Meta Platforms Inc. is opening up its previously restricted Facebook Marketplace to a range of competitors in the classified ads space, in a renewed effort to adhere to a significant antitrust order issued by the European Union, which imposed a €798 million ($829 million) fine.
On Thursday, the company announced that it will now permit classified ad companies in Europe to pay for placement of their listings on Facebook Marketplace. The fees will be determined by the number of clicks a user makes on a button within the listing. This initiative follows a pilot program conducted in collaboration with eBay. In its statement, Facebook maintained its disagreement with the European Commission’s ruling from last year, which led to Meta being penalized for abusing its market power. The company reiterated earlier remarks made by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who likened the EU’s antitrust fines to a form of tariff. The Brussels-based Commission is currently evaluating whether Meta has fully complied with the ruling. In November, the EU’s competition authority ordered Meta to cease linking its classified ads service with Facebook’s extensive social media platform and to stop imposing unfair trading conditions on competing second-hand goods platforms.
This penalty was one of the last actions taken by former EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager, who oversaw the imposition of billions of euros in antitrust fines against major American tech companies, including over €8 billion in penalties against Alphabet Inc.’s Google. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority had also looked into allegations regarding Facebook Marketplace but chose to accept concessions from the company rather than continue its investigation.
