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A Republican member of Congress is now arguing against breaking up tech companies, which in 2019 Washington feels very weird.
I assume the words "Tik Tok" will be uttered many many times at today's antitrust hearing.
I really need to start a Bingo game with Amazon touting how customer centric it is. Cc @ranimolla
@ranimolla Summary of tech executives' statements:
*We are not that big
*We have lots of competitors
*We're great for small businesses!
*We're great for the US economy! And American workers! America!
*Tik Tok
*We are not that big
*We have lots of competitors
*We're great for small businesses!
*We're great for the US economy! And American workers! America!
*Tik Tok
@ranimolla Hoo boy. The Apple lawyer citing Spotify as an App Store success story while Spotify is screaming about the unfairness of the App Store is...something.
Oh, so Facebook doesn't try to identify promising apps that could compete with Facebook but *does* try understand how tech trends are changing. Those are different?
"Amazon is proud to be a company of builders" already mentioned twice.
Interesting that Amazon has said recently that its private label products are ~1% of sales (see this tweet). I believe Sutton just said private label is a "low single digits" share of sales?
Interesting question from Cicilline on whether Amazon uses its data to advantage its own products vs other sellers
*It cannot be true that the info Amazon gives sellers is just as good as the public info on product rankings
*3P GMV is not growing 2x the rate of 1P GMV.
*It cannot be true that the info Amazon gives sellers is just as good as the public info on product rankings
*3P GMV is not growing 2x the rate of 1P GMV.
Our first question about the nagging from Apple to pay for iCloud, because the free storage is pathetically small.
The Apple witness is not familiar with iCloud notifications?
The Apple witness is not familiar with iCloud notifications?
Q on Amazon's market share in total retail. Witness says Amazon is ~4% of US retail sales, which is likely true if counting ALL retail including things like cars and gas.
Walmart gross sales are ~$500 billion globally. Amazon will be above $330 billion this year. Catching up.
Walmart gross sales are ~$500 billion globally. Amazon will be above $330 billion this year. Catching up.
Saying Walmart online sales are growing 2x as fast as Amazon is true but also bizarre. Walmart's online sales are TEENY compared to Amazon.
Rep. Demings just quoted from my column on Amazon's advertising business. You can read that here: bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
Sutton said advertising is optional for brands and sellers on Amazon, which is both true and not the full story.
E.g. A screen shot of a search for dog beds on Amazon. First two results are paid ads (one for Amazon's own brand). 2nd section is Amazon's own brand.
E.g. A screen shot of a search for dog beds on Amazon. First two results are paid ads (one for Amazon's own brand). 2nd section is Amazon's own brand.
RBC last year estimated one in six results on Amazon's app was a paid listing. Ads on Amazon are optional, but also often necessary to get seen.
For many brands/sellers, this is a worthwhile buy. But optional with an asterisk.
For many brands/sellers, this is a worthwhile buy. But optional with an asterisk.
Interesting that Amazon has gotten a lot of attention (and good questions) here.
A QUESTION ABOUT TAC. MY FAVORITE.
But it's a great question from Rep. Raskin. If Google pays Apple many billions a year to be the default search engine on iOS/Apple services, doesn't that mean alternative search isn't merely "one click away"?
AND a great question to Apple: If you are taking many billions of dollars a year to make Google the default, isn't that mortgaging users to a company you say is harming people's privacy?
(Apple's rep says Google search is the best. Ok, but...again, Apple is taking Google's many billions of nearly 100% profit dollars to put Google as the default. This is a business decision, not a "best product" decision?)
ANOTHER question for Amazon, about the rising fees for merchants that sell on Amazon. Is this "a pure exercise of its outsized buyer power," Cicilline asks.
Cicilline wants to see the numbers of seller fees. Me too. Amazon says fee for listing have been steady -- plus optional fees for additional services like FBA and (presumably) advertising.
Hi, Rep Armstrong: Apple's revenue from commissions on the App Store are $15B+ a year. It will be an estimated 42% of Apple's FY 2020 gross profit from services, according to Macquarie. And you may have heard Apple wants to be a services company now.
Google's witness is sadly not familiar with this WSJ story on Google Maps fake listings. wsj.com/articles/googl…
This:
Rep. Raskin says some businesses says they are concerned about complaining of possible harmful tactics by the tech giants for fear of retribution by the tech giants.
I am going to do something weird and commend these members of Congress for asking terrific questions.
Literally the only congressional hearing I wished would have gone on longer.
