Amazon hit with US suit over alleged manipulation of ad auctions

In a lawsuit filed on Monday, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 22 states accuse Amazon of manipulating online advertising auctions, allegedly overcharging more than 1.2 million customers by an estimated US$20 billion (RM80.7 billion). The complaint, filed in a federal court in Washington state, alleges that Amazon secretly and systematically overcharged its advertising customers by tampering with the auctions that determine ad prices on the platform.

Amazon responded to the lawsuit by calling it "misguided" and "flawed," stating that regulators cherry-picked outdated internal documents. California Attorney General Rob Bonta stated that Amazon "has rigged billions of ad auctions," emphasizing that this case is part of a bipartisan effort against Big Tech. The lawsuit targets three specific advertising products: Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display.

According to the complaint, Amazon's scheme likely extracted over US$20 billion from unsuspecting advertising customers, as evidenced by internal documents describing hidden "surcharges." This is the third major lawsuit against Amazon filed by the FTC, with previous cases focusing on deceptive enrollment practices in Amazon Prime and alleged monopoly control of online retail.

Amazon's advertising revenue alone reached over US$68 billion in 2025, making it the third-largest digital advertising provider globally, following Google.