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Amazon sued for secret overcharging of advertisements

The FTC and 22 U.S. states accuse Amazon of overcharging its ads by more than $20 billion since 2019 through manipulated bidding.

1 September 2026Tagblick Newsdesk

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Archive photo: Amazon sued for secret overcharging of advertisements — Archive photoPhoto: Kevin Matteson · Flickr · BY

Amazon is facing a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 22 U.S. states over allegations of secret overcharging for online advertising. The plaintiffs claim that the e-commerce giant manipulated bids to deceptively increase costs for over one million advertisers since 2019.

According to the allegations, Amazon allegedly generated over $20 billion in additional revenue by manipulating these bids, which determine the price of ads appearing on the platform. The terms of these bids were deemed misleading, encouraging companies to pay to feature prominently in search results.

The plaintiffs specify that small and medium-sized enterprises have been particularly affected by these practices, ending up paying significantly higher amounts for advertising services on Amazon. The FTC and the states accuse Amazon of acting for profit at the expense of its customers.

Amazon has responded by describing this action as "misguided," asserting that its advertising practices comply with market rules. The company defends its business model and expresses confidence that the allegations will not hold up under scrutiny.

The action has been filed in a federal court in Seattle, with authorities seeking to demonstrate the potential effects of these practices on competition in the online advertising sector. The lawsuit could have significant implications for how companies manage their advertising expenditures on the site.

The details of the lawsuit raise questions about the transparency of Amazon's advertising bidding mechanisms, a crucial point in an industry where competition for online advertising space is increasingly intense. The situation is being closely monitored by market participants, who are scrutinizing Amazon's responses as well as the progress of the legal proceedings.

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