NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is already a huge part of many people's lives. And its $13.7 billion deal for the organic grocer Whole Foods will likely bind its customers even more tightly.

The acquisition could easily hurt both Amazon's existing rivals and future startups that might one day challenge it. Yet experts don't believe U.S. antitrust regulators will oppose the deal. After all, it doesn't create anything resembling a traditional monopoly.

Instead, it extends Amazon's long quest to make shopping so convenient that consumers often won't even think about stepping away from its embrace. Rather than dominate in market share, Amazon dominates by reaching into people's lives.

The more successful that strategy, the more Amazon can monopolize the attention and shopping dollars of its customers — which, of course, is perfectly legal.