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Shoppers with Internet access and a bargain-hunting impulse can find a universe of products at their fingertips. In this thought-provoking expos\xe9, Maurice Stucke and Ariel Ezrachi invite us to take a harder look at today\u2019s app-assisted paradise of digital shopping. While consumers reap many benefits from online purchasing, the sophisticated algorithms and data-crunching that make browsing so convenient are also changing the nature of market competition, and not always for the better.\n\nComputers colluding is one danger. Although long-standing laws prevent companies from fixing prices, data-driven algorithms can now quickly monitor competitors\u2019 prices and adjust their own prices accordingly. So what is seemingly beneficial\u2014increased price transparency\u2014ironically can end up harming consumers. A second danger is behavioral discrimination. Here, companies track and profile consumers to get them to buy goods at the highest price they are willing to pay. The rise of super-platforms and their \u201cfrenemy\u201d relationship with independent app developers raises a third danger. By controlling key platforms (such as the operating system of smartphones), data-driven monopolies dictate the flow of personal data and determine who gets to exploit potential buyers.\n\nVirtual Competition raises timely questions. To what extent does the \u201cinvisible hand\u201d still hold sway? In markets continually manipulated by bots and algorithms, is competitive pricing an illusion? Can our current laws protect consumers? The changing market reality is already shifting power into the hands of the few. Ezrachi and Stucke explore the resulting risks to competition, our democratic ideals, and our economic and overall well-being.\n\nFor more about this event, visit: https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/luncheons/2017/03/Stucke