FTC claims Amazon pocketed over $20 billion by manipulating its ad auctions
The FTC and 22 state attorneys general sued Amazon, alleging ad-auction rules that misled 1.2 million advertisers into paying more and netted over $20 billion since 2019. The complaint goes at the structural conflict of running an auction while also selling the inventory in it, putting the dual role behind every closed ad marketplace under the same legal test.
Source: adweek.com ↗
Amazon has millions of advertising customers who were misled into paying significantly higher prices.
FTC chairman Andrew N. Ferguson
Why this matters
- → Structural conflict in ad marketplaces — seller also sets auction rules.
- → Alleged $20B extraction from advertisers since 2019.
- → Sets precedent for dual-role marketplace regulation.
Auction rigging