The parent comment doesn't suggest that the conditions tightened. They are merely calling out that the loosening does not cover this new first party product, an

The parent comment doesn't suggest that the conditions tightened. They are merely calling out that the loosening does not cover this new first party product, and suggests this might not be a coincidence. As this thread demonstrates, the maneuver was quite successful, if the idea was to give the impression they are becoming less anticompetitive rather than more so!