Amazon sued by US FTC, states over alleged secret ad surcharge scheme
( August 31, 2026, 19:31 GMT | Official Statement) -- MLex Summary: The US Federal Trade Commission and 22 states have accused Amazon of allegedly engaging in deceptive and unfair practices that secretly inflated prices in its online search advertising auctions, the FTC announced. According to the complaint, Amazon has covertly and substantially increased the prices that more than 1 million brands and sellers were required to pay to advertise on its platform. "Amazon has millions of advertising customers who were misled into paying significantly higher prices. These higher costs were largely passed on to American consumers," FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said.Full statement follows. Also see attached file....
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