Antitrust at the Vortex of the Internet Economy

If net neutrality/open Internet proponents believe that non-dominant, competitive broadband providers should be not be allowed to advantage their own content, products or services over competitors', why do they tolerate monopoly application providers disadvantaging their competitors' content, products or services? 

A new private antitrust lawsuit by TradeComet.com against Google brings that question to the forefront.

• Trade Comet charges that, since the DOJ concluded in November that Google was a search advertising monopoly, it is anti-competitive for Google to dis-advantage its competitors' products, services, and content for the benefit of Google's products, services and content.      

  This new antitrust suit is significant and bears watching for a variety of reasons.

  • Vortex: This lawsuit shines an ongoing spotlight on the de facto vortex of the Internet economy -- Google, which is the dominant way people find the world's information, and the dominant monetization engine for the world's providers of digital information.
  • The baseline is set: Both the DOJ and FTC expert agencies have separately concluded that the Google has a monopoly in the relevant market of search advertising. This provides powerful evidence in proving the hardest part of any antitrust case -- monopoly power.
  • Tips the tipping point: This case effectively builds on the DOJ monopolization case that was reportedly three hours from being filed by the DOJ, had Google not dropped its plans to partner with Yahoo in an ad deal.  
  • New evidence and theory: The lawsuit presents new evidence and theory that competition has been broadly harmed by Google foreclosing competition from specialty "vertical search engines" which enjoy qualitative competitive advantages that potentially threaten Google's overwhelming scale advantages.   
  • Critical mass of concern: The key associations representing advertisers and newspapers opposed the Google-Yahoo deal last fall. That suggests there is widespread latent support and sympathy for the thrust of the TradeComet.com complaint among Google's client base.  
  • Tougher antitrust environment: Reports are that the new Administration will set a much tougher antitrust tone. 

  Bottom line:

  The open question is what will be the overall dynamic created by this new private antitrust case?

  • Will it be like the grain of sand that agitates the system to produce an antitrust pearl?
  • Will it be like a snowball rolling down hill that will pick up speed and mass as others join in with similar cases, complaints or investigations?
  • Or is it like the proverbial camel's nose under the tent, where the biggest part remains hidden from view?

  The point here is simple. Competition and antitrust policy/enforcement must be applied fairly -- based on the law, precedent and the facts -- and not selectively to the advantage or disadvantage any industry or company.