GoKawiilFTC and 22 states sue Amazon over alleged hidden ad price markups
The FTC, joined by attorneys general from 22 states, filed a lawsuit accusing Amazon of quietly inflating prices in its ad auctions since 2019. Instead of letting the winning bidder pay one cent above the second-highest bid as its auction system promises, the complaint alleges Amazon substituted a higher, internally calculated 'proxy' price to boost its own profits. Regulators estimate this scheme extracted more than $20 billion from advertisers, costs they say were largely pushed onto consumers—an allegation Amazon disputes, calling the suit misguided.