Local internet service providers shine in new study, Amazon says sale its Prime Day sale netted more than last year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined, and the European Union has its crosshairs set on Amazon.
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A new study about community-run internet service providers offer better broadband than their private sector counterparts, is making its rounds on Reddit. PCMag recently put together a list of the fastest ISPs in the U.S. using data from more than 350,000 broadband speed test over the course of a year. It turns out, the little guys often deliver the best service – six of the ten fastest ISPs in the States have a partnership between the public and private sectors, or were run by a local community. The study also notes that in areas where community-run networks are deployed, giants like Comcast are forced to actually improve its services across those regions.
LinkedIn is buzzing about Amazon’s claim that this year’s Prime Day event netted more than last year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales combined – but you know what else spiked this year? Searches for “Canceling Amazon Prime”. According to search intelligence firm Captify, searches for “Canceling Amazon Prime” were 18 times higher on Monday — the beginning of Amazon’s two-day sale — than the previous day. Obviously, this means shoppers are unwilling to commit long-term to the world’s biggest online retailer, seeking only the splashy deals. Amazon didn’t seem too concerned. Following Prime Day, CEO Jeff Bezos touted the more than $2 billion worth of products Prime members bought during the special event, and thanked “Amazonians everywhere”.
And lastly, another hot topic on Reddit, this one about the European Union is cracking down on Amazon. This week, the European Commission announced that it would launch a formal investigation into Amazon. Business Insider says the tech giant could be slapped with a whopping $23 billion fine if the investigation determines Amazon’s use of data from the independent retailers that sell on its marketplace is in breach of EU competition rules. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy for the EU, is known for coming down hard on companies with fines. Since taking on the role in 2014, she has taken action against Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, among others.
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