How to Use Amazon Sponsored Display Ads

What is Sponsored Display?

Sponsored Display is Amazon's display advertising solution. Unlike Sponsored Products (which appear in search results) and Sponsored Brands (which appear at the top of search), Sponsored Display ads appear on product detail pages, customer review pages, and across the web on third-party sites through Amazon's advertising network.

The fundamental difference is targeting approach. Sponsored Products and Brands target keywords (what shoppers search for). Sponsored Display targets audiences and products (who shoppers are and what they've looked at). This makes Sponsored Display the best Amazon ad type for retargeting, competitor conquesting, and reaching shoppers based on their browsing behavior.

Sponsored Display is often the last ad type sellers adopt, but it shouldn't be. For many sellers, retargeting campaigns (showing ads to shoppers who viewed but didn't buy) are the highest-ROAS advertising they run. These shoppers already showed interest in your product; they just need a reminder.

Targeting options

Sponsored Display offers two broad targeting approaches, each serving different strategic purposes:

Product targeting: Show your ads on specific competitor ASIN pages, category pages, or related product pages. When a shopper views a competitor's listing, your product appears as an alternative. This is essentially ASIN targeting but with Sponsored Display's broader placement network. Best for: competitor conquesting and cross-selling within your own catalog.

Audience targeting: Reach shoppers based on their browsing behavior. Amazon offers several audience segments:

• Views remarketing: Shoppers who viewed your product but didn't purchase (your warmest audience)
• Purchases remarketing: Shoppers who bought your product (useful for consumable/replenishment products)
• Similar product views: Shoppers who viewed products similar to yours (broader reach, moderate intent)
• Amazon audiences: Pre-built audience segments based on lifestyle, interests, and in-market signals (broadest reach, lowest intent)

Start with views remarketing and product targeting. These have the highest conversion rates. Expand to broader audiences as you collect data and optimize.

On-Amazon vs off-Amazon placements

On-Amazon placements include product detail pages (below the Buy Box, in "Products related to this item"), search results sidebar, customer review pages, and the Amazon home page. These placements benefit from the shopping context: the shopper is already on Amazon with purchase intent.

Off-Amazon placements reach shoppers on third-party websites and apps through Amazon's advertising network (formerly Amazon Publisher Services). These placements appear as banner ads on news sites, blogs, and apps. They have lower conversion rates but extend your reach beyond Amazon's ecosystem.

You cannot currently choose between on-Amazon and off-Amazon placements for Sponsored Display (Amazon decides). However, you can influence placement through your optimization goal: "optimize for page visits" tends to favor on-Amazon placements, while "optimize for reach" includes more off-Amazon inventory.

When to use Sponsored Display

After you've established Sponsored Products. Sponsored Display should complement, not replace, your Sponsored Products campaigns. Get your core search advertising working first, then add Display for retargeting and competitor targeting.

For retargeting unconverted traffic. If your listings get significant traffic (500+ sessions/month per product) but conversion rates are below category average, retargeting can recover some of those lost shoppers. They've already shown interest; a display ad reminder as they continue browsing can bring them back.

For competitor conquesting. If you have clear advantages over specific competitors (better reviews, lower price, stronger listing), product targeting on their ASIN pages puts your product in front of their shoppers. See our guide on choosing the right competitor ASINs to target.

For consumable products. Purchases remarketing is uniquely valuable for products that need replenishment. If your product lasts 30-60 days, remarketing to past buyers at the right interval drives repeat purchases without discounting.

Setting up your first campaign

Start with two campaigns to cover the highest-ROI opportunities:

Campaign 1: Views remarketing. Target shoppers who viewed your top 3-5 products but didn't purchase. Set optimization to "conversions." Budget: $5-10/day. This is your highest-conversion Sponsored Display campaign. Let it run for 2 weeks before judging performance.

Campaign 2: Competitor product targeting. Target 5-10 competitor ASINs where you have advantages. Set optimization to "page visits." Budget: $5-10/day. Group similar competitors together so you can compare performance by ASIN.

Creative recommendations: If you have Brand Registry, use custom creatives with a lifestyle image, custom headline, and your brand logo. Custom creatives outperform auto-generated ads by 20-30% in click-through rate. If you don't have Brand Registry, Amazon will auto-generate the ad using your product image and listing information.

Bidding strategies

Views remarketing: Use "optimize for conversions." Start with bids at $0.30-0.50. This audience is warm (they already viewed your product), so conversion rates are higher and you can afford moderate CPCs. Increase bids if you're not winning enough impressions.

Product targeting: Use "optimize for page visits." Start with bids at $0.20-0.40 (lower than remarketing because the audience is colder). Monitor which competitor ASINs drive conversions and increase bids on winners.

Audience targeting (broader): Use "optimize for reach" with the lowest bids ($0.15-0.25). This is awareness-focused, so you want maximum impressions at minimum cost. Don't expect strong ROAS from broad audiences; evaluate on new-to-brand metrics instead.

Measuring success

Sponsored Display metrics need different evaluation criteria than Sponsored Products:

Retargeting campaigns: Evaluate on ROAS and conversion rate. These should have the best ROAS in your Sponsored Display portfolio because the audience is warm. Target 3-5x ROAS for views remarketing.

Product targeting: Evaluate on incremental sales and new-to-brand percentage. You're reaching shoppers who were looking at competitors. Track how many become new customers vs. existing customers who would have bought anyway.

Broader audience campaigns: Evaluate on reach, impressions, and detail page views. Direct conversion tracking is less meaningful for awareness campaigns. Instead, correlate Sponsored Display awareness spending with changes in branded search volume and Sponsored Products conversion rates.

Overall, accept that Sponsored Display ACoS will be 5-15 points higher than Sponsored Products. The advertising function is different: SP captures existing demand, SD creates and recaptures demand. Both are necessary for a complete advertising strategy.