- European Union antitrust watchdogs charged Meta Platforms, Inc META for distorting competition in the markets for online classified ads by bundling the Facebook Marketplace to its social network.
- The European Commission paved the way for potential fines or changes to its business model, Bloomberg reports.
- EU Antitrust Commissioner Margrethe Vestager voiced disapproval for Meta tying its dominant social network Facebook to its online classified ad services Facebook Marketplace, leaving no other option for Facebook users.
- Also Read: Meta's Metaverse Ambitions In Jeopardy As FTC Challenges Within Unlimited Acquisition
- The EU watchdog also voiced concerns over Meta's unfair trading conditions, which allow it to use data on competing online classified ad services.
- The Commission looked to investigate further and could impose a fine of up to 10% of the company's annual global turnover on sufficient evidence of a violation of European Union rules, Reuters reports.
- The EU previously fined Facebook for inadequate information in the merger review of the WhatsApp takeover.
- Meta is also the subject of inquiries in the U.K. and Germany.
- The EU closed a separate antitrust probe into an advertising pact between Meta and Alphabet Inc's GOOG GOOGL Google dubbed "Jedi Blue."
- Meta reported third-quarter revenue of $27.71 billion, a 4% decline year-over-year. The revenue came in ahead of a Street estimate of $27.53 billion.
- Meta reported earnings per share of $1.64 in the third quarter, which came in shy of the $1.91 target from analysts.
- Price Action: META shares traded lower by 3.93% at $114.72 on the last check Monday.
- Photo by Tumisu from Pixaby
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