The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and 22 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against Amazon.com Inc. in Seattle federal court. The complaint alleges Amazon systematically overcharged 1.2 million advertising customers.
Regulators claim Amazon manipulated ad auctions to secretly inflate prices for sponsored listings since 2019. This practice affected a vast range of users, including many small and medium-sized businesses.
The lawsuit targets Amazon's highly profitable advertising division and could result in billions of dollars in civil penalties. It specifically claims the company misled advertisers about the pricing of products appearing at the top of search results.
Amazon responded that the lawsuit misinterprets its auction system and asserts the process improves the customer experience. This case follows a separate FTC antitrust suit currently targeting the company's online retail operations.