Amazon rigged billions in ad pricing, lawsuit from states and US watchdog alleges

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and a bipartisan group of 22 states has filed a lawsuit alleging Amazon secretly overcharged more than a million advertising customers by manipulating online auctions it uses to set ad prices.

The FTC and 22 state attorneys general are suing Amazon for allegedly using a "secret ad surcharge" to drive up prices for ads on its website and app. FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson claims in a blog post on the lawsuit that the higher advertising prices "were largely passed on to American consumers." According to the com

Amazon responded to the lawsuit, arguing the US Federal Trade Commission "misunderstands" their ad market.

Regulators claim Amazon artificially bumped floor prices during peak shopping periods, adding surcharges to merchants’ ad spending.