THE ECONOMIES OF TYING AND BUNDLING IN DIGITAL PLATFORMS

In today's world, the digital economy has completely transformed the manner in which products and services are provided to customers. Unlike traditional markets, digital platforms no longer operate through isolated products; rather, they function through interconnected ecosystems where multiple services are integrated into a single technological environment. In this context, tying and bundling have emerged as dominant business strategies adopted by major technology companies such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon. Earlier, tying and bundling were viewed primarily as pricing strategies. However, in digital markets, these practices have evolved into mechanisms for ecosystem expansion, user retention, and data consolidation. Modern platforms no longer compete merely through products; they compete through entire digital environments that shape user behaviour, consumer attention, and market access. Services which are being provided to consumers such as cloud storage, search engines, payment systems, messaging applications, AI assistants, and streaming platforms are increasingly interconnected, making it difficult for them to separate from one service to another.