Amazon is being sued by US federal authorities for manipulation of advertising auctions. The Seattle-based company is accused of artificially inflating the prices that sellers pay for visibility on its website pages.
The lawsuit alleges that Amazon manipulated its advertising auction systems, which allowed it to obtain significant additional revenues. Since 2019, the company has accumulated approximately 20 billion dollars in additional revenues due to these practices.
Sellers who want visibility on the platform are required to pay to participate in advertising auctions. According to the authorities, Amazon used its dominant position to distort these auctions in its favor.
The case represents one of the largest antitrust cases against the tech giant, which may face multi-million dollar damages and significant changes in how it manages its e-commerce platform.
