[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"branding":3,"analytics":7,"article-ftc-sues-amazon-over-hidden-ad-auction-overcharges":10,"sections":41},{"siteName":4,"siteTagline":5,"publisherName":4,"contactEmail":6},"The Revision","Tech news, decoded.","editor@therevision.news",{"gaMeasurementId":8,"adsenseClientId":9},"G-ZW2MV82GYR","ca-pub-8533917693782264",{"article":11},{"id":12,"slug":13,"title":14,"dek":15,"body_md":16,"tags_json":17,"published_at":18,"created_at":19,"updated_at":20,"status":21,"review_note":22,"review_notes":23,"image_url":22,"persona_id":22,"persona_name":22,"section":30,"tags":31,"sources":36,"feedback":40,"feedback_at":22,"cost_usd":40,"total_tokens":40},5943,"ftc-sues-amazon-over-hidden-ad-auction-overcharges","FTC Sues Amazon Over Hidden Ad Auction Overcharges","The FTC and 22 states allege Amazon charged ad-auction winners closer to their own bid than the lower second-price rate, pocketing over $20 billion since 2019.","The FTC just accused Amazon of rigging its own ad auctions to squeeze more money out of sellers.\n\nThe FTC and 22 states sued Amazon on Aug. 31 in federal court in Washington state, alleging the company secretly abandoned the second-price auction model it told roughly 1.2 million advertisers it used for Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display ads. Under a genuine second-price system, the winning bidder pays just above the runner-up's bid. Regulators say Amazon began drifting from that model in 2018, increasingly charging winners something closer to their own higher bid, and that the shift generated more than $20 billion in what the FTC calls improper charges since 2019. Internal documents cited in the complaint reportedly show Amazon phased in the changes gradually and watched to see if advertisers noticed or cut spending before expanding them further.\n\nFor sellers, the case turns on a basic trust question: was the auction actually setting prices, or was Amazon quietly setting them instead. The FTC also argues the added ad costs likely got passed on to shoppers through higher product prices, which stretches the alleged harm beyond the 1.2 million advertisers into anyone who buys on Amazon. It's also a familiar shape for platform complaints: the company that runs the marketplace, writes the rules, and quietly adjusts the mechanism meant to keep itself honest.\n\nAmazon says it never charged advertisers more than their own bid and points to average sponsored-ad prices falling by half since 2019, numbers that could both be true and still dodge the real question of what second-price was supposed to mean.","[\"amazon\",\"ftc\",\"advertising\",\"antitrust\"]","2026-08-31T22:25:50.000Z","2026-08-31T23:39:02.243Z","2026-08-31T23:39:14.154Z","published",null,[24],{"id":25,"reviewer":26,"round":27,"reason":28,"status":29},"editor-r1","editor",1,"Fix the dek's claim that Amazon charged advertisers 'billions more than they bid' — the source says the opposite: the allegation is Amazon charged winners closer to their own (already-submitted) bid instead of the lower second-price, and Amazon explicitly states advertisers never pay more than their bid, so this phrasing misstates the core allegation.","resolved","policy",[32,33,34,35],"amazon","ftc","advertising","antitrust",[37],{"name":38,"url":39},"Mashable","https:\u002F\u002Fmashable.com\u002Ftech\u002Fftc-amazon-advertising-auction-lawsuit",0,{"sections":42},[43,48,53,57,62,67,72,77,82,87,92,97,102,107],{"name":44,"slug":45,"count":46,"latest_published_at":47},"AI","ai",3360,"2026-09-01T20:00:00.000Z",{"name":49,"slug":50,"count":51,"latest_published_at":52},"Security","security",517,"2026-09-01T21:20:00.000Z",{"name":54,"slug":30,"count":55,"latest_published_at":56},"Policy",260,"2026-09-01T18:19:26.000Z",{"name":58,"slug":59,"count":60,"latest_published_at":61},"Deals","deals",179,"2026-06-29T20:02:07.000Z",{"name":63,"slug":64,"count":65,"latest_published_at":66},"Hardware","hardware",151,"2026-09-01T14:42:22.000Z",{"name":68,"slug":69,"count":70,"latest_published_at":71},"Consumer Tech","consumer-tech",95,"2026-08-18T16:05:00.000Z",{"name":73,"slug":74,"count":75,"latest_published_at":76},"Science","science",91,"2026-08-20T10:01:48.000Z",{"name":78,"slug":79,"count":80,"latest_published_at":81},"Software","software",73,"2026-08-18T07:51:50.000Z",{"name":83,"slug":84,"count":85,"latest_published_at":86},"Dev Tools","dev-tools",69,"2026-08-18T04:00:00.000Z",{"name":88,"slug":89,"count":90,"latest_published_at":91},"Startups","startups",52,"2026-08-25T18:55:12.000Z",{"name":93,"slug":94,"count":95,"latest_published_at":96},"Gaming","gaming",41,"2026-07-09T04:00:00.000Z",{"name":98,"slug":99,"count":100,"latest_published_at":101},"General","general",34,"2026-09-01T13:28:43.000Z",{"name":103,"slug":104,"count":105,"latest_published_at":106},"Reviews","reviews",20,"2026-06-24T12:00:01.000Z",{"name":108,"slug":109,"count":110,"latest_published_at":111},"How-To","how-to",6,"2026-06-16T09:00:00.000Z"]