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ARTICLE · 14 DECEMBER 2022

On Thin Ice: Review Of Negative Matching Agreements

Balcıoğlu Selçuk Eymirlioğlu Ardıyok Keki Attorney Partnership
Balcıoğlu Selçuk Eymirlioğlu Ardıyok Keki Attorney Partnership
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Balcıoğlu Selçuk Eymirlioğlu Ardıyok Keki Attorney Partnership

Balcıoğlu Selçuk Eymirlioğlu Ardıyok Keki Attorney Partnership

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"Negative matching" is a new concept recently introduced in Turkish competition law practice. We will be discussing the effects of this on competition law for some time.

TurkeyAntitrust/Competition Law
Zeynep Şengören
Zeynep Şengören
Gediz Çınar
Gediz Çınar
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"Negative matching" is a new concept recently introduced in Turkish competition law practice. We will be discussing the effects of this on competition law for some time.

What has the TCA been up to?

In April 2022, the Turkish Competition Authority ("TCA") published its Modanisa Decision1, which examined the non-bidding agreements in online search engine advertisements between two retailers in the clothing market. Considering different types of the online search engine bidding agreements, the decision concludes that among the other types, negative keyword-matching agreements damage competition the most. Later this year, in August 2022, TCA announced that it launched an investigation against four undertakings operating in the purchase and sale of second-hand motor vehicles2. The news indicates that this investigation is also about the negative matching agreements3.

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