800 million euro fine: Will Marketplace soon exist without Facebook?
15.11.2024
Translation: machine translated
Meta has to pay a fine of almost 800 million euros. The parent company of Facebook and Co. has violated EU antitrust regulations. Meta must also change its Facebook Marketplace practices.
Meta has to pay a whopping 797.72 million euros in fines. The parent company of social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp used abusive practices in connection with the social medium Facebook. This is the conclusion of the investigation launched by the EU Commission. Meta is therefore in breach of EU antitrust regulations, as announced in a media release on 14 November.
Marketplace linked to Facebook
Among other things, the company has linked the classified ad service Facebook Marketplace with its social network Facebook. Meta has also imposed unfair trading conditions on other online classified ad services.
The European Commission is of the opinion that Meta holds a dominant position in the European Economic Area in the area of social networks and online display advertising services in social media. By linking Marketplace and Facebook, this is being exploited, as all users - whether they want to or not - have access to Marketplace. This means that other suppliers of online classified ad services can be excluded from the market, as they are unable to compensate for Meta's "significant sales advantage".
In concrete terms, this means that Meta does not need to advertise its service specifically, as potential Marketplace customers are already available through their Facebook account. The sheer number of users on Facebook also creates a huge reach, which is attractive for advertisers and attracts additional customers to other classifieds portals.
Unfair trading conditions for advertising
The European competition authorities have also found that the trading conditions for other suppliers of advertising on meta platforms are unfair. For example, if Ricardo or other suppliers advertise their portal on Facebook, Meta can also use the advertising data (such as users' interests) that this generates exclusively in favour of its own classifieds service.
The fine has now been imposed for this. Meta was also instructed to "effectively cease the criticised behaviour and refrain from resuming this abusive behaviour". Meta is also prohibited from using new, similar methods. This could also mean that Facebook users may no longer be automatically registered for the Facebook Marketplace. However, it is still unclear how and what exactly will be implemented.
Header image: Shutterstock
I've been tinkering with digital networks ever since I found out how to activate both telephone channels on the ISDN card for greater bandwidth. As for the analogue variety, I've been doing that since I learned to talk. Though Winterthur is my adoptive home city, my heart still bleeds red and blue.