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Amazon PPC campaign types explained: Sponsored Products, Brands & Display

Amazon sells three Amazon PPC ad types — Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display — and each one buys a different kind of attention. Pick the wrong type and you pay for clicks that were never going to convert; pick the right mix and every stage of the funnel works for you. This guide compares all three Amazon PPC advertisement formats side by side: where they appear, what they cost, what creative they need, and exactly when to use each one.

Table of contents
  1. Sponsored Products: the workhorse
  2. Sponsored Brands: the brand builder
  3. Sponsored Display: the retargeter
  4. Amazon PPC ad types compared side by side
  5. Which Amazon PPC advertisement type should you start with?
  6. Fitting ad types into your Amazon PPC campaign structure
  7. Managing all three ad types with BidPilot
  8. FAQ
Sponsored Products Brand video Brands Display Your ad follows shoppers Display
The three Amazon PPC ad types — Products for intent, Brands for awareness, Display for retargeting.

Sponsored Products: the workhorse

Sponsored Products are keyword-targeted ads that look almost identical to organic listings — same product card, same layout, just a small “Sponsored” label. They appear inside search results and on product detail pages, exactly where shoppers with buying intent are already looking. Because the ad matches active intent so closely, Sponsored Products convert better than any other Amazon ad type and take the lion's share of most sellers' budgets.

Every seller can run them — no Brand Registry required. You target by keyword (exact, phrase or broad match) or by product attribute (specific ASINs and categories), and you pay per click in a live auction. If you only run one Amazon PPC advertisement format, this is the one: it is where the measurable, attributable sales come from.

Key takeaway: Sponsored Products = keyword intent + product-page placement. Highest-converting, available to everyone, and the foundation of every account.

Sponsored Brands: the brand builder

Sponsored Brands are the banner ads that dominate the top of search results: your logo, a custom headline, and up to three products — or a 6–45 second video that autoplays silently. They are built for awareness and consideration at the top of the funnel, though they absolutely drive sales too. The catch: you must be enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry to run them.

Creative is the whole game here. A lazy headline (“Shop our store”) wastes premium placement; a headline that names the shopper's problem earns the click. Video creatives consistently outperform static collections for engagement — plan yours with our free Sponsored Brand creative generator , which drafts video concepts and headlines from your product details. Expect higher cost per click than Sponsored Products: you are bidding for the single most visible slot on the page.

Key takeaway: Sponsored Brands buy the top banner for brand storytelling. Requires Brand Registry; creative quality decides the return.

Sponsored Display: the retargeter

Sponsored Display ads appear on product detail pages, in a sidebar-style slot — and, uniquely, off Amazon across third-party sites and apps. Two targeting modes matter: product-attribute targeting puts your ad on competitor product pages (conquesting), while audience targeting re-shows your product to shoppers who viewed it but didn't buy (retargeting).

The creative is auto-generated from your listing, so there is nothing to design — the strategy is entirely in the targeting. Use it to defend your own product pages, to appear on competitors' pages, or to pull back window-shoppers. You can pay per click or per thousand viewable impressions (vCPM), which makes it the only Amazon ad type priced like traditional display advertising.

Key takeaway: Sponsored Display follows shoppers. Use product targeting to conquest competitors and audience targeting to retarget your own viewers.

Which ad type owns each funnel stage Top of funnel Sponsored Brands Mid funnel Sponsored Display Bottom funnel Sponsored Products Post-purchase Sponsored Display
Match the format to the mindset — browsers need Brands, buyers need Products.

Amazon PPC ad types compared side by side

Ad type Where it appears Targeting Creative needed Best for
Sponsored Products Search results, product pages Keywords, ASINs, categories None — uses your listing Direct sales, keyword ranking
Sponsored Brands Top-of-search banner Keywords Logo, headline, products or video Brand awareness, launches
Sponsored Display Product pages, sidebar, off-Amazon Product attributes, audiences Auto-generated Retargeting, competitor conquest
Where each ad type appears on a search page SPONSORED BRANDS Banner above results: logo + headline + products (or video) Sponsored SPONSORED PRODUCTS In search results, looks like organic Sponsored SPONSORED PRODUCTS On product detail pages too SPONSORED DISPLAY Sidebar, product pages + off Amazon (retargeting)
Placement map: Brands own the top banner, Products blend into results, Display follows shoppers around.

Try it: Sponsored Brand creative generator Draft video concepts, headlines and collection layouts for your Brand ads — free.

Open the creative generator
Which ad type to launch first 1 Start with Products Capture intent 2 Add Brands If registered 3 Add Display Retarget viewers 4 Balance budgets By funnel role
Launch in intent order — capture demand first, then build it.

Which Amazon PPC advertisement type should you start with?

Start with Sponsored Products . It is the only ad type every seller can run, it captures existing demand instead of creating it, and its keyword data feeds every other decision you will make. Get one Sponsored Products campaign profitable before adding anything else.

Add Sponsored Brands second, once you are in Brand Registry — it protects your brand searches from competitors and lifts new-product launches. Add Sponsored Display third, for retargeting the traffic your first two ad types already generated. As a rough budget rhythm, the majority of spend belongs to Sponsored Products; Brands and Display earn their share as they prove return.

Key takeaway: Products first (sales), Brands second (awareness), Display third (retargeting). Each new ad type should be funded by the profits of the last.

Fitting ad types into your Amazon PPC campaign structure

Keep ad types in separate campaigns — never mix Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands keywords in one campaign. They behave differently, convert differently, and need different bid strategies; mixing them muddies every report. A clean account has one campaign per ad type per goal, named so the type is visible at a glance. Our campaign naming convention guide shows a taxonomy that keeps this tidy at scale, and the free campaign builder lets you map the whole structure before you create anything.

Key takeaway: One ad type per campaign, always. Clean separation is what makes optimization decisions obvious later.

Multi-format launch checklist Green = done Orange = improve Red = fix now One campaign per ad type Done Separate budgets set Done ! Brand creative approved Pending Retargeting audience built Build it ! Placement data reviewed weekly Schedule
Three formats, one checklist — red rows are the ones that silently eat budget.

Managing all three ad types with BidPilot

Three ad types means three sets of bids, budgets and search terms to watch — which is exactly where routine beats talent. BidPilot's free tools cover the daily work: the campaign builder plans your structure, the creative generator drafts Brand assets, and the bid optimizer suggests data-driven bids. They run in your browser — free, no signup.

When manual management eats your week, BidPilot Pro automates bid adjustments toward your target ACoS across your campaigns, with every change logged and visible. Flat $49 per month, 30-day free trial — automation you control, not a black box.

Key takeaway: Learn the ad types with free tools first; automate the bid management once the strategy is proven.

Amazon PPC Ad Types: FAQ

The three Amazon PPC ad types are Sponsored Products (keyword-targeted ads inside search results and product pages), Sponsored Brands (banner or video ads at the top of search results, requires Brand Registry), and Sponsored Display (ads on product pages and off Amazon for retargeting and competitor conquest). See the side-by-side comparison for placements, targeting and creative needs.

Yes — enrollment in Amazon Brand Registry is required for Sponsored Brands (and Sponsored Brands video). Sponsored Products and Sponsored Display are available to all sellers without it, which is why most beginners start there and add Brand ads after their trademark registration completes.

Sponsored Products, in most accounts — because the ad appears in front of a shopper actively searching for the keyword you bid on, intent is highest. Sponsored Brands win on awareness and branded searches; Sponsored Display wins on retargeting. “Best” depends on the job: sales, awareness, or recovery.

Yes, through Sponsored Brands video: a 6–45 second silent-autoplay video at the top of search results. You need Brand Registry, a product video, and a landing page (your store or product page). Our free Sponsored Brand creative generator drafts video concepts and headlines to get you started.

Amazon PPC is a cost-per-click auction: you set the maximum you will pay per click and a daily budget cap per campaign, and you only pay when someone clicks. Actual costs vary widely by category and competition — there is no fixed price list. Start with modest daily budgets, bid near Amazon's suggested range, and scale what converts.

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