Amazon strongly rejected a newly filed lawsuit by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 22 state attorneys general, calling the action misguided and denying allegations that it misled marketers about the pricing dynamics of its Sponsored Ads auctions.
Amazon said the FTC’s allegations followed a six-year investigation in which regulators reviewed approximately 1.5 million pages of documentation. The company argued that regulators relied on a few simplified internal messages to claim there was an enterprise-wide effort to deceive partners, calling the accusation completely untrue.
The company also disputed claims that its practices harmed consumers through higher retail prices. Amazon said it works to match or undercut competing retailers and that customer accounts saved an average of more than USD 230 last year through promotional coupons, limited-time deals and Subscribe & Save. It added that the FTC presented zero evidence of rising consumer prices across more than 150 pages of legal filings.
On advertising, Amazon said marketers never pay more than their original bid under its generalized second-price auction system. It estimated advertisers saved over USD 8 billion from 2021 to 2025 through ad relevance, while average winning bids fell 50% from 2019 to 2025. Roughly 92% of placed ads were not awarded to the highest bidder.
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