Gather ’round, tech enthusiasts! We’re diving headfirst into the latest courtroom showdown starring Meta, where capitalism meets social media in a fabulous game of price discrimination.
Picture this: the FTC’s expert witness, Scott Hemphill, is having a moment that rivals any soap opera. He’s testifying about how Meta, with its monopoly powers, offers different prices to different users, like a supermarket chain selectively slashing prices on organic mangos while charging you an arm and a leg for canned beans.
When it comes to Reels—the Instagram feature we occasionally forget about when we’re busy scrolling through cute cat videos—Meta decided to play coy by keeping ads out of the picture for a while. Meanwhile, ads were popping up in other parts of Instagram like uninvited guests at a party. Hemphill compares it to a high-end grocery store competing on low-margin staples while casually charging a premium for its hipster fruits.
So, what’s the takeaway? In the wild world of digital advertising, it looks like some users are getting a better deal based on where they scroll, and that’s raising eyebrows faster than a TikTok dance challenge going viral!
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