Amazon
is a
VLOP.
Amazon
is a
VLOP.
from
How big is “too big” in the digital single market? And why does a court decide that Amazon must bear more responsibility than other platforms?
Amazon as VLOP
On 19.11.2025 (Case T-367/23), the General Court of the European Union confirmed that the Amazon Store is a “very large online platform” or VLOP (for Very Large Online Platform) within the meaning of the Digital Services Act. This means that Amazon is subject to a special obligation regime that only affects a few digital players in Europe. The decision marks a turning point – not only for Amazon itself, but also for the millions of companies that use the platform to sell products in the single market.
This was triggered by a figure that Amazon itself published on February 17, 2023: more than 45 million people use the Amazon Store every month. This figure – the so-called AMAR (Average Monthly Active Recipients) – is not just a statistical trademark in the DSA, but the decisive criterion for classification as a VLOP. Amazon clearly exceeded it and the Commission initiated the designation procedure. The company attempted to legally challenge this classification. However, the court rejected the claim on all points.
Why the DSA treats large platforms differently
The Digital Services Act deliberately relies on graduated regulation. While smaller online offerings primarily have to fulfill basic obligations, the DSA makes a clear distinction between general platforms and very large platforms. The idea behind this is simple: the larger a platform, the greater its influence – and the more serious the social risks.
The court clearly elaborates on this logic. Large marketplaces have become digital infrastructures on which not only products, but also opinions, ratings and media-like content appear. They are “de facto public spaces”, as the Commission put it, and therefore potentially places where risks can spread at a speed and scale that an individual online store would never achieve. These differences justify higher duties of care.
Amazon fulfills the criteria of a VLOP
At the heart of the decision is the question of whether Amazon – as a platform, not as a retailer – is in a position to cause systemic risks. And the answer is clear.
The court emphasizes that Amazon not only sells its own products, but also distributes the offers of millions of third parties. This structure leads to a flow of information that Amazon neither fully knows nor controls. This is precisely why the platform enjoys liability privileges, but is also exposed to particular risks.
In addition, the court considers Amazon to be a platform with enormous leverage: content that is classified as illegal, misleading or dangerous here potentially reaches a large part of the European population and is not perceived by a small circle. The sale of a non-compliant product, manipulative advertising or an incorrect ranking can affect millions of people.
A platform with an AMAR of 45 million could expose a significant proportion of the EU population to illegal content.
This scope alone justifies the court’s classification as a VLOP – regardless of how carefully Amazon is currently monitoring. The decisive factor is the potential risk.
Amazon argued that smaller platforms are more dangerous. The court disagrees. In the case of large marketplaces, the focus is not on the probability, but on the damage that could result from a single incident – and this is systemic with 45 million or more people potentially affected.
What does the classification as VLOP mean?
Risk management as an ongoing task
As a VLOP, Amazon must regularly carry out comprehensive assessments of systemic risks. These range from illegal products to algorithmic distortions and dangers for minors. These analyses must be documented, minimized and shared with the Commission. For retailers, this means that Amazon will carry out more checks and adapt processes – sometimes visibly, sometimes in the background.
Transparency obligations for recommendation systems
The regulation is particularly visible when it comes to recommendations: Amazon must offer at least one option for each recommendation system that is not based on profiling. Users should be able to find products without their personal data being included. This may sound technical, but it has concrete consequences for the sorting, perception and findability of products.
Public ad archive
Anyone who places advertisements on Amazon must expect significantly more transparency in future. The content, client, time period and target groups of each ad will be stored in a publicly accessible archive. This is not only intended to protect consumers, but also to guarantee the political and economic integrity of the platform.
Data transparency for research
As a VLOP, Amazon must grant certain researchers access to internal data if this is necessary to investigate social risks. Although this constitutes an infringement of trade secrets, according to the court it is justified due to Amazon’s systemic role in the digital ecosystem.
Conclusion
Amazon shapes and dominates European online retail to an extent that inevitably has social significance. By classifying Amazon as a “Very Large Online Platform” (VLOP), the court makes it clear that Amazon must apply the stricter rules of the digital single market that this entails.
Whether this will actually result in more transparency, consumer protection and fairness in competition remains to be seen. So far, large tech companies have always circumvented such obligations in such a way that they have largely come to nothing.
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