The Pandemic Has Gifted Amazon Record Profits
Amazon will use the crisis to consolidate its market power
The timing could not have been more serendipitous. The day after a long and discursive congressional hearing into the competitive practices of America’s tech giants, the big four (Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google) released their Q2 2020 earnings. If the reaction from the market was anything to go by, investors are not betting on Washington. Nor are consumers.
Businesses might complain about the gangster-like behavior of Google and Facebook, who mercilessly shake down corporates for ad money, which gets siphoned into a black box of bids and target audiences. But for the average person who uses Google to search the net, and Facebook to see what their friends are up to, there is not much to complain about.
By now we are all used to seeing ads on social media. We tolerate them because they are necessary to maintain the service. We know we are the product and that businesses are paying for our attention. Why should we care if some businesses are being gouged for the right to pierce the social veil and sell to us while we are scrolling through posts from our friends and family?
Consumers struggle to see how their lives are adversely affected by the business practices of America’s tech giants. Most…
