California Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Amazon

California's attorney general filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon on Wednesday, claiming the retailer stifles competition and increases the prices consumers pay across the internet. The New York Times: The suit is limited to California, where officials said Amazon had around 25 million customers, but if it succeeds it could have a broad impact across the country. The lawsuit largely focuses on the way Amazon penalizes sellers for listing products at lower prices on other websites. If Amazon spots a product listed for cheaper on a competitor's website, it often will remove important buttons like "Buy Now" and "Add to Cart" from a product listing page. Those buttons are a major driver of sales for companies selling though Amazon, and losing them can quickly hurt their businesses. That creates a dilemma for marketplace sellers. At times, they can offer products for lower prices on sites other than Amazon because the cost of using those sites can be lower. But because Amazon is by far the largest online retailer, the sellers would rather raise their prices on other sites than risk losing their sales on Amazon, the complaint said, citing interviews with sellers, competitors and industry consultants.

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