This Week in Monopoly - Friday, July 26th
Here are some stories we had our eye on this week:
My Frantic Life as a Cab-Dodging, Tip-Chasing Food App Deliveryman
New York Times, Andy Newman
The riders are the street-level manifestation of an overturned industry, as restaurants are forced to become e-commerce businesses, outsourcing delivery to the apps who outsource it to a fleet of freelancers.
LSC Communications, Quad/Graphics terminate $1.4 billion merger after DoJ lawsuit
Reuters, Arjun Panchadar
LSC Communications Inc. and Quad/Graphics have terminated their $1.4 billion merger, a month after the U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit to block the deal, the companies said on Tuesday.
Facebook, Amazon Set Lobbying Records as Tech Scrutiny Grows
Bloomberg, Ben Brody & Mark Niquette
Facebook and Amazon set records for lobbying in the second quarter as Washington ramped up scrutiny of big technology companies, while Google’s spending dipped as it continued to reshuffle its influence operations.
Justice Department Opens Antitrust Review of Big Tech Companies
New York Times, Daisuke Wakabayashi, Katie Benner & Steve Lohr
The federal government has turned its full investigative powers toward examining the world’s biggest technology companies, building on a backlash against the industry that has been growing for over a year. The Justice Department said on Tuesday that it would start an antitrust review into how internet giants had accumulated market power and whether they had acted to reduce competition. Similar inquiries are underway in Congress and at the Federal Trade Commission, which shares antitrust oversight responsibilities with the Justice Department.
Apple Dominates App Store Search Results, Thwarting Competitors
Wall Street Journal, Tripp Mickle
Apple Inc.’s mobile apps routinely appear first in search results ahead of competitors in its App Store, a powerful advantage that skirts some of the company’s rules on such rankings, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. The company’s apps ranked first in more than 60% of basic searches, such as for “maps,” the analysis showed. Apple apps that generate revenue through subscriptions or sales, like Music or Books, showed up first in 95% of searches related to those apps.
SoftBank Looks to Goldman, Apple for Sequel to $100 Billion Vision Fund
Wall Street Journal, Liz Hoffman & Bradley Hope
SoftBank Group Corp. is expected to invest $40 billion into its new technology megafund after securing backing from an unlikely coalition of investors including Apple Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Kazakhstan’s government.
Walmart Deepens Store-Digital Integration as Web Unit Struggles
Bloomberg, Matthew Boyle
Walmart Inc. is conducting its second U.S. restructuring in as many months to better integrate its money-losing online business with its 4,700 physical stores.
Qualcomm Needs a House Divided
Wall Street Journal, Dan Gallagher
In seeking to overturn a federal judge’s ruling in a case brought by the Federal Trade Commission, Qualcomm has marshaled the support of other branches of the federal government. Those include the Justice Department, Defense Department and Energy Department—all of which have filed briefs supporting Qualcomm’s effort to delay the effects of that ruling while the case is appealed.