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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a new lawsuit against Amazon in conjunction with 22 states, accusing it of charging additional fees to merchants through secret mechanisms over a period of seven years. Specifically, Amazon changed the originally promised “sub-luxury auction” mechanism to actually collect the full bid amount, and used hidden surcharges called “soft reserve prices” and fake bidders to inflate prices. The lawsuit claims that this practice affected more than 1 million brand sellers and could potentially bring Amazon billions in additional revenue. In response to the accusations, Amazon argued that the lawsuit misunderstands its bidding mechanism, claiming that it has fully informed merchants about its pricing system and that advertising revenue involves natural fluctuations.
美国联邦贸易委员会（FTC）联合 22 个州对亚马逊提起新诉讼，指控其通过秘密广告附加费方案向商家收取额外费用。该诉讼称，亚马逊在长达七年间未告知商家便悄悄提高了在线广告拍卖价格，影响了超过 100 万个品牌卖家，可能为亚马逊带来数十亿美元额外收入。FTC 指出，亚马逊将原本承诺的“次高价拍卖”（仅比第二名高出一分钱）改为实际收取全额出价，并使用了名为“软保留价”的隐藏附加费及虚构竞拍者（shill bid）来推高价格。亚马逊辩称该诉讼误解了其竞价机制，声称其已充分告知商家定价系统且广告收入自然波动。