I think it’s bad (it’s weird/unfair), but on the other hand I am happy not paying commission/getting orders filled at prices often a bit better than advertised on my broker’s app, so maybe it’s ok? Idk.
Another way to look at it is that there’s an “implied commission”, paid in the form of a perhaps slightly inflated purchase price, that largely doesn’t affect retail investors. And this all works out for quant firms because they make money off this at volume, at near zero marginal cost.
In fact, it’s odd that commission free trading didn’t happen a lot sooner. Etrade, Schwab, etc were rent seekers.
How is it bad or unfair? Everybody wins: you get a better price, the market maker does a trade they're happy with, and your broker gets a little bit of money.
I'm not sure what that means, but there's no scenario in which you'd get a worse price. That would be illegal under the Reg NMS order protection rule.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/order-protection-rule.a...