I didn't say the happy Europeans don't count, I said that their data is still in all the same places as everyone else's and thus haven't realized any concrete benefit. The requests to be able to download your data which almost no one ever does, all the requirements of keeping the data on EU servers, all that stuff, never has a measurable impact on anyone's quality of life. And people in the EU still choose free, ad-supported crap just like they do everywhere else.

And the regulatory environment 100% advantages large businesses who can afford to hire dozens of compliance attorneys, and who can handle the risks of noncompliance fines.

PS: I'm not saying US regulates anything effectively either. We just allow every merger until 2 remain in a given market, and then say "Good. We still have competition. Everything must be fine!"