Apple’s control of the software store has been the focus of several legal and regulatory threats the company faces.
Editor’s note: This article is from “Tencent Technology“, review: Cheng Hey.
It is well known that the US government has launched anti-monopoly investigations on the four major technology giants (Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon). Global public opinion believes that these technology companies are using market-leading advantages to combat competitors, thereby damaging consumers. Interests.
According to the latest news from foreign media, two Apple executives told the media in an interview on Monday that after competitors filed antitrust complaints with global regulators, Apple adjusted its software store search algorithm to reduce care. Apple’s own application software.
The world is dominated by two major smartphone operating systems, namely Apple-controlled iOS and Google-developed Android. In the two application ecosystems, Apple and Google each operate a monopoly software store. The store has been dissatisfied with people in the mobile Internet industry.
According to foreign media reports, an American authoritative media analysis of Apple software store search data found that in the search results of popular search terms, there are often several Apple-developed applications, even if these applications are related to search keywords. Less sexual.
For example, according to media analysis, if you search for “podcasts” (ie, audio) in May 2018, the Apple Software Store will first display Apple’s audio content application and then display the other 13 Apple-developed applications. These applications are almost completely unrelated to podcasts or audio.
Two Apple executives in charge of Apple’s app and app store said in an interview with the media that they adjusted the search algorithm of Apple’s software store in July this year, no longer showing many Apple’s official results in search results. software.
It is reported that as of July 12, only two Apple applications appeared at the top of the “TV” search results, rather than the past four software.
In an interview, Apple’s senior vice president of global marketing, Philip Schiller, and Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Internet software and services, said the change was not to correct a “wrong.” Instead, this is just a decision to help iOS app developers.
Apple’s control of the software store has been the focus of several legal and regulatory threats the company faces.
In March of this year, Spotify, the world’s largest online music service provider, filed a lawsuit against the European Union’s anti-monopoly regulator, the European Commission, saying that Apple’s control over software store search engines has decreased.The consumer’s choice is to make Apple’s own online music service launched in 2015 more interesting.
In May of this year, the US Supreme Court ruled that iPhone users could file an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, claiming that 30% of the commission in the Apple Software Store is an unfair use of monopoly power.
Apple’s software store has sparked dissatisfaction and criticism, and has been subject to multiple lawsuits by third-party software developers. The mobile Internet industry believes that Apple charges 30% commission for software store downloads and consumer shopping in software (commonly known as “Apple tax”), which constitutes unfair competition in the market, because Apple’s official software and services do not need to pay Apple tax. They also believe that 30% of Apple’s tax revenue is too high, which harms the developer’s economic interests.
A third-party developer also sued Apple, saying that Apple has controlled and intervened in many aspects such as pricing of software, which has damaged the power of developers. In addition, Apple charges developers 100 if they receive commissions. The annual fee for the dollar.
The US presidential candidate, Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, suggested that Apple should be spun off to split the software store and other businesses.
Warren believes that all Internet companies with trading platforms and official business must separate the two. This means that Google’s software stores, as well as Amazon’s online stores, must be separated from the parent company. Warren believes that the operators of the platform can easily take care of their own software and services, resulting in unfair competition in the market.
Apple is very aware of outside concerns. In May of this year, Apple launched a new website to try to calm people’s concerns about the fairness of its software store. The site said the Apple Software Store “welcomes a competitive store” and responded to widespread criticism of the product.
Schiller and Kuaidi said in an interview with the media that Apple’s applications are ranked high in their stores because their popularity and common names tend to be consistent with common search keywords.
Before the search results in July changed, the executives said that the algorithm sometimes grouped the applications according to the developer, causing Apple’s application to fill up some popular search results. Schiller told the media that this change has not yet been “corrected.” But Kuaidi said: “The situation has improved.”
At present, some anti-monopoly investigations encountered by the four major technology giants have been exposed. Recently, Google officially confirmed that it is accepting an investigation by the US Department of Justice. In addition, the US Federal Trade Commission is investigating Facebook’s past acquisitions of a large number of technology startups, skeptical that Facebook’s move is to eliminate competitors that may pose a threat in the future.
So far, the two anti-monopoly law enforcement agencies of the US government have not publicly disclosed anti-monopoly investigations against Apple. Foreign media said that Apple’s software store, as well as 30% “Apple tax” may becomeSurvey target.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to the EU and the United States, governments in other countries, including South Korea and Japan, have been or are conducting various antitrust investigations against Apple. For example, the Korean government believes that Apple used intelligence in the past. The dominant position of mobile phones has been “squeezed” by Korean telecommunications companies, requiring them to bear the costs they should not bear.