FTC and 22 states sue Amazon over $20B ad-auction scheme

The FTC plus 22 state AGs filed in the Western District of Washington claiming that since 2019 Amazon told ~1.2 million advertisers it runs second-price/GSP auctions, then replaced results with higher prices via undisclosed soft reserve prices—internally described as a proxy second price set by Amazon. The complaint cites internal docs estimating more than $20 billion extracted and asks for an injunction plus monetary relief. Amazon called the case misguided, said the FTC cherry-picked materials, acknowledged reserve pricing as reflecting placement value, and argued average CPC stayed flat after inflation from 2019–2024.