Amazon is rapidly transforming from an e-commerce titan into a global advertising powerhouse. Now the third-largest digital ad publisher, Amazon trails only Google and Meta (owner of Facebook), overtaking traditional media groups and rival tech platforms in terms of ad revenue scale.
In the first quarter of 2023, Amazon’s revenue rose 9% year-over-year to $127.4 billion, significantly outpacing Meta’s $28.6 billion and Google’s $69.8 billion. The real standout was advertising: Amazon Ads grew 23% to $9.51 billion, beating both YouTube’s $6.69 billion and Google’s display ad network at $7.5 billion.
This surge has played a key role in reducing Google and Meta’s combined share of the U.S. digital advertising market to below 50% for the first time in years, according to eMarketer. Amazon, by contrast, now commands over 11% of all U.S. digital ad spending, and its influence continues to expand as brands seek performance-driven alternatives to social media platforms and search engines.
Amazon’s advertising strategy has evolved well beyond promoting products within its marketplace. It now places ads across third-party websites, live sports streams, and video content, supported by sophisticated AI and machine learning that target consumers with increasingly precise relevance.
Sources of information: emarketer.com; marketplacepulse.com; marketingdive.com