Removing ads for unprofitable products could infringe on Amazon’s ad business, which is one of the company’s biggest sources of revenue and an area it is focused on growing.
The aggressive stance on who can and cannot advertise could also present a conflict of interest for Amazon, since the company uses ads to drive sales on its own site and isn’t an open auction dictated by market changes like Google and Facebook, analysts told CNBC. Such practices could catch the attention of regulators, especially as U.S. and European governments have been cracking down on tech companies of late. This week, EU regulators levied their third fine against Google for anticompetitive ad practices.
