Amazon had a blockbuster, record-breaking Prime Day, the largest in the company's history. But it's a win that comes as the tech giant is under increased scrutiny over antitrust concerns, with regulators questioning whether its size and role as both a storefront operator and a seller make it difficult for rivals to compete.

Prime Day, a deals event that ran this year from July 15 through 16, is essentially Amazon's version of Black Friday in July. Except for Amazon, it's even bigger than the annual post-Thanksgiving shopping event; the company said sales surpassed that of Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. During the sale, the company offers thousands of deals for members of its Prime subscription service across a variety of categories, including electronics, toys, fashion, and home.

But, of course, there's a major difference between Black Friday and Prime Day. The former is a widely recognized shopping holiday that many retailers large and small participate in through their own stores and platforms, while the latter is specific to Amazon's store and its Prime members. Since Prime Day's introduction in 2015, it has become just as synonymous with online spending and bargains as Black Friday, and its popularity has been growing since.

Read more: 5 hidden Amazon pages for scoring deals and discounts that you didn't know about

As the inventor and proprietor of this shopping holiday, Amazon obviously stands to benefit tremendously. It's true that many of the deals available on Prime Day were from third-party companies, and Prime Day's status as a new shopping holiday benefits other retail platforms, too. Amazon said independent sellers surpassed $2 billion in sales on Prime Day, and worldwide sellers that predominantly included small- and medium-sized businesses saw the biggest 24-hour sales day in Amazon's history. Large retailers in general saw a 72% increase in online sales compared with an average Tuesday, according to data from Adobe Analytics reported by MarketWatch.

But the record-breaking sales and massive success of Prime Day — the fact that it's become a shopping holiday just as big as Black Friday — also proves just how influential Amazon is when it comes to the way people shop. Prime Day has become so popular that competitors like eBay, Best Buy, and Target have even launched their own special sales events in response.

It also gives Amazon an opportunity to further expand its Prime and Alexa services and provides shoppers with more incentive to pick up an Echo, since those using Amazon's voice-activated speaker get early access to deals. More people signed up for Amazon's Prime service on July 15 than on any other day, and Prime Day was the biggest sales event ever for Amazon's own devices, with the Echo Dot and Fire TV sticks ranking as some of the top-selling deals. Amazon sold more than 175 million items to Prime members during the two-day event.

Amazon's size and success certainly invites scrutiny among critics. The company is expected to account for 38% of online commerce in the US in 2019, according to eMarketer, which represents a decrease from a previous estimate of 47%.

But what matters is whether or not Amazon is leveraging its position as both a major player in the online retail market and a seller on that same platform to gain an unfair competitive advantage. "In principle, there is nothing wrong with doing both," Nicholas Economides, a professor of economics at New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business, said. "But the crucial question is whether Amazon used its dominant position in the electronic commerce to thwart rivals."

As Amazon was breaking Prime Day sales records on Tuesday, David N. Cicilline, chair of the House Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law, grilled Amazon on just that. Nate Sutton, Amazon's associate general counsel, litigation and regulatory legal, testified along with executives from Apple, Google, and Facebook before the House Judiciary subcommittee in a hearing held to examine the influence large tech firms like Amazon have on innovation and entrepreneurship in the industry. During the hearing, Cicilline asked Sutton whether Amazon uses sales data from sellers to compete with other companies' products on its platform, which he said Amazon does not do.

On Wednesday, the European Union also formally announced plans to launch an investigation into Amazon over the same issue, following reports that it would do so on Tuesday. The commission will examine how the seller data that Amazon gathers affects the competition, and it will specifically look at the agreements Amazon has made with third-party sellers and how it selects items for its "Buy Box" feature. Amazon could face a fine of $23 billion if the investigation finds that Amazon violated European competition laws.

It's not the first time firms like Amazon have been scrutinized over competing in the same marketplaces in which they operate. Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a 2020 presidential candidate, proposed a sweeping plan in March that would prevent big tech firms like Amazon from selling in the same stores that they operate.

Those who subscribe to Amazon's Prime membership, which provides the foundation for Prime Day, get many perks, such as access to Amazon's streaming-video service, its photo-storage app, and discounts at Whole Foods grocery stores, among others.

The inclusion of such services like these that have nothing to do with package delivery and e-commerce, particularly video streaming, could also raise antitrust concerns, Economides said. "Once you start bundling irrelevant stuff like video service, which retailers cannot match, that creates the possibility of an antitrust issue, and this is something that may be investigated," he said.

It's unclear what will come of the EU's investigation of Amazon. But the success of promotions like Prime Day and Amazon's continued growth are sure to invite only more scrutiny among critics and antitrust regulators.

Now tell us what you think!

There's no more free lunch at Google— at least if you're among some of the unlucky engineers who belong to the company's vast workforce of contractors and vendors.

Google recently relocated a group of these so-called vendor workers from the tech giant's sprawling Silicon Valley headquarters to a nearby facility in San Jose, California. Along with the change in location, the group of roughly 100 workers discovered that they could no longer enjoy the various free company restaurants that have become emblematic of the Google work experience.

Instead of the bountiful free meals, the workers had access to an office refrigerator stocked with a grim selection of prepackaged sandwiches and other items. A hot pocket costs $2.59.

The free Google meals represent a meaningful perk — along with extended vacation policies and world-class health insurance — that the company is increasingly reserving for its full-time employees.

For Google's temporary, vendor, and contract workers, known internally as TVCs, who by some accounts represent more than half the company's workforce, the changes are the latest sign that working for Google is not necessarily the perk-filled dream job it's often portrayed to be.

"It's really like working at a completely different company," said one person who recently moved from one of Google's Silicon Valley campuses to the San Jose offices.

2020 presidential campaigns reportedly received an alert from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Wednesday advising them to delete FaceApp, the viral Russian photo-editing app whose terms of service allow it to use a person's photos and likeness for unspecified purposes.

"If you or any of your staff have already used the app, we recommend that they delete the app immediately," DNC chief security officer Bob Lord reportedly said in the security alert obtained by CNN.

In the alert, Lord reportedly explained that "FaceApp was developed by Russians" and that he had "significant concerns" about the app "having access to your photos, or even simply uploading a selfie."

"It's not clear at this point what the privacy risks are, but what is clear is that the benefits of avoiding the app outweigh the risks," Lord said in the alert, according to CNN.

FaceApp, currently the most popular free app on the Apple App Store and Google Play, alters users' faces by using artificial intelligence. The app is blowing up on social media now because of its filter that can instantly age users.

Ben Gilbert/Business Insider/FaceApp

By agreeing to FaceApp's terms of service, users give the company permission to use their voice and likeness for commercial purposes; FaceApp has the right to store this data even after users delete the app.

Forensic News reported on Wednesday that FaceApp moved to Moscow's Skolkovo Innovation Center in 2018.

"We are not associated with Skolkovo Ventures in any way," FaceApp CEO Yaroslav Goncharov wrote in an email to Mashable reporter Karissa Bell, according to Bell. "Skolkovo is a business park with a lot of different companies. We have not received any funding from any funds associated with any governments."

According to a statement from FaceApp published by TechCrunch, the company said "the core R&D team is located in Russia" but "user data is not transferred to Russia." Yet, FaceApp's privacy policy indicates that data collected by the app can be transferred and stored in countries from which the app operates.

The DNC has reason to be wary of any potential Russian interference in the 2020 presidential campaign. In 2016, WikiLeaks published thousands of DNC emails that had been hacked by Russians. The DNC hired Bob Lord to strengthen cyber defenses in January 2018.

The DNC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kevin Webb contributed to this report.

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Prime Day 2019 took place on July 15-16 for a full 48 hours.

We spent the days sifting through the hundreds of thousands of deals to find the best ones to share with you, our readers. While the event may be over, you can still snag some residual deals over the next few days.

Whether you got all you need this Prime Day or didn't shop at all, it's fun to look back on the event and see which products, out of the millions sold, stood out. Prime Day deals were shopped in 18 countries around the world, by shoppers with all different needs and desires. We're sharing the best-selling Prime Day purchases from 18 different countries.

Keep reading to find what deals Prime shoppers from Mexico, Japan, Australia and more loved most:

For reference, some deals we were unable to access and share with you from the Amazon US Site. You'll see those noted with "n/a" and we've provided alternatives if you'd like similar products. Additionally, some products are listed in different currencies, to reflect their real price on their original Amazon site.

Liquid Death, a canned water startup that went viral for its punk-style imagery and aggressively metal cartoon commercials, is in talks to raise as much as $10 million in Series A funding just two months after taking the internet by storm with $1.6 million in seed funding.

Axios reported earlier on Wednesday that the company was in fundraising talks, pegging the amount at $10 million. A source with knowledge of the matter confirmed the fundraising talks to Business Insider, but stressed that the talks were still in early stages and that the size and terms of the deal could change.

Liquid Death founder and CEO Mike Cessario is meeting with interested investors but has yet to sign a term sheet, according to the source. It could not be learned who the investors are.

Cessario did not immediately return a request for comment.

Liquid Death announced $1.6 million in Seed funding in May with backing from Science Inc., Dollar Shave Club's founder and CEO, Michael Dubin; the Twitter cofounder Biz Stone; and Jen Rubio, the cofounder of the buzzy luggage startup Away. Cessario has raised $2.25 million for Liquid Death to date.

Read More: This tech exec quit his job so he could invest in 'sexual wellness' startups, and he says cannabis investors showed him how to do it

Cessario, a former Netflix creative director, embraced the debate on Twitter following May's funding announcement. Supporters were in favor of the tallboy cans' eco-friendly materials, but detractors were concerned about the overly "macho" branding and wondered aloud on Twitter whether Liquid Death represented everything wrong with venture capital.

Update: After this article was published, the source clarified to Business Insider that the "target" size for the funding round was $10 million, and that their earlier comment about the funding potentially reaching $20 million was a miscommunication on their part.

Netflix is ad-free and likely to stay that way.

The streaming-video giant said it still has no plans to start selling advertising, in a letter to shareholders on Wednesday, which also reported weaker than expected subscriber growth for the second quarter.

Read more: Netflix plunges more than 10% after a huge miss on subscriber growth during Q2

Speculation was renewed after media executives at the annual Cannes Lions advertising festival debated whether Netflix was fated to get into the advertising business eventually, as CNBC reported.

Analysts at Nomura also estimated in June that a free, ad-supported package, similar to Spotify's freemium model, could bring Netflix roughly $1 billion more in revenue a year.

Read more: Netflix could drastically cut its cash burn with a Spotify-like model that includes an ad-supported free tier

"When you read speculation that we are moving into selling advertising, be confident that this is false," Netflix said in the investor note. "We believe we will have a more valuable business in the long term by staying out of competing for ad revenue and instead entirely focusing on competing for viewer satisfaction."

The company compared itself to premium-TV network HBO, which also doesn't air commercials.

Netflix has been working more publicly with brands recently in other ways, such as through merchandising and partnerships to promote its original shows and movies. But it said it's not pursuing those relationship to make more money.

Netflix said it "is optimizing for fan and viewer engagement over revenue maximization," with those efforts, including its co-marketing deals with companies like Coca-Cola, Burger King, and Baskin-Robbins around the recent return of "Stranger Things."

Netflix lost 126,000 subscribers in the US in the second quarter of 2019, the company said in its Q2 earnings report on Wednesday.

It's the first time Netflix has lost subscribers in a quarter in the US since 2011, when it tried a disastrous brand split effort with "Qwikster" and raised prices (it ended up losing 800,000 subscribers in one quarter).

Netflix gained 1.7 million US subscribers in the first quarter of this year, and 670,000 US subscribers in the second quarter of 2018 (Q2 tends to be slower for Netflix because of its content release schedule).

Overall this quarter, Netflix added 2.7 million total paid subscribers worldwide, significantly missing its forecast of 5 million.

READ MORE: Netflix plunges more than 10% after a huge miss on subscriber growth during Q2

The subscriber losses in the US are a sign that the service's domestic growth could be slowing as more companies enter the streaming game with their own platforms and pull licensed content from Netflix.

Consulting firm PwC said in a report last month that Netflix could be "nearing its peak subscriber point in the US."

"The first-mover advantage in streaming video that Netflix has capitalized on to date continues to be eroded, as the industry begins to fragment, with more and more companies entering the market, from pay-TV heavyweights to specialized, niche players," PwC said.

But Netflix pushed back against that narrative strain in its earnings report.

"While our US paid membership was essentially flat in Q2, we expect it to return to more typical growth in Q3, and are seeing that in these early weeks of Q3," Netflix said.

Netflix also said it didn't "believe competition was a factor" in its subscriber shortfall this quarter, since there "wasn't a material change in the competitive landscape during Q2."

After four years running, Amazon's retail holiday Prime Day has essentially spurred a second Black Friday in the middle of summer.

The pressure of 100+ million US shoppers with access to Prime Day benefits potentially spending their money at a single online marketplace, on one particular day in July, has forced the hand of retail competitors to run their own competing sales — some of which were offering (and some are still currently offering) better deals than Amazon.

Amazon has its own well-hidden gems too. Prime Day 2019 is over, but some of its most popular Prime Day deals are still live on the site. But other retailers are making it easy, and you can find a list below of the competing sales — which ones are still running and what they're selling, as well as those that are now over.

For the best overall deals, head to eBay and Walmart right now (we suggest checking out the Dyson Pure Hot+Cool Link air purifier for $360 off or the Apple Watch for $80 off). For the best fashion deals, use a Nordstrom card to get early access to the Nordstrom's Anniversary Sale right now, or wait until July 19 for it to open to the public. For the best in startup goods, head to Everlane's Choose What You Pay event. For athletic wear, head to Outdoor Voices up to 50% off sale.

Elon Musk may be the most notorious name in the Musk family, but he's not the only to one to have started his own company.

The younger sister to two older brothers, Elon and Kimbal Musk, is Tosca Musk, who cofounded her own company in 2017. She serves as the CEO of Passionflix, a streaming platform that distributes movies and TV series that are based on romance novels.

Passionflix costs $6 a month to access the 31 movies and three TV series currently available on the platform. Some of the titles on the platform are well-known movies, like the Best Picture-nominated film "Chocolat", and Audrey Hepburn's "How to Steal a Million." Users can search through the available content based on a "barometer of naughtiness," ranking movies on a scale of 1 to 5.

The platform also produces its own original content based on romance books. Tosca Musk has produced more than 30 movies, which she's been doing since 2001, according to her IMDb page.

Read more: The 30 most popular shows from Netflix and other streaming services in 2019, so far

Business Insider first was made aware Passionflix when it was mentioned Wednesday in a New York Magazine article. The story cites rumors that media company First Look Media, which runs investigative outlet the Intercept, may have acquired Passionflix.

Neither Passionflix nor First Look Media responded to Business Insider's request for comment.

Musk launched Passionflix in September 2017 along with cofounder Joany Kane, a screenplay writer. The platform raised $4.75 million in a round of seed funding that included Tosca Musk's brother, Kimbal.

Tosca Musk is not the only sister of a prominent tech CEO to become a purveyor of racy content. Business Insider reported in March that Caroline Spiegel, the sister of Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, was launching an audio porn website geared toward women that's called Quinn.

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