Amazon Says It Sold Ads for Products Shoppers Couldn’t Buy

Amazon.com Inc. has pledged to make fixes to its advertising operation after mistakenly charging online merchants to promote products shoppers couldn’t purchase.

The problem came to light when a seller of advanced gaming computers discovered he was being charged thousands of dollars to advertise merchandise in California even though he had stopped selling his products there. Rob Robinson says Amazon’s automated advertising system continued to promote his merchandise in the state even though customers couldn’t order it. Because he was being charged for ads that weren’t generating sales, Robinson says he made zero profit in November, December and January. Despite Robinson flagging the issue for several weeks, Amazon initially denied there was a problem.