By Marty Swant

With its new antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, the Federal Trade Commission has officially begun its new legal battle against the everything store.

The 172-page complaint — filed yesterday by the FTC and 17 state attorneys general — accused Amazon of “monopolistic practices” and makes a range of allegations against the e-commerce giant while providing details about its advertising operations, interactions with sellers and alleged attempts to block competition. The regulatory agency also accused Amazon of hiking fees and being careless about data privacy, claiming it “hiked its fees even as it failed to adequately protect sellers’ commercial sensitive data” and “exposed this data to theft and appropriation.” However, it also includes plenty of redactions that leave a lot of mystery as to what intel the FTC might use against Amazon in the case.

In its lawsuit, the FTC accused Amazon of conducting anticompetitive behavior in both the online superstore market for shoppers and the online service marketplace bought by sellers. The agency also alleged Amazon’s advertising operation has been “degrading” the platform by replacing relevant organic search with paid ads and “deliberately increasing junk ads that worsen search quality” and “frustrate” both shoppers and sellers. It also accused the e-commerce giant of tactics such as anti-discounting measures, coercing sellers in ways that make business on the platform more expensive.

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Source:: Digiday

Author: Aaron