- DSP buys ad space programmatically, on and off Amazon, using Amazon's shopping signals.
- Sponsored Ads capture people who are already searching; DSP also works on people who haven't searched yet.
- It makes sense when Sponsored Ads are already well managed, the catalogue is ready and there's budget for a few months of testing.
- It's measured on different goals from ACoS: new-to-brand customers, branded searches, incremental sales.
Sooner or later every brand investing in Amazon gets pitched DSP. Sometimes it’s the right next step; other times it’s just a way to spend more without understanding what you’re getting. Here we explain what DSP is, how it differs from Sponsored Ads, which audiences and formats it offers and how to tell whether the time is right for your brand.
What Amazon DSP is
DSP stands for Demand Side Platform. It’s the platform Amazon uses to let advertisers buy display, video and audio ad space programmatically. Ads can appear on Amazon’s pages, on third-party sites and apps, and on Amazon’s own services such as Prime Video, Twitch or Fire TV, depending on what’s available in each country.
The main value isn’t the ad space itself but the data. DSP uses Amazon’s shopping and browsing signals to build audiences. You can reach people who’ve viewed products in your category, who’ve bought a complementary product, or who’ve visited your listings without buying.
You can use it self-service, with your own account, or through Amazon’s managed service, which usually requires higher minimum spend. Access conditions change over time, so it’s worth checking them with Amazon Ads.
DSP and Sponsored Ads: the real difference
| Aspect | Sponsored Ads | Amazon DSP |
|---|---|---|
| Logic | Keywords and products, triggered by a search | Audiences, reaches people even without a search |
| Where ads appear | Amazon search results and product pages | Amazon, external sites and apps, Prime Video and other services |
| Cost model | Cost per click | Usually cost per thousand impressions |
| Typical goal | Immediate conversion | Awareness, consideration, remarketing |
| How it’s measured | ACoS, ROAS, sales | Reach, new-to-brand customers, incremental sales |
In short: Sponsored Ads harvest demand that already exists, while DSP helps create new demand and bring back people who stopped halfway.
The audiences available
- In-market: people who’ve recently shown interest in products in a given category. Useful for getting into consideration before the customer chooses.
- Lifestyle and interests: groups defined by recurring shopping and consumption habits. Useful for building awareness with a relevant audience.
- Remarketing: people who’ve viewed your listings, added them to their basket or bought in the past. The classic case is bringing back people who didn’t complete a purchase.
- Amazon Marketing Cloud audiences: segments built with more detailed analysis, for example people who watched a video but never searched for the brand.
- Your own audiences: in some cases you can upload your own customer lists, in line with data protection rules.
The formats: display, video and Streaming TV
Display
Static or dynamic banners, on Amazon pages and external sites. Remarketing formats show the product directly with price and rating, and link through to the listing.
Online video
Video on third-party sites and apps and on Amazon properties. Good for telling the product’s story in a few seconds, especially when it needs explaining.
Streaming TV
Ads in streaming content watched on TV, including ads within Prime Video, which are available in the UK and in several European countries. Amazon is introducing interactive formats that let viewers engage with the ad from the remote or their phone. It’s the format closest to traditional TV, with the advantage that you can measure the effect on Amazon sales.
Whatever the format, two variables matter more than people think: frequency and creative. Showing the same banner ten times to the same person costs money and annoys them, so it’s worth setting a frequency cap. And a video made for TV rarely works cut down to six seconds for mobile: each format needs its own material.
For a brand that sells mainly on Amazon, the place to start is usually display remarketing. Video and Streaming TV make sense when there’s an awareness goal and suitable creative.
When it makes sense and when it’s too early
DSP makes sense when:
- Sponsored Ads are already well structured and optimised, and growth from search is starting to slow;
- your product listings convert well, because DSP brings less warm traffic than a search does;
- the brand has enough traffic to feed sizeable remarketing audiences;
- there’s budget for a test of at least two or three months, without expecting the same return as search campaigns;
- suitable creative is available, at least good-quality images and, for video, content made for the format.
It’s too early when the catalogue has few products with few reviews, when Sponsored Products campaigns aren’t under control, or when the total budget is such that taking money away from search would slow sales. In those cases it’s better to fix the basics first. In the projects we run, the assessment always starts here. You’ll find more on how we set up campaigns on our Amazon DSP page.
How to measure it
Judging DSP by Sponsored Ads ACoS is the most common mistake. Awareness campaigns have slower, more indirect returns. These are the metrics to watch instead:
- New-to-brand customers: how many buyers hadn’t bought your brand in recent months.
- Branded searches: if searches for your brand name grow after the campaign, awareness is doing its job.
- Detail page views and add-to-baskets: signs of consideration, useful for remarketing.
- Remarketing ROAS: here it does make sense to look at direct return, because you’re talking about people already close to buying.
- Incremental sales: control group tests or dedicated analysis estimate how much DSP added compared with what would have happened anyway.
For deeper analysis, such as the paths that lead to purchase or the overlap between DSP and Sponsored Ads, you use Amazon Marketing Cloud, which lets you work with aggregated, anonymised data across all your campaigns.
What to do now
Before opening a DSP account, check three things: your Sponsored Products campaigns have a clear structure and ACoS under control, your main listings convert above the category average, and you have enough traffic for remarketing. If all three are true, start with a remarketing test on your main products, with a budget and duration decided up front, and measure it on new customers and incremental sales.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between Amazon DSP and Sponsored Ads?
Sponsored Ads are triggered by searches and Amazon product pages and are paid per click. DSP buys display, video and audio space programmatically, on and off Amazon, using audiences based on shopping data. The first captures existing demand, the second also works on awareness and remarketing.
How much budget do you need for Amazon DSP?
It depends on how you access it. Amazon's managed service usually requires higher minimum spend, while self-service or working through an agency lets you start with smaller budgets. Either way you need enough budget to sustain a test of a few months without taking money away from Sponsored Ads.
Can you advertise on Prime Video in the UK and Europe?
Yes, ads within Prime Video content are available in the UK and in several European countries. You buy them through Amazon Ads, with managed or self-service options depending on the case. For a brand selling on Amazon, the advantage is being able to link exposure to the ad with sales on the marketplace.