Sellers who drive traffic to Amazon from social ads, search ads, email or influencers usually hit the same wall. The ad platform reports clicks, and Amazon reports sales, and nothing connects the two. Without that link, off-Amazon spend is judged on guesswork, and the channels that work are hard to tell from the ones that do not.
Amazon Attribution exists to close that gap. This guide covers who can use it, how tracking tags work, what the reports show, and the limits worth keeping in mind before making budget decisions from it.
What Amazon Attribution is
Amazon Attribution is a measurement tool, not an ad type. You create a tracking tag for each off-Amazon channel or campaign, use the tagged link in that channel, and Amazon reports what shoppers who clicked it did on Amazon. That includes detail page views, add to carts and purchases.
It does not buy traffic and it does not run ads. The traffic comes from wherever you already advertise or promote: social platforms, search engines, newsletters, affiliates, influencers. Attribution only measures the result on Amazon.
Attribution is separate from Sponsored Products reporting. Sales it credits to an off-Amazon tag appear in Attribution reports, not as ad sales in your Sponsored Products campaigns, so keep the two in separate columns when you build a monthly view.
Who can use it
Attribution is generally available to sellers enrolled in Brand Registry, to vendors, and to agencies working on behalf of either, in supported marketplaces. It is accessed through the Amazon Ads console. If the brand is not registered, Attribution is one of several reasons to consider registering. Brand Registry for advertising covers what else registration unlocks.
How tags work
Setup follows a simple pattern. Create an Attribution order, choose the products to track, and generate a tag for each channel or ad. Each tag is a URL pointing to your Amazon detail page or Brand Store with tracking parameters attached. Use that URL as the destination in the off-Amazon ad or link.
Be specific with tags. A separate tag for each platform, and for each major campaign within it, lets you compare channels and creative. One tag shared across everything tells you only that off-Amazon traffic as a whole did something. Name tags clearly, by channel, campaign and date, so reports are readable months later.
Some ad platforms can connect directly so Amazon can generate tags in bulk. Otherwise, tags are created manually and pasted into each destination link.
What the reports show
Attribution reports show clicks, detail page views, add to carts and purchases tied to each tag, along with sales. Conversions are counted within a defined window after the click, so a shopper who clicks today and buys a week later can still be credited.
Combine those numbers with the cost from the ad platform and you can calculate a return on each off-Amazon channel. That is the main value: a channel that looked strong on clicks may produce few purchases, and a channel with modest click volume may convert well.
For brand-registered sellers, Amazon has also offered a Brand Referral Bonus on sales driven through Attribution tags in eligible marketplaces. Terms vary and change, so check the current program details in your account before counting on it.
Give each channel enough time before judging it. Off-Amazon campaigns often need a few weeks to show a stable cost per purchase, and small campaigns can swing from week to week on a handful of orders. Compare channels on a month of data rather than a few days.
How to read the data without overreading it
Attribution measures tagged clicks. It does not capture shoppers who saw an ad, did not click, and later searched for the product on Amazon. Channels built for awareness, such as video or influencer posts, often drive that kind of delayed search. Their Attribution numbers will understate their effect.
Watch total sales and branded search alongside Attribution data. If a new off-Amazon campaign launches and branded search volume and total sales rise, some of that lift may sit outside what the tags captured. ACoS versus TACoS explains why total sales is often the better scorecard for spend that builds demand.
Also note that external traffic can affect how Sponsored Products perform. Shoppers who arrive from outside Amazon and later search on Amazon may click your Sponsored Products ads too. Do not double count: decide which report owns which sale before calculating returns.
Using Attribution with your Amazon ads
Attribution is most useful when compared with what Amazon ads already deliver. If off-Amazon traffic converts well on Amazon at a lower cost per order than some Sponsored Products campaigns, shifting budget may make sense. If it converts poorly, the listing may not match what the external ad promised, or the audience may be wrong.
Where external traffic lands matters too. Sending it to a Brand Store gives shoppers a range of products; sending it to a detail page gives a single clear choice. Brand Stores and ads covers when each works better, and Amazon PPC versus Meta ads compares the two kinds of traffic directly.
A simple starting point: tag your two or three largest off-Amazon channels separately, run them for a month, and compare the cost per purchase on Amazon against your Sponsored Products campaigns. That one comparison usually shows where the next marketing dollar should go.
Frequently asked questions
Is Amazon Attribution free?
Amazon offers Attribution at no cost to eligible advertisers, which generally means brand-registered sellers, vendors and agencies working on their behalf. You pay for the off-Amazon traffic itself, such as social or search ads, not for the measurement.
What does Amazon Attribution measure?
It reports activity on Amazon that follows a click on a tagged off-Amazon link: detail page views, add to carts and purchases, along with the clicks that led to them. It measures traffic you send, not general brand awareness.
Does Amazon Attribution replace my other analytics?
No. It shows what happened on Amazon after a tagged click. Your ad platform's own reporting still shows reach, cost and audience detail on that platform. Use both together to calculate the real return on off-Amazon spend.
While Attribution measures off-Amazon traffic, Off Hours keeps your on-Amazon spend in line with performance rules, budget rules and free spend alerts, all checked every 15 minutes. Start a free 14-day trial.