US trade regulator and 22 states accuse Amazon of taking $20bn with secret surcharges

FTC alleges in lawsuit that online retailer ‘secretly and systematically overcharged’ advertisers for years The US’s main trade regulator and 22 states sued Amazon on Monday, alleging the online retailer “secretly and systematically overcharged” advertisers on Amazon.com. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said these practices led to higher costs for customers on items like groceries and other essential goods that are sold on Amazon. “Amazon has millions of advertising customers who were misled into paying significantly higher prices. These higher costs were largely passed on to American consumers,” said Andrew Ferguson, the FTC chair. The agency accused the company of taking in more than $20bn from “hidden surcharges”, in what it deems an “ad-rigging scheme”. Amazon’s advertising business has grown significantly in recent years, becoming the third-largest online advertising marketplace after Google and Meta. The FTC says Amazon generates more than $68bn in ad revenue on its website. The lawsuit alleges that 1.2 million advertising customers were overcharged since 2019, including more than 500,000 small and medium-sized businesses. An Amazon spokesperson pointed the Guardian to a b