1 00:00:01,240 --> 00:00:03,920 Speaker 1: When you go to find something online, do you say 2 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:07,560 Speaker 1: I will now conduct an Internet search? Of course not, 3 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:11,719 Speaker 1: you say I'll just google it. Google's verb level status 4 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: in our lives is a measure of its enormous success. 5 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: It's also at the center of a case the US 6 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:21,959 Speaker 1: government has brought against the company. For years, regulators in 7 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 1: Washington have accused tech giants of stifling competition, and in 8 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:29,960 Speaker 1: recent months, the US Justice Department and the Federal Trade 9 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,839 Speaker 1: Commission have launched high profile cases not just against Google 10 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: but Amazon too. 11 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:36,599 Speaker 2: You know, in a. 12 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 3: Competitive world, if you have a company that's both hiking 13 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:43,640 Speaker 3: prices and worsening services for customers, that's the type of 14 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 3: situation that should create an opening for rivals to come 15 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 3: in to attract business to grow. But it's really Amazon's 16 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:54,440 Speaker 3: exclusionary scheme that is keeping that from happening, and what's 17 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:59,400 Speaker 3: enabling Amazon to effectively be exploiting its monopoly power with impunity. 18 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: Lena Khan, the chair of the FTC. Bloomberg's Leah Nyland 19 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 1: is covering both of these cases, and she's here to 20 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:11,679 Speaker 1: explain what's at stake for the companies and consumers and 21 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:15,080 Speaker 1: why the government is pursuing these antitrust lawsuits. 22 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 4: Now under US LAB you are allowed to be a 23 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:20,960 Speaker 4: monopoly and it's considered a good thing, right because you 24 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:23,680 Speaker 4: tend to become a monopoly because you have a great product. 25 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 4: But under the law you're not allowed to take steps 26 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:27,560 Speaker 4: to try and maintain the monopoly. 27 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: I'm west Kasova today on the Big Take. I'll just bring. 28 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 2: It Leah, welcome back, Thanks for having me. 29 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: So I want to talk to you more about why 30 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 1: the Biden administration is taking such a big forward stance 31 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 1: against some of the big tech companies. But first, why 32 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: don't we just jump into the cases themselves, and let's 33 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 1: start with Amazon. What exactly is the administration's complaint against Amazon? 34 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:11,400 Speaker 4: Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon for 35 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 4: anti trust violations. They allege that Amazon is a monopoly 36 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 4: and that they have two separate monopolies, one over what 37 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:24,359 Speaker 4: they call online marketplace services, which is websites that allow 38 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 4: third party sellers to sell goods to the public. And 39 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 4: they also alleged that Amazon is a monopolist in online superstores, 40 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 4: which is the retailers who have one stops shopping for 41 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 4: all sorts of different goods so you could buy you know, 42 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 4: things like electronics, also groceries and books and all sorts 43 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 4: of things within there. That is, companies like Amazon, companies 44 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 4: like eBay, at sea, things along those sides. 45 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,239 Speaker 1: And what exactly is the complaint? What are they saying 46 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: that Amazon is doing that's wrong? 47 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 4: Yeah, so they allege that Amazon has engaged in a 48 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,680 Speaker 4: course of conduct that has raised prices. Is for both 49 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:03,440 Speaker 4: third party sellers who sell on the website and then 50 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:07,239 Speaker 4: also for consumers who are buying products through Amazon's website. 51 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: And here's Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan again, she 52 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: spoke recently to Bloomberg News. 53 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 3: Ultimately, Amazon has pursued them to deprive actual and potential 54 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:21,840 Speaker 3: competitors of the ability to gain the scale and momentum 55 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 3: needed to effectively compete online. And having achieved and protected 56 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 3: its monopoly power, are complaint details how Amazon is now 57 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 3: exploiting that monopoly power in ways that harm customers. 58 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 4: There are a number of allegations about various policies that 59 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 4: Amazon has imposed on sellers. The two biggest ones are 60 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 4: one that Amazon has tied access to its marketplace with 61 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:51,520 Speaker 4: the use of its logistics service, which is called fulfilled 62 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 4: by Amazon. 63 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:53,720 Speaker 5: So third party sellers. 64 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 4: Instead of keeping the products themselves and then shipping them 65 00:03:56,640 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 4: via the post officer FedEx, they pay Amazon to keep 66 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 4: theirs and then ship them out the same as Amazon 67 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 4: does with its own and the FTC alleges that Amazon 68 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 4: has been giving priority on its website to the sellers 69 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:14,600 Speaker 4: who use this logistics service. The other thing that they 70 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:18,680 Speaker 4: allege is that Amazon has what is sort of known 71 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 4: as a price parity clause. Essentially, it requires sellers to 72 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 4: always sell their products the cheapest on Amazon, and the 73 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:31,479 Speaker 4: FTC alleges that that causes prices to rise not only 74 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 4: on Amazon, but across the entire web. 75 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 3: So this case is ultimately about competition and competition that 76 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 3: has been foregone because of Amazon's unlawful tactics. As the 77 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 3: complaint lays out, as a result of that, people are 78 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 3: paying higher prices right Consumers are paying more than they 79 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,160 Speaker 3: otherwise would, small businesses are having to pay a fifty 80 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:55,160 Speaker 3: percent Amazon tax right now, and so ultimately the complaint 81 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:58,880 Speaker 3: is seeking to restore the lost promise of competition. 82 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:03,160 Speaker 4: You know, Amazon is imposing these other fees on sellers 83 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 4: for advertising for this fulfillment service, so they in essence 84 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:10,719 Speaker 4: end up raising the price to cover these costs that 85 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 4: they have to pay for Amazon. 86 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: And so is the government saying that Amazon is a monopoly? 87 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 4: Yes, they say very clearly on the first page, Amazon 88 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 4: is a monopolist. 89 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: And what is the definition of a monopoly according to 90 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 1: the FTC in this case. 91 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 4: Under the US law, there's not like a strict definition 92 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:30,479 Speaker 4: of what is a monopoly. You can't say, like, okay, 93 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:33,000 Speaker 4: if a company has more than fifty percent market share, 94 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 4: they are a monopoly. But they are alleging that they're 95 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:39,840 Speaker 4: a monopolist in both this marketplace services category and they 96 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:42,400 Speaker 4: also allege that they are a monopolist in this online 97 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 4: superstore category. 98 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: And it's not just the FTC that is going after them, 99 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: is that right? 100 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 4: Yes, this complaint there were seventeen state attorneys general who 101 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:54,160 Speaker 4: joined on to it, both Democrats and Republicans. 102 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:00,080 Speaker 1: The FDC has been kind of poking around Amazon for 103 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:00,880 Speaker 1: several years. 104 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:01,160 Speaker 4: Now. 105 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:04,479 Speaker 1: Why did it decide that this was the thing to 106 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: go after Because Amazon is huge. They have so many 107 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: different kinds of businesses that people could accuse them of, 108 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:11,279 Speaker 1: you know, like changing the market. 109 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,920 Speaker 4: Yeah. Amazon has been under investigation by the FTC now 110 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 4: for four years. This investigation started back in twenty nineteen, 111 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:22,479 Speaker 4: and the FTC's investigation delved into a lot of aspects 112 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:26,840 Speaker 4: of their business, the marketplace. They looked at cloud aws 113 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:30,160 Speaker 4: or Amazon Web Services. They also looked at some of 114 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:34,279 Speaker 4: the previous acquisitions that Amazon has done in a number 115 00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 4: of areas. They looked very deeply also at the Prime 116 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:41,039 Speaker 4: subscription service, which is partially in this case, but not 117 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 4: as much as people ended up expecting. And they ended 118 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:46,680 Speaker 4: up focusing on the marketplace because that I think is 119 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:50,200 Speaker 4: you know, it's Amazon's longest running business and it is 120 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 4: sort of the center of their dominance if you think 121 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:53,840 Speaker 4: about it. 122 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:55,920 Speaker 1: And that's interesting because I think a lot of people 123 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:59,520 Speaker 1: would be surprised to think about how important third party 124 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:01,839 Speaker 1: sellers are to Amazon because you think, you go to Amazon, 125 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 1: you think they're selling you all this stuff. But it 126 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:07,279 Speaker 1: really is this collection of thousands and thousands of small 127 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 1: businesses that have kind of yoked themselves to Amazon's massive engine. 128 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 4: Yeah, there are millions of sellers on Amazon's marketplace, and 129 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 4: over time, Amazon has been gaining more and more revenue 130 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 4: from those third party sellers as opposed to selling its 131 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:26,119 Speaker 4: own products. The FTC's complaint allegeds that sellers now pay 132 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:29,200 Speaker 4: one out of every two dollars they make on Amazon 133 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 4: to the company itself for the commission and ads and 134 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 4: fulfillment or other types of fees that the company imposes 135 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:37,840 Speaker 4: on them, so. 136 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 1: That even though the official Amazon fees are lower, they 137 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:41,800 Speaker 1: say that once they all stack up, it adds up 138 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 1: to fifty percent of. 139 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:45,360 Speaker 5: That's what the FTC alleges, and I. 140 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: Guess sellers themselves would say, Well, sure I could go 141 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:50,760 Speaker 1: sell offline or sell someplace else, but if you're not 142 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 1: on Amazon, then you're kind of out of the game. 143 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:55,440 Speaker 4: Yeah, that's what a lot of sellers tell us. You know, 144 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:58,960 Speaker 4: Amazon is the most important channel, they call it for 145 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 4: sales because it's a place that people go when they 146 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:03,400 Speaker 4: want to buy something. 147 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 1: I want to ask you about another term that comes 148 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 1: up that is, I guess related to monopoly, and that's 149 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:13,680 Speaker 1: this anti competitive conduct. How is that different from being 150 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:14,360 Speaker 1: a monopoly? 151 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:17,560 Speaker 4: So under US law, being a monopoly is actually not 152 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 4: against the law. You are allowed to be a monopoly, 153 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 4: and it's considered a good thing, right because you tend 154 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:25,200 Speaker 4: to become a monopoly because you have a great product. 155 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 4: But under the law you're not allowed to take steps 156 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 4: to try and maintain that monopoly. So what the FTC 157 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:33,160 Speaker 4: is saying is, you know, maybe Amazon became a monopoly 158 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:36,439 Speaker 4: because it offers great services to consumers, but what it 159 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 4: shouldn't have done, and what the FTC alleges it did, 160 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:41,840 Speaker 4: is take all these steps to sort of lock in 161 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:44,680 Speaker 4: consumers and make sure that nobody else could sort of 162 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 4: lure them away with lower prices or different services and 163 00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:51,720 Speaker 4: things like that. The case itself just lays out a 164 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:56,199 Speaker 4: number of alleged anti competitive conduct that Amazon has engaged 165 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:58,199 Speaker 4: in in order to maintain these monopolies. 166 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 1: What is Amazon's say about the FTC cases? 167 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:05,000 Speaker 4: Amazon says that the FTC's case would lead to higher 168 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 4: prices for consumers, and they reject the idea that they 169 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:14,320 Speaker 4: should be required to show higher prices on their own website. 170 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:17,199 Speaker 4: So Amazon says, the way that it decides who wins 171 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:20,200 Speaker 4: the bybox, as it's known, so who is the featured 172 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:23,840 Speaker 4: seller for a particular product is a complex algorithm, but 173 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:26,320 Speaker 4: it takes into account like the price of the product 174 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:28,360 Speaker 4: and how quickly it's going to go to a consumer. 175 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,160 Speaker 4: Amazon argues that if it's not allowed to show the 176 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:33,960 Speaker 4: lowest price, consumers are going to go elsewhere to search 177 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 4: for low prices, so they intend. 178 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:38,160 Speaker 5: To vigorously contest the FTC's case. 179 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:42,280 Speaker 4: Antitrust cases take a really long time, so we're probably 180 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:44,880 Speaker 4: not looking at a trial until around twenty twenty five 181 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:47,679 Speaker 4: or twenty twenty six, but Amazon is definitely gearing up 182 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:48,839 Speaker 4: for one already. 183 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 1: After the break. The government's case against Google. 184 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 6: Well, the biggest US antitrust trial gets underway today as 185 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:08,400 Speaker 6: the Justice Department takes on tech giant Google. 186 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:11,439 Speaker 7: The government argues that Google, which controls ninety percent of 187 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:14,840 Speaker 7: the search market, illegally paid billions of dollars a year 188 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:18,000 Speaker 7: to smartphonemakers like Apple to be the default search engine 189 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:18,920 Speaker 7: on their devices. 190 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:21,760 Speaker 1: As of last month, Google had a global market share 191 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:25,640 Speaker 1: of about ninety two percent, It's nearest competitor being held 192 00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 1: about three percent. 193 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:29,680 Speaker 2: The only question is is this a serious threat to 194 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:31,080 Speaker 2: Google as a whole entity? 195 00:10:32,559 --> 00:10:35,480 Speaker 1: Leah. Amazon is only one of the US government's targets 196 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:38,640 Speaker 1: against the big tech companies. Also, they're taking a hard 197 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:42,080 Speaker 1: look at Google. What exactly is happening with those cases? 198 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:45,160 Speaker 4: Yes, So, the Justice Department and a group of state 199 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:49,200 Speaker 4: attorneys general sued Google back in twenty twenty over its 200 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:53,120 Speaker 4: conduct related to its search business, and this case went 201 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:55,760 Speaker 4: to trial in mid September. It is a ten week 202 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:58,880 Speaker 4: trial that is expected to last through mid November. So 203 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 4: the main allegations in that case is that Google has 204 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:06,480 Speaker 4: illegally maintained its monopoly over the search market by entering 205 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:10,920 Speaker 4: into a variety of contracts with other companies, including Apple 206 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:14,760 Speaker 4: and smartphone manufacturers like Samsung, to ensure that it is 207 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:18,120 Speaker 4: always placed as the pre selected option or default whenever 208 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:21,040 Speaker 4: you access a computer or a mobile phone. 209 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:24,320 Speaker 1: So that Google Search Engine is just the way you 210 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 1: search the web automatically. 211 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:30,439 Speaker 4: Yes, so in pretty much every browser except the one 212 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 4: owned by Microsoft, and on every smartphone, Google Search Engine 213 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:38,400 Speaker 4: is the one that you would automatically search. If you 214 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:40,800 Speaker 4: just go to a browser or unless you make some 215 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:42,800 Speaker 4: kind of a change, you are always going to be 216 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:46,360 Speaker 4: searching via Google. We don't know exactly how much money 217 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 4: Google pays for these contracts. The Justice Department said the 218 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:53,480 Speaker 4: number is north of ten billion dollars. But for the past, 219 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:56,280 Speaker 4: you know, fifteen years, they have been paying people to 220 00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:59,640 Speaker 4: ensure that every time you access the web and do 221 00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:01,040 Speaker 4: a soar, it's through Google. 222 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:04,600 Speaker 1: And the government's case is getting sort of a boost 223 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:07,920 Speaker 1: from one of Google's big competitors, Microsoft. 224 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:11,320 Speaker 4: Yes, there have been a number of Microsoft executives who've 225 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:16,040 Speaker 4: testified at the trial, including CEO Satynadella, who testified at 226 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:19,320 Speaker 4: the beginning of October. He is very interesting because, in 227 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:22,000 Speaker 4: addition to being the CEO for a long time, he 228 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:25,959 Speaker 4: actually ran Microsoft search business, the bing search engine, so 229 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:29,200 Speaker 4: he has a lot of knowledge and deep understanding of 230 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:32,280 Speaker 4: Microsoft's ambitions in the search space and how it relates 231 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:35,480 Speaker 4: to the rest of their business. Satunadella, as well as 232 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:39,079 Speaker 4: some of the other executives who are at rival search engines, 233 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:42,200 Speaker 4: have alleged that these contracts that Google has entered into 234 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:46,280 Speaker 4: just block their access from being able to get users 235 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:49,840 Speaker 4: because it's very, very difficult to get a user to 236 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:53,640 Speaker 4: switch the default search engine. Most people on their phone 237 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 4: don't actually realize that there is a default don't know 238 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:59,680 Speaker 4: how to change it. So one of Google's defenses is 239 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:02,079 Speaker 4: that you can change it. It's easy. It's a debate 240 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:05,000 Speaker 4: whether it's four or five clicks to change it. But 241 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:07,440 Speaker 4: what the Justice Department is saying, and what some of 242 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 4: the rivals also say, is most people don't even know 243 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:12,000 Speaker 4: that that option to change it exists. 244 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:15,640 Speaker 1: And Microsoft is also arguing that they tried to attract 245 00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:19,199 Speaker 1: business for their search engine called Bing, but they got 246 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:19,679 Speaker 1: turned down. 247 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:20,320 Speaker 2: Yeah. 248 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:23,360 Speaker 4: That was what was the most interesting and exciting fact 249 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 4: about the Microsoft testimony is we've gotten a look inside 250 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:30,960 Speaker 4: a lot of their negotiations with other companies, including Apple. 251 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:36,440 Speaker 4: So for years, Microsoft has tried to persuade Apple to 252 00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:40,600 Speaker 4: change the default on the Safari search engine, which is 253 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:44,600 Speaker 4: the search engine on iPhones, mac computers, and iPads, from 254 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 4: Google to Bing. Apple has always used Google since two 255 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 4: thousand and three, and they get paid money by Google 256 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:55,960 Speaker 4: a share of all of the advertising revenue for that contract. 257 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:58,360 Speaker 4: Microsoft has said time and time and again that they 258 00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:02,080 Speaker 4: should use Being as the search engine in Safari. They 259 00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:05,920 Speaker 4: even offered to sell Bing to Apple so that Apple 260 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:09,400 Speaker 4: could develop its own search engine and search technology. They 261 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:12,000 Speaker 4: didn't say exactly how much money they were offering, but 262 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:15,040 Speaker 4: they said it was billions of dollars, and Microsoft was 263 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:18,000 Speaker 4: willing to take a multi billion dollar loss in order 264 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:21,640 Speaker 4: to make this switch happen because they believe that once 265 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:24,760 Speaker 4: they had the number of users that Safari would bring them, 266 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:29,000 Speaker 4: they could rapidly improve their search engine Bing and become 267 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:31,200 Speaker 4: more of a competitor to Google than they are today. 268 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:33,640 Speaker 4: Apple turned them down repeatedly. 269 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 1: It was a pretty big splashing moment when Microsoft CEO 270 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:38,640 Speaker 1: took the stand. What did he say? 271 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:42,120 Speaker 4: Yeah, that was a really interesting part of the trial 272 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:45,200 Speaker 4: because he made a couple of interesting points. One of 273 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:48,680 Speaker 4: them he was talking about how integrated into the average 274 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:52,360 Speaker 4: person's life Google has become. He had a quote that said, 275 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:54,120 Speaker 4: you wake up in the morning, you brush your teeth, 276 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:56,400 Speaker 4: then you go and you search on Google. And the 277 00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 4: point he was making is it's become a habit that 278 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:00,960 Speaker 4: people don't even really think about. It's something incorporated into 279 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:04,280 Speaker 4: your day. The other thing he testified about was their 280 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:07,800 Speaker 4: negotiations with Apple and how they have tried very hard 281 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:11,840 Speaker 4: to persuade Apple to switch the default in the Safari 282 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:16,200 Speaker 4: browser from Google to Bing and have so far not 283 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:17,320 Speaker 4: been very successful. 284 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:20,720 Speaker 1: I should add here that Apple has said it chooses 285 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:24,320 Speaker 1: to work with Google because Google provides the best search results. 286 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:28,320 Speaker 4: Another Microsoft executive pretty senior at the company, Jonathan Tinter, 287 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:32,080 Speaker 4: he's their deal maker, and he testified about how when 288 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:36,760 Speaker 4: Microsoft built the Surface duo phone, this was Microsoft's attempt 289 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:39,920 Speaker 4: to re enter sort of the smartphone market. They decided 290 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:43,600 Speaker 4: to license the Android operating system from Google. And even 291 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:46,800 Speaker 4: though Microsoft wanted to feature its own search engine being 292 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 4: on the phone, Google required them to set Google as 293 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 4: the default and put a lot of search entry points 294 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:56,400 Speaker 4: to Google right there on their own phone. 295 00:15:56,880 --> 00:15:59,680 Speaker 1: So what does Google say about all these different allegations 296 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:00,360 Speaker 1: coming in them. 297 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:03,920 Speaker 4: They have a couple different defenses. They are expected to 298 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:06,720 Speaker 4: be the last several weeks of the trial. They're going 299 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:09,880 Speaker 4: to bring a lot of their own executives, including Sandar Pashai, 300 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:13,120 Speaker 4: to the stand to testify on behalf of Google. One 301 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:16,360 Speaker 4: of their defenses is that it's not that hard to switch, Like, 302 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:18,400 Speaker 4: if you don't want to use Google, there are other 303 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 4: options consumers can get them with just a few clicks. 304 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:24,080 Speaker 4: On a desktop browser, you can actually go in and 305 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:26,000 Speaker 4: switch to any other search engine. 306 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:28,160 Speaker 5: On a phone, you can go and you. 307 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:33,360 Speaker 4: Have your choice of five, so you can choose between Google, Yahoo, Bing, Duck, 308 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:36,440 Speaker 4: Dot Go, or a German company called Ecosia. 309 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:39,080 Speaker 1: And so Google says all you have to do is 310 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:41,720 Speaker 1: go into the settings and you can choose any search 311 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:43,120 Speaker 1: engine you want, not theirs. 312 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:45,480 Speaker 5: They say it's really easy to switch if you want to. 313 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,960 Speaker 4: They have an oft repeated slogan, competition is just a 314 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:52,200 Speaker 4: click away. The other thing they've said is some of 315 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:55,160 Speaker 4: these search engines aren't as good as Google's because they 316 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:57,400 Speaker 4: haven't invested as much money as Google has. 317 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:02,080 Speaker 1: Is ongoing, Like you say, where do you think it 318 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:02,720 Speaker 1: goes from here? 319 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:05,600 Speaker 4: So this is just part one of the trial. This 320 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:08,960 Speaker 4: is a judge trial. He is a judge Ami Meta. 321 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:12,120 Speaker 4: He will make a decision, probably sometime next year about 322 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:15,520 Speaker 4: whether Google violated the law. Then from there we expect 323 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:17,919 Speaker 4: that there might be a second trial or a second 324 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:20,199 Speaker 4: proceeding of some sort in which he decides what to 325 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:22,640 Speaker 4: do about this. So we don't know yet what the 326 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:25,880 Speaker 4: Justice Department intends to ask for as the remedy if 327 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:28,840 Speaker 4: they win, but they've sort of laid out a couple 328 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:31,640 Speaker 4: of possibilities. One is that they could seek to break 329 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:34,640 Speaker 4: up Google. They could seek to require Google to sell 330 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:37,680 Speaker 4: off either it's Chrome browser or maybe the Android operating 331 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:41,399 Speaker 4: system itself, and keep separate the search business from some 332 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:44,320 Speaker 4: of the other businesses that it has. The other option 333 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:47,439 Speaker 4: is what we would call in the antitrust world, a 334 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:50,639 Speaker 4: behavior remedy, so forcing Google to change some of the 335 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:53,720 Speaker 4: conduct that it has undertaken, and one of the main 336 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:57,679 Speaker 4: allegations in this case is that by ensuring that it 337 00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:00,359 Speaker 4: gets all of the traffic, the billions of searches at day, 338 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:04,480 Speaker 4: Google has deprived the other search engines of the oxygen 339 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:07,239 Speaker 4: of all of the user queries that they need to 340 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 4: improve their own search engines and succeed. So one thing 341 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:14,000 Speaker 4: that the Justice Department could seek is to force Google 342 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:16,920 Speaker 4: to share some of that data, share a lot of 343 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:19,919 Speaker 4: the it's called click and query data of what users 344 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:22,399 Speaker 4: are searching for and what they click on, so that 345 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:25,480 Speaker 4: these other search engines could improve their products. 346 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:29,720 Speaker 1: When we come back, why the Biden administration is pushing 347 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:41,840 Speaker 1: so hard against big tech Leah, Here we have the 348 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:45,200 Speaker 1: Federal Trade Commission and the US Justice Department going after 349 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:48,359 Speaker 1: big tech companies generation to go. When the US government 350 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 1: went after Microsoft, have pulled down so many resources, and 351 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:53,600 Speaker 1: now we have the government going after too at the 352 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:57,840 Speaker 1: same time, Why is the Biden administration taking such aim 353 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:01,120 Speaker 1: at both of these companies now? And simultaneously. 354 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:04,879 Speaker 4: The Biden administration has made competition and anti trust a 355 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:08,280 Speaker 4: key feature of their economic policy. Biden signed in an 356 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:12,399 Speaker 4: executive order focused on competition and has really empowered the 357 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:15,520 Speaker 4: FTC and the Justice Department, the to anti trust agencies 358 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:19,760 Speaker 4: to go after anti competitive conduct that might be hampering 359 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:24,480 Speaker 4: the US economy. Both agencies argue that these are tech giants. 360 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:30,160 Speaker 4: They're large companies that while they had great products when 361 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:34,080 Speaker 4: they originally were unveiled, they have sort of slowed down 362 00:19:34,119 --> 00:19:38,080 Speaker 4: their innovations. And also because they are so large, other 363 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:41,960 Speaker 4: companies have not really challenged them or moved in to 364 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:46,280 Speaker 4: compete against them. So the idea behind these cases is 365 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:48,600 Speaker 4: to sort of take on some of the really big 366 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:52,040 Speaker 4: players in the market and open up space for smaller 367 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:55,000 Speaker 4: companies to come in and maybe create some new innovations. 368 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:58,760 Speaker 1: We mentioned Lena Khan, the head of the FDC, earlier, 369 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:01,080 Speaker 1: and so much of this i've at least in the 370 00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:04,320 Speaker 1: Amazon case, really does seem to be coming from herself. 371 00:20:05,119 --> 00:20:08,879 Speaker 4: The actual case against Amazon started back in twenty nineteen 372 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:11,680 Speaker 4: during the Trump administration, but when Lena Khan came in 373 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:15,160 Speaker 4: in twenty twenty one, she and her staff completely revamped 374 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:19,680 Speaker 4: the investigation, focused it more on specific things, including the 375 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:23,000 Speaker 4: marketplace and the role of prime And you know, she 376 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:27,040 Speaker 4: has spent much of her career thinking about how the 377 00:20:27,119 --> 00:20:31,399 Speaker 4: digital tech giants have impacted the economy and how the 378 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:34,880 Speaker 4: anti trust laws could be reframed to sort of challenge 379 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:37,399 Speaker 4: some of their conduct. So she is really like the 380 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:41,600 Speaker 4: vanguard of this movement to take on the tech giants. 381 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:45,639 Speaker 4: Lena Khan started thinking about Amazon and some of the 382 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:48,879 Speaker 4: anti trust issues inherent in digital technologies when she was 383 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:52,120 Speaker 4: a law student at Yale. She wrote this famous paper 384 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:55,320 Speaker 4: called Amazon's Anti Trust Paradox that you know for the 385 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:56,040 Speaker 4: anti trust world. 386 00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:57,600 Speaker 5: It was a blackbuster law. 387 00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:01,080 Speaker 4: Student paper because it really rethought how we should think 388 00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:03,920 Speaker 4: about anti trust in the context of digital markets. 389 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:06,760 Speaker 1: And this is also the first really big case or 390 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:11,159 Speaker 1: cases about online activities as opposed to just kind of 391 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:12,280 Speaker 1: big tech companies. 392 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:15,960 Speaker 4: Yes, the Microsoft case twenty five years ago focused a 393 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:18,679 Speaker 4: little bit on the Internet because it involved the creation 394 00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:19,480 Speaker 4: of browsers. 395 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:22,640 Speaker 5: But these are the really big cases. 396 00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:25,280 Speaker 4: About the online world, and they are likely to set 397 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:28,920 Speaker 4: precedence and have important impacts on future cases that the 398 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:31,840 Speaker 4: agencies are going to bring related to digital markets. 399 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:36,400 Speaker 1: Leah, as you said, these are hard cases to bring, 400 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:39,040 Speaker 1: They take a long time. How do you think they 401 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:39,520 Speaker 1: end up. 402 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:42,040 Speaker 4: It's a little hard to say at this point that 403 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:45,920 Speaker 4: Justice Department's Google case is the furthest along. We're expecting 404 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:48,800 Speaker 4: sort of an initial decision from the judge next year. 405 00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:52,600 Speaker 4: But you know, because these are really important cases that 406 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:54,800 Speaker 4: could lead to breakups of the company, you can bet 407 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:57,119 Speaker 4: that the company is going to plan on appealing. So 408 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:00,240 Speaker 4: we're not going to see the end of this anytime soon. 409 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:03,680 Speaker 4: The best estimates I've heard about Amazon is we're probably 410 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 4: looking at a trial in late twenty twenty five or 411 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:09,280 Speaker 4: early twenty twenty six. So we're not going to have 412 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,680 Speaker 4: a resolution there either in the near term future. 413 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:15,359 Speaker 1: And I suppose if we have a different administration, a 414 00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:17,960 Speaker 1: different party in the White House, that could also change 415 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:18,680 Speaker 1: priorities too. 416 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:21,840 Speaker 4: That is what happened with the Microsoft case. The Bush 417 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:25,560 Speaker 4: administration came in in two thousand and one and decided 418 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,600 Speaker 4: that instead of continuing to seek a breakup of Microsoft, 419 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 4: they were going to accept a settlement. And so yes, 420 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:34,200 Speaker 4: when there is a change in administration, it can completely 421 00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:35,720 Speaker 4: change what happens with a case. 422 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:38,760 Speaker 1: Do you think that these two big cases, the government's 423 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:41,240 Speaker 1: willingness to go after these companies opens the door to 424 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:42,080 Speaker 1: other cases. 425 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:44,440 Speaker 5: That's probably the case. 426 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:48,720 Speaker 4: I mean, there is another one pending against Metaplatforms, Inc. 427 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:49,080 Speaker 5: I e. 428 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:52,480 Speaker 4: The former company formerly known as Facebook. The FTC filed 429 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:55,000 Speaker 4: that one in twenty twenty it's still ongoing. We don't 430 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:56,959 Speaker 4: have a trial date on that one yet, But the 431 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:00,320 Speaker 4: Justice Department has also been looking at conduct by Apple 432 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,439 Speaker 4: since twenty nineteen, and we haven't gotten a complaint or 433 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,240 Speaker 4: a resolution to that one as well, So it's entirely 434 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:09,320 Speaker 4: possible that what happens in these cases could impact that 435 00:23:09,359 --> 00:23:10,119 Speaker 4: one as well. 436 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:12,520 Speaker 1: Leah, it's amazing to me you're able to hold all 437 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:14,960 Speaker 1: this in your head at the same time. Thanks so 438 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:16,440 Speaker 1: much for sharing your reporting. 439 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:17,800 Speaker 5: Thanks so much for having me. 440 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:20,600 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to us here at The Big Take. 441 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:24,040 Speaker 1: It's a daily podcast from Bloomberg and iHeartRadio. For more 442 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 1: shows from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 443 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:30,560 Speaker 1: wherever you listen, and we'd love to hear from you. 444 00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:34,120 Speaker 1: Email us questions or comments to Big Take at Bloomberg 445 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:38,120 Speaker 1: dot net. This episode was produced by our supervising producer, 446 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:42,879 Speaker 1: Vicky Bergalina. Our senior producer is Catherine Fink. Raphael m 447 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:46,320 Speaker 1: Celia is our engineer. Our original music was composed by 448 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:49,760 Speaker 1: Leo Sidron. I'm west Kasova. We'll be back tomorrow with 449 00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:50,760 Speaker 1: another Big Take.