BRUSSELS — European authorities said Wednesday they have opened a preliminary antitrust investigation into Amazon over the e-commerce giant’s treatment of smaller merchants on its website. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said she wants to examine how Seattle-based Amazon uses data it gathers through transactions, including those involving rival sellers, on its platform. “The question here is about the data,” Vestager said at a press briefing. “It is very early days in this antitrust investigation into Amazon’s business practices,” Vestager said. EU officials also investigated Amazon’s e-book business, which was resolved last year.

Source: National Post September 19, 2018 16:41 UTC