August 11th, 2025
Amazon ad formats 2025: What works and when to use them
Amazon’s ad landscape is more dynamic than ever in 2025. With so many formats available, each optimized for a different point in the buyer journey, it’s no longer about just picking one and hoping for the best.
Success now means choosing the right mix based on your goals, your audience, and where your product listing sits in the funnel. In this guide, we’ll break down the main Amazon ad formats, when to use them, and how to make them work together to boost visibility, sales, and long-term rank.
Read on to learn more.
Sponsored Products: still the highest-converting ad type
Let’s start with the format that’s simple, scalable, and effective: Sponsored Products. These ads show up in search results and on product detail pages, targeting shoppers based on relevant keywords, products, or categories.
Why are they so effective? Because they meet high-intent shoppers right where they are: actively searching and ready to buy. Sponsored Products give you control over where your products appear, and they’re especially strong for launching new items, defending branded keywords, or intercepting competitor traffic.
When to use them:
- Launching a new product and needing fast visibility
- Defending your own listings from competitors
- Stealing sales from similar or complementary products
In 2025, Amazon introduced more advanced bidding options and greater ad placements control for these ads. Getting your products to “top of search” is now easier to target, and worth it, since that position continues to convert up to 3x higher than others.
Sponsored Brands: build awareness and trust
Think of Sponsored Brands as your banner billboard at the top of Amazon search results. These ads let you showcase your logo, a custom message, and multiple products. You can also run Sponsored Brand Video ads, which autoplay in search results and are especially powerful on mobile.
Unlike Sponsored Products, which drive immediate conversions, Sponsored Brands are designed to build recognition. They help increase branded searches over time, create associations between your brand and product category, and highlight your wider catalog to shoppers early in their journey.
When to use them:
- Launching a new line or bundling related products
- Building brand awareness in a competitive category
- Encouraging shoppers to explore your storefront
One of the biggest upgrades in 2025 is the ability to A/B test creatives, so you can refine headlines, imagery, and calls to action based on real performance. Also, short-form videos (between 6–45 seconds) are now delivering better clicks on your ads and conversion rates than ever, often at a lower CPC than static formats.
Sponsored Display: stay top of mind across the funnel
While Sponsored Products and Brands focus on search, Sponsored Display helps you go beyond it, reaching shoppers who’ve viewed your product, similar items, or are browsing by interest. These ads show up on Amazon product detail pages, the home page, and even on external sites through Amazon’s display network.
What makes Sponsored Display valuable is its ability to keep your product in front of shoppers who aren’t ready to buy right away. It’s your go-to tool for retargeting, cross-selling, and staying visible throughout the decision-making process. These ads also help defend your product detail pages from competitor placements and can introduce your items to shoppers looking at related categories.
When to use them:
- You want to bring back window shoppers
- You need to increase share of voice on your own product detail pages
- You’re cross-promoting products across your portfolio
In 2025, Amazon rolled out enhanced view-through attribution for Sponsored Display. This means even if someone doesn’t click right away, you can still see if that exposure led to a later conversion. It’s a small but powerful shift that helps clarify the true impact of your advertising campaigns beyond click-based ROI.
How to choose the right format for your goal
Here’s a simplified breakdown of which formats work best for specific objectives:
Your goal | Best format(s) |
Launching a product | Sponsored Products + Sponsored Brand Video |
Increasing visibility | Sponsored Brands + Sponsored Display |
Retargeting browsers | Sponsored Display |
Driving cross-sells | Sponsored Brands + Sponsored Display |
Defending your listings | Sponsored Products + Sponsored Display |
You don’t have to use every format at once. But layering the right mix based on your brand maturity and growth stage makes a huge difference in how much return you get from your advertising campaigns.
What about organic ranking?
Paid ads aren’t just for short-term sales. They also influence how Amazon ranks your products organically.
That’s because Amazon’s algorithm (commonly called A10) cares about performance. If your product gets clicks on your ads, conversions, and consistent traffic, especially from ads, it sends a signal that it’s worth ranking higher in organic results.
Here’s how that plays out:
- Sponsored Products generate initial momentum and help improve conversion rate, both critical ranking factors.
- Sponsored Brands drive more branded search traffic, which tends to convert better and builds longer-term trust.
- Sponsored Display increases product visibility and retargets potential customer groups, improving consideration and sales over time.
So while ads cost money, they also build a flywheel of performance that benefits your SEO.
Key 2025 updates you should know
If you’re already running Amazon ads, here’s what’s new this year and worth exploring:
- Video is winning, fast
Short-form video ads are converting up to 40% better than static ads in Sponsored Brand campaigns. If you’re not already using Sponsored Brand Video, now’s the time to test it.
2. Creative AI tools are smarter
Amazon’s new Creative AI Studio now assists with writing ad headlines, choosing visuals, and building campaigns faster. For lean teams, this means less manual effort and more consistent testing.
3. Ad attribution keeps improving
View-through conversions are now tracked in Sponsored Display, giving brands better insight into how their ads influence buyer behavior even when shoppers don’t click right away.
4. Product pages are more important than ever
Amazon is prioritizing better-looking product detail pages. If your clicks on your ads land on unoptimized product listings, you’ll pay more for lower returns. Pair your campaigns with strong A+ content and high-res images to keep bounce rates low and conversions high.
Final thoughts
Amazon ads in 2025 are about playing the long game.
- Sponsored Products give you traction.
- Sponsored Brands build recognition.
- Sponsored Display keeps your brand in front of buyers until they’re ready to act.
Together, they work like a performance engine: fueling visibility, conversions, and even your organic rank. The key is to stop thinking in silos and start building a funnel-focused strategy that meets potential customer intent with the right targeting options, smart daily budget allocation, and strong ad placements.
Want expert help building your Amazon ad strategy?
At Pro-Merit, we specialize in helping brands create Amazon advertising campaigns that scale, without wasting budget. Whether you’re just starting out or need a full audit of your Sponsored formats, we can help tailor a plan that delivers results.
Ready to see what’s possible? Let’s connect.
