Competition Commission chief Ashok Kumar Gupta on Thursday flagged that data hegemony by some digital companies may lead to "attention economy" in which big tech players work to capture users'' attention, build profiles of their choices and sell the profiles to advertisers.
The remarks from the Chairperson of the country''s fair trade regulator assumes significance against the backdrop of concerns in certain quarters about the business ways of big tech entities and also some digital players coming under the lens of the watchdog.
While noting that rapid changes are happening in markets, which are increasingly shifting towards a digital platform-centric configuration, Gupta also pointed out that these platform markets are by their very nature "winner-takes-all or winner-takes-most".
"Network effects, access to large amounts of data, economies of scale and scope, induced behavioural biases among consumers etc., in digital markets, may heighten market concentration and result in the creation of impermeable entry barriers," he said.
Addressing a conference on competition law organised by industry body Assocham, Gupta said that data hegemony by some digital companies may lead to an "attention economy".
In an "attention economy", big tech players work to capture users'' attention, build profiles of their choices and habits, then sell those profiles to advertisers, he added.
"Moreover, since these digital platforms are the ones who make the rules about how different users would interact on their platform, it gives them an incentive to engage in conduct that may not only impede competition in the market but may also strengthen their incumbency advantage," Gupta said.
According to him, the regulator has a very important role in ensuring that these platforms remain neutral, offer a level playing field and allow enterprises, big and small, that access consumers through these platforms to compete on the basis of merits.
The Chairperson of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) acknowledged that in these fast-evolving and dynamic markets, a regulator''s task is much like hitting at moving targets.