Amazon PPC, from the first click to ACOS
This Amazon PPC guide section explains how Amazon's sponsored ads work and how to judge them: the ad types and what they cost, how bids and targeting decide where ads show, and the numbers that say whether a campaign pays, each rule taken from Amazon Ads' own pages.
How Amazon PPC works
Amazon PPC is pay per click advertising inside the Amazon store. You choose products to promote and where they should show, set a bid, and pay only when a shopper clicks. Amazon Ads says the final cost per click comes from an auction, based on your adjusted bid plus other factors, and never exceeds your maximum adjusted bid.
The ads sit where shoppers are already buying: at the top of, beside and within search results, and on product pages. Sponsored Products only appear while the product is in stock, and a click lands on the product's detail page. So an ad can bring a shopper to a listing; it cannot make the listing convert.
Targeting decides which searches an ad enters. Automatic campaigns let Amazon match the ad to searches and products using four strategies: close match, loose match, substitutes and complements. Manual campaigns bid on chosen keywords, with broad, phrase or exact match types, or on chosen products and categories. Negative keywords and negative products keep ads away from searches that spend without selling.
The search term report ties it together: it shows the real customer search terms behind every click, with the sales each produced, so keyword research for PPC campaigns starts from what shoppers actually typed. Click through rate and conversion rate then show whether the ad and the product page did their jobs.
That is the thread through every guide in this section. Advertising on Amazon works when three things line up: a product page that converts, targeting that reaches shoppers who want the product, and a cost per sale that stays below the margin.
The ad types, what they cost, and who can use them
| Ad type | Pricing | Where it shows | Who can use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsored Products | Cost per click | Top of, beside and within results; product pages; select sites beyond Amazon | Professional sellers, vendors, book vendors, authors, agencies |
| Sponsored Products video | Cost per click, inside the same campaign | Search, with more placements planned | Sponsored Products advertisers; 1 to 5 feature videos per product |
| Sponsored Brands | Cost per click or cost per 1,000 viewable impressions | Top of and within results, product pages, home page | Sellers in Brand Registry, vendors, agencies |
| Display ads | Automated bidding | Amazon properties such as Twitch and Fire TV, and the open internet | Advertisers on and off Amazon; formerly Sponsored Display |
| Brand Stores | Free; not an ad | Their own pages, reached from the byline and ads | Brands in Brand Registry |
Amazon Ads recommends new advertisers start with Sponsored Products, with a daily budget of at least $10 in the US.
Your bid sets the most you pay per click, the daily budget is averaged over the month, and placement adjustments can raise bids for top of search by up to 900%, so a campaign strategy is as much about bids and budget as about ad types. The details above were read on the date at the top of this page.
What changed: display ads, and the end of Posts
Two changes make many older Amazon advertising guides out of date. Amazon Ads now calls Sponsored Display part of display ads, in a single platform alongside Amazon DSP workflows; existing Sponsored Display campaigns keep running, and new ones are created as display campaigns. And Amazon discontinued Posts, its free brand feed, in July 2025.
Sponsored Products gained a video format too: 1 to 5 feature videos per product, each at least seven seconds, running inside the same campaign and budget. Guides that describe only image ads, or that still explain how to create Posts, describe a lineup that no longer exists.
The one line of math every campaign answers to
ACOS = ad spend / ad sales; break-even ACOS = your profit margin
Amazon Ads' own ACOS guide says there is no single good ACOS, and ties the answer to margin: to keep a profit, ACOS has to stay below your profit margin. An illustrative product with a 30% margin breaks even at an ACOS of 30%.
The order to build an Amazon ad account
Ready the product
Amazon's best practices ask for the featured offer, stock, a competitive price, at least three bullets, four or more zoomable images and five or more reviews rated 3.5 stars or higher.
Launch Sponsored Products, automatic
Amazon Ads recommends automatic targeting for a first campaign: Amazon matches the ad to searches and products from your product information.
Add manual campaigns
Move searches that convert into manual campaigns, with the highest bid on exact match, lower on phrase and lowest on broad.
Add negatives
After about two weeks of data, exclude searches and products that click without selling.
Add Sponsored Brands
Once the brand is registered and has a range, add brand ads pointing to a Brand Store or a collection.
Add display ads
Reach audiences beyond search, and bring back shoppers who viewed and left.
Measure against margin
Judge each campaign's ACOS against the product's margin, and the account's total ad spend against total sales.
How to tell whether Amazon ads are working
A single report rarely settles it. Five numbers, read together over the same period, give a fair picture of whether advertising pays and whether it grows the business:
| Number | Where it is | What a change means |
|---|---|---|
| ACOS | Ads console, per campaign and target | Ad spend against ad sales; compare with margin |
| ROAS | Ads console | Ad sales per dollar of spend; the inverse of ACOS |
| CPC | Ads console and reports | What each click costs; judge it against conversion |
| New to brand orders | Sponsored ads metrics | Whether ads reach customers new to your brand |
| TACoS | Calculated: ad spend over total sales | How much advertising the whole business carries |
Amazon Ads suggests checking a new campaign at least twice a week in its first week, and about two weeks of data before keyword decisions. Ad attribution windows run 7 or 14 days, so the most recent days can still move.
Amazon PPC guides
Start here
- Amazon PPC: how Amazon ads work
Ad types, bids, budgets, targeting, ACOS and the first 30 days.
- Amazon advertising strategy
Objectives per product, the funnel, keywords, launches and budget order.
Formats and costs
- Amazon product ads
Every format with specs: Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, display.
- Amazon CPC
How the auction sets cost per click, and the most you can afford.
- Amazon advertising business
Its size from Amazon's filings, what it sells, and Amazon Business.
Metrics
- Amazon TACoS
Total advertising cost of sale: the formula and how to read it.
- ACoS calculator
Break-even ACOS and target ACOS from your own margin.
Targeting
- Negative keywords on Amazon
Excluding the searches that spend without selling.
- Amazon's custom advertising products
What sits beyond self service sponsored ads.
- Find Amazon competitor keywords
Seven methods, including your own ads reports.
Sources first, then the example
- Rules come from Amazon. Every limit, requirement and prohibited term is taken from Seller Central help and linked, with the date it was last read.
- Examples are marked. Worked examples use illustrative products and say so. No client data appears in a guide.
- Dated, and revisited. Amazon changes listing rules and fees. Each guide shows when it was last verified, and fee and policy pages are reviewed at least once a year.
- Corrections are public. If a guide is found to be wrong, it is fixed and the change is noted at the bottom of the page.
Amazon PPC FAQ
What is Amazon PPC?
Pay per click advertising on Amazon: sponsored ads that promote products or brands in shopping results, on product pages and beyond, where you pay only when a shopper clicks.
Which Amazon ad type should I start with?
Amazon Ads recommends Sponsored Products with automatic targeting, on products that are in stock and hold the featured offer, with a daily budget of at least $10 in the US.
How much does Amazon PPC cost?
There are no monthly or upfront fees for Sponsored Products. You pay per click, never more than your adjusted bid, within a daily budget you set. Amazon publishes no average cost per click.
What is a good ACOS?
Amazon Ads says there is no definitive good ACOS. Your profit margin is the break-even line: an ACOS below it keeps a profit on ad sales.
What is the difference between ACOS and TACoS?
ACOS divides ad spend by ad sales and judges campaigns. TACoS divides ad spend by all sales, including organic, and judges how much advertising the business carries.
What happened to Sponsored Display?
Amazon Ads says it is now part of display ads, in one platform with Amazon DSP workflows. Existing campaigns keep running; new ones are created as display campaigns.
Do I need Brand Registry to advertise?
Not for Sponsored Products. Sponsored Brands and Brand Stores are for brands in Brand Registry, vendors and agencies.
How long before Amazon ads show results?
Ads can get clicks from launch, but Amazon Ads suggests about two weeks of data before judging keywords.
Does Amazon PPC help organic rank?
Amazon says so only in general terms: its new product playbook says ad driven page visits can help boost organic rankings, without saying by how much.
Can I advertise products that are out of stock?
No. Sponsored Products only appear when the advertised item is in stock.
Sources
- Getting started with sponsored ads, Amazon AdsLast verified September 24, 2026.
- Best practices for your Sponsored Products ads, Amazon AdsLast verified September 24, 2026.
- What is advertising cost of sales (ACOS)?, Amazon AdsLast verified September 24, 2026.
- CPC (cost per click) explained, Amazon AdsLast verified September 24, 2026.
- Your complete guide to Sponsored Brands, Amazon AdsLast verified September 24, 2026.
- A complete guide to setting up Sponsored Products video, Amazon AdsLast verified September 24, 2026.
- Sponsored Display is now known as display ads, Amazon AdsLast verified September 24, 2026.
- Posts were discontinued in July 2025, Amazon AdsLast verified September 24, 2026.
- Launching new products and ASINs with Amazon Ads, Amazon AdsLast verified September 24, 2026.