Competition news and trends

EU Regulators Crack Down on Anti-Competitive Practices
Regulation // February 18, 2024

European regulators have reportedly increased their focus on anti-competitive behavior among consumer product companies. Last year, competition authorities carried out 26 surprise inspections on consumer companies in the U.K., Switzerland and the European Union, up from 17 in 2022, the Financial Times (FT) reported Sunday (Feb....

White House Pushes for Pro-Small Business AI Policy
artificial intelligence // January 21, 2024

How can artificial intelligence (AI) create opportunities for small businesses? That question was the subject of a Friday (Jan. 19) White House meeting designed to examine ways to support competition as AI becomes more widely used. “This included a focus on the challenges participants raised about the high levels...

Kroger-Albertson Merger Delays Let Smaller Grocers Live Another Day
Retail // January 16, 2024

With the looming merger between Kroger and Albertsons set to make it all the harder for smaller grocery chains to stand a fighting chance, delays due to ongoing pushback are giving those retailers more time to find their footing. The two grocery giants, along with...

Report: Google to Challenge EU’s Attempt to Break Up Ad Business
Google // October 12, 2023

Google reportedly intends to challenge the European Union’s (EU) threat to break up its ad business. The tech giant has made it clear in a letter addressed to EU watchdogs that it will not accept the mandatory divestment of part of its services, and it...

Interviews & Exclusives
Is Amazon’s Delivery ‘Purge’ A Boon To Last-Mile Rivals?

February 24, 2020
When the axe falls from Amazon, the ripple effects are significant, especially for smaller logistics firms. Several companies have enjoyed the fruits of partnering with the eCommerce giant, to be sure, but the partnerships — at least, some of them — are proving short-lived. That’s the partial takeaway, as Amazon has cut ties with UPS […]

Hubble: Contact Lens Prescriptions Go Subscription

February 11, 2020
One might assume they could easily guess the biggest competitor for a startup focused on selling contact lenses direct to consumer (DTC) via subscription. Maybe Johnson & Johnson or The...

Visa On Bringing More Female Founders Into The Reinvention Of Retail

February 10, 2020
In some ways, the dawn of 2020 is a golden time for female entrepreneurs — in that there are more female-founded firms than ever before. In fact, women are founding...

Hulu: Why Championing Choice Is The Future Of Streaming Subscriptions

February 03, 2020
In the space of about 18 months, it seems that everyone is trying to rule the subscription streaming world. There are the incumbent players — the big, original three of...

Quick Reads
Google: Microsoft Tried Multiple Times to Sell Bing to Apple

February 26, 2024
Google claims that Microsoft made several attempts to sell its search engine Bing to Apple. That’s according to a report Monday (Feb. 26) by Seeking Alpha, citing a newly-unsealed post-trial brief from the U.S. government’s antitrust case against Google.  The Justice Department accuses Google of holding a monopoly in the online search space and says […]

EU Regulators Crack Down on Anti-Competitive Practices

February 18, 2024
European regulators have reportedly increased their focus on anti-competitive behavior among consumer product companies. Last year, competition authorities carried out 26 surprise inspections on consumer companies in the U.K., Switzerland and...

White House Pushes for Pro-Small Business AI Policy

January 21, 2024
How can artificial intelligence (AI) create opportunities for small businesses? That question was the subject of a Friday (Jan. 19) White House meeting designed to examine ways to support competition as AI becomes more...

Report: Google to Challenge EU’s Attempt to Break Up Ad Business

October 12, 2023
Google reportedly intends to challenge the European Union’s (EU) threat to break up its ad business. The tech giant has made it clear in a letter addressed to EU watchdogs...