How to google “Competition”

DIW econ Economic Bulletin, No. 1

Recently, the EU Commission launched an investigation into allegations claiming that Google abuses its leading position in the web search market by foreclosing its competitors.  This announcement, however, did not come much as a surprise, given widespread concerns that the Information Society will be associated with the rise of new monopolies and that the web search industry is particularly prone for this development.

This bulletin will elaborate on the economic forces that drive this concentration process, describe the possibilities of search engine providers to abuse a strong position and discuss the case for regulators and policy makers to intervene.

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