Two-Sided Market

Using Usage-Based Metrics to Measure Scale in Digital Markets

Evaluating Market Power in a Two-Sided Platform

A regulatory body is investigating 'ConnectSphere,' a social media platform that is free for individual users but charges businesses to run targeted advertisements. The investigators find that the profit margin from the individual user side is zero. Which of the following statements most accurately analyzes the difficulty in determining ConnectSphere's market power based on this information?

In a two-sided market, if a company's profit margin from one side of the market (e.g., end-users) is zero or negative, this is a conclusive indicator that the company lacks overall market power.

Critique of a Market Power Assessment

Evaluating a Claim About Platform Market Power

A regulator is analyzing several digital platforms. Match each observation about a platform's business model to the specific analytical challenge it creates when trying to measure that platform's market power.

When a digital platform offers its service for free to one group of users, traditional profit margin analysis is misleading for assessing market power because the platform may exercise significant influence and generate substantial revenue from the ______ side of the market.

A government agency is investigating 'Streamly,' a video-streaming platform with two distinct groups of customers: viewers and advertisers. The platform offers a free, ad-supported service to viewers and sells advertising space to businesses. The agency's preliminary report concludes that Streamly has limited market power because its profit margin calculated from the free viewer side is negative due to high content and infrastructure costs. Which of the following statements provides the most accurate critique of the agency's conclusion?

Evaluating a Competitor's Market Power in a Platform Business

Critique of a Market Power Assessment

Facebook as an Example of a Two-Sided Market with Asymmetric Market Power