US trade regulator, 22 states sue Amazon over alleged hidden ad surcharge

On August 31, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general from 22 states filed a lawsuit against Amazon, alleging that the company overcharged advertisers in its search advertising auctions for more than seven years. The core allegation The complaint alleges that Amazon covertly and significantly raised advertising costs for more than one million brands and sellers, extracting an estimated tens of billions of dollars from advertisers without their know