Business

FTC Probes Google, Amazon for Possibly Misleading Advertisers
By Reuters | 12 Sep, 2025

Search ads sold by Google and Amazon are suspected by the Federal Trade Commission of misleading advertisers as to pricing and terms.

A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, U.S., May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/ File Photo

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether Amazon.com and Alphabet's Google misled advertisers that place ads on their websites, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The investigations are being conducted by the FTC's consumer protection unit, and focus on whether Amazon and Alphabet properly disclosed terms and pricing for ads. 

Alphabet did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Amazon declined to comment. 

The FTC is seeking details about Amazon's advertising auctions and whether it disclosed "reserve pricing" for some search ads, according to the source. Reserve pricing refers to the minimum price advertisers must accept before they can buy an ad.  

The agency is also examining Google's practices, including its internal pricing process and whether it increased the cost of ads in ways that were not disclosed to advertisers, the source said. 

Bloomberg News first reported the development.

Both Google and Amazon are facing trial this month in separate lawsuits brought by federal agencies. 

The FTC has sued Amazon in Seattle for allegedly enrolling users in Prime without their knowledge and making it difficult to cancel the service.

The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to force Google to sell off advertising technology tools to resolve what a judge in Virginia found were illegal monopolies.

Both cases are scheduled to go to trial on September 22. The FTC is also pursuing a separate case alleging Amazon holds illegal monopolies among online superstores and marketplaces. 

(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru and Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Shinjini Ganguli, Kirsten Donovan)