Grassley and Klobuchar Have Created a Monster That Won't Die

One of the scariest parts of the bill forbids big tech companies (e.g. Facebook, Google, and Amazon) from “preferencing." Preferencing is when a company manipulates its algorithms and search results so that its own products are featured at the top of a search. Those who wish to ban preferencing assume consumers are too stupid and/or lazy to scroll through more than one page of search results. Banning preferencing would force Amazon to make sure that product searches done on its own website do not put Amazon’s products first in search results. This is the cyber equivalent of forbidding a grocery store from displaying more of its own products, instead of a name brand alternative, where customers are most likely to buy them. 

AICOA would also forbid Google from listing its popular Google Maps service at or near the top of a search for internet maps—even though consumers prefer Google’s maps to those of their competitors.

Small businesses who use Amazon’s platform should be terrified at the thought that AICOA might become law. This is because the bill forbids Amazon from requiring third-party vendors to use Amazon’s shipping and warehousing services as a condition of using the Prime designation. This would make it impossible for Amazon to guarantee the same quick delivery Prime is known for. It would even forbid Amazon telling customers that the vendor does not use Amazon’s shipping services, so the company would be unable to guarantee its very popular one-or-two-day delivery. Yet guaranteed fast delivery is one of the features that has made Amazon the world’s largest online retailer.