Amazon charged advertisers up to 50% more than its ad auctions set on normal days and as much as 250% more on Prime Day and Black Friday, according to newly unredacted parts of the FTC’s August lawsuit with 22 states. The suit accuses Amazon of secretly adding surcharges through what it called reserve prices to auctions it told advertisers were second-price, where the winner pays just above the next-highest bid. In a 2023 email, the head of Amazon Ads named reserves as one way to hit that year’s revenue plan, ideally adding at least $40 million. When an advertiser asked if the auction had changed, an Amazon account manager blamed heavier competition, which the FTC says was misleading. Amazon denies deceiving advertisers and says none ever pays more than the top bid they set.
