Amazon Ads is Amazon's advertising business: it sells ad space in the Amazon store and on the screens Amazon reaches, from Prime Video and Twitch to third-party sites and apps. Five ad types cover almost every need: Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Display for products sold on Amazon, Streaming TV for TV ads, and Amazon DSP for display, video and audio bought at scale. Most ads are won in an auction and paid per click or per 1,000 impressions, and Amazon never charges more than the maximum bid you set.
For sellers, vendors, KDP authors and agencies. Checked against Amazon's help pages in October 2026.
Running several of these ad types? Open the live Gloriads demo: Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Display and Streaming TV in one dashboard, no sign-up.
The five Amazon ad types at a glance
| Ad type | What it shows | You pay |
|---|---|---|
| Sponsored Products | One product, as a listing marked "Sponsored", in search results and on product pages | Per click |
| Sponsored Brands | Your logo, a headline and several products, or a video, around search results | Per click or per 1,000 views |
| Display | Your product, shown by what shoppers browse and buy, on and off Amazon | Per click or per 1,000 views |
| Streaming TV | A full-screen video on Prime Video, Twitch and streaming apps | Per 1,000 ads shown |
| Amazon DSP | Banners, videos, TV and audio ads, on and off Amazon | Per 1,000 ads shown |
A "view" is a viewable impression: at least half the ad on screen for one second. Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Display are Amazon's "sponsored ads", run by yourself in the Amazon Ads console. Amazon DSP is a separate platform, compared in Sponsored Display vs Amazon DSP and Streaming TV vs Amazon DSP.
How does Amazon advertising work?
Every ad space goes to auction. Amazon "runs billions of auctions each day", often several on one page: one for each placement. The auction does not only look at bids. It weighs how relevant your ad is to the shopper's search and interests, so "ads with lower bid amounts, but higher relevance to the customer, can and do win."
A sponsored ads campaign is built in four steps:
- Products. You pick what to advertise. A product must hold the Featured Offer (the Buy Box), or the ad gets no impressions: why an ad gets 0 impressions.
- Targeting. Keywords, products and categories, or audiences. Amazon can pick them for you: automatic vs manual targeting and keyword match types.
- Bid. The most you will pay per click or per 1,000 views. Amazon may raise or lower it for you, depending on the bidding strategy you choose.
- Budget and dates. A daily budget, a start date and an optional end date.
Then you read the reports and adjust: Amazon advises setting bids "that align with your overall goals" rather than chasing single auctions, and cutting what costs without selling with negative keywords.
Which Amazon ad type should you start with?
Amazon's own advice: to grow sales, start with Sponsored Products.
| Your goal | Start with |
|---|---|
| Sell a product people already search for | Sponsored Products |
| Make your brand known in search results | Sponsored Brands |
| Reach shoppers who viewed similar products, or win them back | Display |
| Put your brand on TV | Streaming TV |
| Buy reach on and off Amazon with a large budget | Amazon DSP |
Each pair compared: Sponsored Brands vs Sponsored Products, Sponsored Products vs Sponsored Display, Sponsored Brands vs Sponsored Display.
Who can advertise on Amazon?
To run sponsored ads, Amazon requires you to be a professional seller, a vendor, an author or an advertising agency, with an account in good standing, a valid payment method, and the ability to ship to the country you advertise in. Each ad type then adds its own rules:
| Ad type | Who can run it |
|---|---|
| Sponsored Products | Professional sellers, vendors, authors |
| Sponsored Brands | Sellers in Brand Registry, vendors, authors with 3 books or more |
| Display | Sellers in Brand Registry, vendors, authors, brands that do not sell on Amazon |
| Streaming TV | Sellers in Brand Registry, vendors, US book vendors, US businesses that do not sell on Amazon |
| Amazon DSP | Any brand, whether it sells on Amazon or not |
Brand Registry is Amazon's program for trademark owners. KDP authors have their own rules: Sponsored Brands for authors and Streaming TV for authors.
How much does Amazon advertising cost?
There is no list price: you set a bid and a budget, and the auction sets what you pay, never above your bid.
| Ad type | Minimum to start |
|---|---|
| Sponsored Products | $0.02 per click and $1 a day (US) |
| Sponsored Brands | No minimum budget; $3,000 for Reserve share of voice |
| Display | $0.02 per click or $1 per 1,000 views (US) |
| Streaming TV | $20 a day, no minimum spend |
| Amazon DSP | Self-service, or $50,000 when Amazon runs it for you |
Amazon notes that many advertisers start Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands at $30 a day, and suggests $150 to $250 a day for Streaming TV. In detail: Sponsored Products costs and Streaming TV costs.
Amazon's new names for its ads
Amazon has renamed three of its ad types, the last one in September 2026. The old names are still everywhere, including in Amazon's API.
| Old name | Name today |
|---|---|
| Sponsored Display | Display |
| Sponsored TV | Streaming TV |
| Amazon DSP | Amazon Ads Agent, with "Display, Video, and Audio campaigns" |
Amazon Ads Agent is also the new console that puts DSP and sponsored ads in one place. Its "Display, Video, and Audio campaigns" are DSP campaigns, not the self-service Display ad.
Frequently asked questions
Is Amazon Ads the same as Amazon PPC?
No. Amazon PPC (pay per click) is only the part of Amazon Ads paid per click: Sponsored Products, plus Sponsored Brands and Display with a click goal. Amazon Ads also sells ads paid per 1,000 impressions, such as Streaming TV and Amazon DSP.
What was Amazon Advertising, or AMS?
Amazon Advertising and AMS are earlier names of Amazon Ads. In 2018 Amazon merged Amazon Marketing Services (AMS), Amazon Media Group and the Amazon Advertising Platform under the name Amazon Advertising. Headline Search Ads became Sponsored Brands, and the Advertising Platform became Amazon DSP.
Do I need to sell on Amazon to use Amazon Ads?
It depends on the ad type. Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands only promote products sold on Amazon. Display, Amazon DSP and, in the US, Streaming TV are also open to advertisers who do not sell on Amazon.
How fast do Amazon ads go live?
Seller Sponsored Products ads usually go live within 2 hours. Book ads, Sponsored Brands and Streaming TV ads are reviewed first, usually within 24 hours; books and Sponsored Brands can take up to 3 business days.
Sources
10
- Get started with sponsored ads, Amazon Ads
- Understand Amazon Ads auctions, Amazon Ads
- Understand Sponsored Products, Amazon Ads
- Sponsored Products eligibility requirements, Amazon Ads
- Understand Sponsored Brands, Amazon Ads
- Understand Display, Amazon Ads
- Understand Streaming TV, Amazon Ads
- Get to know Display, Video, and Audio campaigns, Amazon Ads
- Amazon DSP: Now part of Amazon Ads Agent, Amazon Ads
- Amazon rebrands ad services divisions as Amazon Advertising, The Drum, 2018
Gloriads is an Amazon Ads automation platform that creates, monitors and optimizes Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display and Streaming TV campaigns for sellers, brands, authors and agencies, by rules you control. See how it works.