Big question
Does the retail media auction price competition, or your dependence on the shelf?
The position
Assume you are paying for access as well as for competition, and audit the difference at renewal against the auction transparency standards finalised on 29 January 2026. Nobody outside can name the network's margin, and the high tens of per cent figure everybody repeats is unsourced.
Why it is live
The retailer sets the floor, weights relevance, owns the page and sells the product next to yours, and no retailer publishes a weight or a reserve. The FTC and 22 states sued Amazon on 31 August 2026 over an alleged secret advertising auction surcharge. The allegations are unresolved and specific to one company.
The case for genuine competition
DocumentedEvery documented retail auction is a real auction with real rival bids, and prices move when rivals move.
The case against
ContestedA quality term exists, no retailer publishes its weight, it can be tuned toward the retailer's own margin, and a federal complaint now alleges a charge no advertiser could see.
Where the weight sits
Leaning against the auction being purely competitive, with the size unproven. A pending complaint is an allegation and not a finding, and saying so is part of the answer.
What would change this
A finding of fact in the FTC case, or one network completing an audit against the January 2026 auction transparency standards.
Where this is taught
Where this has moved
Connected Retail Media
Sources
- Federal Trade Commission, 31 Aug 2026primary
- ANA principal media governance study, Mar 2026secondary