Amazon sued over alleged buy button algorithm on website and app; to understand

Amazon has been the target of a class-action lawsuit in the United States. This is because a Alleged application that deceives consumers and directs users to buy more expensive products on the website and app.

According to the text of the case; Amazon algorithm pretends to offer the most affordable products to the public This can be done specifically through a zone on the website that contains the “Buy now” and “Add to cart” buttons.

These interface elements can cause harm to the public, as they are placed in the shopping environment only to benefit certain third-party sellers who have partnered with Amazon and have already paid the company to handle the entire logistics process.

What does the lawsuit filed against Amazon say?

According to the consumers who filed the lawsuit, 98% of Amazon sales are from products offered in the “Shopping Box” (Buy Box in the original English term) because the public is made to believe that there are the best possible offers.

The existence of shortcuts may be a way for Amazon to guarantee public trust, when in fact Amazon is offering a product that is not particularly advantageous to the buyer.

“The bottom line is that customers often pay too much for products available from other sellers on Amazon, not because they don’t care about value or make informed purchasing decisions, but because Amazon chooses to showcase offers that will earn the highest commission“, says the text of the process.

The legal action builds on investigations that European authorities have conducted against the company in recent years. In one of them, the company was sued for 1 billion dollars in England. “abusing their dominant position“in the place where the product the consumer is looking for appears.

The process claims to represent “Hundreds of millions of consumers” Those who have unknowingly made unfair purchases since 2016. An amount that the company will seek as compensation in relation to the alleged criminal case has not yet been determined.

The lawsuit was filed in a court in Washington, where the company is headquartered, but there is no date yet for the case to be heard by a judge. So far, the company has not yet commented on the matter.