Leading online retailer Amazon is adding more and more sponsored product ads to the top of their search results. As a result, the ad prices on Amazon have shot up as the top brands compete to buy this crucial ad space.
It has been noted that there are far fewer organic search results listed for generic searches. Many are now paid ads instead, so brands are resulting to buying ad space on Amazon’s pages so their products can be viewed.
Amazon claims that the number of ads differs depending on the search term used and the method used for the search, such as whether the customer used a desktop or mobile or the Amazon app.
The cost of advertising on Amazon has risen as a result of this. Companies who do not want to pay this higher cost per click value to get sponsored product ads are struggling to get their listings placed in a good position on the results pages. This is in addition to fees paid to Amazon for other services, such as transaction fee and fulfilment services.
Sticking by their customers
Amazon is defending these changes to their results pages. They say that there is no dedicated space for sponsored product ads, and that a user could potentially see no ads depending on what they search for.
An Amazon spokesperson said: “Like all retailers, we design our store to help customers easily find and discover the right brands and products, and sponsored ads is one of the many ways we do this.
“In all cases we work back from the most useful customer experience and the relevance of the results surfaced, regardless of how they’re presented to the shopper.”
With Amazon changing the way in which they approach all ads, with new formats like videos and banners being trialled, advertisers may need to watch closely to see how this will affect their activities there.
