Amazon expands $50 bn ad empire to other retailers with new ad service
At the Consumer Electronic Show, Amazon unveils the Amazon Retail Ad Service, offering advanced technology to retailers, directly challenging industry giants.
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Amazon, the ecommerce titan with a $50 billion advertising business built on sponsored placements, is broadening its business, as reported by Adweek.
At CES, Amazon ads introduced Amazon Retail Ad Services, a new product enabling other retailers to leverage Amazon's powerful advertising tools on their own ecommerce platforms.
This groundbreaking move signals a significant shift in Amazon’s ad strategy, as the company steps into direct competition with established retail adtech players like Criteo, Publicis Groupe’s Epsilon, and startups such as Koddi, the report added.
Retailers including Oriental Trading Company, iHerb, and Asian supermarket Weee! are already part of Amazon’s beta program, focusing initially on small to midsized retailers.
Built on Amazon Web Services (AWS), the Retail Ad Service employs Amazon’s performance-driven ad technology and machine learning models. Retailers can now display ads on their websites’ search, browsing, and product pages, providing a tailored shopping experience for customers, Adweek reported.
Advertisers benefit from seamless campaign management tools integrated into Amazon’s ad console and API partners. This allows them to manage campaigns across multiple retailers, addressing a common pain point in retail media. Ads are contextually relevant, displaying product availability, pricing, and even offering direct add-to-cart functionality for shoppers.
Amazon’s approach emphasizes flexibility and control for retailers. They can decide which ad formats to use, where ads will appear, and even customize post-click experiences for shoppers. Importantly, Amazon ensures data privacy by keeping retailer data separate and managed through AWS accounts.
Amazon’s move is poised to disrupt the retail adtech space. Traditionally, retailers have relied on third-party platforms to build the infrastructure and sales expertise required for ad businesses. Amazon, credited for building its own ad empire in-house, is now extending its expertise to other retailers.
