DoorDash buys Instacart, and consolidation shrugs
DoorDash agreed to acquire Instacart. The top reaction was ZIRP nostalgia, with someone recalling a new food delivery or e-scooter startup almost every week. Another noted that food delivery stuck around and scooters mostly did not. On antitrust, a commenter wrote, "I'd cry antitrust but who are we kidding at this point. The relevant parties have likely been paid off already."
In the same stretch, Google's long-standing policy of showing both names for disputed bodies of water got a political twist, with jokes about American Ocean and "Lake America." Hackers also published the identities of more than 40k DHS employees and the site was fighting a domain takedown. Commenters called it important for archival and said the US has no real national security right now.
The thread is cynical about institutions: regulators, platforms, and governments are all seen as bending to power.
So what?
Delivery and marketplace players with scale are merging, not competing, and few expect regulators to stop it. If you sell to or depend on these platforms, plan for fewer buyers and more pricing power on their side. If you rely on a single registrar, host, or platform, note how fast takedown fights and policy shifts can hit you.