Assessing Dominance on Online Platforms - An analysis of how dominance and market power are assessed regarding online platforms under EU competition law

Sammanfattning: Strong online platforms, such as Facebook, Amazon and Google, pose new obstacles in the field of EU competition law. For example, the process of assessing dominance is generally divided into two steps: (i) defining the market and estimating the undertakings’ market shares and (ii) analysis of ‘other factors’ that are indicative of market power. However, since online platforms differ considerably in nature from most other markets, the application process and applicability of these two steps may vary. Therefore, this thesis aims to describe and analyse how dominance is assessed on online platforms with emphasis on when online platforms, because of their unique nature, must be approached differently. In conclusion, a large market share may not be indicative of market power on online platforms. As a result, competition authorities must adapt by paying attention to new ‘other factors’ that have emerged in relation to online platforms. For example, network effects seem to be the root of many substantial barriers to entry and expansion. On the other hand, multi-homing can generally be assumed to be an ‘other factor’ capable of reducing market power. Moreover, the mere possession of large amounts of quality data, and the ability to efficiently collect, process and utilise data, can facilitate increased market power under certain circumstances. Network effects, multi-homing and data as ‘other factors’ should advisably be considered together when assessing dominance since they are closely related. However, new competition law instruments and tools, such as the DMA, may be essential to efficiently confront the new challenges that arise as a consequence of online platforms’ unique characteristics.