(St. Paul, MN) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is joining the Federal Trade Commission and A-Gs from a number of other states (including neighboring Wisconsin) to sue Amazon, alleging the online retailer uses “interlocking anti-competitive and unfair strategies” to illegally maintain a monopoly.
Ellison and the other plaintiffs say Amazon’s actions allow it to stifle innovation and competition, degrade quality for shoppers, overcharge sellers, and prevent rivals from fairly competing.
He says Amazon punishes sellers for offering lower-priced goods elsewhere and basically forces them to use the company’s costly fulfillment service. For buyers, Ellison alleges Amazon replaces relevant search results with paid ads, and biases search results to preference its own products over others that it knows are better quality. Officials at Amazon were not immediately reachable.