Amazon's $2.5B FTC settlement includes $1B fine
Amazon just settled with the FTC for a massive $2.5 billion, after being accused of tricking people into signing up for Prime.
The deal includes a $1 billion fine and $1.5 billion in refunds for up to 35 million customers who may be eligible for a payout due to issues with Prime sign-ups or cancellations—making this one of the largest FTC settlements related to deceptive online practices.
Amazon will tweak its website
Amazon will tweak its website and make it much easier to cancel Prime, fixing issues where users felt pushed into staying subscribed between 2017 and 2022.
Most updates are things Amazon already improved, but now they're official.
Despite the huge payout, Amazon's stock barely budged—and while some critics say the fine is small compared to Amazon's size, an independent supervisor will keep an eye on these new rules going forward.