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Are large online platforms squeezing the last cent out of your pocket? Professor Ariel Ezrachi and Professor Maurice E. Stucke think so, describing “How online retailers ripped you off this holiday”(1). Or perhaps you’re more interested in how to prevent your medical information being used for personalised ads on your Facebook account. In The Netherlands, insurance companies swiftly promised to alter tracking features on their websites when journalists found out that they wer

Every day you can read about high expectations of big data. For example, predictability of energy usage, or in the healthcare sector to diagnose diseases at an early stage. However, there is also a potential downside to big data. What will it do to competition? Will algorithms deliver ‘best deals’ for consumers or rather for companies? Will there be an algorithm monopoly or oligopoly? How should regulators act with regard to the newly emerging circumstances around competition

The beginning of a new era: data – both data access and the value of data – should be considered in competition analyses. In an interview with the NY Times, the EU’s competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, was asked ‘Do you think access to digital data will become a competition issue?’ Her answer: ‘It’s not black or white.’ In other words: it should be judged on a case-by-case basis, and therefore it is part of the competition framework. Further to this issue, the Comm

‘You know what the funniest thing about Europe is? (…) It's the little differences. I mean, they got the same shit over there that we got here, but it's just ... it's just, there it's a little different.’ – Vincent Vega For US companies, operating in Europe can sometimes be a little confusing. Although there is a European Union and something called a single market, it may not have the characteristics you would expect from a single market. Not only can the regulatory demands d

Traditional supply chains are shaken up. Many of you have liked the following statement: “Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate. Something interesting is happening.” This comes from a highly recommendable article by Tom Goodwin. He describes a development of ch