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> what's the effect on consumers?

Consumer-welfare standard is not the only concern of antitrust regulation.

The answer to this will vary hugely on a case-by-case basis. I don't want to speculate on what the sign of the net effect is.

So without trying to answer the question one way or the other, I just want to share this link which came to mind: https://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/

Quite often there is an "acquishutdown"; the company is bought for the team not the product, or the product fails to integrate, or is neglected. So if you were happy with the product, you're worse off after an acquisition.

Yahoo was particularly bad for this (Flickr, Delicious).