Amazon Unifies Ad Buying Under One AI 'Agent'
Updated: 6 days ago
Amazon has launched Amazon Ads Agent, unifying its demand-side platform and ads console so that AI can plan, execute and optimise sponsored, display, video and audio campaigns from a single place.
What Amazon Launched
Announced on 29 September, Amazon Ads Agent brings the demand-side platform and ads console together, letting advertisers manage sponsored ads, display, video and audio in one interface. Its Full-Funnel Campaigns option, now available to all US advertisers, takes a budget, products and creative and lets AI handle planning, execution and cross-channel optimisation.
Alongside it, Amazon introduced DVA+, a format uniting display, video and audio that previously had to be bought separately, rolling out from late October through year-end. A generative Creative Agent produces assets at scale under brand controls, and an enhanced chat experience for building and analysing campaigns is in beta across 20 marketplaces in 21 languages.
The Early Numbers
Amazon is leading with proof. In a Canine Naturals case study, full-funnel campaigns drove 41% of sales from new customers over 206 days, at a higher return on ad spend than running the campaigns separately.
A Cuisinart pilot saw an 18-point rise in detail-page views, a 14% cut in cost-per-page-view and a 10-point lift in branded search, while natural-language targeting reached 25% more unique customers while lowering CPMs by 10%. These are the kind of numbers designed to move budgets.
Our Read: The Walled Garden Just Got Higher Walls
This is Amazon consolidating its grip. By collapsing planning, buying, creative and measurement into one AI-run system, Amazon makes itself easier to spend with, and much harder to leave. Convenience is the moat.
The trade-off for advertisers is control. Full-funnel automation and generative creative mean handing more decisions to Amazon's algorithms, inside Amazon's measurement. The efficiency is real; so is the loss of transparency into how and where your money works.
What Advertisers Should Do
Test it, but instrument it. Run Amazon's full-funnel automation against a controlled benchmark and hold back independent measurement so you can judge incremental value, not just Amazon's own reporting.
Keep creative and audience logic you can port elsewhere, and resist letting one platform own your entire funnel. Automation that lifts performance is worth adopting; automation that quietly makes you dependent is worth watching closely.
Quick FAQ
What is Amazon Ads Agent?
A unified platform that merges Amazon's demand-side platform and ads console, using AI to plan, buy and optimise sponsored, display, video and audio campaigns from one place.
What is DVA+?
A new Amazon ad format combining display, video and audio that were previously bought separately, rolling out from late October 2026 through year-end.
Do Amazon's AI ad tools actually work?
Early case studies are strong, with Canine Naturals driving 41% of sales from new customers over 206 days, but advertisers should validate results with independent measurement.
When a platform makes spending effortless, that convenience is the strategy, because it's how you end up dependent. Amazon's AI can genuinely lift performance, but grade it against your own benchmarks, not just its dashboard. Adopt the efficiency; keep the ability to walk away. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
The more of your funnel a single platform automates, the more its convenience becomes your lock-in: measure incremental value independently before you commit.
How much of your funnel are you comfortable handing to one platform's AI? Tell us where you draw the line.
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: Amazon Ads and Marketing Dive.
Related reading
Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
