PHOENIX — Arizona is suing Amazon!
Attorney General Chris Mays on Wednesday announced a lawsuit alleging that the online giants engaged in unfair and deceptive business practices under the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act and the Arizona Uniform Antitrust Act.
“Amazon's anticompetitive and monopolistic practices artificially inflate prices for Arizona consumers and harm small third-party retailers that rely on Amazon's platform,” said Attorney General Mays. ” he said. “Amazon must be held accountable for these violations of state law. All companies, no matter how big or powerful, must play by the same rules and abide by the same laws as other companies.”
Part of the lawsuit focuses on the Amazon Prime cancellation process. Amazon claims the process is intentionally confusing and misleading, a strategy it calls Project Iliad. The process allegedly required users to navigate a complex and user-friendly interface that included distorted wording, confusing choices, and repetitive nudges.
This process was allegedly used to discourage users from leaving the service. According to the AG's office, internal documents show that Project Iliad was successful in reducing prime cancellations by 14%.
The second part of the lawsuit targets Amazon's Buy Box algorithm. This method is intended to determine which offers for a particular product are made available via the “Buy Now” or “Add to Cart” buttons.
The complaint alleges that the Buy Box algorithm is actually biased toward offers that maximize Amazon's profits, often prioritizing its own products and sellers' products over other products that Amazon does not fulfill. It is claimed that there is.
Additionally, the lawsuit accuses Amazon of unfairly maintaining its market dominance by enforcing illegal price parity agreements through business services agreements. This agreement prevents third-party sellers from offering lower prices outside of Amazon, prevents him from competing with Amazon as a retailer and marketplace provider, and ultimately lowers prices for Arizona consumers. It is said that it will be lifted.
“Arizona consumers deserve to be treated fairly and without deception by large companies like Amazon, and small businesses deserve a level playing field,” said Attorney General Mays. “Amazon must change its business practices to comply with Arizona law.”
