If some lawmakers get their way, new U.S. antitrust proposals could hurt Florida’s small business community
The American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA) covers online marketplaces, such as app stores and search engines, that Florida small businesses use to find new customers, process payments, and more.
AICOA supporters argue that the bill will help level the playing field between high-tech companies and small businesses. But opponents say just the opposite: AICOA would harm Florida’s small businesses far more than it would harm the platforms it targets.
Edward Long, now director of the Center for Innovation at the James Madison Institute in Tallahassee, said many small businesses would face a broad set of prohibitions if certain parts of AICOA were approved.
What AICOA actually limits, Longe said, is the recommendation infrastructure that Florida’s small businesses rely on to reach customers they can’t find on their own.
For example, algorithms that highlight boutiques in Pensacola or route homeowners to local contractors rather than national chains are run on customer data.
“If Congress cuts off access to that data, rankings will become less accurate and less personal. Small businesses that once appeared at the top of relevant searches will slide down the page behind those with marketing budgets,” Longe said.
Opponents of AICOA worry that if the bill is reintroduced in a previous presentation, the markets Florida’s small businesses rely on will face restrictions that will sever the very connections they have built.
“Amazon is known as a marketplace for every conceivable product, but it is also a marketplace that connects small businesses with over 200 million Prime members in the U.S. Once designated as an eligible platform, Amazon and other platforms will “These restrictions won’t hurt digital commerce giants; they will hurt retailers across Florida who have built their businesses on access to these consumers.”
