Will the Amazon Product Display Ad functionality be deprecated and rolled up into Sponsored Products?
That’s the question top of mind for many Amazon advertisers this week. Here’s what we know so far and what sellers can do to prepare.
What are Amazon Product Display Ads?
Amazon’s Product Display Ads can appear across Amazon.com desktop and mobile placements on detail pages, below search results, customer review pages, and top of the offer listing page.
Ads may also display in Amazon merchandising emails such as Abandon Cart, View Follow Ups, and Recommendations based on customer browsing behavior.
Essentially, Product Display Ads also let you handpick in-category detail pages to advertise on.
Amazon Product Display Ads allow advertisers to:
- Advertise individual products
- Drive traffic to product’s detail page
- Create targeted ad campaigns
- Control spend with bid and budget
- Pay only when shoppers click
- Track campaign performance
Will Product Display Ads be deprecated and absorbed into Sponsored Products?
A few observational data points make the case that PDAs will be deprecated and absorbed into Sponsored Products in the coming months.Here’s what we know so far:
1. The Amazon’s Holiday Landing Page is currently only showing Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands as search ad options (see the screenshot below).
2. Amazon Advertising Landing Page only indicates Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands as “sponsored ad units” There is no mention of PDAs at this time.
3. Additionally, no feature functionality has been added to PDA’s the way it has for Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands.
4. And finally, additional targeting options being rolled under Sponsored Products indicates Amazon is looking to further enhance Sponsored Product’s targeting capabilities and reach.
This further suggests the PDA targeting functionality could also get rolled into Sponsored Products.
Are Amazon Sponsored Product Ads Showing in new Placements?
In addition to the suggested changes with Product Display Ads, we have also identified new Sponsored Ad placements ( and they don’t look the same as the traditional Product Display ads we’re used to seeing on detail pages).
Note: This could just be a different type of PDA creative in the traditional detail page position. If that is the case, it would also represent a good way for Amazon to ultimately transition to having Sponsored Products ads in these placements since shoppers would become accustomed to ads with no logo / ad copy text.
We will continue to keep you updated on this developing announcement.
About Amazon Sponsored Product Ads:
As an agency managing hundreds of sellers, we know that Amazon Sponsored Products ads are—and will continue to be—one of the most powerful tools for driving discoverability and incremental sales for Amazon sellers.
For those of you unfamiliar with the platform, Sponsored Products are pay-per-click (PPC) ads that drive traffic to Amazon product detail pages.
Amazon Sponsored Products are pay-per-click ads based on keywords that drive traffic to a desired product detail page within the Amazon platform.
Sponsored Products ads appear at the top and bottom of the search results pages, within organic results, and on the carousel on product detail pages. Sponsored Products impact a seller’s overall Marketplace presence by:
- Accelerating growth of newer or low-exposure ASINs
- Increasing discoverability for your top Buy Box offers
- Acting as an incremental revenue driver
Visit our complete guide to learn more about Amazon Sponsored Products.
Got questions about Amazon Sponsored Products? Email tara@cpcstrategy