U.S. FTC Sues Amazon in Coalition with 22 States, Alleging It Overcharged Advertisers Excessively

According to foreign media reports, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, joining forces with 22 state attorneys general to accuse Amazon of secretly and systematically overcharging advertisers on its platform by manipulating pricing and ad auction systems, in what the lawsuit describes as company-wide fraudulent conduct.

Court filings show that the allegations target Amazon's ad auction strategy adjusted in 2018. After the relevant rules took effect in 2019, Amazon may have reaped more than $20 billion in profits from platform advertisers through hidden surcharges. Following the news of the lawsuit, Amazon's share price fell by more than 2.8% on the day.

Public financial data shows that the advertising business is one of Amazon's core high-margin segments. Its full-year advertising revenue reached $6.86 billion in 2025, up 23% year-on-year, with revenue mainly coming from sponsored product listings on the platform, while Prime Video advertising has also become a key growth driver.

This marks the third major regulatory lawsuit the FTC has filed against Amazon in recent years. In 2023, the agency sued Amazon alongside 17 states for illegally maintaining its monopoly position. In September 2025, it just reached a $2.5 billion settlement with Amazon over the company's practice of tricking users into subscribing to Prime membership and setting up barriers to cancellation, including $1 billion in civil penalties and $1.5 billion in refunds to affected users.

This article was first published on the official website of Ebrun.