by tyler | Apr 11, 2024 | Tech
Venture secondaries has exploded over the last couple of years. While some firms have used the increase in activity to build up their positions in their most promising portfolio companies, Airtree Ventures is taking advantage of the momentum a little differently.
The Sydney-based venture firm, founded in 2014, has been using company-led secondary sales to slim down its equity stakes and get liquidity from some of its most promising bets. The company’s portfolio is made up of Australian unicorns including Canva, last valued at $40 billion, Immutable ($2.4 billion) and LinkTree ($1.3 billion), among others.
Craig Blair, a co-founder and partner at Airtree, told TechCrunch that not unlike other venture firms, Airtree’s goal is to deliver the maximum level of returns to its investors. But unlike many other firms, Airtree generates returns throughout the whole lifecycle of an investment, rather than just when the company exists.
“Right from the start, we want to put as much energy and thought into the exit process that we do for the funding process,” Blair said. “We look at the lifecycles of the fund, we look at businesses themselves, and think about when could be a good time to exit that business.”
Airtree backs companies at the pre-seed and seed stage; as companies stay private for longer, they aren’t returning money as often during the traditional fund lifecycle. So in 2021, Airtree started seeking out alternative ways to get liquidity for some of their earliest stakes, Blair said.
One of which was Canva. Airtree originally invested in Canva’s $6 million Series A round in 2015. Blair said the firm slimmed down its stake in the startup in 2021 when the company was valued at $39 billion. Airtree got a 1.4x return on Fund I from this transaction alone and was able to maintain the majority of their original stake.
“There is no hard and fast rule,” Blair said on how the firm decides when to slim down its stakes. “We look at the position of the fund and the role of that company in that fund [and think], ‘If we sold today at that price, what sort of future value are we giving up that we could hold? [What is] the value of liquidity versus long-term TVPI and the effect on the fund?’”
Each time Airtree has done this, it’s purposefully maintained a majority of their stake, Blair said. He said the firm still wants to get that huge win at the end, but doesn’t want to put “all their eggs into that final basket.”
This strategy makes a lot of sense looking at how far some of the valuations for late-stage startups have fallen over the last few years. While some companies are working to grow into their last valuation, many have a long way to go and may still exit for lower than they raised their last primary round.
But Airtree’s strategy isn’t foolproof, and many investors would likely argue that slimming down these stakes takes money off the table. They aren’t wrong, and Blair acknowledges that when a company does eventually exit, Airtree makes less money off of it because of this strategy. However, that final exit isn’t guaranteed to be strong, either, he said.
Blair said Airtree wouldn’t rule out raising a continuation fund — the venture industry’s current liquidity vehicle of choice — and said it may make sense if the firm wants to start selling a bundle of its shares at once. But its current secondary strategy of raising its hand when companies look to run secondary tender sales has worked out well for them thus far.
“I’d say our responsibility as investors is to return money to our LPs at the right time,” Blair said. “Selling too early can be bad, for sure. There isn’t a single answer but rather having a process about having active decisions and not passive decisions [about liquidity]. Don’t just sit back and wait for [exits] to happen to you.”
by tyler | Apr 11, 2024 | Tech
The U.K.’s competition watchdog, Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), has sounded a warning over Big Tech’s entrenching grip on the advanced AI market, with CEO Sarah Cardell expressing “real concerns” over how the sector is developing .
In an Update Paper on foundational AI models published Thursday, the CMA cautioned over increasing interconnection and concentration between developers in the cutting-edge tech sector responsible for the boom in generative AI tools.
The CMA’s paper points to the recurring presence of Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Apple (aka GAMMA) across the AI value chain: compute, data, model development, partnerships, release and distribution platforms. And while the regulator also emphasized that it recognizes that partnership arrangements “can play a pro-competitive role in the technology ecosystem,” it coupled that with a warning that “powerful partnerships and integrated firms” can pose risks to competition that run counter to open markets.
Image Credits: CMA’s Foundation Models Update Paper
“We are concerned that the FM [foundational model] sector is developing in ways that risk negative market outcomes,” the CMA wrote, referencing a type of AI that’s developed with large amounts of data and compute power and may be used to underpin a variety of applications.
“In particular, the growing presence across the FM value chain of a small number of incumbent technology firms, which already hold positions of market power in many of today’s most important digital markets, could profoundly shape FM-related markets to the detriment of fair, open and effective competition, ultimately harming businesses and consumers, for example by reducing choice and quality, and by raising prices,” it warned.
The CMA undertook an initial review of the top end of the AI market last May and went on to publish a set of principles for “responsible” generative AI development that it said would guide its oversight of the fast-moving market. Although Will Hayter, senior director of the CMA’s Digital Markets Unit , told TechCrunch last fall that it was not in a rush to regulate advanced AI because it wanted to give the market a chance to develop.
Since then, the watchdog has stepped in to scrutinize the cozy relationship between OpenAI, the developer behind the viral AI chatbot ChatGPT, and Microsoft, a major investor in OpenAI. Its update paper remarks on the giddy pace of change in the market. For example, it flagged research by the U.K.’s Internet regulator, Ofcom, in a report last year that found 31% of adults and 79% of 13- to 17-year-olds in the U.K. have used a generative AI tool, such as ChatGPT, Snapchat My AI or Bing Chat (aka Copilot). So there are signs the CMA is revising its initial chillaxed position on the GenAI market amid the commercial “whirlwind” sucking up compute, data and talent.
UK’s antitrust watchdog announces initial review of generative AI
Its Update Paper identifies three “key interlinked risks to fair, effective, and open competition,” as it puts it, which the omnipresence of GAMMA speaks to: 1) Firms controlling “critical inputs” for developing foundational models (known as general purpose AI models), which might allow them to restrict access and build a moat against competition; 2) tech giants’ ability to exploit dominant positions in consumer or business facing markets to distort choice for GenAI services and restrict competition in deployment of these tools; and 3) partnerships involving key players which the CMA says “could exacerbate existing positions of market power through the value chain.”
Image Credits: CMA
Image Credits: CMA
In a speech delivered Thursday in Washington, D.C., at a legal event focused on generative AI, Cardell pointed to the “winner-take-all dynamics” seen in earlier web dev eras, when Big Tech built and entrenched their web 2.0 empires while regulators sat on their heels. She said it’s important that competition enforcers don’t repeat the same mistakes with this next generation of digital development.
“The benefits we wish to see flowing from [advanced AI], for businesses and consumers, in terms of quality, choice and price, and the very best innovations, are much more likely in a world where those firms are themselves subject to fair, open and effective competition, rather than one where they are simply able to leverage foundation models to further entrench and extend their existing positions of power in digital markets,” she said, adding: “So we believe it is important to act now to ensure that a small number of firms with unprecedented market power don’t end up in a position to control not just how the most powerful models are designed and built, but also how they are embedded and used across all parts of our economy and our lives.”
How is the CMA going to intervene at the top end of the AI market? It does not have concrete measures to announce, as yet, but Cardell said it’s closely tracking GAMMA’s partnerships and stepping up its use of merger review to see whether any of these arrangements fall within existing merger rules.
That would unlock formal powers of investigation, and even the ability to block connections it deems anti-competitive. But for now the CMA has not gone that far, despite clear and growing concerns about cozy GAMMA GenAI ties. Its review of the links between OpenAI and Microsoft — for example, to determine whether the partnership constitutes a “relevant merger situation” — continues.
“Some of these arrangements are quite complex and opaque, meaning we may not have sufficient information to assess this risk without using our merger control powers to build that understanding,” Cardell also told the audience, explaining the challenges of trying to understand the power dynamics of the AI market without unlocking formal merger review powers. “It may be that some arrangements falling outside the merger rules are problematic, even if not ultimately remediable through merger control. They may even have been structured by the parties to seek to avoid the scope of merger rules. Equally some arrangements may not give rise to competition concerns.”
“By stepping up our merger review, we hope to gain more clarity over which types of partnerships and arrangements may fall within the merger rules, and under what circumstances competition concerns may arise — and that clarity will also benefit the businesses themselves,” she added.
The CMA’s Update report sets out some “indicative factors,” which Cardell said may trigger greater concern about and attention to FM partnerships, such as the upstream power of the partners, over AI inputs; and the downstream power, over distribution channels. She also said the watchdog will be looking closely at the nature of the partnership and the level of “ influence and alignment of incentives ” between partners.
In the meanwhile, the U.K. regulator is urging AI giants to follow the seven development principles it set out last fall to steer market developments onto responsible rails where competition and consumer protection are baked in. (The short version of what it wants to see is: accountablity; access; diversity; choice; flexibility; fair dealing; and transparency.)
“We’re committed to applying the principles we have developed and to using all legal powers at our disposal — now and in the future — to ensure that this transformational and structurally critical technology delivers on its promise,” Cardell said in a statement.
Microsoft and OpenAI tie-up faces ‘relevant merger’ scrutiny by UK regulator CMA
UK’s competition watchdog drafts principles for ‘responsible’ generative AI
by tyler | Apr 11, 2024 | Tech
It’s official — the hot girls are using Pinterest.
Megan Thee Stallion sat down for a panel during Social Media Week and revealed that the image curation site is actually one of her favorite apps. She said she decided to delete Twitter (now called X) and Instagram from her phone, leaving Pinterest and TikTok as two of her favorite social apps.
This news isn’t surprising when you consider that Pinterest is having a moment. The social app had almost 500 million monthly active users as of Q4 2023, an 11% year-over-year increase, with total revenue hitting $3 billion, according to its latest quarterly earnings report. Pinterest is also making strides to stay relevant with Generation Z — it has the Creator Inclusion Fund and has implemented new technology to help with inclusive search on the site. As of last summer, around 40% of Pinterest’s global monthly active users are part of Generation Z, the company told us.
On the panel, Megan Thee Stallion said she loved the app because it allows her to curate exactly what she wants to see and listed topics ranging from puppies to makeup and workout videos. Almost 11,000 people liked the video, with users flooding the comments saying that Pinterest is also their favorite app.
Megan Thee Stallion talking about her favorite app being Pinterest during ADWeek’s Social Media Week event. pic.twitter.com/mQ1l5jbaJm
— Stallion Stats (@MegansStats) April 10, 2024
Megan thee Stallion did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
It’s interesting to see because Pinterest can feel underrated or underspoken about.
That’s mainly because the conversation around social media apps often focuses on doom and gloom, while Pinterest has managed to mostly escape those mainstream discussions. When tech CEOs were hauled in to testify before Congress , Pinterest was absent. Despite a high-profile controversy around the app’s lack of teen safety features, the company addressed it with new controls and the news cycle moved on to other topics.
To some extent, Pinterest’s draw may be from how users can curate their own experiences. They don’t have to interact with random strangers, as on Twitter/X, and can avoid contact with communities they do not want to interact with. There is also a feeling of having more control in teaching the algorithm to show exactly what is wanted by activities like pinning and creating boards.
“We think it’s possible to have a social platform that enhances your life — instead of distracting you from it. That brings out your best instincts — instead of preying on your worst,” Pinterest’s chief content officer, Malik Ducard, told us. “Pinterest is designed to be a positive place where people can figure out who they actually are — away from the everyday stress of news and online comparison and commentary.”
Pinterest told us it had seen a 40% year-over-year increase in Gen Zers using the site to search for celebs, which lends itself to the theory that young people are using alternatives to Google platforms for the content they are looking for. Gen Zers are also more likely to use TikTok for search inquiries rather than a traditional search engine.
Megan Thee Stallion has a vested interest in Pinterest, having previously worked with the company. She participated in the Pinterest Creators Festival in 2021 and had a Pinterest board with singer Reneé Rapp to promote their latest song together, which, unsurprisingly, name-dropped Pinterest. Pinterest has been using board drops to work more with creatives and give users a behind-the-scenes look at what inspires many of their favorite artists. Big names also use it in a personal capacity, too.
Rapper 50 Cent revealed that he’s on Pinterest to find inspiration, while actress Rachel Zegler recently spoke about her love of the social platform, and Sofia Richie Grainge spoke to Vogue about launching private boards to help plan her wedding. For the most part, though, even celebrities, many of whom are loud on X and Instagram, are usually quiet about their lives on Pinterest. It’s true many of them have brand profiles, but it’s likely they also have their own private accounts, like Megan Thee Stallion insinuated during her panel.
As it stands, the site remains one of the last remaining quiet places on the internet — somewhere to have aspirational mood boards without pressure to prove anything to anyone. It makes sense that in an era of online hate and oversaturation, people would escape to a more peaceful corner of the internet to dream once more.
While Megan’s comments didn’t quite move the markets like other celebs’ comments about social apps have in the past, Pinterest’s stock was indeed up this morning. It seems all the hot girls are trading Pinterest, too.
by tyler | Apr 11, 2024 | Tech
Was Quibi just ahead of its time? Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg ultimately blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for the failure of his short-form video app, but maybe it was just too soon. New app store data indicates that the idea Quibi popularized — original shows cut into short clips, offering quick entertainment — is now making a comeback. In the first quarter of 2024, 66 short drama apps like ReelShort and DramaBox pulled in record revenue of $146 million in global consumer spending.
This represents an over 8,000% increase from $1.8 million in the first quarter of 2023, when just 21 apps were available, according to data from app intelligence firm Appfigures . Since then, 45 more apps have joined the market, earning approximately $245 million in gross consumer spending and reaching some 121 million downloads.
Image Credits: Appfigures
Image Credits: Appfigures
In March 2024 alone, consumers spent $65 million on short drama apps, a 10,500% increase from the $619,000 spent in March 2023.
It appears the revenue growth began to accelerate in fall 2023, per Appfigures data, leading to a huge revenue jump between February and March of this year, when global revenue grew 56% to reach $65.7 million, up from $42 million. In part, the revenue growth is tied to the larger number of apps available, of course, but marketing, ad spend and consumer interest also played a role.
The top apps by revenue — ReelShort (No. 1) and DramaBox (No. 2) — generated $52 million and $35 million in Q1 2024, respectively. That’s around 37% and 24% of the revenue generated by the top 10 apps, respectively.
The No. 3 app ShortTV grossed $17 million globally in Q1, or 12% of the total.
What’s interesting about these apps, compared with Quibi’s earlier attempt to carve out a niche in this space, is the content quality. That is, it’s much, much worse than Quibi’s — and Quibi’s was not always great . As TechCrunch wrote last year when describing ReelShort, the stories in the app are “like snippets from low-quality soaps — or as if those mobile storytelling games came to life.”
Regardless of the terrible acting and writing, the apps have seemingly found a bit of an audience.
Image Credits: Appfigures
Image Credits: Appfigures
By both installs and revenue, the U.S. is by far the leader in terms of top markets for this cohort. But overall, the charts vary in terms of which countries are downloading versus paying for the content.
By installs, the top markets after the U.S. are Indonesia, India, the Philippines and Brazil, while the U.K., Australia, Canada and the Philippines make up the top markets by revenue, beyond the U.S.
In Q1 2024, short drama apps were installed nearly 37 million times, up 992% from 3.4 million in Q1 2023. By downloads, ReelShort and ShortTV are the top two apps, with the former accounting for 37% of installs, or 13.3 million, and the latter with 10 million installs, or 27%. DramaBox, No. 2 by consumer spending, was No. 3 by installs with 7 million (19%) downloads.
Image Credits: Appfigures
Image Credits: Appfigures
Mirroring wider app store trends, the majority of the revenue (63%) is generated on iOS, while Android accounts for the majority (67%) of downloads.
Though there’s growth in this market, these apps see nowhere near the attraction that their nearest competitors — short-form video and streaming video — do. Short drama apps claimed a 6.7% share of the total across all three categories combined, up from 0.15% a year ago. But the wider video app market makes a lot more money.
For instance, the top 10 apps across the combined three categories, which include apps like TikTok and Disney+, made $1.8 billion in Q1.
Image Credits: Appfigures
Image Credits: Appfigures
Image Credits: Appfigures
Image Credits: Appfigures
by tyler | Apr 11, 2024 | Tech
After 10 weeks of being absent from the platform, Taylor Swift’s music has returned to TikTok — or at least her more recent songs and “Taylor’s Version” cuts, since she owns those masters.
Taylor Swift’s music, and music from all artists signed to Universal Music Group, was pulled from TikTok when the two parties were unable to come to a renewed licensing agreement. UMG published a scathing press release accusing TikTok of trying to “bully” the label into accepting a deal worth less than its previous one. UMG framed its refusal to come to a deal with TikTok as a means of standing up for emerging artists.
“How did [TikTok] try to intimidate us? By selectively removing the music of certain of our developing artists, while keeping on the platform our audience-driving global stars,” UMG wrote . “TikTok’s tactics are obvious: use its platform power to hurt vulnerable artists and try to intimidate us into conceding to a bad deal that undervalues music and shortchanges artists and songwriters as well as their fans.”
TikTok did not respond to a request for comment.
UMG also represents superstars like Billie Eilish, BTS, Ariana Grande and Olivia Rodrigo, but Swift is in a unique position. After contractual disputes of her own, Swift has been re-recording her old albums to reclaim ownership of the songs. Her “Taylor’s Version” recordings are back on TikTok, but songs from records like “Reputation,” which doesn’t yet have a “Taylor’s Version,” are still absent from the platform.
The timing of Swift’s return to TikTok isn’t a coincidence. Next week, Swift will release her new album, “The Tortured Poets Department.” Even artists as huge as Swift are not immune to the necessity for social media marketing — and if fans can’t make TikToks using sounds from the new record, the album might be … slightly less ubiquitous? But the partnership is beneficial for TikTok too. With a fanbase like Swift’s, it’s inevitable that numerous audio trends will emerge from the album, and TikTok won’t want to miss out on that engagement, especially since Reels will have that music anyway.
Universal Music Group plans to pull song catalog from TikTok
by tyler | Apr 11, 2024 | Tech
A flagship European Union digital market regulation appears to be shaking up competition in the mobile browser market.
It’s been a little over a month since the Digital Markets Act (DMA) came into application and there are early signs it’s having an impact by forcing phone makers to show browser choice screens to users.
On Wednesday, Reuters reported growth data shared by Cyprus-based web browser Aloha and others that it said suggests the new law is stirring the competitive pot and helping smaller browser makers gain share or at least grab more attention than they were.
But it’s early days for DMA implementation, with choice screen rollouts still a work in progress, and many EU users haven’t even seen one yet. While Aloha is not the only other browser reporting a boost in interest since the DMA compliance deadline kicked in on March 7 — Brave, Opera and Vivaldi also shared positive stories of increased interest — several others, including DuckDuckGo and Firefox, told us it’s too soon for them to be able to assess the regulation’s effect.
TechCrunch reached out to 16 alternative browser makers with questions, as well as Apple and Google, to inform our reporting. We also contacted the European Commission to ask about its own tracking of the DMA’s impact in this area — but it declined to share any data.
Neither Apple nor Google responded to questions asking about any changes in regional usage of their own browsers since the choice screens began being shown to mobile users.
The EU’s goal for the DMA is to boost competition against internet “gatekeepers” whose control of dominant platforms gives them many operational advantages over smaller rivals. The regulation does this through a list of “dos and don’ts” that tech giants must comply with. In the case of browsers, it obliges the likes of iOS maker Apple and Google’s Android to display browser choice screens — forcing them to point users to alternatives to Apple’s Safari and Google’s Chrome.
Choice screens are intended to work against platform dominance and self-serving defaults by alerting consumers there are other options. But users do still need to decide to switch to an alternative app in order for choice screens to boost competition. The design of screens is also important.
Some alternative browser makers remain concerned the design of choice screens isn’t where it needs to be. We suspect this is leading to reluctance by some underdogs to share data on early impact, especially as the EU is currently investigating Apple’s choice screen design for suspected noncompliance .
In other words, some browser makers may be playing a waiting game in the hopes of encouraging Commission enforcers to push for a stronger implementation. At the same time, some really small browser players may see more gains to be had from good old-fashioned publicity — for example, sending out a press release trumpeting early interest — as a tactic to raise their profile to try to drive more downloads through increased awareness.
Overall, it’s still very early. Many regional mobile users may not have even seen a choice screen appear on their handset yet. Google, for instance, says screens are being displayed on newly launched Android devices but for existing Android handsets it’s up to the makers of the devices to push out the choice screens to their users. So there isn’t a clear implementation timeline on Android.
While in the case of iOS, Apple says it’s been displaying choice screens to users of iOS since iOS 17.4. But users who haven’t updated to this version also won’t have seen any yet.
Mozilla, maker of the Firefox browser, told us it estimates that less than a fifth of iOS users have been shown a choice screen so far. It reckons even fewer Android users have seen one in the wild as yet.
With this patchy Android rollout picture in mind, it seems likely that more iOS users will have seen choice screens than Android users so far — even though Google’s platform has a larger regional market share.
Measuring the impact of the DMA on alternative browsers’ market share is further complicated by variations in the apps that mobile users see in different EU countries. Some alternatives, such as Firefox, can appear on the iOS choice screen in every EU market. Whereas others are far more limited: Vivaldi, for example, can only appear in eight countries. So exposure to potential users can vary substantially depending on the browser. (Apple lists the options it’s currently showing in each market here .)
Aloha , a browser that focuses on privacy and claims not to track users, told us it’s seen 250% growth in new users (i.e., app downloads) since the DMA came into effect last month. It reports having approximately 10 million active monthly users globally — and estimates that around 1 million of those are located in the EU. So it remains a very small player.
However, since Aloha says it does not collect any personal data, including location data, it told us it cannot be precise about where its users are located. Yet it told Reuters the EU had moved up from being its fourth largest market to its second largest since the DMA compliance deadline kicked in.
Aloha also claimed to have seen an uptick in users in the U.S. since the DMA came into effect — yet the regulation does not apply in the U.S. market so U.S. users aren’t encountering it via browser choice screens. Aloha told TechCrunch it believes privacy awareness is rising generally, but also suggested growth in new installs in the EU may be helping to raise its position in the U.S. App Store.
Norway-based Opera , meanwhile, is also claiming market share gains since the DMA started to bite on March 7. Per new metrics shared with TechCrunch Wednesday, Opera said new user growth from February to the end of March was 63% — so it’s reporting a substantial uptick in people downloading Opera and giving it a try.
It is also reporting a 39% growth in users on iOS selecting its browser as their default specifically, from March 3 until April 4.
Previously (as of March 18), Opera reported 164% growth in the inflow of new EU users on iOS after the deadline for Apple to implement the DMA-enforced choice screen. So there actually appears to have been a drop in the growth rate it’s seen over this period — that is, after a bigger initial spike of interest.
Regardless, Opera is sounding very happy with the extra level of interest it’s seeing. In a statement, Jørgen Arnesen, its EVP of mobile, said the DMA “is working to even the playing field,” adding: “We’re excited to see that it has become easier for users to express their browser choice and for that choice to be respected.”
Another browser maker with a positive experience since DMA compliance day is Vivaldi , which is also developed out of Norway.
It told TechCrunch it’s seen an increase of 36.7% in downloads in the EU (in total) since the iOS choice screen came into effect. But the boost in downloads is even bigger when you look at the eight markets where Vivaldi is actually being shown on iOS choice screens. In those markets it said downloads have increased 69.6% since the choice screen started being pushed at users.
Despite this uptick in downloads, Vivaldi is unhappy with the current design of Apple’s choice screen.
“There are significant flaws with its implementation, including when it is shown and what is shown,” a company spokesperson told us. “Users can only see the choice screen when they click Safari. The list of browsers does not show additional information and that does not help users to make a meaningful choice. If the user has already selected a browser of their own choice, the choice screen can actively try to push them away from it, and may not even include it in the list that it presents to the user.”
“We think the priority should be given to cross-platform browsers, so that the same browser can be used on all of the user’s devices,” she added. “Apple looks at it very narrowly, per platform and country. We believe the main browser choices should be visible and we are not. And we should be on the list for all countries.”
We also heard positive things from Brave . The U.S.-based privacy-focused browser said it’s seen “a significant uptick” in installs since the DMA came into effect. (Although it does not report users per region so declined to break out total usage figures for the EU.)
“The daily installs for Brave on iOS in the EU went from around 7,500 to 11,000 with the new browser panel this past March,” per a company spokesperson. “In the past few days, we have seen a new all time high spike of 14,000 daily installs, nearly doubling our pre-choice screen numbers.”
On the flip side, three other alternative browsers that we contacted — DuckDuckGo, Ecosia and Firefox — suggested it’s too early to tell whether the DMA is helping them.
Veteran privacy-focused browser maker DuckDuckGo declined to share any data, saying it’s too soon to draw meaningful conclusions.
“While we’ve seen some positive signs, the choice screen rollout is ongoing and for a competitor like us that sees billions of searches and millions of downloads a month, we need more time to make an accurate impact assessment at scale,” it said in a statement.
DuckDuckGo also told us it lacks access to “key information” to be able to assess the DMA’s impact, saying, for example, that it has no way of knowing how many people have seen a search engine or browser choice screen.
“This is key because it would help us understand our selection rate on a choice screen and how widespread the rollout has been,” it noted, adding: “We’re at the beginning of this journey, not the end.”
Another alt player, the not-for-profit, tree-planting and eco-action focused Ecosia , also told us it doesn’t have enough data to make an accurate assessment of the regulation’s impact. “We have not received selection rates or any other meaningful datasets, so it is hard for us to solidly report on the effectiveness of the choice screen at this stage,” said Sophie Dembinski, its head of public policy and climate action.
She emphasized Ecosia isn’t happy with the current iOS choice screen, which it believes is hampering potential growth — also pointing to the Commission’s open case investigating Apple’s implementation.
“While Ecosia has jumped to second and third position in some European markets for utility apps in the Apple App Store, our search numbers have barely changed,” she said. “This is due to several design issues within Apple’s choice screen — such as showing the choice screen to users who have already selected an alternative choice to Safari; an overly complex installation process which loses a large number of users; and keeping the Safari browser app in the best position on the home screen.”
Another veteran browser player, Firefox , is also keeping its powder dry when it comes to assessing early impact.
“We are not currently sharing absolute numbers, both because we have some serious concerns about the current choice screens and because we estimate that less than 20% of users on iOS and likely less on Google have been exposed to them thus far,” said Mozilla’s Kush Amlani, global competition and regulatory counsel.
“The DMA represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create competition and choice for EU consumers. Whether that potential is realized depends on the gatekeepers’ compliance and the European Commission’s enforcement,” he emphasized, also referencing the Commission’s probes into suspected gatekeeper non-compliance .
“While we’re seeing many thousands of people select Firefox on the choice screens, we don’t think this should distract from the fact that the iOS choice screen has significant flaws that block people from making genuine choices,” Amlani added. “The critical challenge is that powerful and deep-pocketed gatekeepers are incentivized to protect their existing closed ecosystems and fight the implementation of the DMA, which will open them up to competition.”
TechCrunch’s outreach to browser makers that may benefit from the DMA choice screens also yielded one report of no meaningful impact since the requirement kicked in: Yandex , a Russia-based browser that can appear on the iOS choice screen anywhere in the EU, told us it hasn’t seen “any meaningful changes in the user metrics in the region so far.”
In Yandex’s case, its possible disinterest in switching could be linked to consumer concerns about using or supporting software that’s developed in Russia in light of the Ukraine war.
Apple, Google and Meta face first formal investigations under EU’s DMA
Europe’s DMA rules for Big Tech explained
