Amazon Promotes Own Products, Customers Pay More

An investigation by ProPublica has found that Amazon.com's algorithms encourage customers to pay more than they need to for products. The report found that Amazon places its own products in the prominent “Buy Box” almost three-quarters of the time, even if it isn't the cheapest. If a customer bought everything recommended by Amazon’s "Buy Box," they would have paid 20 percent more than if they had bought the same products at the lowest price on the platform, according to ProPublica’s report.