Analysis Of The Competition Law Of The Trial On Video Advertising Filtering Behaviors

With the development of information technology,China’s Internet industry has made great progress,but at the same time it is also facing various challenges.One of the manifestations is that there are various new types of Internet competition in the market.Filtering video ads is one of them.Before the revision of the new Competition Law in 2017,the filtering of competition in video advertising was not a specific unfair competition act specified in Chapter II of the Law of People’s Republic of China Against Unfair Competition,and the court could only apply general provisions as unfair conduct criteria.The ambiguity of general provisions and the breadth of interests involved in new types of competition have caused the court’s judgments in such cases to cause many disputes in practice.After an in-depth analysis and summary of the 40 adjudication documents that have appeared in unfair competition disputes caused by filtering video ads,the author finds that a relatively consistent and fixed trial idea has been formed in judicial practice.At present,the court’s attitude towards the filtering of video ads is relatively conservative,while the current "free + advertising" business model of online video companies is more recognized,and it tends to protect the income it has obtained or expected to obtain under this model.Although in judicial practice,the courts almost agree that filtering video ads is unfair competition,there are still many disputes in the theoretical and practical circles about the competition relationship,business model,and standards of unfairness determination involved in such unfair competition cases.By comparing the cases in foreign countries with the latest market developments,this article questions this trial mode itself.On the one hand,it is contrary to the legislative purpose of the Competition Law,and there are also problems of improper grasp of specific laws and provisions during the trial;on the other hand,it no longer adapts to the new situation of industry development.Finally,from the perspective of economics and law,the author puts forward several suggestions for judicial trials in the contextof the latest revised Competition Law framework and industry developments in 2019,in order to find the most suitable referee approach,thereby maximizing the fair and free competition market order and the total social welfare.