Amazon Ads Review & Pricing (2026)

Amazon Ads

Amazon Ads is Amazon's first-party self-service advertising console, where sellers, vendors, Kindle Direct Publishing authors, and agencies create and manage Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and display ad campaigns. Sponsored Products bills on a cost-per-click auction with no monthly or upfront platform fee. Sponsored Brands additionally supports cost per thousand viewable impressions and a fixed upfront reserve share of voice option. The offering previously branded Sponsored Display is now presented as display ads.

The console is the default starting point for sellers running pay-per-click in house, ahead of programmatic buying through Amazon DSP. Sponsored Brands requires Amazon Brand Registry enrollment, so unbranded and reseller accounts are limited to Sponsored Products and display ads. Clearing costs per click are set by live auction and are not published. Amazon is consolidating sponsored ads and Amazon DSP into a single Campaign Manager interface, so console navigation and report names are in transition.

Capabilities

Sponsored Products Campaigns

Cost-per-click ads promoting individual listings that appear within Amazon shopping results and on product detail pages.

Sponsored Brands Formats

Brand-level ads using static images, collections, or video that link to a Brand Store or a product detail page.

Display Ads

The offering formerly branded Sponsored Display, supporting cost-per-click and viewable impression buying across Amazon properties and third-party placements.

Automatic and Manual Targeting

Advertisers can select their own keywords and ASIN targets or let Amazon select relevant keywords automatically.

Reserve Share of Voice

A Sponsored Brands option to reserve top-of-search placement for branded keywords at a fixed upfront price.

Campaign Reporting

Reports covering impressions, clicks, ACOS, ROAS, placement performance, and new-to-brand purchases across a 12-month look-back window.

Amazon Ads API

Programmatic access for managing sponsored ads campaigns outside the console.

Sponsored Products Video

A long-form interactive video creative format for Sponsored Products campaigns announced at unBoxed 2025.

Strengths

There are no monthly or upfront platform fees, so advertisers pay only for clicks or viewable impressions delivered.

Daily budgets, bids, and campaign status can be changed or paused by the advertiser at any time.

Sponsored Products is available to professional sellers, vendors, book vendors, Kindle Direct Publishing authors, and agencies across more than 20 marketplaces.

Brand Stores and Brand Follow are provided at no cost to enrolled brands.

Sponsored ads can be run through the console or programmatically through the Amazon Ads API.

Amazon Ads Academy provides free courses and certifications covering both beginner and advanced sponsored ads paths.

Considerations

Sponsored Brands requires enrollment in Amazon Brand Registry, so unbranded and reseller accounts are limited to Sponsored Products and display ads.

Adult, used, refurbished, and closed-category products are not eligible to advertise, and products must be eligible for the Featured Offer to run Sponsored Products.

Daily budgets are not paced evenly through the day, so a small budget can be consumed within a short window when shopper demand is high.

Clearing costs per click are set by live auction and are not published, so actual cost per click cannot be known before a campaign runs.

Amazon is consolidating sponsored ads and Amazon DSP into a single Campaign Manager interface, so workflows and report names are in transition.

Pricing

No platform fee; cost-per-click auction pricing

No free trial; new-seller ad credits are offered in select marketplaces

CategoryPPC

TypeSoftware

Pricing modelUsage-based

MarketplacesAmazon (more than 20 marketplaces)

Best forSellers running pay-per-click in-house

Plan your inventory with confidence, not spreadsheets.