Alan Pelz-Sharpe, founder of consulting firm Deep Analysis, said although the FTC’s complaint will likely be amended and refiled, he’s doubtful of a successful outcome.

He called Facebook a powerful company, deeply embedded in consumers’ lives and said it will have “factored in a plan B to deal with any outcome,” even if the case rises to the level of the Supreme Court.

“Firms at the scale of Facebook can afford to fight these moves with near unlimited resources,” he said. “Moreover, they can afford to drag them out over long periods of time with no impact on their bottom line.”

Still, he said, the dismissed lawsuits send a strong message to technology companies like Facebook that the days of gobbling up companies without scrutiny and growing at an unprecedented pace are over.

“The [antitrust lawsuits] are a threat and will be treated as such,” he said. “Not a threat to their existence or profitability, but a threat to [companies like Facebook] continuing to do what they want, when they want — and potentially a threat to their image.”

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