Mexico tells Amazon to reveal its algorithms, open up delivery and wall off Prime TV

Mexico’s Federal Commission on Economic Competition, known by its initials as COFECE, said in a preliminary finding late Tuesday that the two firms control 85% of online sales in Mexico.

It said that market dominance created “an absence of real competitive conditions in the online retail market.” For Amazon, the finding was the latest in a string of regulatory challenges it has faced in its countries of operation.

The COFECE order also covers the biggest Latin American online retailer, the Uruguay-based firm Mercado Libre.

The commission said it had laid out corrective measures that would include prohibiting Amazon from promoting its Prime Video streaming service as an incentive for consumers to buy Amazon Prime memberships.

“They (streaming services) are an artificial strategy that attracts and retains customers, while at the same time reducing the likelihood that vendors and buyers will use alternative marketplaces,” the commission said. “They also increase the cost of competition entering the market.”

The commission ordered Amazon and Mercado Libre “to separate memberships from streaming services, or other services such as games or music, that are not related to the use of the marketplace,” within six months, with a possible extension of another six months.

“Both platforms are free to offer streaming, as well as any other service, but they cannot be offered as part of the same package of services as the marketplace. The streaming services must be offered and billed on a separate, standalone basis.”

The commission also ordered Amazon to inform vendors on the platform “of all the variables and factors that are taken into consideration in selecting promoted items, to encourage certainty and transparency.”

That apparently refers to the criteria used…