Amazon Ad Types & Formats: Sponsored, DSP, and Streaming TV Explained

In 2026, the Amazon advertising platform is one of the biggest revenue drivers for brand owners, and Amazon Ads now sits among the three largest digital ad platforms in the world behind Google and Meta. As more sellers adopt a structured Amazon PPC strategy, knowing the difference between each Amazon ad type is what separates profitable accounts from wasted spend.

There are five primary Amazon ad types for sellers, brands, and agencies. Understanding how Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display, Sponsored TV, and Amazon DSP work together is essential if you want to compete and scale.

This guide breaks down all the major Amazon ad types, formats, costs, targeting options, and strategic uses. 

By the end, you will have a practical playbook for choosing the type of Amazon ads that fit your goals, budget, and creative assets.

What Is Amazon Advertising?

Amazon advertising, also called Amazon Ads, is Amazon’s advertising platform for sellers, vendors, agencies, and brands. It groups together a set of advertising programs and products that let you promote items across Amazon search results, product detail pages, Amazon-owned channels like Prime Video and Twitch, and thousands of external websites and apps.

Most advertisers start with the Amazon sponsored ads program, the self-service, pay-per-click ad products available inside the Amazon Ads console. This is the part many sellers once knew as Amazon Marketing Services (AMS). Larger brands then layer on Amazon DSP, Amazon’s programmatic demand-side platform, for display and video reach on and off Amazon.

Put simply, that is Amazon advertising explained: one Amazon Ads platform with several Amazon advertising types and ad solutions that work together. These Amazon advertising solutions form a full-funnel system, so you can capture high-intent shoppers in search, re-engage people who viewed but did not buy, and build awareness on connected TV, all measured inside one advertising model.

What Do Amazon Ad Types Mean?

Amazon ad types and campaigns are the paid media formats that involve bidding, audience targeting, and performance tracking. These ad units work as auction-based placements inside the Amazon Ads console or Amazon DSP. They generate impressions and clicks in real-time auctions and are built to drive measurable outcomes such as conversions, awareness, or retargeting.

So when people ask “what are Amazon ads,” the simple answer is: a set of paid advertising products, each with its own placements, targeting, pricing model, and best use case. The recognized types of Amazon advertising are Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display, Amazon streaming TV ads, and Amazon DSP.

How Many Amazon Ad Formats Are There in 2026?

There are five primary Amazon ad types in 2026:

1. Sponsored Products
2. Sponsored Brands
3. Sponsored Display
4. Sponsored TV
5. Amazon DSP

From search-based sponsored ads to full-screen streaming TV placements, each of these Amazon advertising products plays a specific role in the customer journey. The table below compares all five Amazon ad formats at a glance so you can see where each one fits before you read the detailed breakdowns.

Amazon Ad Types Comparison Table (2026)

1. Amazon Sponsored Product Ads

What Are Amazon Sponsored Product Ads?

Amazon Sponsored Product ads are keyword and product-targeted ads that promote individual listings. They are Amazon’s most used ad type, carry the highest share of ad spend, and drive direct sales while improving organic rank when paired with data-driven Amazon PPC keyword research. Because they appear inside search, they are effectively Amazon sponsored search ads.

Where Do Sponsored Product Ads Appear?

Amazon Sponsored Products appear in:

• Top-of-search placements
• Product detail pages
• Category and carousel placements

What Are the Targeting Options?

Sponsored Products offer three targeting approaches:

• Automatic targeting, where Amazon matches your listing using its own data
• Manual targeting using keywords, ASINs, and categories
• Negative targeting to block wasteful search terms and protect budget

New in 2026: Sponsored Products Video

Amazon introduced Sponsored Products video, which lets shoppers watch an interactive product video and skip between feature thumbnails inside a standard Sponsored Products campaign. According to Amazon, campaigns with video saw a 67% higher click-through rate and a 9% higher conversion rate than campaigns without it. If you have product video assets, this is one of the easiest ways to lift performance without changing your campaign structure.

What Is the Pricing Model?

Sponsored Products run on a cost-per-click (CPC) model, so you only pay when someone clicks. Because they reach shoppers with the highest purchase intent, they typically deliver the strongest conversion rates of any Amazon ad format. Costs vary by category competition, and for most brands this one format accounts for the majority of total Amazon ad spend.

Best Practices for Sponsored Product Ads

• Launch auto campaigns to discover the search terms that convert
• Move winning terms into manual campaigns with exact match
• Use placement multipliers to boost top-of-search exposure
• Target competitor ASINs to capture market share

Avoiding common mistakes with Amazon Sponsored Product ads can meaningfully improve results. For a deeper walkthrough, see the complete guide to Amazon Sponsored Product ads.

Sponsored Product Ads Are Ideal For

• New sellers launching their first products
• Private label brands competing in search
• Established sellers scaling proven listings
• Sellers running promotions or seasonal campaigns

2. Amazon Sponsored Brand Ads

What Are Amazon Sponsored Brand Ads?

Amazon Sponsored Brand ads, once called Amazon headline search ads, let you showcase your brand alongside multiple products or a Store page. They appear as a banner at the top of search results and engage shoppers higher in the funnel, which makes them strong for brand discovery and defending branded search terms.

What Are the Types of Sponsored Brand Ads?

There are three Amazon Sponsored Brand formats:

• Product Collection: A brand logo, custom headline, and multiple products
• Store Spotlight: Links to different subpages of your Amazon Store
• Sponsored Brands Video: Autoplay video placed directly in search results

To run Amazon advertising Sponsored Brands, you must be enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry and have a live Store. You can learn the setup in this guide on how to use Amazon Sponsored Brands ads, or review the background on Amazon headline search ads.

What Is the Pricing Model?

Sponsored Brands also run on CPC. Average cost per click tends to run higher than Sponsored Products because the format competes for premium top-of-search ad space, but it delivers stronger upper and mid-funnel performance. Sponsored Brands Video usually earns a higher click-through rate than static ads and brings in a large share of new-to-brand shoppers.

Sponsored Brand Ads Are Ideal For

• Telling your brand story visually
• Cross-selling related products
• Guiding traffic to high-converting Store subpages
• Defending branded search terms

Pro Tip: For Sponsored Brands Video, always add captions, since many shoppers watch without sound. The autoplay format works especially well for demos and feature callouts.

3. Amazon Sponsored Display Ads

What Is an Amazon Sponsored Display?

Amazon Sponsored Display is Amazon’s self-service display advertising product. It is the only sponsored ad type with access to both on-Amazon placements and external display inventory, so you can follow shoppers across the web. It is often called Amazon display ads or Amazon advertising display ads.

Where Do Sponsored Display Ads Appear?

Sponsored Display ads appear:

• On product detail pages
• Within Amazon carousels
• On external apps, websites, and Twitch

What Are the Targeting Options?

The Amazon display advertising platform offers three main targeting methods:

• Contextual targeting: Reach shoppers by product, category, or competitor ASIN
  
• Audience targeting: Reach shoppers based on views, purchase history, demographics, and lifestyle segments
  
• Custom audiences: Import audiences from Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) to build precise remarketing and prospecting lists

What Is the Sponsored Display Pricing Model?

Sponsored Display ads can run on either a CPC or vCPM (viewable cost per thousand impressions) model, and there is no minimum spend. Amazon display ads CPC varies with targeting strategy, category competition, and audience demand, so flexible budgets let you test before scaling. You can see the format in action in this beginner’s guide to Amazon display ads.

Sponsored Display Ads Are Ideal For

• Retargeting shoppers who viewed but did not buy
• Protecting your product pages by targeting your own ASINs
• Conquesting competitor traffic with ASIN targeting
• Prospecting with in-market and lifestyle segments

4. Amazon Sponsored TV Ads

What Are Amazon Sponsored TV Ads?

Amazon Sponsored TV, also known as Amazon streaming TV ads, is a self-serve video format that places your ad across Amazon’s streaming inventory, including Prime Video, Twitch, and Fire TV. What sets Sponsored TV apart is that it is fully self-serve, has no minimum campaign spend, and no upfront commitment, so brands of any size can run connected TV campaigns.

Sponsored TV Ad Specs

• 15 to 30 second non-skippable video
• CPM pricing model
• Targeting by interest, genre, or audience behavior

New in 2026: Sponsored TV to Sponsored Display Remarketing

Amazon now lets you remarket to shoppers who saw your Sponsored TV ad using Sponsored Display, so your streaming campaigns feed directly into lower-funnel retargeting. Amazon is also rolling out interactive and pause-based ad formats on Prime Video, giving viewers the option to engage with a remote or voice command.

Sponsored TV Ads Are Ideal For

• DTC brands building awareness on connected TV
• New product launches that need visual storytelling
• Seasonal pushes around events like Prime Day or Black Friday

Sponsored TV pairs well with Sponsored Brands Video or DSP streaming for a full-funnel video strategy. For a closer look, see our guide to Amazon Sponsored TV ads benefits and best practices.

5. Amazon DSP

What Is Amazon DSP?

Amazon DSP (Demand-Side Platform) is Amazon’s programmatic platform for brands that want full-funnel, cross-channel reach. Unlike sponsored ads, which live only inside the Amazon Ads console, Amazon DSP advertising reaches audiences across Amazon properties and the open web, powered by Amazon’s first-party shopping data.

What Ad Formats Can You Run With Amazon DSP?

Amazon DSP ad types include:

• Display ads on and off Amazon
• Streaming TV (OTT) on Fire TV, Prime Video, and Twitch
• Audio ads on Amazon Music and Alexa-enabled devices
• Video ads inside third-party publisher content

New in 2026: Lower Barrier to Entry

Amazon removed the self-service DSP minimum spend in late 2025, so brands no longer need a large upfront commitment to test programmatic. Managed service, where Amazon’s team runs your campaigns, still typically starts around $50,000 per month and varies by country. Amazon is also unifying the Ads console and DSP into one platform with shared reporting, which makes it easier to run sponsored ads and programmatic side by side. 

A specialist Amazon DSP agency can help you enter the channel without overspending during the learning phase.

What Targeting Does Amazon DSP Offer?

Amazon DSP lets you target shoppers using Amazon’s first-party data, including purchase history, browsing behavior, Prime membership, and interests. You can build lookalike audiences, exclude previous buyers, and apply frequency capping, sequential messaging, and geo-targeting across devices.

Who Should Use Amazon DSP?

• Brands that want granular audience segmentation
• Advertisers with creative assets like video or rich media
• Brands running retargeting across devices and placements
• Sellers ready to scale beyond search into programmatic reach

Amazon Sponsored Ads Compared: Products vs Brands vs Display

Two of the most common questions are how Sponsored Products compare to Sponsored Brands, and how Sponsored Display compares to Sponsored Products. The quick answer: they solve different jobs.

In short, Amazon Sponsored Products vs Sponsored Brands comes down to selling a product versus introducing a brand. And Sponsored Display vs Sponsored Products comes down to re-engaging shoppers across the web versus capturing them in search. Most healthy accounts run all three together. If your goal is purely re-engagement, Amazon retargeting ads through Sponsored Display or DSP are the most direct path.

New Amazon Ad Formats and Updates in 2026

Amazon keeps expanding its ad products, and a few recent changes are worth building into your plan:

• Sponsored Products video: Interactive video inside standard Sponsored Products campaigns, available to brands of all sizes.
  
• Rufus-powered placements: Amazon is adding sponsored placements and conversational prompts inside Rufus, its AI shopping assistant, so products can surface inside AI-generated answers. Optimizing listings for Rufus and AI shopping is becoming part of advertising strategy.
  
• Interactive Prime Video ads: Shoppable carousels and pause ads let viewers explore and add products while they stream.
  
• A unified Ads console and DSP: Shared reporting and standardized metrics across sponsored ads and programmatic, plus AI assistants that help manage campaigns at scale.

These updates do not replace the five core Amazon ad types, but they give you more ways to reach shoppers across search, product pages, streaming, and AI-driven discovery.

Amazon Ad Specs and Creative Requirements (2026)

Before launching any campaign, check that your creative meets Amazon’s current specs. The right Amazon advertising formats and ad sizes affect eligibility, delivery, and performance. This quick reference covers the creative requirements and display ad specs for the main video and display ad units.

Each ad type must meet Amazon’s asset quality and policy standards. Missing a size, duration, or caption requirement can slow delivery or get an ad rejected, so confirm specs in the Amazon Ads console before you build.

Which Amazon Ad Type Should You Use?

Choosing the right Amazon ad type depends on your goal, creative assets, and budget. It is not one size fits all. Here is a goal-based framework for picking the right mix:

• Drive sales for a new ASIN: Sponsored Products for ranking, Sponsored Brands Video for storytelling, and Sponsored Display retargeting to recover non-converting traffic.
  
• Increase brand recall and visibility: Sponsored TV for upper-funnel reach, DSP display for scalable awareness, and Sponsored Brands Product Collection to introduce multiple products.
  
• Retarget site or product-page visitors: Sponsored Display audience segments or Amazon DSP remarketing.
  
• Cross-sell to existing customers: Sponsored Brands Collection for bundles and Sponsored Display contextual targeting on category pages.
  
• Run omnichannel campaigns: Amazon DSP for programmatic reach, Sponsored TV for connected TV, and Sponsored Display to reinforce the message.
  
• Operate on a small monthly budget: Sponsored Products for efficiency and Sponsored Brands Video for low-cost, high-engagement reach.
  
• Run campaigns without video assets: Sponsored Products for performance, Sponsored Brands Collection for navigation, and Sponsored Display product targeting for defense and conquesting.

How to Measure Amazon Ad Performance in 2026

Strong advertisers do not just launch campaigns, they measure and optimize. Amazon’s analytics stack in 2026 includes New-to-Brand (NTB) metrics, Amazon Marketing Cloud for cross-campaign attribution, Amazon Attribution, and Marketing Stream. Key tactics include:

• New-to-Brand tracking: Monitor NTB shoppers in the Ads console and analyze attribution paths in AMC to gauge upper-funnel efficiency.
  
• Brand Lift studies: Run surveys for Sponsored TV and DSP campaigns to measure shifts in awareness and recall.
  
• Retargeting performance: Use Sponsored Display reporting to evaluate ROAS by view window and click-through uplift.
  
• Cross-campaign attribution: Connect Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Products, and conversion trails in AMC for multi-touch journeys.
  
• Dayparting insights: Use DSP or AMC to analyze performance by time of day and optimize scheduling.
  
• Off-Amazon measurement: Enable Amazon Attribution for external traffic and watch real-time data in Marketing Stream.

Tracking these signals helps you prove return on ad spend, scale what works, and cut waste. If rising costs are the issue, our guide to Amazon ACoS benchmarks and how to reduce it is a useful next step.

Conclusion

Running Amazon ads well means knowing how to use each Amazon ad type to your advantage, from Sponsored Products in search to Amazon DSP across the open web. The brands that win in 2026 treat these formats as one connected system, not separate campaigns.

At AMZDUDES, we build full-funnel Amazon advertising strategies that grow visibility, boost sales, and scale brands with data-backed decisions. For one sports nutrition brand, that approach delivered a 12.29x ROAS at an 8.13% ACoS. 

If you want a team that knows the Amazon ecosystem inside out, explore our Amazon PPC management services.

Book a free strategy call now.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is Amazon advertising? 
Amazon advertising, or Amazon Ads, is Amazon’s platform for promoting products across search results, product pages, Amazon-owned channels like Prime Video, and external sites. It includes self-service sponsored ads and the programmatic Amazon DSP.

2. What are the different types of Amazon ads? 
The five main types of Amazon ads are Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display, Sponsored TV, and Amazon DSP. Each one targets a different stage of the shopper funnel, from direct sales to brand awareness.

3. What is the difference between Amazon Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands? 
Sponsored Products promote a single listing in search results and product pages to drive direct sales. Sponsored Brands promote your logo, a headline, and multiple products at the top of search to build brand visibility.

4. What is the difference between Sponsored Display and Sponsored Products?
Sponsored Products appear in search to capture high-intent shoppers. Sponsored Display reaches shoppers on product pages and across external sites, which makes it better for retargeting and conquesting.

5. Which Amazon ad type is best for driving direct sales? 
Sponsored Products are best for immediate sales and ranking. They appear in search and product pages, run on a CPC model, and usually deliver the highest conversion rate of any Amazon ad format.

6. Do I need a Brand Registry to run Amazon ads? 
You can run Sponsored Products without Brand Registry. Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display (for sellers), and Sponsored TV generally require Amazon Brand Registry enrollment.

7. What is the minimum spend for Amazon DSP? 
Amazon removed its self-service DSP minimum in late 2025, so self-service has no Amazon-imposed floor. Managed service, where Amazon runs your campaigns, still typically starts near $50,000 per month.

8. What are headline search ads on Amazon? 
Headline search ads is the former name for Sponsored Brands. These ads appear at the top of search results with a brand logo, custom headline, and multiple products or a Store link.