Amazon ad glossary (A–Z)

ACOS (Advertising Cost of Sales)

The ratio of ad spend to attributed sales. Formula: (Ad Spend / Ad Sales) * 100. A lower ACOS typically indicates greater ad efficiency.

Ad Console

Amazon's UI platform where advertisers create and manage Sponsored Ads (SP, SB, SD).

Ad Group

A container within a campaign holding ads and shared targeting settings (keywords or ASINs).

Ad Placement

The location where your ad appears - e.g., Top of Search, Product Detail Page, Rest of Search.

Ad Rank

Determines whether and where your ad appears, influenced by bid, relevancy, and performance.

AMC (Amazon Marketing Cloud)

A privacy-safe, SQL-based analytics tool for analyzing cross-channel performance and building audiences.

ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number)

Unique identifier for a product on Amazon. Common in product targeting.

Audience Targeting

Allows ads (especially in DSP and Sponsored Display) to reach shoppers based on interests, behaviors, or purchase history.

Auto Campaign

A campaign using automatic targeting where Amazon decides which search terms or products to match.

Bid

The max amount you're willing to pay for a click or 1,000 impressions (CPM). Can be adjusted dynamically or manually.

Bid Adjustment

Modifiers applied to placements (Top of Search, Product Page) to control bid multipliers.

Brand Analytics

A tool in Seller/Vendor Central offering shopper behavior insights like top keywords and repeat purchase rates.

Brand Registry

Amazon program that gives brands enhanced tools like Sponsored Brands, A+ Content, and more.

Brand Store

Your custom Amazon storefront, often linked to Sponsored Brands ads.

Broad Match

A keyword match type that allows ads to show for loosely related search terms, including synonyms and misspellings.

Budget Cap

Maximum spend limit set at the campaign or portfolio level.

Campaign

The highest level in your Amazon Ads structure containing ad groups, budget, and targeting settings.

Campaign Budget

The total amount allocated to spend per day or for the entire campaign lifecycle.

Category Targeting

Product targeting type that lets you advertise against entire product categories.

Click

An action taken by a shopper to engage with your ad. Used to measure CTR and CPC.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

(Clicks / Impressions) * 100. A higher CTR indicates better relevance and ad quality.

Conversion Rate (CVR)

(Orders / Clicks) * 100. Indicates how many clicks turned into purchases.

Cost Per Click (CPC)

What you actually pay per click on your ad. Influenced by bidding and competition.

Coupon

A discount or promotion displayed alongside ads to boost conversion.

Defensive Targeting

Targeting your own brand/ASINs to block competitors from hijacking your traffic.

Detail Page View Rate (DPVR)

Used in DSP - how often impressions led to a product detail page view.

Display Ads (Sponsored Display / DSP)

Visual ads targeting audiences or product pages, used for awareness or retargeting.

Dynamic Bidding

A bidding strategy that adjusts your bid up or down in real time based on likelihood of conversion.

Exact Match

A keyword match type requiring a very close match between the keyword and the shopper's search term.

Engaged View

In video and DSP reporting, it measures non-click interactions (e.g., views >= 10 seconds).

Eligible Impressions

The number of times your ad was eligible to be shown, even if it wasn't.

Frequency

In DSP, the number of times an ad is shown to the same user. Helps prevent overexposure.

First-Party Data (1P)

Data Amazon has from customer activity. Used in AMC for targeting and analysis.

Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA)

Amazon handles inventory storage, shipping, and customer service. Impacts ad placement favorably.

Gross Impressions

Total number of times your ad was shown, regardless of whether it was viewed (unlike viewable impressions).

Goals-Based Bidding

Available in DSP - optimizing toward specific goals like reach, detail page views, or conversions.

Headline Search Ads

Old name for Sponsored Brands - banner ads featuring your brand logo, message, and multiple ASINs.

Historical Performance

Amazon uses your ad/account history (CTR, CVR) to influence future delivery and ad rank.

Impressions

How many times your ad was served, regardless of user interaction.

Indexed (Search Term Indexing)

Whether your product is recognized as relevant for a specific search term, critical for both organic and ad performance.

Inventory Forecasting

Part of campaign planning to ensure you don't run ads for out-of-stock products.

Join and Aggregate (AMC)

A common SQL method in AMC to combine multiple data tables for advanced insights.

Keyword Targeting

The use of specific keywords to show your ads to shoppers searching relevant terms.

Keyword Harvesting

Pulling high-converting search terms from reports and using them in manual campaigns.

Landing Page

The page users land on after clicking an ad - typically the product detail page or brand store.

Manual Campaign

A campaign where you choose the keywords or ASINs to target manually.

Match Type

Keyword targeting setting: Broad, Phrase, or Exact - each with varying targeting precision.

Marketplace

Refers to the Amazon country site (e.g., .com, .ca, .co.uk). Campaigns and data are marketplace-specific.

NTB (New-to-Brand)

Metric showing if a customer hasn't purchased from your brand in the last 12 months.

Negative Keywords / Products

Used to block irrelevant or non-converting traffic from seeing your ads.

Offensive Targeting

Targeting competitor ASINs or branded terms to gain market share.

Overlapping Audiences

Audience segments that share users across different targeting groups - visible in AMC.

Pacing

The rate at which your budget is being spent. Can be daily or evenly across a campaign.

Portfolio

A grouping mechanism to organize campaigns and apply shared budgets or reporting.

Product Detail Page (PDP)

Where a customer lands when clicking on a product listing or ad.

Product Targeting (PT)

Targets specific ASINs or categories instead of keywords - useful for competitor or complementary targeting.

Promotions

Special deals (e.g., Lightning Deals, Coupons) that can be shown alongside ads to increase CTR.

QoQ (Quarter over Quarter)

Performance comparison between two quarters - used in reports and business reviews.

Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

Formula: (Ad Sales / Ad Spend). A high ROAS indicates a strong return on your advertising investment.

Retail Readiness

Product listing is optimized and eligible for ads - includes strong images, reviews, bullet points, and Prime.

Remarketing

Targeting shoppers who have previously viewed or interacted with your products.

Search Term Report

A downloadable report showing the actual terms customers used to trigger your ads.

Sponsored Brands (SB)

Banner ads that promote your brand and multiple products, with customizable headlines and logos.

Sponsored Display (SD)

Ads that appear on product pages, off-Amazon sites, and use audience targeting.

Sponsored Products (SP)

Ads promoting individual products shown in search results or product pages.

Store Spotlight

A Sponsored Brands ad format that features links to subpages within your brand store.

TACOS (Total ACOS)

(Ad Spend / Total Revenue) * 100. Helps assess ad impact on overall business performance.

Top of Search

Premium ad placement at the top of search results. Generally drives the highest CTR and conversions.

Terms of Use

Important legal page for ad platforms or tools, usually required when launching a website.

Unique Reach

Number of unique individuals who saw your ad - used in DSP to measure real exposure.

Upsell Targeting

Targeting products similar to yours but priced lower, to convert cost-sensitive shoppers.

View-Through Attribution (VTA)

Counts sales or actions taken after a user viewed your ad but didn't click.

Video in Search (ViS)

Sponsored Brands video format showing auto-playing video in search results.

Viewable Impression

A DSP metric showing how many impressions met visibility standards (e.g., 50% of pixels in view for 1 second).

Win Rate (DSP)

Percentage of auctions won versus bids placed - helps diagnose if your bids are too low.

YOY (Year-over-Year)

Comparison between same periods across two years - used in trend analysis.

Zero Click Search Term

A term that triggered your ad but did not generate a click - useful for identifying poor-performing traffic.