The rise of the internet created a new form of corporate power that traditional antitrust law struggles to comprehend: the data platform. Companies like Google, Amazon, and Meta do not just participate in the market; they are the market.
They control the infrastructure—the search engines, the app stores, the social graphs, the logistics networks—that other businesses rely on to reach customers. This gives them the power to pick winners and losers, often favoring their own products and services over those of their competitors.
This “gatekeeper” power is compounded by their massive accumulation of user data. They know what we buy, where we go, and what we fear. This data is used to target advertising with surgical precision, creating an advertising duopoly that captures the vast majority of digital ad revenue.
The Dual Role
Amazon is both the marketplace where third-party sellers operate and a competitor selling its own products on that same marketplace. This inherent conflict of interest allows them to use seller data to undercut the very businesses that rely on their platform.
The power of data platforms also extends into the political sphere. Their algorithms shape the flow of information, influencing public opinion and electoral outcomes in ways that are opaque and largely unregulated.
Regulating data platforms requires new tools. Traditional antitrust focuses on breaking up companies, but the network effects of these platforms make them naturally monopolistic. New approaches focus on “interoperability” (forcing platforms to work with competitors), strict data privacy laws that limit their advertising power, and structural separations that prevent them from being both the referee and the player.
When using digital platforms, recognize that you are not just a consumer; you are the product. Your data is the raw material that fuels their market dominance. Supporting privacy legislation and antitrust enforcement is the only way to curb this new, unprecedented form of corporate power.