Sometimes a term is so apt, its meaning so clear and so relevant to our circumstances, that it becomes more than just a useful buzzword and grows to define an entire moment," the columnist Kyle Chayka writes, in a review of Cory Doctorow's book "Enshittification.
In May 2021, Apple introduced App Tracking Transparency (ATT), a privacy feature that lets users choose whether apps can track their activity across other companies' apps and websites for advertising or data-sharing purposes. Following the rollout of the feature, cross-app and cross-site tracking declined sharply, with at least one study reporting a 54.7% drop in tracking rates in the United States alone.
Apple has abused its dominant position by charging app developers unfair commissions, a London tribunal has ruled, in a blow that could leave the United States tech company on the hook for hundreds of millions of pounds in damages. On Thursday, the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruled against Apple after a trial of the lawsuit, which was brought on behalf of millions of iPhone and iPad users in the United Kingdom.
"Royalty-free" is an appealing notion, especially when applied to the licensing of a patent essential to a standard. This standard is even more compelling to an implementer when every participant in the relevant standards body or proprietary consortia, including preeminent technology companies, has pledged it will grant its essential patents on a royalty-free (RF) basis. What could be better than an entire ecosystem around a standard or proprietary solution and its implementation being bound by an RF pledge?
ChatGPT prices were inflated since the service's inception, with price levels reaching an eye-popping 100 to 200 times competitors' prices on a per-token basis amidst a February 2025 price war. A secretive agreement struck between OpenAI and Microsoft early in OpenAI's development allowed Microsoft to control the supply of compute to its horizontal competitor's products. It used an exclusivity clause to restrict OpenAI's product output, and to impose a price-or, conversely, output and quality-floor on its competitor OpenAI's ChatGPT products.
China's competition regulator has launched an investigation into Qualcomm's purchase of Israeli firm Autotalks, the latest salvo in the escalating tech trade war between Washington and Beijing. The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) described its probe as routine, according to state-run broadcaster CGTN, yet the timing is pointed. It came as China tightened exports of rare earth metals last Thursday, ratcheting up tensions with the US.
The CMA confirmed that Google dominates general search and advertising, giving it a strategic position in the UK market where it handles over 90% of searches. The designation includes AI-based features such as AI Overviews and AI Mode. However, it excludes Google's Gemini AI assistant, although the CMA will continue to review this as the market evolves. CMA Executive Director for Digital Markets Will Hayter emphasized that the designation enables the CMA to pursue proportionate interventions to maintain open competition.
"Mehta, who found that Google has monopolized search and search advertising, is crafting a remedy to resolve the company's illegal conduct. In a decision last month, he ruled that Google could no longer pay companies to exclusively use its Search, Chrome web browser or Google Play Store, though he declined to bar all payments outright. Mehta's ruling incorporated aspects of proposals from Google and the Justice Department, which led to Wednesday's hearing where both sides argued for him to adopt their language in a final order."
The lawsuit centers on two Optimal Blue tools launched in 2019, Competitive Analytics and Competitive Data License, which require lenders to share an unprecedented quantity and quality of non-public, competitively sensitive, granular, real-time data covering every component of their residential Mortgage Pricing and profit margins. Plaintiffs allege this data-sharing arrangement the price of admission to this cartel allowed lenders to coordinate pricing rather than compete, effectively inflating rates and margins.
Germany's Federal Cartel Office on Wednesday announced an investigation into Chinese e-commerce giant Temu, saying it wanted to examine conditions for traders and the company's treatment of the suppliers it relies upon to sell products. "Each month more than 100 million users from European marketplaces visit temu.com," Andreas Mundt, the president of the competition watchdog, said in a statement.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, scored a legal victory Tuesday when a federal judge in San Francisco dismissed a lawsuit accusing the Menlo Park tech firm of misleading users about its privacy practices to maintain its social media dominance. U.S. District Judge James Donato granted Meta's request for a summary judgment halting a trial that had been scheduled for November, according to Reuters. The ruling came after the court barred a key expert witness for the plaintiffs, effectively leaving them unable to demonstrate any damages.
Like the FTC's suit, this lawsuit alleges that Zillow has no interest in continuing to compete with Redfin on the merits of its rental advertising offering. Instead, on February 6, 2025, Zillow and Redfin executed an unlawful agreement to remove competition from this already highly concentrated market, starting with a $100 million payment to Redfin to exit the Internet Listing Services advertising market, the complaint states.
The European Commission said it had carried out surprise inspections of a company active in the vaccines sector. It did not name the firm, nor say in which country the raids were taking place, though it specified investigators were joined by competition authorities of the member state affected. The European Commission said it has "concerns that the inspected company may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit abuses of a dominant market position".
NEW YORK (AP) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is suing Zillow and Redfin, accusing the real estate companies of entering what the regulator says is an illegal deal to suppress competition in online rental advertising. In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, the FTC alleges that this agreement started in February - when Zillow paid Redfin $100 million. In exchange for that and other compensation, the commission said, Redfin agreed to end contracts with advertising partners, stop competing ads for multifamily properties
According to insiders, Brussels is working on its first fine under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This is the law that has been in place since last year to prevent large tech companies from abusing their market power. A decision is expected in the coming months. That's what Reuters reports. Earlier this month, Europe already slapped Google with a €2.95 billion fine for unfair practices in advertising technology.
Amazon has agreed to settle a landmark case over its Prime membership program, according to U.S. regulators, who had alleged the company's web designs manipulated tens of millions of people into paying for subscriptions that were purposefully hard to cancel. The Federal Trade Commission says Amazon, without admitting wrongdoing, has agreed to pay a historic $1 billion in civil penalties to the government and another $1.5 billion in redress payments to affected consumers.
Google is like a dog with a bone over Microsoft's cloud licensing policies, not letting Euro regulators forget about what it sees as anti-competitive practices that penalize those wanting to run Windows software on rival cloud platforms. The ad and cloud tech giant says it has been a year since it filed a formal complaint with the European Commission about Microsoft, and seems frustrated with the progress - or lack of it.
