The post FTC Claims Amazon Doubled Number Of Ads In Search Results—And Deleted Internal Messages To Evade Federal Probe appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Topline Amazon allegedly doubled the number of advertisements in search results, and company executives deleted internal communications to prevent a probe by regulators, according to a less-redacted complaint released Thursday by the Federal Trade Commission, amid a landmark lawsuit from the agency alleging Amazon illegally protected a monopoly in online retail. The agency alleges Amazon executives “systematically and intentionally deleted” more than two years … [+] of internal communications. Getty Images Key Facts The FTC said Amazon doubled the percentage of instances in which a desktop search result would result in an advertisement in 2017, and more than quintupled the percentage for mobile search results—a move the FTC said made it harder for shoppers to find products and often steered them toward high-priced items. The practice also “punishes” sellers offering lower prices on the site and with other online retailers because “many sellers set their price on Amazon … as the price floor across the internet,” according to the FTC. Some Amazon executives allegedly said the company would be “crazy not to” increase the number of advertisements shown to customers, with “advertisements being so profitable” for the company, the agency said. Another executive collected examples of how the increased number of advertisements would affect customers, the FTC claims, including one instance in which buck urine products would show up in a search for water bottles. The FTC also claims that, between June 2019 to early 2022, Amazon executives “systematically and intentionally deleted” international communications while using the messaging app Signal in an effort to “impede” an investigation by federal officials and “hide information about its internal operations.” An Amazon spokesperson told Forbes the FTC’s claims about executives deleting messages are “baseless and irresponsible,” adding that the company disclosed its employees’ use of Signal and allowed the agency to inspect messages…

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Filed under: News - @ November 2, 2023 10:08 pm