• by Wendy Davis , September 25, 2026

A recent Federal Trade Commission proposal requiring companies to disclose their use of personalized pricing in some circumstances "will create confusion and uncertainty in the business community and likely will deprive consumers of advertising offers they want and use," ad industry groups told the agency on Friday.

The proposed policy, issued last month, would mandate disclosure when companies use consumers' personal information to set individualized prices -- but only in situations where personalized pricing would come as a surprise.

The ad groups say this proposal "would introduce vague enforcement standards ... that would chill businesses’ use of responsible business practices that benefit both consumers and businesses."

"Without additional clarification, the proposed Policy Statement threatens to undermine routine and responsible business practices that bolster robust market competition and consumer choice," the Association of National Advertisers, American Association of Advertising Agencies and American Advertising Federation write.

They are calling on the FTC to clarify "specific pricing practices" that would be affected by the proposed policy.

The FTC said in its proposed enforcement policy that personalized pricing "is a long-established norm in some markets," but not "in many others."

"Personalized pricing in the latter markets would therefore run contrary to longstanding practice and consumers’ reasonable expectations that the price they see for a product or service is the same price that any other consumer at the same place and time would see," the FTC wrote.

But the advertising organizations say the FTC failed to set "parameters for assessing the reasonable belief of a consumer."

Unless the commission provides more clarity, the proposed policy "could be applied to essentially any discount offered to an audience based on personal data, such as sending a personalized coupon for free shipping when a customer leaves an item in their shopping cart," the groups write.

They add that the policy, if adopted, could spur companies to notify consumers "that data was used to help generate essentially every pricing" they encounter.

"Such over-notification is likely to dilute the effectiveness of appropriate disclosures, leading consumers to ignore disclosures that highlight truly unfair or deceptive pricing practices," the organizations contend.