Whoever controls the data controls the market

In June 2026, a draft bill on innovation and online choice, aimed at regulating competition in digital markets, was introduced in the U.S. for consideration. The bill covers “systemically important” platforms with annual revenue exceeding $175 bn and an audience comprising more than 34% of the U.S. population aged 12 and older, or 34% of households (similar to “gatekeepers” in the EU).

The following restrictions apply to the data use:

- One may not use sellers’ non-public data to promote one'’ own products; for example, one may not identify sellers’ best selling products and release your own similar products.

- One may not restrict business users’ access to their data on the platform or prevent them from transferring and using that data on other platforms.

Mergers are one way to turn data into a source of monopoly power. In June 2026, the EU discussed a draft Merger Guidelines proposal that suggested taking into account not only companies’ ability to set prices but also the impact of mergers on access to data, since in digital markets users often “pay” for free services with their data.

The company formed after the merger may abuse its position by denying competitors access to critical data or by worsening the terms of access to data. As a result, companies that relied on this data and cannot obtain it from alternative sources suffer as a result of the merger creating a data monopoly.

In Russia, an example of this behavior is the case in 2025 when Wildberries restricted access to data on products, prices, and advertising rates from third-party analytics services. This is not an example of a merger, but it illustrates how a large platform’s control over data can restrict competition and the growth of companies in related markets: after Wildberries restricted access to its data,

. disruptions in analytics began

At the same time, the competitive advantages derived from access to data should be assessed not only in terms of quantity, but also by considering qualitative characteristics—such as volume, diversity, update frequency, value, and other parameters.

To reduce the monopoly of large digital platforms over data, regulators are introducing requirements to ensure data portability and are compelling them to share data with competitors.

In June 2026, the UK Competition and Markets Authority ordered Google to allow users to transfer their search data to other companies via a special API

From the monitoring issue No. 6 (30), June 2026. Download the full issue (PDF) · issue page at the Gaidar Institute