Amazon Advertising Glossary — Ad Type
What are Sponsored Products?
Sponsored Products are Amazon's keyword-targeted, cost-per-click (CPC) ads that appear in search results and on product detail pages. They are the most-used ad format on Amazon and represent ~70–80% of typical brand ad spend in our 2025 portfolio. Sellers bid on keywords (or use automatic targeting) and pay only when a shopper clicks. Sponsored Products require Amazon Brand Registry only for video creatives — basic image-style ads are available to all sellers.
Where Sponsored Products show up
Placement determines both CPC and conversion rate. The three primary placement types:
Top-of-search
~25–35% of spend
Top 1–4 results on the search results page. Highest CVR (often 2–3x other placements) and highest CPC. The premium placement most brands compete for.
Rest-of-search
~30–40% of spend
Search-result positions 5+. Mid-range CPC and CVR. Often the most efficient placement on long-tail keywords with low competition.
Product pages
~25–35% of spend
Slot on competitor and complementary product detail pages. Lower CPC and CVR than search placements but reaches shoppers comparing alternatives.
Use placement modifiers in Amazon's campaign settings to bid up to +900% on top-of-search and product pages. Smart segmentation by placement is one of the highest-leverage levers in PPC management.
Targeting types within Sponsored Products
Each Sponsored Products campaign uses one targeting mode. Most mature accounts run all four in parallel.
| Mode | How it targets | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic targeting | Amazon picks keywords + ASINs based on your listing | Discovery + harvesting search terms for new ASINs |
| Manual keyword (broad/phrase/exact) | You bid on specific shopper search terms | Bulk of mature spend; tight ACoS control |
| Manual product targeting | Bid against specific competitor ASINs or categories | Conquesting + complementary-product placements |
| Negative keywords / ASINs | Block irrelevant traffic | ACoS reduction; protecting brand search from cannibalization |
Sponsored Products best practices
1. Tiered campaign structure
Run Auto → Broad → Phrase → Exact in cascading campaigns. Harvest converting search terms from Auto into Broad, then from Broad into Exact. Each tier gets tighter bids and tighter targeting; Exact campaigns hold your most profitable keywords.
2. Single-keyword exact-match (SKAG) for top performers
For your top 20–30 keywords by revenue, isolate each into its own ad group with a single exact-match keyword. SKAGs give you precise bid control and prevent budget cannibalization across match types.
3. Negative keyword discipline
Run weekly search-term reports. Add irrelevant terms (spelling variants, wrong-product searches, brand-defense terms you do not want to bid on) as negative exact or negative phrase. Mature accounts maintain 200–500+ negatives per ASIN.
4. Bid by placement, not by keyword alone
A keyword that converts at 5% on rest-of-search may convert at 15% on top-of-search. Use Amazon's placement-bid-modifiers (top-of-search +50–100%, product pages -25–50%) to push spend toward your strongest placement per keyword.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do Sponsored Products cost?
Sponsored Products are CPC-based — you pay only when a shopper clicks your ad. Average CPC across our 2025 portfolio of 43 brands and $29.6M in spend was $1.12 globally, $1.31 in the US, and $0.44–$0.97 across major European marketplaces. There is no minimum spend or monthly fee.
What is the difference between Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands?
Sponsored Products are keyword-targeted ads showing a single ASIN in search results and product pages. Sponsored Brands are headline-banner ads showing your logo, custom headline, and 3+ ASINs at the top of search results, plus video and store-spotlight variants. Sponsored Brands require Amazon Brand Registry; Sponsored Products do not.
How do I start with Sponsored Products?
Start with one Automatic targeting campaign per ASIN to discover which keywords Amazon thinks match your listing. After 14–30 days, harvest the converting search terms into a Manual keyword campaign with broad-match versions. After another 30 days, promote the highest-ROAS terms to exact-match. This three-step harvest is the standard launch pattern.
What is a good ACoS for Sponsored Products?
A good Sponsored Products ACoS is 20–30% for mature, profit-focused campaigns and 30–45% for growth/launch campaigns. The break-even ACoS depends on your gross margin: with a 30% margin, your break-even is 30%, so anything below is profitable per ad-attributed sale.
How long until Sponsored Products show results?
New Sponsored Products campaigns need ~14 days of impressions and clicks for Amazon's targeting to stabilize. Meaningful keyword-level performance data appears at 30 days. Mature optimization (negative keyword harvesting, exact-match isolation) is a continuous weekly process — never "done."
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