An example of a company that has in the recent past engaged in anticompetitive behavior is Google Inc. The Federal Trade Commission reported that Google demonstrated this type of behavior in at least three vital areas. First, it worked on its search results by copying content from rival websites such as Amazon and subsequently threatening to remove them from Google if they raised any objection. Secondly, it restricted companies from improving their advertisement endeavors on other websites from the data acquired from conducting advertisements on the Google platform. It further harmed companies such as Orbitz and Yelp by favoring its travel services and shopping in search results (Edelman, 2014).
Horizontal restraint occurs when one company inhibit competition from other companies at the same distribution level. The type of anticompetitive behavior that Google Inc. has shown can be regarded as a horizontal restraint because it involves companies that occupy the same level in the market. Google restrictive actions against companies such as Yelp and Orbitz show its anticompetitive actions, in a bid to gain better of its competitors occupying a similar distributive position. Secondly, FTC reported that Google did not accept companies to advertise in other search engines using its data, which is an example of a horizontal trade. Thirdly, its act of using content from other companies such as Amazon is an unfavorable business practice seen in rival horizontal companies.
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Response
From a different perspective, Qualcomm’s action could be considered not restraint of trade. Since Qualcomm was the legitimate innovator of technology such as 3G and 4G, it has the full rights to patent its products. Therefore, it was within its rights to sell its baseband services to other rival companies and threaten those who did not agree to its patent licensing terms. If Apple decided to pay the royalty fees for the services provided by Qualcomm, then it would only have been imperative for other rival business to follow suit.
References
Edelman, B. (2014). Leveraging Market Power through Tying and Bundling: Does Google Behave Anti-Competitively. Harvard Business School.
