The news: Amazon is continuing to see success with its maturing ad offerings. Q3 advertising services reached $17.7 billion, up 24% YoY, while net sales increased 13% to $180.2 billion. Q4 guidance points to continued confidence, with Amazon expecting growth between 10% and 13% YoY.

Amazon’s play: Amazon is building on momentum through a multi-pronged ad strategy.

• One of Amazon’s most recent—and so far successful—ad initiatives comes from its expansion into streaming and connected TV (CTV) with Prime Video. The company has recently doubled Prime Video ad loads, integrated with platforms like Roku, and began experimenting with interactive and shoppable ad formats.
• Prime Video has also given Amazon an opportunity to capitalize on audience and advertiser demand for digital live sports. The company kicked off its fourth season of “Thursday Night Football” with an average of 15.3 million viewers, the highest for the event across networks in a decade, per Nielsen, and a 16% YoY increase. NBA on Prime saw similar success, averaging 1.25 million viewers in the US during season-opening games.
• Amazon is leveraging AI and automation to drive growth. Investment in genAI tools are drawing interest by simplifying ad personalization, while tools like AI Creative Studio and Video Generate are contributing to more efficient campaigns. Amazon is also embedding ads into AI assistant Rufus as search behavior evolves.
• The company is experimenting with non-endemic search, extending its on-site ad inventory to include third-party products in search results, while diversifying beyond onsite ads by outsourcing its retail media network technology to third parties through its Retail Ad Service.

Stacking up to competitors: Amazon’s ad business is growing at a faster or similar rate to rivals Meta and Google, but overall ad revenues are much smaller. Amazon is focused on several strategies for ad revenue growth, ranging from its off-platform expansion to its genAI and CTV investments, while its strength remains tied to its proximity to purchase and retail power. These strategies position Amazon for continued growth—but the company is likely to remain much smaller in absolute ad dollars compared with its competitors.

Meta reported Q3 revenues of $51.24 billion, and we forecast the company’s full-year 2025 US ad revenues to reach nearly $79 billion. Meanwhile, Google remains an ad giant, reporting Q3 revenues of $102.35 billion and double-digit growth for YouTube ads and Search. US Google’s ad revenues will surpass $87 billion in 2025, per our forecast—while Amazon’s fall short at around $47 billion.

What it means for advertisers: Amazon’s ad success indicates that it will continue to be a promising opportunity for marketers that offers a unique proposition combining data-driven targeting, commerce integration, innovative ad formats, and the ability to reach consumers both onsite and offsite. If the company can sustain ad growth, it will reinforce its leadership in digital advertising and be better protected against retail sector volatility.