FTC investigates Google and Amazon over ad pricing transparency
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has opened probes into Google and Amazon, examining whether the tech giants misled advertisers about the terms and costs of placing ads on their platforms, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The investigations, led by the FTC’s consumer protection unit, focus on whether the companies properly disclosed pricing structures and auction practices. Regulators are scrutinizing Amazon’s use of “reserve pricing”—a minimum price advertisers must accept before buying an ad—and whether those rules were clearly communicated. Google is being investigated for whether it raised ad costs internally without disclosing the changes to advertisers.
Both companies declined to comment on the probe.
The news comes as the two firms face mounting legal challenges. On September 22, trials are set to begin in separate federal cases:
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The FTC vs. Amazon in Seattle, alleging the company enrolled consumers into Prime without consent and made cancellations excessively difficult.
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The DOJ vs. Google in Virginia, where regulators are seeking the breakup of its advertising technology business, after a judge ruled the company illegally monopolized digital ads.
The FTC is also pursuing a broader case accusing Amazon of holding illegal monopolies in online marketplaces.
With the U.S. already pursuing multiple landmark antitrust and consumer protection cases, the latest probe further underscores regulators’ intensified scrutiny of Big Tech’s advertising power, a market worth hundreds of billions annually.
