Internet giants have engulfed 400 small rivals over the last decade

Giant Internet companies have engulfed over 400 smaller rivals over the last decade as part of a "deadly" strategy to exploit their users, an official report warned.

The number of takeovers by Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft has been such that it has helped to shut down competition among technology companies, according to a study conducted for the UK government by a former advisor of Barack Obama.

Jason Furman, now an economist at Harvard, called on ministers to launch a crackdown on big deals that reduce competition to protect customers.

British Internet users now spend a third of their time online on Google and Facebook-owned websites, says Amazon, while Amazon has become the default option for many online shoppers and Google. accounts for over 92% of searches on the Internet. [File photo]

He said that Britain could lead a global response against the power held by online businesses by setting new strict rules on the operation of large social media and technology companies.

These could include giving customers the right to move their data from one website to another by simply pressing a button, or even encouraging companies such as Facebook and Google to pay users for the data. Access to personal information.

The new rules would allow online competitors to more easily attack Internet giants. They could then become legitimate rivals rather than take over when tech titans feel threatened.

The number of takeovers by Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft has been such that it has helped to shut down competition among technology companies, according to a study conducted for the UK government by a former advisor of Barack Obama. Instagram, above, belongs to Facebook [File photo]

Mr. Furman warned that the five giants of the Web now dominate so much the time spent online users that they fare with practices "harmful" to the public.

The report says that while the rise of some powerful Internet companies offering free services has greatly benefited the public, the disadvantages include the giants:

• Manipulate results on search engines to increase profits;

• 'Privilege the privacy' of users to sell their data;

• Charge high commissions to businesses such as retailers, which pbad on price increases to their customers and reduce their ranges;

• Penalize users with unfair terms and conditions, often buried in small print.

The Furman Review revealed that 250 of the more than 400 acquisitions made by technology companies over the last decade had occurred in the last five years.

Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions by Facebook and Microsoft's 2016 agreement for LinkedIn are among the main takeovers.

British Internet users now spend a third of their time online on websites owned by Google and Facebook, the magazine said, while Amazon has become the default option for many online shoppers and advertisers. that Google accounted for over 92% of searches on the Internet.

Furman said the UK's supervisory authority for takeovers, the "Competition and Markets Authority" (CMA), should be given greater powers to put an end to this type of investment. 39; operations.

"Historically, there has been little control and no acquisition by major digital platforms has been blocked," the report says, adding that this could have resulted in "the approval of mergers that would Should not have been allowed ".

Jason Furman, an economist at Harvard today, called on ministers to launch a crackdown on big deals that reduce competition to protect customers [File photo]

According to the report, none of the takeovers over the last five years has been blocked or subject to the conditions set by the CMA.

In the future, the regulator should take "more frequent" and "firmer" measures, he added.

This should include determining whether technological mergers would be "globally beneficial or harmful" to the public in the long run.

To help with the crackdown, Furman called for an badysis of major takeovers over the past decade to determine whether they really benefited society and the economy.

According to his proposals, large technology companies should inform the CMA in the future before attempting to retake a rival.

The review acknowledged that the government may need to draft new laws to implement its suggestions, but Furman said the CMA already had the power to ban international takeovers, provided that the companies concerned have customers in the United Kingdom.