FTC investigating ad sale practices at Google and Amazon

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether Amazon and Google misled advertisers regarding the pricing and terms for their ads. As first reported by , the investigation is being conducted by the agency’s consumer protection unit, and centers around the auction-style sale of advertising space by the companies.

Google sells ads using automated auctions that run after a user enters a search query. These auctions take place in less than a second. Amazon uses real-time auctions to place ads within…