Abuso de posição dominante e plataformas digitais: um estudo do caso Google Shopping

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is the characterization of the abuse of dominant position in the context of the digital economy. In this sense, it contributes to the debate around the competition law examination of unilateral conduct practiced by digital platforms, under the terms of art. 36, IV, of Law No. 12,529/2011, as well as to identify some of the specificities of this competitive environment. Taking into consideration the subject matter under perspective, the work predominantly applied the methodology of the study of cases, and therefore it was chosen to explore, the Administrative Process No. 08012.010483/2011-94 (Google Shopping case) given its impact and its revealing character. After examining the theory of abuse of dominant position and analyzing the aforementioned case, it was possible to focus on three axes, which summarize the main aspects of digital competition: the business model of multi-sided platforms, the innovation as a constitutive element of competition and the role of private data in this scenario. Finally, based on the finding that without a correct addressing of the three dimensions the competitive analysis can lead to decision errors, an analysis framework is proposed to help competition authorities in the examination of abuse of dominant position in the context of the digital economy.