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Amazon’s ad auction is headed to court, Good Good Golf turned one bad advertisement into a distribution crisis, and Walmart made a purse out of rotisserie chicken packaging. Ecommerce had a week.

In this episode of Selling on Giants, Mr. Will breaks down the Federal Trade Commission’s challenge to Amazon’s advertising auctions, new insurance requirements for Amazon sellers, fourth quarter cost pressure, AI-powered product discovery, Sephora’s TikTok Shop strategy, and two completely different lessons in creating brand attention.

What is the FTC alleging about Amazon’s advertising auctions?

The FTC and twenty-two state attorneys general allege that Amazon used undisclosed reserve prices inside Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display auctions. According to the complaint, approximately 1.2 million advertisers paid more than $20 billion in additional advertising costs.

Amazon disputes the allegations and says advertisers never paid more than their submitted bids. There has been no court ruling, refund program, or announced change to Amazon’s advertising auctions.

Mr. Will explains why sellers should preserve historical campaign and billing reports while continuing to make advertising decisions based on conversion, ACoS, TACoS, contribution margin, and total sales performance. The lawsuit does not make Amazon’s advertising data useless, but it challenges the assumption that every increase in CPC comes from another advertiser bidding more aggressively.

Read the FTC complaint against Amazon.

Which Amazon sellers now need commercial liability insurance?

Beginning November 2, sellers offering products in categories subject to enhanced safety requirements must carry at least $1 million in commercial liability insurance, regardless of monthly Amazon sales.

The affected categories include children’s products, cosmetics, ingestible products, and products containing lithium batteries. Sellers need to confirm that their policies cover the actual products being sold and that the legal business name matches the information in Seller Central.

This turns insurance into a product-level condition of marketplace access rather than a requirement limited to larger sellers.

Why are fourth quarter margins facing more pressure?

Canada’s new countertariffs take effect September 8, with rates of 15%, 25%, or 50% applying to selected U.S.-origin products. Exposure depends on the product’s classification and legal country of origin, not simply the warehouse from which it ships.

At the same time, Amazon Shipping is joining USPS, UPS, and FedEx in applying holiday surcharges. Walmart Marketplace is also extending the return window for most eligible purchases made between October 1 and December 31 through January 31.

Brands need to account for tariffs, carrier surcharges, promotional discounts, and January returns before judging holiday profitability. Fourth quarter revenue that returns after the margin has already been spent is not profitable growth.

How is Alexa Plus changing product discovery on Amazon?

Amazon has completed the U.S. rollout of Alexa Plus and included unlimited access with Prime. Customers can now describe a problem, compare options, and narrow their choices before viewing a traditional search results page.

Amazon reports that more than 350 million shoppers used Alexa for Shopping during the previous twelve months and that those users spent approximately 40% more per order. These are Amazon-reported figures, but they point toward a larger shift in how shoppers discover products.

There is no confirmed Alexa Plus optimization tool or secret conversational ranking formula. Sellers should focus on accu