U.S. regulator, 22 states accuse Amazon of 'manipulating' ad auctions in lawsuit
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and 22 states have filed a lawsuit against Amazon, alleging the company manipulated digital advertising auctions to overcharge customers by $20 billion. Amazon has dismissed the claims as flawed and misguided.
Why it matters
This is a significant antitrust challenge that could impact Amazon's advertising business model and future regulatory oversight of big tech.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 22 states sued Amazon on Monday for allegedly "manipulating" online auctions for digital advertising, resulting in more than $20 billion in overcharges for 1.2 million customers.
Amazon "has secretly and systematically overcharged its approximately 1.2 million advertising customers by manipulating the 'auctions' that it uses to set the price of ads on its platform," says the complaint, filed in a federal court in Washington state.
In a blog post, Amazon called the lawsuit "misguided" and "flawed," and said that regulators "cherry-picked" outdated internal documents.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta told reporters on Monday that Amazon "has rigged billions of ad auctions."
California is one of the states suing alongside the FTC.
The complaint cites three separate advertising products at issue: Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display.
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