At the Mobile World Congress 2023, Amazon unveiled its Amazon Retail Ad Service, allowing other retailers to integrate Amazon’s advertising technology into their own websites. This service offers companies the ability to display contextually relevant ads on their platforms, enhancing search results and product pages. Initially available to U.S. retailers, users will pay usage-based fees (specific pricing not disclosed). In recent years, Amazon has emerged as a significant player in online advertising, reporting $14.3 billion in ad revenue for the latest quarter, ranking behind Alphabet and Meta. While the majority of Amazon’s ad earnings stem from keyword-targeted sponsored product ads, the new service also enables retailers to customize ad design and placement while utilizing Amazon’s ad measurement tools.
Customers early to adopt this service include health and wellness retailer iHerb and others. Amazon’s Vice President of Ads Measurement, Paula Despins, highlighted the service as a means to benefit retailers, advertisers, and shoppers alike, aiming to enhance sales outcomes and the shopping experience. This move follows Amazon’s historical strategy of selling its services, reminiscent of the launch of Amazon Web Services (AWS) in 2006.
