Big Data Playing Bigger Role in Antitrust Review

Last December, Microsoft won early approval from the European Commission to purchase the professional networking site LinkedIn for $26.2 billion, despite lingering antitrust concerns.

A key to its success? Microsoft “agreed to add Xing AG, Germany’s biggest professional-networking site, to its Windows software to eliminate opposition in the European Union antitrust review,” Bloombergreported .

By demonstrating that it would work with other professional networking sites, Microsoft was able to allay concerns, expressed by antitrust regulators, that LinkedIn’s data would give it an unfair advantage in certain markets. For instance, LinkedIn’s data could be used to power Microsoft’s Dynamics, which competes with Salesforce.com Inc. in ...