The US Federal Trade Commission has sued Amazon over its advertising practices, accusing the e-commerce giant of manipulating ad auctions to boost profits.
Beginning in 2019, Amazon allegedly changed the rules of its auctions for Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and display ads to ensure that winning bidders would pay more, the FTC said.
Bidders are told that the auctions are held under a generalised second-price (GSP) auction format, under which the auction is won by the highest bidder, but this bidder actually pays only one cent more than the second-highest bidder.
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Profit boost
