Amazon

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Amazon

Basic information
Founded	1994
Type	Public
Industry	Technology
Official website	https://amazon.com/

Amazon.com, Inc. is a global leader in e-commerce, cloud computing, and digital streaming, founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos. Originally launched as an online bookstore, Amazon quickly expanded into a marketplace offering a wide range of products, including electronics, clothing, household goods, and groceries. Today, it is one of the largest companies in the world, with a dominant presence in retail, technology, and logistics.

In addition to its e-commerce platform, Amazon is a major player in cloud computing through Amazon Web Services (AWS), which provides cloud infrastructure and services to businesses globally. The company also offers a variety of digital services, such as Amazon Prime, which provides streaming video and music, and Alexa, its voice-activated virtual assistant. Amazon has also developed consumer products like the Kindle e-reader, Fire tablets, and Echo smart speakers.

Amazon has faced significant scrutiny and criticism, particularly concerning its treatment of workers, marketplace practices, data privacy issues, and its impact on small businesses. It has been involved in various regulatory and legal challenges related to anti-competitive behavior, safety, and consumer protection, with calls for increased oversight on its business operations.

Consumer impact summary

Overview of concerns that arise from the company's conduct regarding (if applicable):

• User Freedom
• User Privacy
• Business Model
• Market Control

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Controversies

Amazon has been involved in numerous controversies, from dangerous products to anti-competitive practices. Below is a comprehensive listing of every relevant controversy documented here on this wiki:

Controversy	Year	Background info	Aftermath	Related article	Related video(s)
Amazon removing ability to download Kindle books	2025	Starting on February 26, 2025, Amazon removed a feature from its website allowing users to download purchased books to a computer and then copy them manually to a Kindle over USB.	Starting February 26, 2025, the ‘Download & Transfer via USB’ option will no longer be available.	Amazon Kindle removes download feature of purchased books	Amazon are changing the way you own your Kindle books - you have 10 days to react
Amazon sells dangerous litterboxes	2024	Amazon sold litterboxes that were designed in a unsafe way that led to the deaths of multiple cats, and posed a danger to young children.	Original product was delisted, yet many other variants of the same product exist on the site.
Amazon adds ads to premium subscription	2023 – Present	Amazon added advertisements to previously ad free subscriptions for Prime Video and Echo Show frames.	Continues to occur.
Amazon allows fraudulent listings	2014 – Present		Fraudulent listings continue to be added, some removed.	Amazon allows fraudulent product page after manual review! Deep dive on Amazons support of scams
Amazon allows sellers to bribe customers for better ratings	2016 – Present	Amazon sellers give customers gift cards in exchange for positive product reviews; Amazon does nothing to stop this.	Continues to occur.	Amazon's history of seller bribery
Amazon has bad marketplace algorithms	2023 – Present		Algorithms still seem to be nonbeneficial.
Amazon trashes refurbished market	2022–2023		Unknown
Amazon cancels associate account after recent negative media coverage, with a different reason	2023		Unknown
Amazon wrongfully suspends account of home owner	2023	A home owner was locked out of their Amazon account for nearly a week, after a delivery driver from Amazon misheard an automated message from their Eufy doorbell.	Account reinstated.	Amazon locks home owner out of amazon account over allegation by amazon delivery driver
Amazon engages in anticompetitive behavior	2021–2022		Unknown
Amazon sells fake electrical fuses	2024	Fuses are being sold that do not blow when supplied more power than it is intended to handle, which is a major safety risk.	These fuses are still being sold to this day.	Amazon allows fraudulent product page after manual review! Deep dive on Amazons support of scams
Amazon PhotosPlus discontinuation	2024		Since September 2024, it is no longer possible to use the Amazon Echo Show 8 as a digital frame without advertisements.	Amazon PhotosPlus Discontinuation
Amazon uses dark patterns for its premium subscription	2023 – Present	Systematically designing the cancelling steps to be complicated and long; using tricks to kidnap users into the subscription. See "Project Illiad".	Continues to occur.
Amazon removes option to lend Kindle e-books	2022	E-books marked with "lending enabled" could be lent to other Kindle users for a period of time during which the title is unavailable to the sender.	Since August 2022, it is not possible to borrow Kindle books.		Amazon Discontinues Lending Kindle e-Books
Amazon removes option not to send voice recordings from Echo devices	2025	In March 2025, Echo customers with the option "Do Not Send Voice Recordings" enabled received an e-mail that local processing will no longer be supported on their device.		Amazon Echo changes terms of voice usage

Products

Amazon Kindle (2007 – Present)

Amazon has progressively removed options for products purchased through the Kindle, effectively changing the meaning of purchases and ownership. It first removed the ability of users to lend e-books to one another, and later removed the ability to download purchased e-books to a computer.

Amazon PhotosPlus (2023–2024)

Amazon sold physical devices that could displaying photos stored in its Amazon Photos cloud storage through its PhotosPlus service. Less than one year later, it cancelled the service, which changed the functionality of the devices, including showing advertisements every few hours.

Amazon Prime (2005 – Present)

Amazon uses dark patterns for its subscription services, including tricking users into subscribing and making it very complicated to cancel.

See also

Link to relevant theme articles or companies with similar incidents.

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