Previously, there was a topic in the cross-border e-commerce forum that attracted the attention of many sellers.

#How can I describe the Amazon operation job in a fresh, refined and unique way#

One of the sellers’ responses received many positive comments: “I hang out with the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos. I’m in charge of the international trade operations and management of the largest e-commerce platform in the United States. I’m also the person in charge of the Made in China initiative going global.”

The description of "no exaggeration" instantly makes the position of Amazon operations seem grand and prestigious. After all, we sellers have also participated in major projects under the world's richest man.

As an online e-commerce giant, Amazon's news and gossip have become the topic of conversation for many sellers. Recently, a piece of news about Amazon being fined 35 million euros by France has attracted the attention of many sellers. It turns out that the world's richest man also has troubles?

In fact, it is not new for Amazon to be fined, especially this year, Amazon has experienced many twists and turns. What is going on? Today, let’s take stock of the things that Amazon has been fined.

France issues huge fine to Amazon

Let’s first talk about the recent highly-watched French heavy fine on Amazon. In fact, it’s not just Amazon that was fined this time. Google also faces the same problem.

It is understood that on December 10, the French National Commission for Information and Freedom (CNIL) successively issued penalty decisions against Google and Amazon for violating the French Data Protection Act, determining that the two technology companies used cookies for advertising purposes without user consent. The two companies were fined a total of 135 million euros, of which Google was fined 100 million euros and Amazon was fined 35 million euros .

Currently, both Google and Amazon have raised objections to the fine. What caused Amazon to face such a heavy fine?

The French Commission for National and Information Freedom said that when users visit the French Amazon website, some cookies for advertising purposes are automatically stored on the user's computer. Amazon is an important e-commerce website, with millions of French people visiting the website every day and having cookies stored on their computers.

To sum up, Amazon was severely punished by France for allegedly illegally collecting user privacy to push advertisements, totaling 35 million euros.

In addition to being sanctioned for illegally collecting user privacy data, Amazon is also facing pressure from antitrust investigations from multiple parties.

EU launches second antitrust investigation into Amazon

As early as last month, the European Union announced a new round of antitrust investigations into Amazon. On November 10, the EU concluded the first phase of its investigation into Amazon’s alleged unfair competition, concluding that the company had violated EU antitrust rules and undermined the fair competition environment.

But Amazon disagrees with this conclusion, saying that its private-label products are not anti-competitive and that they provide more choices, which is good for customers, and said: "We will continue to make every effort to ensure an accurate understanding of the facts."

An official from the European Commission believes that Amazon has essentially marginalized third-party sellers and limited "their ability to grow."

Although Amazon disagrees with the European Commission's allegations, depending on the ruling, it could ultimately face a fine of up to 10% of its annual global sales.

As the EU's second round of antitrust investigations begins, the US government is also paying attention to Amazon's unfair competition practices and has stated that it will consider taking similar actions as the EU in 2021.

The United States may take similar action against Amazon

With the conclusion of the EU's second round of antitrust investigation into Amazon, people have turned their attention to the US government and expect it to take relevant actions.

According to foreign media reports, the Federal Trade Commission is investigating antitrust issues involving Amazon , while California and Washington have launched antitrust investigations separately . It is not clear what the focus of these investigations is, but they will delve into the impact of Amazon's dominance on competitors.

It is worth noting that the US investigation will not last long, and will collect evidence on the core issues in the first round of investigation reports. The second round of investigation projects is very specific, including an investigation into the details of whether Amazon's gold shopping cart matching logic is fair and just.

Relevant personnel said that the investigation will be concluded soon, and a preliminary opinion will be made on Amazon at that time, and it may also take a similar approach to the EU, that is, a fine of 10% of its annual global sales. According to relevant personnel’s calculations, this fine may be as high as 37 billion US dollars!

Seeing this, many sellers lamented that "poverty limits my imagination". I wonder if my brother-in-law would care about this number?

The above are some of the "fines" that Amazon has faced recently. Whether it is illegally collecting user receipts or adopting unfair competition methods, what awaits Amazon in the end is a "huge fine."

For Amazon, the above actions are also a test of its long-term development. The supervision of the government and institutions is conducive to its development towards fairness and standardization, which is also a benefit to sellers.

What do you think of these things that Amazon has been fined? Welcome to leave a message in the comment section~