In a legal action, 1-800 Contacts has been sued by the US Federal Trad Commission for allegedly pursuing “anticompetitive agreements with rival online contact lens sellers that suppress competition in certain online search advertising auctions.”
According to the FTC:
1-800 Contacts entered into bidding agreements with at least 14 competing online contact lens retailers that eliminate competition in auctions to place advertisements on the search results page generated by online search engines such as Google and Bing. The complaint alleges that these bidding agreements unreasonably restrain price competition in internet search auctions, and restrict truthful and non-misleading advertising to consumers, constituting an unfair method of competition in violation of federal law.
According to a source that Greg Sterling spoke to, these agreements have been in place for almost a decade. The individual stated that the agreements were first executed to protect trademarks of 1-800 Contacts and other parties. The idea is that these agreements sought to accomplish by contract what the courts wouldn’t permit – prevention of trademark-related bidding.
However, the FTC argues, “[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][T]he bidding agreements are overly broad and not necessary to safeguard any legitimate trademark interest.” The agency further argues that the bidding agreements hurt competition and reduce “the number of relevant, useful, truthful and non-misleading advertisements, by restraining competition among online sellers of contact lenses, and in some cases, by resulting in consumers paying higher retail prices for contact lenses.”
So why has the FTC decided to do something about this now, as these agreements have been around for years. Could it be that the FTC just recently became aware of them?
Source – Greg Sterling[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]