Attorney General Phil Weiser joins FTC and other states in suing Amazon for illegally overcharging ad prices for over half a million small businesses

Aug. 31, 2026 (DENVER) – Attorney General Phil Weiser has joined the Federal Trade Commission and a group of 22 state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce platform, for illegally overcharging nearly 1.2 million U.S. advertising customers by manipulating the auctions it uses to set the price of ads on its platform.

In addition to operating the world’s largest e-commerce platform, Amazon is one of the world’s largest digital advertising companies. The company generates more than $68 billion dollars of annual advertising revenue, primarily by selling advertising space on its e-commerce website and app. Amazon represents, and advertisers believe, competitive auctions set the prices for advertising on its website. But since 2019, has Amazon overridden and replaced the actual auction results with higher prices set by Amazon to increase its profits, the lawsuit alleges. Amazon’s actions and documents suggest that the company intentionally concealed the existence of the higher prices the company set after the auctions finished.

Amazon’s scheme has resulted in substantial overcharges and cost increases paid by its advertising customers. A 2022 study conducted by Amazon revealed that many of its customers for its most lucrative advertising placements are new or small business owners. The FTC has estimated total improper surcharges from 2018 to 2026 to be over $20 billion. A significant portion of these costs, including the advertising costs paid by Amazon sellers, are ultimately passed through to and paid by Amazon shoppers in the form of higher prices.

Attorney General Weiser said Amazon conduct violates the Colorado Consumer Protection Act.

“Businesses advertising on Amazon should not be charged higher rates for advertising because the auctions used to set prices were manipulated,” Attorney General Weiser said. “In filing this case, we are acting to protect Colorado businesses and consumers from improper surcharges levied by Amazon. Whenever companies, no matter how large, don’t follow the law, we will be ready to take action and hold them to account.”

The states are asking the court to grant a permanent injunction to prevent future violations of their consumer protection laws, award monetary relief within the court’s authority, and any additional relief that the court determines to be just and proper.

Joining the FTC in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, and Washington.

Read a copy of the complaint (PDF).

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Media Contact:
Lawrence Pacheco
Chief Communications Officer
(720) 508-6553 office
lawrence.pacheco@coag.gov