The Competition Council (KP) has imposed a fine of 186,780 euros on SIA “SS,” the owner of the online classifieds website “ss.lv,” for abusing its dominant position by hindering the development of a competing platform, the KP said.
“SS” holds a dominant position in the online classifieds services market in Latvia. During the period of the infringement, SIA “SS” held a market share exceeding 60% among all classifieds platforms based on the number of ads posted, while the market shares of other major classifieds platforms are significantly smaller—the market share of the next largest market participant, “Facebook Marketplace,” does not exceed 15%.
The investigation found that SIA “SS” had abused its market power against its customers: during the period from March 13th, 2020, to May 27th, 2021, it engaged in exclusionary practices, namely, “SS” blocked user accounts and deleted ads in cases where users published their ads simultaneously on a competing classified ad platform “pp.lv” owned by SIA “Inbokss.”
Similarly, in cases where a user wished to post an ad on the “SS” platform and provided their “inbox.lv” email address, ad registration was not possible unless another email address was also provided. Such conduct restricted the competitor’s ability to develop and reduced users’ choices.
This conduct was primarily directed against corporate clients—car dealers and brokers, as well as real estate agents.
Electronic correspondence obtained in the case indicates that this practice was implemented deliberately and purposefully to deter users from collaborating with the competing platform, thereby hindering its ability to attract users and establish itself in the market.
The Competition Council concluded that “SS”’s actions caused significant harm to competition and market participants.
Taking into account the severity, nature, and consequences of the identified violation, as well as “SS”’s role in committing the violation, the Councl imposed a fine on the company amounting to 1.4% of “SS”’s 2024 net turnover—186,780.65 euros.
Information available from “Lursoft” shows that “SS” had a turnover of 12.45 million euros in 2024, which is 3.8% more than the previous year. The company’s profit was 8.97 million euros, which is 17.3% less than what was earned in 2023. “SS” is owned in equal shares by Andrejs Kivackis and Juris Līnis.
Select text and press Ctrl+Enter to send a suggested correction to the editor
Select text and press Report a mistake to send a suggested correction to the editor
Tell us about a mistake