that growing interest in regulating the company is "part of the larger theme that a lot of folks are just very concerned about the size of Amazon, of Facebook, and all these other large companies in tech."
This week, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority, a government department charged with ensuring business competition, ordered Amazon to pause its investment in Deliveroo, a widely-popular British restaurant delivery service. Deliveroo has raised $1.5 billion since 2012 and boasted a reported 45,000 average daily users last year.
In an enforcement order, the department said that the investment could mean that Amazon and Roofoods Ltd. ー which trades as Deliveroo ー are left "ceasing to be distinct." The regulators want time to investigate whether the blurring of the lines violates the country's Enterprise Act, a 2002 law that regulates competition.
As tech giants increasingly close in on trillion-dollar valuations, governments will become more interested in slowing their expansion. "We've been used to operating without rules, without regulation," Douglas said.
However, he emphasized that just because the UK is looking into antitrust concerns, it may not mean much for Americans, as the U.S. has long differed in its approach to antitrust issues.
"In the U.S., the consumer has to be harmed," he said, arguing that "every time Amazon enters a market, basically, prices go down and everything becomes more convenient for consumers."
One key antitrust issue that will arise for tech platforms will be how their dominance ー and the cost of appearing on their platforms ー impacts smaller manufacturers and businesses.
"It's essentially a tax on all retail sales," Douglas explained. "Unless you know exactly what you want to buy ー and [are] going straight to that site ー in some way, the cost of getting there is going to be baked into the costs of those products."
Earlier this week, the Retail Industry Leaders Association — which represents major chains like Walmart and Target — sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission pushing the agency to investigate major technology companies for anti-competitive behavior.
"For the consumer, it just keeps going back to choice. Is going through Amazon a requirement for a young company with a new product to flourish?" said Douglas. "Is there any way for companies to reach the consumer without going through these big tech giants."
"And right now — quite frankly — there really isn't. Between marketing on Instagram to find the consumer, or Google, or listing on Amazon, there's really not many ways to reach the consumer other than going through these companies."
