Mumbai: Amazon’s advertising engine is on a remarkable growth trajectory, with retail media ad revenue projected to exceed $60 billion in 2025, according to WARC Media’s latest Platform Insights: Amazon report. This milestone reflects the e-commerce giant’s rapid expansion beyond its roots in paid search, into upper-funnel and full-funnel advertising capabilities.
Despite advertising revenue comprising just 9.2% of Amazon’s total revenue, the company has consistently delivered double-digit year-on-year growth, significantly outpacing its overall sales growth. In Q1 2025, Amazon posted a +17.7% rise in ad revenue, compared to an 8.6% increase in total revenue. WARC Media forecasts Amazon’s retail media ad revenue will climb even further to $69.7 billion in 2026.
Alex Brownsell, Head of Content at WARC Media and co-author of the report, said, “E-commerce giant Amazon offers more than retail media advertising—it’s quickly becoming a leading platform for full-funnel activation, with streaming TV and its own demand-side platform serving advertisers of all sizes.”
“This latest Platform Insights report provides evidence-based insights on the challenges and opportunities Amazon has to offer, and explores its advertising ecosystem, from ad revenue to user trends and marketer and consumer attitudes towards Amazon ads.”
While Sponsored Products remain a staple of Amazon’s ad model, newer offerings across Prime Video and its DSP (Demand-Side Platform) have led to significant upper-funnel investment. Amazon has doubled its display ad revenue over the past four years, according to data indexed by Omdia. The company is also expanding off-site growth via partnerships with platforms like Meta, Pinterest, and Snap, alongside a growing network of premium publishers.
According to WARC’s Marketer’s Toolkit 2025 survey, 56% of global marketing leaders plan to increase their ad spend with Amazon — a figure trailing only YouTube (64%) and TikTok (79%).
In terms of reach, Amazon continues to dominate the e-commerce space with an average of 2.5 billion visitors per month, based on SimilarWeb data. Through Prime Video, brands can engage with over 200 million active shoppers, while Twitch, its gaming and livestreaming platform, reaches over 105 million monthly users, primarily from Gen Z demographics.
Consumer sentiment around Amazon ads remains strong. According to Kantar’s Media Reactions study, Amazon is joint first with TikTok as the most-favoured media platform for advertising, rated highly for relevance, trust, and innovation. Notably, concerns around over-targeting are said to be declining.
Though Amazon is not yet among the top five preferred platforms for marketers, the company aims to shift this narrative through AI-driven ad innovation and advanced creative tools across display, video, and audio.
Furthermore, Amazon’s own brand lift meta-analysis found that multi-format campaigns within its ecosystem consistently outperform single-channel approaches, reinforcing the benefits of an integrated advertising strategy.
As Amazon continues to diversify its ad solutions and deliver consistent performance, it is positioning itself not just as a retail giant but as a dominant force in global digital advertising.
