FTC Sues Amazon Over Alleged Ad Price Inflation

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 22 states have jointly filed a lawsuit against Amazon, alleging that it defrauded its advertising customers.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Washington, claims that Amazon overcharged 1.2 million advertising customers by misleading them on prices for online auctions for ads.

According to the FTC, Amazon said it was offering competitive prices on several ad products when it was actually inflating auction prices.

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson stated, 'When one of the world's largest online retailers engages in unfair and deceptive conduct, the impact can be staggering.'

Amazon responded to the allegations in a blog post, calling them 'patently false'.