EU antitrust officials are reportedly asking users of Microsoft’s (MSFT.O) Bing and competitors if the search engine should comply with more stringent tech laws. They are also reportedly questioning whether this should be true for Apple’s (AAPL.O) iMessage. This information was disclosed on Monday by persons familiar with the subject.
In September, the European Commission initiated an inquiry to determine whether or not the Digital Markets Act (DMA) should apply to iMessage from Apple and Bing, Edge, and Microsoft Advertising from Microsoft. The investigation will also determine whether or not the DMA should apply to Microsoft Advertising.
The corporations initiated the investigations after contesting the designation of these services as key platform services by the EU competition authorities by the DMA.
In addition to their other responsibilities, Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google, Amazon (AMZN.O), Meta Platforms (META.O), and ByteDance are required by the DMA to permit the presence of third-party applications or app stores on their respective platforms and to simplify the process by which users can switch from the platform’s default apps to competing apps.
At the beginning of this month, the Commission polled competitors and end users by sending questionnaires asking them to rank the significance of Microsoft’s three services and Apple’s iMessage compared to other services.
According to those familiar with the situation, the EU watchdog reportedly inquired as to whether there was anything particular to the services on which business customers rely and how they fit into the ecosystems of the corporations.
In addition to that, it inquired about the total quantity of customers that utilized the services.
The input from the respondents was needed in less than a week, and they were given less than that. According to the Commission, the probe is expected to be wrapped up within the next five months.
