Doing this has the same advantages and disadvantages, for both businesses and customers, as price-fixing or forming a cartel. I'm not saying it's the same as f

Doing this has the same advantages and disadvantages, for both businesses and customers, as price-fixing or forming a cartel. I'm not saying it's the same as forming a cartel, maybe a cartel lite. Think about it: from the point of view of the customer of a downed service, competitors doing some opportunistic PR is only beneficial. So competitors not doing opportunistic PR is depriving customers of a benefit, while helping the industry itself.