February 2008 -- (Presentation) Key Conclusions: As the novelty of the Internet wears off, on-line merger analysis looks increasingly like off-line merger analysis. Most of the things that make interesting on-line mergers interesting have little to do with competition. A Blast from (My) Past: During the summer of 2001, HotJobs retained my services to support its proposed acquisition by Monster.com. One of the first “major”mergers of Internet “pure plays.” Basic points of interest stemmed from shift in understanding of Internet economics between 2000 (documents) and 2001 (facts). See, From Investor Fantasy to Regulatory Nightmare: Bad Network Economics and the Internet’s Inevitable Monopolists16 Harv. J. L. Tech. 159 (2002).
The Jobs Boards Mergers: Heavily populated space, but few known “universal” brands. Consolidation changed the terrain between 3/01 and 2/02. FTC issued two second requests in this space. One deal allowed to consummate; second was in month 4 of the investigation when it was mooted by a better offer. Question: Was scrutiny really warranted here? Key issues: Market Definition and Entry.
Citation
"Are 'Online Markets' Real and Relevant? From Monster/Hotjobs to Google/DoubleClick" by Bruce Abramson, Journal of Competition Law & Economics, 4(3), 655–662 (Sept. 2008), Quick Links: Merger Analysis in High Tech Markets Conference
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