Imagine a not-too-distant future in which trustbusters force Facebook FB 2.19% to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp. Imagine a time when Amazon’s cloud and delivery services are so dominant the company is broken up like AT&T . Imagine Google’s search or YouTube becoming regulated monopolies, like electricity and water.
Facebook Inc., Google parent Alphabet Inc. GOOGL 2.09% and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN 0.29% are enjoying profit margins, market dominance and clout that, according to economists and historians, suggest they’re developing into a new category of monopolists. They may not yet be ripe for such extreme regulatory action, but as they consolidate control of their markets, negative consequences for innovation and competition are becoming evident.
For example, some who study the past compare Amazon and Facebook to Standard Oil, for their similar quests to vanquish competitors and even their own suppliers through vertical integration.
Tech’s Titans Tiptoe Toward Monopoly
Facebook Inc., Google parent Alphabet Inc. GOOGL 2.09% and Amazon.com Inc. AMZN 0.29% are enjoying profit margins, market dominance and clout that, according to economists and historians, suggest they’re developing into a new category of monopolists. They may not yet be ripe for such extreme regulatory action, but as they consolidate control of their markets, negative consequences for innovation and competition are becoming evident.
For example, some who study the past compare Amazon and Facebook to Standard Oil, for their similar quests to vanquish competitors and even their own suppliers through vertical integration.
Tech’s Titans Tiptoe Toward Monopoly