California joins suit against Amazon over ad prices
Amazon is accused of overcharging its advertising customers by more than $20 billion since 2019.
TL;DR
- California, 21 other states, and the FTC are suing Amazon for alleged ad price overcharging exceeding $20 billion since 2019.
- The lawsuit claims Amazon deceived advertisers about its pricing, secretly replacing auction results with higher, Amazon-set prices.
- Amazon is accused of concealing these price increases and falsely denying its role in them.
- The company denies the accusations, asserting no consumer harm and stable or lower ad costs for advertisers.
- The suit seeks monetary damages and an injunction against deceptive practices.
- California's Attorney General stated Amazon rigged ad auctions, inflating profits at the expense of businesses and consumers.
- The FTC's investigation began in 2022 and has continued under different administrations.