Thread by @modestproposal1

Delrahim gave a speech today titled "Antitrust Enforcement and Digital Gatekeepers" and it feels like this is foreshadowing of investigations to come. justice.gov/opa/speech/ass…

"Another important parallel for modern observers is that consumers actually enjoyed lower prices during the height of Standard Oil’s dominance.... It nonetheless demonstrates that price effects are not the sole measure of harm to competition under the U.S. antitrust laws."

If I was Google, I would take note that the example he cites here is search:

"Broadly speaking, in some digital markets, the competition is for user attention or clicks. If we see the commercial dynamics of internet search, for example..."

"Many recent calls for antitrust reform, or more radical change, are premised on the incorrect notion that antitrust policy is only concerned with keeping prices low. It is well-settled, however, that competition has price and non-price dimensions."

"Price effects alone do not provide a complete picture of market dynamics, especially in digital markets in which the profit-maximizing price is zero."

If I was Google, I would also take note that the two examples he cites here of enforcement actions are against Google/Yahoo search tie up and collusive hiring practices in SV, including Google.

"The last topic I will discuss today is anticompetitive transactions in the digital economy, particularly acquisitions of early stage companies. Section 7 of Clayton Act prohibits M&A “where the effect may be substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly.”

So to recap, Delrahim says:

- low prices alone do not insulate you from antitrust (Amazon)

- Cites search and/or Google 3 times

- Calls out acquisitions of nascent competitors (FB)

Seems pretty transparent to me?

"new administration sought antitrust enforcers who would take a hard look at Google in particular, according to two people familiar with the matter

White House ultimately passed on Ohlhausen because wasn’t seen as someone who would get tough on the world’s largest search engine"