Meta [META:US] has offered not to use other businesses’ advertising data for its online classified ad service, Facebook Marketplace, as reported by Reuters on May 26. The offer was intended to address competition concerns raised by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s antitrust watchdog. The CMA has indicated that it is prepared to accept the offer, but is still consulting on the specific commitments made by Meta. The commitments include adopting “new technical systems” that allow advertisers to opt out of sharing their advertising data for the development or improvement of Facebook Marketplace. Moreover, Meta has promised to train employees to ensure that such data will not be used to enhance Meta’s products in the UK market, potentially competing with advertisers.

Meta, as the largest supplier of digital display advertising in the UK, earned significant revenue from UK advertising in 2021, estimated to be between GBP4bn and GBP5bn. Its dominant position in online advertising and access to extensive user data have raised concerns among competition regulators in the UK and Europe. In June 2021, The CMA and the European Commission launched separate but collaborative investigations into Meta’s alleged unfair exploitation of businesses’ data to gain a competitive advantage for itself. Additionally, the CMA issued a final divestment order last October to block Meta’s acquisition of GIF platform Giphy, as it concluded that the merge would substantially reduce competition and limit choices for UK social media users. Meta has recently sold Giphy for USD53m, three years after acquiring it with USD400m.

Sources:

https://www.reuters.com/technology/uk-competition-regulator-says-meta-offers-limit-use-ad-data-2023-05-26/

To avert more UK antitrust woes, Meta to limit how it uses ad data to boost Facebook Marketplace

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/meta-offers-to-limit-use-of-other-businesses-ad-data-to-address-cma-concerns

https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/18/meta-giphy-acquisition-cma-sale-order/