Amazon says the FTC's complaint over Sponsored Ads cites no evidence of consumer price increases or advertiser harm, and misunderstands how advertisers operate

The FTC today filed a misguided lawsuit claiming Amazon misled advertisers about its Sponsored Ads pricing and auction.

About Amazon 2026-09-01

Context & Ripple Effects

The complaint follows a 2025 FTC inquiry into ad-pricing disclosures at Amazon and Google and June reports that a multistate case against Amazon was being prepared. The September filing turns that scrutiny into a formal dispute over what Sponsored Ads advertisers were told about pricing and auction mechanics.

Amazon's response adopts a familiar litigation posture from its earlier effort to challenge an FTC case on proof of consumer harm: it argues the agency has not established advertiser harm or consumer price effects. The FTC and 22 state attorneys general, meanwhile, allege concealed charges in Amazon's ad auctions.

First-order effects

Amazon must defend its Sponsored Ads pricing and auction disclosures against the FTC and 22 state attorneys general, while contesting the alleged harm underlying the case.
Sponsored Ads advertisers gain a regulatory challenge centered on the information and charges associated with Amazon's ad-auction system.

Second-order effects

The joint federal-state case makes Amazon's documentation of auction pricing, fees, and advertiser disclosures central to the litigation, rather than leaving those practices solely to platform policy.
The FTC's theory gives state attorneys general a shared enforcement path for alleged ad-market deception, increasing the stakes of Amazon's defense beyond a bilateral federal dispute.

Third-order effects

If the FTC's disclosure-based theory withstands Amazon's challenge, retail-media auction operators may face greater pressure to make pricing mechanics legible to advertisers and regulators.
The case tests whether opaque marketplace-ad pricing can be treated as a consumer-protection issue when advertisers contend that costs flow through to shoppers.

The trend: Digital-ad enforcement is extending from headline ad rates to the auction rules, fees, and disclosures that determine advertisers' effective prices.

Discussion

r/programmatic r on reddit
Amazon was bidding on its auctions to inflate second price floor.
@shinghid @shinghid on x
Going to be interesting. Wrote about some of this previously here: https://medium.com/...
@amazonnews @amazonnews on x
We strongly disagree with the FTC's claims. See our full response here. https://www.aboutamazon.com/ ...
@ftc @ftc on x
FTC, states sue Amazon over secret ad surcharge scheme. FTC and 22 state attorneys general allege Amazon concealed unfair charges in its digital advertising auction pricing: https://www.ftc.gov/...
MLex MLex on x
Amazon sued by US FTC, states over alleged secret ad surcharge scheme
@matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x
Stop following the meek Trump administration. Deception isn't the problem, abuse of market power is. State AGs have a habit of cowering in the face of corporate power. It's changing, but not fast enough. Not as bad as letting the egg cartel off, but not great.
@agrobbonta Rob Bonta on x
I'm joining the FTC and a bipartisan coalition of AGs in suing Amazon for secretly, systematically, and illegally overcharging businesses that advertise on its platform. Amazon rigs its advertising auctions to force businesses to pay more, inflating their own profits at the
@michaelpatron0 Michael Patrón on x
WOW, umm...this is kind of a huge deal. Complete stab in the back to sellers if true. Like holy shit, I didn't think seller sentiment could get any lower but this is taking money directly out of seller pockets.
@joellthayer Joel Thayer on x
The @FTC and 22 states are taking real action against Amazon's alleged advertising auction scheme. Turning a supposed second-price auction into a hidden first-price scheme that cost advertisers tens of billions is exactly the kind of deceptive platform conduct that demands accoun…
@mikevorkunov Mike Vorkunov on x
Is that good? That doesn't seem good if that's true.
@eugenekhayman Eugene Khayman on x
The pressure is really turning up on Amazon. Tactics to squeeze as much as they can, everywhere they can, won't last forever. I predict a class action civil suit coming at Amazon soon as well.
@jeffjacksonnc Jeff Jackson on x
BREAKING: We just sued Amazon over what we believe was a vast, ad-rigging scheme. We believe Amazon found a way to charge a few extra pennies to an enormous number of transactions, adding up to over $20 billion in illegal charges... This is a case about affordability, fair compe…
@mlaurencechen Matthew Chen on x
Amazon Ads getting sued for market manipulation is not surprising: https://www.ftc.gov/... really confirms what we've been seeing at @trylaurence. our first models assumed second price auctions. then we realized this didn't work in practice and revised our strategy more to come h…
@reedgalen Reed Galen on x
Excellent, @JeffJacksonNC. Excellent.
@newjerseyoag Attorney General Jennifer Davenport on x
For years, Amazon has misrepresented to its business customers how it sets advertising prices — extracting billions from unwitting advertisers and driving up prices. With @FTC and other AGs, we're suing to protect small and medium-sized businesses as well as consumers.
@agowa Attorney General Nick Brown on x
A new lawsuit filed today by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 22 states, including Washington, alleges that Amazon has for years artificially inflated the prices of ads on its e-commerce platform and misrepresented how the company sets ad prices.
@paattorneygen @paattorneygen on x
Attorney General Sunday announced that his office has joined a lawsuit filed by the @FTC against https://amazon.com/, regarding alleged deceptive and unfair practices that secretly inflated prices in its auctions for ads on Amazon's website and app. https://www.attorneygeneral.go…
@afergusonftc Andrew Ferguson on x
Digital markets play a critical role in the American economy—but they only work when participants can trust that powerful tech platforms play by the same rules as everyone else. That trust is foundational. Today, the Trump FTC—joined by 22 states—filed suit alleging that Amazon…
Thomas Höppner Thomas Höppner on linkedin
Yesterday, the US Federal Trade Commission and a group of 22 US states filed a complaint against Amazon for allegedly extracting over $ 20 billion …
r/technology r on reddit
FTC sues Amazon, accusing the e-commerce giant of “secretly and systematically overcharged” misleading advertisers on its platform by manipulating its pricing and auction systems.

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