Amazon opens advertising to other retailers

Amazon, the third-largest digital advertising platform behind Alphabet and Meta, is extending its ad technology to other retailers – a move that could significantly reshape the retail media landscape.

Amazon’s new Retail Ad Service allows U.S. retailers to implement Amazon’s sophisticated ad targeting and measurement tools on their own websites, marking another instance of Amazon commercializing its internal technology, similar to AWS and Buy with Prime.

Details: The service enables retailers to:

• Display contextually relevant ads in search results and product pages.
• Customize ad design, placement, and frequency.
• Access Amazon’s ad measurement and reporting tools.
• Manage data through separate AWS accounts.

Early adopters include:

• iHerb (health and wellness)
• Weee! (Asian grocery)
• Oriental Trading Co. (toys and party supplies)

Why we care. Amazon’s Retail Ad Service extends the company’s advanced ad targeting, measurement, and reporting tools beyond its platform to other retailers. This creates new opportunities to reach highly relevant audiences in diverse retail environments while benefiting from Amazon’s proven ad technology.

Additionally, the service’s early adoption by notable retailers signals its potential to reshape the retail media landscape, offering you a broader reach and precision without direct reliance on Amazon’s marketplace.

Between the lines. While this move gives retailers access to Amazon’s proven ad technology, it also provides Amazon with valuable data to enhance its ad prediction and recommendation capabilities across a broader retail ecosystem.

Bottom line. By extending its advertising expertise to other retailers, Amazon is positioning itself to capture an even larger digital advertising market share while helping other retailers boost ad revenues.