Shady business practice?

I’ve been casually looking for a used car since about December. Luckily I
don’t “need” a newer car but my 06 Civic is showing it’s age cosmetically but
still runs like a Swiss watch.
So it’s become increasingly obvious to me that the listed prices on websites
are simply a ploy to get you to contact the dealerships. Apparently I was
extremely naïve starting out thinking the advertised price, plus tax and tags
were the price of the car. Not even close. Every dealer I’ve made contact
with, especially those in Virginia has dealer fees attached in the finer print.
And they have several different names and ways of disclosing these fees
which are not always forthcoming until you are ready to buy.
Recently I was interested in a 2017 Accord at Exclusive Motorcars listed for
$18,590 which Cargurus indicated was a Good Deal. Until you want to buy
the car and then they drop the bombshell that there’s an additional $1995
Exclusive Certification fee. WTF? When I asked what this was the dealer
with a straight face said it was a certification that the car was up to the
dealers specifications. So now the advertised price and the certification
made the real price of the car $20,585 plus tax, tags and who knows…
maybe there was an additional fee or fees. I never got to ask that because I
left after hearing about the certification charge.
Am I alone in thinking this is a shady way to do business?