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A growing number of TikTok creators are being paid by brands to produce content that mimics organic user videos while hiding its promotional nature, according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal. Creators like Ceci Beck and Brooks Langford say they earn between $1,000 and $6,000 a month from this work, and one campaign manager reportedly told a creator to deny that a video was sponsored when asked directly.
The FTC has expanded the pool of Amazon Prime members eligible for compensation stemming from a 2025 settlement over allegations that Amazon used deceptive tactics to enroll and retain Prime subscribers. Some members who previously did not qualify can now file claims, and certain payouts may be larger than originally announced.
A group of U.S. senators has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether shopping bots and AI systems used by Walmart and Amazon are misrepresenting products as 'Made in America.' The request comes alongside other regulatory shifts, including a U.S. regulator giving tokenized stocks initial approval and credit card firms building AI agents to handle consumer purchases on shoppers' behalf.
Senators Tammy Baldwin and Rick Scott have asked the FTC to investigate whether Amazon's Alexa and Walmart's Sparky shopping chatbots adequately surface information about domestically made products. The request cites a Columbia University Center for Law and the Economy study finding both assistants initially struggled or declined to confirm US-origin claims, though they could answer questions about foreign-made goods and eventually provided US-made results after prompts were reworded.
Former FTC Chair Lina Khan argued on X that regulators don't need new legislation to rein in AI companies, pointing to decades-old consumer protection and antitrust statutes as tools to hold firms and executives accountable. She cited product liability and unfair competition laws as grounds to prosecute companies releasing unvetted or defective AI systems, or engaging in risky behavior that pressures rivals to match it.
Cybersecurity guidance highlights that VPNs are most valuable in two situations: connecting to unsecured public Wi-Fi and preventing internet service providers from tracking browsing habits. Encrypting traffic through a VPN tunnel blocks eavesdroppers on shared networks and stops ISPs from logging and selling usage data to third parties, per FTC research cited in the coverage.
The FTC and attorneys general from 22 states filed suit against Amazon, alleging the company has secretly overridden its own advertising auction results since 2019 to charge higher prices than advertisers actually won. The complaint says internal documents show Amazon applied hidden surcharges to Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display ads, extracting more than $20 billion from roughly 1.2 million advertisers.
A federal lawsuit filed by the FTC alleges that Amazon secretly raised minimum price thresholds in some advertising auctions after bids were already submitted, effectively changing the rules mid-game. The suit claims this practice forced advertisers to pay more than they should have, generating billions in extra revenue for Amazon.
The Federal Trade Commission, joined by attorneys general from 22 states, has filed suit against Amazon alleging it secretly altered its ad auction system starting in 2019 to charge advertisers more than they were told. The complaint claims Amazon added an undisclosed 'soft reserve price' and even used a fictitious bidder to drive up costs, despite marketing its system as a fair second-price auction. Regulators estimate the practice may have extracted over $20 billion from advertisers since 2019.
The FTC and 22 state attorneys general have filed a lawsuit accusing Amazon of concealing surcharges within its advertising auctions for more than six years, allegedly extracting over $20 billion from advertisers who didn't know they were paying inflated rates. Internal documents cited in the suit reportedly show employees flagged the pricing tactic as risky for long-term trust even as it boosted short-term revenue. Amazon has pushed back, saying the suit misrepresents its ad auction mechanics and lacks evidence that consumers paid more as a result.
The Federal Trade Commission, joined by 22 states, filed suit against Amazon on Monday alleging the company secretly inflated prices in its Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Display ad auctions for more than seven years. The complaint says Amazon told over 500,000 small and medium businesses they'd pay just a penny above the next-highest bid in a 'second-price' auction, but from 2019 quietly inserted a hidden 'soft reserve price' using a fabricated bidder to push winning advertisers to pay their full bid instead.
The Federal Trade Commission, joined by more than 20 states, plans to file a lawsuit against Amazon alleging it deceived advertisers by manipulating ad pricing on its retail platform. The suit reportedly claims Amazon generated billions of dollars through this practice.