Types of Amazon Ads in 2026: The 8 Main Formats Explained

Figuring out the different types of Amazon ads can feel like a big task, but it’s the key to unlocking real growth on the platform. With over 65% of product searches starting on Amazon, a solid ad strategy is no longer a nice to have, it’s essential. In fact, About 58% of SMB Amazon sellers advertised on ecommerce platforms (e.g., Amazon PPC) in 2024.

Amazon’s advertising suite helps you reach shoppers at every stage of their journey through its main formats: Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Brands Video, Sponsored Display, Amazon DSP, Streaming TV ads, Video ads, and Audio ads. Understanding these various types of Amazon ads helps you build a strategy that drives real results. For a step-by-step roadmap, grab our marketplace strategy playbook.

Sponsored Product Ads

Sponsored Product ads are the bread and butter of Amazon advertising. You’ve definitely seen them. They are the individual product listings that pop up in search results and on product detail pages, marked with a small “Sponsored” tag.

These ads are pay per click (PPC), meaning you only pay when a shopper actually clicks on your ad. They are a fantastic tool for driving direct sales because they target shoppers who are already searching for products like yours. This is why they are considered a lower funnel ad type, perfect for capturing high intent customers.

• The Go To Ad Type: Sponsored Products are incredibly popular, making up about 70 to 75% of most advertisers’ Amazon PPC budgets. They are the workhorse for most sellers.
• High Returns: These ads generally deliver the highest Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). Their efficiency comes from meeting customers exactly where they are searching, which leads to higher conversion rates. The average conversion rate for Amazon PPC ads is about 11.55% on average—roughly 11x the ecommerce industry average.
• Placement and Targeting: You can find these ads at the top, middle, or bottom of search results, and on competitor or complementary product pages. You can target them with specific keywords or let Amazon’s algorithm do the work with automatic targeting.

For most sellers, especially those new to the platform, mastering Sponsored Products is the first step. If your campaigns are feeling messy or unprofitable, getting help to structure them properly can make a huge difference. Start with this guide to intent-based Amazon campaign structure. An expert team can help you refine your targeting and bidding to stop wasting money and improve your profitability.

Sponsored Brand Ads

While Sponsored Products focus on a single item, Sponsored Brand ads are all about showcasing your brand and a collection of products. For setup and creative tips, see our complete guide to Sponsored Brands. These are the banner style ads you see at the very top of the search results page, featuring your brand logo, a custom headline, and usually three of your products.

Clicking on a Sponsored Brand ad can take a shopper to your custom Brand Store or a curated landing page of your products. They are perfect for building brand awareness and helping customers discover more of what you offer.

• Growing in Popularity: Sponsored Brands are the second largest piece of the ad spend pie, accounting for about 20 to 25% of PPC spend on Amazon.
• Brand Building: Their biggest strength is visibility. The prominent placement at the top of the page, complete with your logo and a custom message, helps shoppers remember your brand name and what you stand for.
• Who Can Use Them: To run Sponsored Brand ads, you need to be enrolled in the Amazon Brand Registry. This makes them a powerful tool for established brands looking to defend their turf and introduce their product line to new audiences.

Using Sponsored Brand ads in combination with Sponsored Products creates a powerful one two punch. The banner ad builds brand recognition, and the product ads close the deal.

Sponsored Brands Video Ads

Sponsored Brands Video ads take the brand building power of a banner ad and add the stopping power of video. These ads appear within search results, often in the middle of the page, and feature a video that auto plays (on mute) as a shopper scrolls by. To slot video into a full-funnel plan, use our Amazon PPC strategy guide.

This format is incredibly effective at grabbing attention in a crowded marketplace. A short, engaging video can tell a product’s story and demonstrate its value far more effectively than a static image.

• Incredible Engagement: The data doesn’t lie. Sponsored Brands Video ads can get a click-through rate 442% higher than static Sponsored Brands ads in Q4 2020.
• Higher Conversion: That engagement translates directly into sales. Shoppers who watch videos are up to 3.6x more likely to convert than non-viewing shoppers.
• Best Practices: The best videos are short (15 to 30 seconds is a sweet spot), show the product in action, and communicate the main benefit quickly with on screen text, since most people will watch without sound.

If you aren’t using video yet, you’re likely leaving money on the table. Thinking about the different types of Amazon ads without including video is a missed opportunity.

Sponsored Display Ads

Sponsored Display ads are Amazon’s answer to retargeting. This is how you can reach shoppers both on and off Amazon. These image based ads can show up on product detail pages, the Amazon homepage, and on third party websites and apps that are part of Amazon’s network.

The real power here is remarketing. If a shopper views your product but doesn’t buy it, a Sponsored Display ad can follow them and remind them to complete their purchase. This ad type is crucial for a full funnel strategy.

• Reach Beyond Amazon: Through Amazon’s network, these display ads can reach a wide audience.
• Targeting Options: You can retarget shoppers who viewed your products, target audiences based on their shopping interests (like “sports enthusiasts”), or even place your ad on specific competitor product pages.
• Growing Fast: While still a smaller portion of total ad spend (1.8% of total Amazon Ad Console spend in Q2 2024), spend on Sponsored Display is growing quickly as more brands use it for product launches and re engagement campaigns.

Sponsored Display is an essential tool for staying top of mind with potential customers. For brands ready to scale beyond search, a well managed Sponsored Display strategy can capture sales you might have otherwise lost. For a comprehensive plan that includes all types of Amazon ads, you might consider getting a free eCommerce Brand Audit to see where your opportunities are.

Amazon DSP

Amazon DSP, which stands for Demand Side Platform, is Amazon’s programmatic advertising platform. In simpler terms, it lets you buy display, video, and audio ads at scale to reach Amazon audiences wherever they are on the internet, not just on Amazon.com.

This is a more advanced advertising tool, often used by larger brands or managed by agencies. It unlocks Amazon’s vast trove of shopper data for highly specific targeting on sites like IMDb, Twitch, and thousands of other third party websites.

• Unrivaled Audience Data: The main advantage is using Amazon’s first party data to target ads. You can create audiences like “people who bought from a competitor in the last 6 months” or “shoppers in market for a new laptop”.
• Full Funnel Reach: DSP is used for everything from top of funnel brand awareness campaigns (running video ads on streaming services) to bottom funnel retargeting (showing a display ad to a cart abandoner).
• Impressive ROI: When executed well, DSP can deliver big results.

Amazon DSP is for brands that want to dominate their category by reaching customers across their entire online journey. Managing these complex types of Amazon ads often requires expert help (our Amazon services team can run DSP and AMC end-to-end), but the payoff can be a significant lift in both sales and brand recognition.

Streaming TV Ads

Streaming TV ads, also known as Over the Top (OTT) ads, are basically commercials delivered through internet streaming services. For Amazon, this means running 15 or 30 second video ads on platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Freevee (Amazon’s free streaming service), and during live sports broadcasts.

This is Amazon’s channel for reaching the massive audience of cord cutters. You can place your ad in front of millions of viewers watching movies and shows on their living room TVs, all while using Amazon’s powerful targeting data.

• Massive Growth: When Amazon introduced more ads on Prime Video in 2024, spending on its streaming TV inventory grew by an incredible 726% in the same year.
• Huge Audience: By late 2024, Prime Video reached about 130 million viewers in the U.S., putting it on par with traditional TV networks.
• High Ad Recall: Ads on Prime Video are effective.

Streaming TV ads are the pinnacle of top of funnel brand building. They let you tell a rich, cinematic story to a captive audience, and Amazon’s closed loop reporting can even help you track if viewers later purchase your product.

Video Ads

While we’ve touched on specific video formats, it’s worth calling out “video ads” as a broad and vital category. This includes everything from Sponsored Brands Video in search results to programmatic video ads run through Amazon DSP.

Video has become one of the most powerful tools in an advertiser’s arsenal because it can demonstrate a product, build an emotional connection, and tell a story in a way static images can’t.

• Growing Investment: Recognizing their power, 37% of US advertisers expected to increase their video ad spend in 2024 versus 2023.
• Better Conversions: Across Amazon, adding video to ad campaigns consistently improves results. One study found that Sponsored Brands video ads’ conversion rate was 29% higher than that of static images for the median advertiser.
• Mobile First: A majority of video ads are viewed on mobile devices. This means your videos must be effective without sound, using clear on screen text or captions to get the message across.

The takeaway is clear: all brands selling on Amazon should have a video strategy. Whether it’s a simple product demo or a polished brand story, incorporating video into your mix of Amazon ad types is key to staying competitive.

Audio Ads

Audio ads are the digital equivalent of radio commercials, delivered through streaming services. On Amazon, this means running 15 or 30 second audio spots on Amazon Music’s free tier and through Alexa enabled devices.

This format allows you to reach customers during screen free moments, like when they’re cooking, driving, or working out.

• A Unique Audience: Amazon’s Echo devices dominate the smart speaker market with about 67% market share in the U.S. Audio ads tap into the tens of millions of people using these devices daily.
• Interactive and Actionable: The magic of audio ads on Alexa is the call to action. An ad can end with, “Alexa, add to cart,” and a listener can act on it immediately with their voice. In one campaign, this led to a 31% new to brand customer rate.
• High Engagement: Since many audio ads are not skippable, they boast a 97% audio completion rate. You can be confident your entire message was heard.

Audio is a clever way to extend your reach and reinforce your brand in moments other types of Amazon ads can’t touch. For brands looking to build a truly omni-channel presence, our D2C growth program complements Amazon ads with Google/Meta and CRO.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main types of Amazon ads?
The main types of Amazon ads are Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands (including video), Sponsored Display, and ads available through Amazon DSP, which include streaming TV, broader video, and audio ads. Each serves a different purpose, from driving immediate sales to building long term brand awareness.

Which Amazon ad type is best for beginners?
For sellers new to Amazon advertising, Sponsored Product ads are the best starting point. They are relatively simple to set up, target high intent shoppers who are actively searching for products, and often provide the highest direct return on ad spend, making them a great way to learn the ropes.

Do I need to be Brand Registered to use all types of Amazon ads?
No, but you need it for some of the most powerful ones. Any professional seller can use Sponsored Products. However, to use Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Brands Video, and Sponsored Display ads, you must be enrolled in the Amazon Brand Registry.

What is the difference between Sponsored Display and Amazon DSP?
Sponsored Display is a self service display advertising solution primarily focused on retargeting and audience targeting, with placements on and off Amazon. Amazon DSP is a more robust programmatic platform that offers much deeper audience targeting, wider reach across the web, and more diverse formats like streaming TV and audio ads. DSP typically requires a higher budget and is often managed by an agency.

How do video ads perform compared to static ads on Amazon?
Video ads consistently outperform static ads in engagement and conversion. For example, Sponsored Brands Video ads can achieve a click-through rate 442% higher than static Sponsored Brands ads in Q4 2020. Additionally, Shoppers who watch videos are up to 3.6x more likely to convert than non-viewing shoppers. This makes video a high-impact investment.

Can I run Amazon ads if I don’t sell products on Amazon?
Yes. As of 2022, Amazon opened up its Sponsored Display and DSP platforms to brands that do not sell directly on Amazon. This allows non endemic advertisers (like car companies or financial services) to leverage Amazon’s powerful audience data to reach relevant customers on third party sites and apps.

How can I manage all the different types of Amazon ads effectively?
Managing a full funnel strategy across all the different types of Amazon ads requires expertise and time. Many successful brands partner with a specialized agency. An agency like EZCommerce can manage your entire ad portfolio, from Sponsored Products to DSP, ensuring a cohesive strategy that is optimized for profitability and growth. See our case studies for examples across categories.