Amazon's algorithm was designed to prioritize what it wanted to show consumers, not necessarily the cheapest or best products, as alleged by the government.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) revealed new details about Amazon's practices, highlighting a flood of "expensive, irrelevant advertisements" that benefit Amazon's profits.

[{"selector":"#anim-e6eb3ce3-21e5-4780-94de-bbc5a5e0f726","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-cb81bf78-1178-4270-9fe1-bc51961f5159","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(102.54452%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

Amazon, originally a bookseller in 1994, later expanded to selling various products and opening its platform to third-party sellers.

[{"selector":"#anim-e0f57e51-a109-42f3-95f4-df874cf1840c","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-f876884e-60c5-46d4-b4bf-1c4cd1fbc183","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(104.80000%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

In 2012, Amazon ventured into advertising, charging sellers for product placement on its site.

[{"selector":"#anim-1ee0e7ea-d893-45fd-adec-09a91428c2a6","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-bc2d5ab7-f3a9-4c5c-ac78-366c47c98c60","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(100.00000%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-0fde9b11-029c-4ac2-8ef0-4011a657cfcf","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-e6a80907-8b53-4852-a3a9-933fad307a7e","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 118.01993%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

Jeff Bezos, the founder and then-CEO, pushed Amazon to go big on advertising, leading to an increase in ads across the site by 2017.

[{"selector":"#anim-9cae4b24-3948-4deb-932b-902187e31d25","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-d2480e1a-5223-4fb1-be9a-6a13aed6ee2a","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(107.00809%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-e9f29d3f-7b71-4968-81ff-905883191e91","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-141f83d9-79fd-4df7-9276-d20ed0b04167","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 103.32971%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

Amazon's focus on "search relevance" became less important as profits from advertisements took precedence, according to the FTC's complaint.

[{"selector":"#anim-8cb8aca8-c9e9-42d2-a9c9-6c3225604c54","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-50b60d50-8c3b-4948-8929-38f2e415e701","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(106.96379%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-8d120b77-b9e1-4f9f-a1fb-e4038c014cb5","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-8ab47f45-ab71-48ed-97c9-f01468ef1716","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 102.02678%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

Bezos encouraged executives to accept "defective" ads as a strategy to increase ad revenue, even if they were irrelevant to shoppers' search terms.

[{"selector":"#anim-69d6fbf7-3d1e-4d0c-93aa-f77b35be943d","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-11105921-f896-43b8-9e00-97cbd4892478","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(106.96379%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-148f5a39-c546-4e3b-8288-6f4614c9ec99","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-9ddef764-9b46-4c41-9c14-699c4091e199","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 68.80201%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

Some Amazon employees opposed this strategy, but the advertising division's profitability made it essential to the company's success.

[{"selector":"#anim-4282429a-bcce-4706-8af3-c302dfc72fbf","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-9309d4df-dc7d-4344-8e70-40aff5912653","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(106.96379%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-a3ccdf9b-7804-4596-a586-50cf4153261d","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-60e1ffc1-0f04-4720-bbad-dc5e70a8940c","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 257.72709%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]