The daily publication · October 29, 2026 · Small business

The FTC just asked nine giants to show their pricing math

By Tabron Merryhill · The Workflow

The federal government just asked nine big companies to explain their prices. Not their average prices. The price each person sees.

The idea

On October 28, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission sent formal orders to Delta, United, JetBlue, Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, Target, and Walmart. The orders use Section 6(b) of the FTC Act, which lets the agency demand information for a study. They are not a finding of wrongdoing, and they are not a lawsuit. They are a demand for the homework.

The FTC wants to know one thing in plain terms: does the price change from person to person because of what the company knows about that person? That could mean loyalty program membership. It could mean browsing history. It could mean an AI system reading personal data and guessing the highest price that customer will pay.

For ride and delivery platforms, the order goes one step further. It asks whether driver pay changes based on personal data too, such as how a driver uses their phone or whether they accepted past offers. The same question, aimed at the paycheck instead of the price tag.

The companies have 45 days from receiving the order to respond. If one refuses, the FTC can ask a federal court to force compliance. The vote to issue the orders was 2 to 0.

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson put the case simply: consumers deserve to know whether companies use their web surfing habits or other personal data to estimate the highest price they can charge each consumer. Workers deserve to know if their pay is affected by how companies use their personal data.

This is not the agency's first look at the subject. The FTC ran a study in 2024, but it only examined middlemen consultancies, not the businesses that actually set prices. The agency says it learned nothing about real pricing decisions from that study. This inquiry corrects that mistake by going straight to the companies that set the prices.

The example

Picture a shop owner who runs an online store with a loyalty program and a delivery app on the side. A regular customer opens the app and sees one price for a basket of goods. A new customer opens the same app and sees another. The owner did not set two prices on purpose. The pricing tool adjusted them based on purchase history, location, and past behavior, and no one in the shop can say exactly which input moved which price.

That is the gap the FTC is now probing at the largest scale. And it is the same gap a small owner faces in miniature. If your point of sale tool, your e-commerce platform, or your delivery partner adjusts prices or driver pay using customer data, you should be able to answer three questions: what data goes in, what rule turns it into a price, and where is that written down?

Here is the fair counterpoint, and it matters. The companies deny the premise. Delta says it has no fare product that targets customers with individualized offers based on personal data, and that it has zero tolerance for discriminatory or predatory pricing. JetBlue says its fares are set by demand and seat availability, and all customers see the same fares. Instacart says it does not and will not engage in surveillance pricing, and does not use personal information to set prices. The FTC itself concedes it lacks authority to impose a blanket ban on personalized pricing and will use what it collects to guide policy, not to punish on the spot.

So this is a study, not a verdict. But a study with a 45-day deadline and a court behind it still sets the standard for what "explain your price" will mean. The owners who can already answer those three questions will not have to scramble when a customer, a reporter, or a regulator asks them.

The next step

This week, write down your own pricing inputs.

List every tool that touches a price in your business: your point of sale, your online store, your delivery app, your booking system. For each one, note what customer data it sees and whether it can change a price or a payout on its own. If you cannot answer that from your own records, ask the vendor in writing. Keep the answer with your price list.

Then check the customer side. Open your store as a new visitor and as a logged-in regular, and compare the same item. If the prices differ, find out why before a customer does. A difference you can explain is a pricing strategy. A difference you cannot explain is a risk.

Finally, put one sentence on your price policy that a customer can read: what you use to set prices, and what you never use. Personal data is the line customers now watch. Saying where you draw it, in plain words, is cheaper than letting someone else draw it for you.

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Sources: Federal Trade Commission, https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/10/ftc-launches-personalized-pricing-compensation-inquiry; Bloomberg Law, https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-security/ftc-orders-nine-firms-to-give-data-on-personalized-pricing; PYMNTS, https://www.pymnts.com/legal/2026/ftc-orders-9-companies-to-explain-pricing-and-compensation-methodologies/; MLex, https://www.mlex.com/mlex/articles/2543740/us-ftc-targets-airlines-retailers-gig-platforms-in-personalized-pricing-inquiry. Opposing view: Delta, JetBlue, and Instacart, via PYMNTS, https://www.pymnts.com/legal/2026/ftc-orders-9-companies-to-explain-pricing-and-compensation-methodologies/.