US regulator, 22 states accuse Amazon of ‘manipulating’ ad auctions
Lawsuit alleges Amazon overcharged 1.2 million advertising customers by more than US$20 billion.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 22 states have filed a lawsuit against Amazon, alleging the company manipulated online advertising auctions to overcharge approximately 1.2 million customers by around US$20 billion. Amazon generated over US$68 billion in advertising revenue last year, making it the third-largest digital advertising provider globally, behind Google.
The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Washington state, alleges that Amazon secretly and systematically overcharged customers for its advertising products, including Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display. California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Amazon rigged billions of ad auctions, and the complaint cites internal documents that describe the hidden surcharges.
Amazon has called the lawsuit misguided and flawed, stating that regulators cherry-picked outdated internal documents. The lawsuit is a bipartisan effort, with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also filing a separate case against Amazon for rigging its advertising auctions. This is the third major lawsuit filed against Amazon by the FTC, following settlements in September 2025 for deceptive practices in Amazon Prime subscriptions and a monopoly in online retail.
Written by urgent.news from Free Malaysia Today's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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