Facing further penalties in Europe due to concerns about its market dominance, Meta’s exploring a new partnership with eBay that would see eBay listings displayed on Facebook Marketplace, in among its existing posts and offers.
As reported by Bloomberg, Meta’s looking to better align with EU competition laws, specifically related to marketplace listings, by enabling eBay to display items within its own marketplace.
As per Bloomberg:
“Meta offered to publish listings from classified ads rival eBay on Facebook Marketplace in an effort to comply with a landmark European Union antitrust order.”
That antitrust order saw the company fined €797.72 million ($US841 million) back in November due to breaches of EU antitrust rules related to the linking of Facebook Marketplace to Facebook, and the market advantages that provides for Facebook’s user-listed market service.
Which was the result of a years-long investigation.
Back in 2022, the EU Commission alleged that Facebook was breaching local antitrust regulations by “distorting competition in markets for online classified ads” and abusing its dominant position.
The Commission’s view was that Facebook was using the scale of its social network to give Facebook Marketplace an unfair advantage over other online classifieds providers, while also imposing unfair trading conditions on competing online classified ads services that sought to advertise on Facebook or Instagram.
That investigation eventually resulted in that huge massive fine, and now, Meta’s exploring new ways to comply with EU regulations on this front to avoid further penalty.
This new eBay integration is set to be one of several integrations designed to water down Marketplace dominance, and provide a level playing field for online classified providers.
And while I’m not sure that I conceptually agree with the EU findings, Meta’s scale does give it a significant advantage, in many respects, and if it has been penalizing competitors by restricting its ads, there does seem to be some case there.
Though it also could be argued that such measures suppress competition, and I’m not sure that forcing platforms to open up their systems to competitors addresses that in the way EU officials seem to think. It also seems like a potential disincentive for business expansion in the region.
Worth noting too that EU officials are also forcing Meta to allow other messaging apps to integrate with WhatsApp and Messenger along the same anti-competition lines.
It may not be the best solution, but either way, the EU has already established its stance, and this is one possible solution that Meta has come up with which could help to alleviate some of the concerns about its dominant scale.
And ultimately, it could also be a win for consumers, with more choice on display within Marketplace. That could point you towards more deals and bargains, and Meta may still have to expand that even more, leading to a more Google like shopping display.
Which, again, seems to overly penalize Meta for its success.
Meta’s launching a new test of the option in Germany, France, and interestingly also the U.S., which will enable buyers to browse listings from eBay on Facebook Marketplace, before completing any transactions on eBay.
