It’s tempting to view e-commerce companies like Amazon and search engines like Google as corporate behemoths that need to be cut down to size. That perception, which has fueled boycotts, antitrust efforts and dubious regulatory classifications, falls apart on a closer look.
The truth is that Amazon and other leading companies would be nothing without a diverse array of partnerships with small businesses, which drive sales and offer consumers many options. Because of this close link between goods and services, providers and small mom-and-pop shops, any attempt to regulate the former inevitably falls on the latter. Policymakers should take note and empower small businesses to continue to use large and interconnected platforms to serve consumers.
E-commerce is a crucial component in the economic engine, providing pivotal revenue to businesses and families, and low prices for consumers.
Amazon’s recently released “Small Business Empowerment Report” adds to the already abundant evidence that small businesses fuel growth at successful e-commerce companies. The report notes that 60 percent of sales at Amazon’s stores are made by independent sellers, primarily small- and medium-size businesses. These independent sellers employed more than 2 million Americans in 2024 to support their Amazon-related businesses. Because these sellers generated an average of more than $290,000 in annual sales in Amazon’s stores in 2024, compensation and job growth for these employees remain high.
This story is not unique to Amazon. As Syracuse University professor Beth Egan notes, at-scale search engines have an “ability to seamlessly connect the two sides of the ads market, making it particularly valuable to small businesses. With the click of a few buttons and for a modest monthly fee, small businesses can buy thousands of display ads. Google ensures those ads go to the right websites in its huge network and serves the ads to audiences likely to be interested in them.”
Businesses are continually informed about how their ads are doing via comprehensive analytics and can quickly adjust their strategy. And, of course, they can assess how competitive their offerings are through simple search and setting up alerts.
Unfortunately, these many benefits to small businesses are lost to bureaucrats determined to punish the Amazons and Googles of the world for their success.
In 2023, the government sued Amazon for allegedly “tricking and trapping” consumers into Amazon Prime subscriptions that are supposedly difficult to cancel, even though there’s no shortage of videos telling consumers how to end their membership. The Federal Trade Commission also teamed up with state attorneys general to sue Amazon for “illegally maintaining monopoly power,” claiming the company “engages in a course of exclusionary conduct that prevents current competitors from growing and new competitors from emerging.”
Never mind that consumers who do not want to shop at Amazon have nearly infinite alternatives, ranging from traditional brick-and-mortar stores to other e-commerce companies like Target and Walmart. And, given how well small businesses are doing on Amazon’s store, it’s hard to see how sellers are getting the short end of the stick.
Bureaucrats have their sights set on Google, which lost a large antitrust case in 2024. The government claims that Google is using its supposed search engine dominance to hinder innovation and maintain a competitive edge, despite the fact that the fastest-growing companies are using artificial intelligence to compete with Google on search capabilities.
Nonetheless, the government continues to put forward onerous divestiture proposals that would hobble Google and the millions of small businesses that depend on it. In addition, thousands of Google employees would need to be diverted to comply with court dictates at the expense of consumer support and continued product innovation.
The truth is that Amazon, Google and other successful businesses improve the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. Small businesses and consumers bear the brunt of runaway regulations and antitrust actions that policymakers launch pointlessly. It’s time for a better approach that puts entrepreneurs in the driver’s seat.
