Sponsored Products is Amazon's core self-serve advertising format. It promotes individual product listings in search results (above organic results, within them, and at the bottom) and on product detail pages ("Customers who viewed this also viewed..."). It is available to all sellers with an active Seller Central account and is the most commonly used and most effective Amazon ad type for driving sales.
How Sponsored Products Works
You select the product you want to advertise, choose targeting (keywords or ASINs), set bids, and Amazon shows your ad when a shopper's search or browsing behaviour matches your targeting. You pay only when someone clicks the ad (PPC model).
Targeting options:
- Keyword targeting: You select keywords (broad, phrase, or exact match) and bid on each. The ad shows when a shopper's search query matches.
- ASIN/Product targeting: Target specific competitor or complementary ASINs. Your ad appears on the targeted product's detail page.
- Auto targeting: Amazon automatically matches your ad to relevant searches and product pages based on your listing content. Useful for discovering new keywords.
Campaign Structure
Campaigns → Ad Groups → Ads + Targeting. A typical account structure:
- Auto campaign — broad discovery, low bids
- Exact match campaign — only proven high-converting keywords, higher bids
- Competitor targeting campaign — targeting specific rival ASINs
Key Performance Indicators
- Impressions: How many times the ad was shown
- CTR (Click-Through Rate): Clicks ÷ Impressions. Typically 0.3–0.5% in Amazon search
- CPC (Cost Per Click): What you paid per click
- ACOS: Ad spend ÷ ad revenue × 100
- Orders: Attributed conversions within the 7-day click window
Tips for Better Sponsored Products Performance
- Use exact match campaigns for your best-converting keywords — they give you precise cost control
- Regularly harvest search term reports to find new keyword opportunities and add negative keywords for irrelevant terms
- Improve your listing conversion rate (images, price, reviews) to get more sales per click, lowering your effective ACOS without reducing bids