FTC accuses Amazon of running a ‘secret ad surcharge scheme’ in new lawsuit

The FTC and 22 states allege Amazon covertly altered its Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Display ad auctions in 2019, adding a hidden “soft reserve price” and a fabricated bidder that turned a marketed second-price auction into a first-price sale. The scheme purportedly affected over 1 million brands, generating tens of billions of extra revenue from advertisers who were told they would pay only a cent above the next highest bid.