SUBSCRIPTION ONLY Retail News FTC Claims Amazon Pocketed Over $20 Billion By 'Manipulating' Its Ad Auctions What marketers need to know from the agency's lawsuit Amazon CEO Andy Jassy Getty Images/Canva By Lauren Johnson --> ADWEEK House: Advertising HQ brings the people shaping advertising, commerce, and media together for four days of unscripted conversations and after-hours connections. Meet us in Midtown, Oct. 5–8.
The Federal Trade Commission has sued Amazon over “deceptive and unfair” advertising practices.
The lawsuit, which includes 22 U.S. state attorneys general, alleges that Amazon overcharged 1.2 million advertisers using auction rules for how ads are bought and sold, receiving more than $20 billion from these practices since 2019.
“Amazon has millions of advertising customers who were misled into paying significantly higher prices,” said FTC chairman Andrew N. Ferguson in a statement. “These higher costs were largely passed on to American consumers. The FTC under President Trump won’t allow this deception to continue.”
The complaint focuses on Amazon’s ad auction, which is used to set prices on its platform.
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Lauren Johnson is Adweek's deputy editor of commerce, where she runs Adweek's retail and influencer marketing coverage. Before joining Adweek in 2024, she was an advertising reporter at Business Insider for six years and previously covered technology for Adweek.
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