Read in Levels
A person sitting in a chair with a laptop and a credit card

Photo by SumUp on Unsplash

US Government Sues Amazon Over Ad Prices

businessSeptember 3, 2026·180 words·2 min read
Google Classroom logoShare to Classroom

This is a B1 (intermediate) English article about us government sues amazon over ad prices. Read the article below, then check the key words and test your understanding with 5 exercises. You can also listen to the audio and tap any word to see its meaning.

Key VocabularyExercisesDictation PracticeMemorize Practice
How to practice
Key Vocabulary

Tap any underlined difficult word to see its definition in your language and hear it pronounced.

Exercises

Multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, and ordering tasks check that you understood what you read.

Dictation Practice

Listen to each sentence, then type what you hear word by word. Trains your ear and spelling.

Memorize Practice

Read a sentence, then reconstruct it from memory by filling in the blanks. Active recall locks vocabulary in.

Read & Listen

0:00 / 1:21
US Government Sues Amazon Over Ad Prices
The United States government is taking Amazon to court. On Monday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) , the main US consumer agency, filed a lawsuit. Lawyers from 22 states joined it. They say Amazon secretly made businesses pay too much for adverts on its website. About 1.2 million advertisers were affected. Officials believe the extra charges came to more than $20billion.
On Amazon, companies bid against each other for the best advert spots. The winner should pay only a little more than the next-best offer. But the lawsuit says Amazon quietly added bids of its own. This pushed the prices up, and advertisers were not told. Amazon says the lawsuit is wrong. It says advert prices have actually fallen since 2019.
The head of the FTC said shoppers paid more too, because companies raised the price of food and other goods. Amazon disagrees. The states want the court to stop the practice, fine Amazon and pay the money back to advertisers. Amazon's share price fell 2.5% on Monday. This is the third time the FTC has taken Amazon to court.

Key Vocabulary

n.
a case one side brings to court
n.
a message that sells something
v.
to say how much you will pay
n.
money asked for something
v.
to make a price go up
n.
a place where an ad is shown
n.
a government office with a special job
Vocabulary Translations· 7 words · 12 languages

Every definition is context-aware — translated based on how the word is used in this article, not a dictionary.

lawsuitn.

a case one side brings to court

vụ kiệnprocesso judicial, ação訴訟davademanda, pleitopozew, sprawa sądowaدعوى قضائيةrechtszaak, aanklachtсудебный иск诉讼，官司소송
advertn.

a message that sells something

quảng cáoanúncio, publicidade広告reklamanuncioreklamaإعلانadvertentieреклама, объявление广告광고
bidv.

to say how much you will pay

đấu giá, trả giádar lances, oferecer um valor入札するteklif vermek, ihaleye girmekpujar, ofertarlicytować, składać ofertęيزايد، يقدّم عرض سعرbiedenделать ставку, торговаться竞价，出价입찰하다
chargen.

money asked for something

khoản tiền phải trả, phícobrança, valor cobrado料金、請求額ücret, alınan bedelcargo, cobroopłata, obciążenieرسوم، مبلغ مُحصَّلkosten, bedragплата, начисление收费，费用요금, 청구액
raisev.

to make a price go up

tăng (giá)aumentar, subir (preços)（価格を）引き上げる(fiyatı) artırmak, yükseltmeksubir, aumentar (precios)podnieść (ceny)يرفع (الأسعار)verhogen (prijzen)повышать (цены)提高，上调（价格）(가격을) 올리다, 인상하다
spotn.

a place where an ad is shown

vị trí (đặt quảng cáo)espaço, lugar (de anúncio)（広告の）掲載枠、位置(reklam) yeri, alanıespacio, lugar (de anuncio)miejsce (na reklamę)موضع الإعلان، مكانplek, plaats (voor advertentie)место (для рекламы)（广告）位置，版位(광고) 자리, 지면
agencyn.

a government office with a special job

cơ quan (nhà nước)agência, órgão（政府）機関、庁kurum, ajansagencia, organismoagencja, urządوكالة، هيئةagentschap, instantieагентство, ведомство（政府）机构기관, 청

Check Your Understanding

Question 1: Multiple Choice

How could higher advert costs for companies also hurt ordinary shoppers?

Question 2: Multiple Choice

Which fact shows that investors saw the court case as bad news for the company?

Question 3: Fill in the Blank

The consumer agency and 22 states brought a ______ against the company in court.

Question 4: Fill in the Blank

To win a good advert spot, a company has to ______ more money than other companies offer.

Question 5: Put in Order

Put these ideas in the correct logical order.

1The consumer agency and 22 states took the company to court.
2The company's share price fell by 2.5%.
3The lawsuit says the company quietly added bids of its own to the auctions.
4The lawsuit says advertisers paid more for advert spots than they expected.

Dictation Practice

Sentence 1 / 170/9 words

Memorize Practice

Sentence 1 / 17

Read at Other Levels

A1Beginner83wA2Elementary134w
B1Intermediate180w(current)
B2Upper-Intermediate299wC1Advanced378w

More stories

Two cars loaded onto a car carrier truck
business

Trump Taxes Canadian Cars

Audio95 words1 min read
A1A2B1B2ProC1Pro

Photo by Nadja Thöner on Unsplash

a large amount of containers are stacked on top of each other
business

US Gives Back Tariff Money

Audio100 words1 min read
A1A2B1B2ProC1Pro

Photo by Ali Mkumbwa on Unsplash

Woman in glasses interviews man at office desk.
business

US Lost 23,000 Jobs

Audio92 words1 min read
A1A2B1B2ProC1Pro

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Browse other categories

worldsciencehealthtechnologysportnaturecurious