{
  "id": 4782686,
  "title": "US regulator, 22 states accuse Amazon of ‘manipulating’ ad auctions",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/01/us-regulator-22-states-accuse-amazon-of-manipulating-ad-auctions-4782686",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-01T04:07:27.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/business/2026/09/01/us-regulator-22-states-accuse-amazon-of-manipulating-ad-auctions"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In a lawsuit filed against Amazon, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 22 states accused the e-commerce giant of manipulating online auctions for digital advertising. This manipulation allegedly led to overcharges of more than US$20 billion for 1.2 million customers. Amazon generated over US$68 billion in advertising revenue last year, according to AFP. The complaint, filed in a federal court in Washington state, alleges that Amazon secretly and systematically overcharged its approximately 1.2 million advertising customers by manipulating auctions that set ad prices on its platform. Amazon responded by calling the lawsuit misguided and flawed, stating that regulators cherry-picked outdated internal documents.",
  "summary": "Lawsuit alleges Amazon overcharged 1.2 million advertising customers by more than US$20 billion.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "CBS News",
        "title": "FTC and 22 states sue Amazon over alleged secret ad surcharge scheme",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/31/ftc-and-22-states-sue-amazon-over-alleged-secret-ad-surcharge-scheme",
        "published": "2026-08-31T19:22:12.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Associated Press",
        "title": "Federal Trade Commission and 22 states sue Amazon over inflated advertising prices",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/31/federal-trade-commission-and-22-states-sue-amazon-over-inflated",
        "published": "2026-08-31T22:23:02.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "US regulator, 22 states accuse Amazon of ‘manipulating’ ad auctions",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/01/us-regulator-22-states-accuse-amazon-of-manipulating-ad-auctions",
        "published": "2026-09-01T04:07:27.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}