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.
theverge.com
· 2026-08-31
Zillow and Redfin have settled with the FTC and five state attorneys general over a 2025 agreement in which Zillow paid Redfin $100 million to avoid competing in rental advertising. The settlement, reached just before trial was set to begin, requires Redfin to reenter the rental advertising market and removes limits on its ability to compete for property-management clients. Redfin will still display Zillow's rental listings but can now independently sell ads and pursue its own customers.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-08-24
Zillow has reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over claims it paid Redfin $100 million to exit the internet listing service market for apartment rentals for up to nine years. The deal reverses that arrangement, requiring Redfin to relaunch its ILS business with significantly more listings and mandating Zillow to share employee information to help Redfin rebuild its team. Several states had joined the FTC's case, which was filed in September 2025 and later consolidated with the federal suit.
engadget.com
· 2026-08-24
The FTC reached a settlement with Zillow ending its antitrust lawsuit over a 2025 rental listings arrangement with Redfin, which regulators said involved Zillow paying Redfin to syndicate listings while Redfin agreed to drop its own advertising business and avoid competing on multifamily listings. Under the settlement, Redfin can keep syndicating Zillow's rental listings without the restrictive terms, but must rebuild the rental advertising operation it had shut down. Several state attorneys general joined the FTC in approving the deal.
theverge.com
· 2026-08-24
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