Meta opens Facebook Marketplace to rivals in EU antitrust clash

Facebook said that despite the changes, it continues to disagree with the European Commission’s decision last year, which saw Meta punished for abusing its dominance

META Platforms is prying open its previously guarded Facebook Marketplace platform to a swathe of classified ads rivals, in a renewed attempt to comply with a landmark European Union antitrust order that was accompanied by a 798-million-euro (S$1.1 billion) fine.

The company said on Thursday (Feb 13) that it will allow classified ad firms in Europe to pay to place their listings on Facebook Marketplace. The cost will be based on the number of times a user clicks on a button within the listing. The new programme follows a pilot programme with eBay.

In a statement, Facebook said that despite the changes, it continues to disagree with the European Commission’s decision last year, which saw Meta punished for abusing its dominance. The company also reiterated earlier comments from Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg in calling the EU antitrust fines tantamount to a tariff regime.

The Brussels-based commission said it is “currently assessing whether Meta has fully complied with the decision.”

In November, the EU’s powerful competition arm ordered Meta to stop tying its classified-ads service to Facebook’s sprawling social media platform, as well as refrain from imposing unfair trading conditions on rival second-hand goods platforms.

The penalty that accompanied the order was one of the final acts of former EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager. Under her watch, the Brussels-based regulator levied billions of euros in antitrust penalties against large American technology companies, including more than 8 billion euro in fines against Alphabet Inc.’s Google.

The allegations against Facebook Marketplace had also been examined by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, which decided to accept concessions from the company instead of pursuing their investigation further. BLOOMBERG

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