Sponsored Display is the least understood of the three main sponsored ad types. Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands are mostly about search. Sponsored Display is about pages and people: the products shoppers are looking at, and what they have looked at or bought before. The targeting choices decide which of those you are paying for.

This guide covers the two families of targeting, the options within each, how bidding goals change delivery, and a sensible starting setup. For the format as a whole, see the Sponsored Display guide.

Two families of targeting

Sponsored Display targeting splits into contextual and audience targeting.

Contextual targeting decides where the ad appears based on the content of the page: a specific product, a category, or products similar to yours. It reaches shoppers in the moment they are considering a purchase in that area.

Audience targeting decides who sees the ad based on past behavior: products they viewed, products they bought, or broader interest signals Amazon has built. It reaches shoppers wherever they are browsing, including some placements outside Amazon.

Both can be useful in the same account. They answer different questions, so judge them separately.

Contextual: product targeting

Product targeting lets you choose specific ASINs. Your ad can appear on or near those detail pages. Common uses are defensive and offensive.

Defensive: target your own listings so the ad space on your pages shows your other products instead of a competitor's. This is often cheap and converts well because the shopper is already interested in your brand.

Offensive: target competitor listings where your product has a clear advantage, such as a better rating, a better price or a feature the competitor lacks. Competitor targeting covers how to choose which competitors to go after.

Contextual: category targeting

Category targeting lets your ad appear across a product category, with refinements such as brand, price range or star rating. It reaches more pages than individual ASINs, at the cost of precision.

Use refinements to keep it tight. A category target limited to a price band and rating level around your product will usually perform better than the whole category. Category targeting explains the refinement options in more detail.

Audience: views and purchases remarketing

Views remarketing reaches shoppers who viewed certain products but did not buy. You can target viewers of your own products, of similar products, or of products in a category, with a choice of lookback windows. It is the most common audience option because intent is clear: the shopper was already looking.

Purchases remarketing reaches shoppers who bought certain products. It suits consumables that are bought again, and complementary products a buyer might need next. It is less useful for products bought once.

Remarketing in Sponsored Display is simpler to set up than in Amazon DSP, with less control over frequency and audience building. DSP retargeting covers the more advanced version.

As an illustrative example, a brand like Harbor Kitchen selling a coffee grinder might run views remarketing on its own grinder pages with a short lookback window, and purchases remarketing for coffee filters or cleaning tablets aimed at past grinder buyers. Each answers a different question: who nearly bought, and who might buy again.

Audience: Amazon audiences

Amazon audiences are prebuilt segments based on shopping signals: lifestyle, interests, life events and in-market behavior. They reach shoppers who have not necessarily seen your product or your category recently.

These are awareness tools. They tend to produce more impressions and fewer direct orders per click than remarketing or product targeting. Judge them on reach, new-to-brand customers and total sales, rather than on ACoS alone.

Remarketing audiences are only as large as your traffic. A product with few page views will build a small views audience, so expect modest volume until other campaigns drive more visits.

Bidding goals change delivery

Sponsored Display campaigns choose a bidding goal, often called cost control or optimization. The main options optimize for page visits, for conversions, or for reach through viewable impressions. Each changes who Amazon shows the ad to within your targeting.

Match the goal to the job. Conversion-focused goals suit remarketing and competitor targeting. Page visit goals suit consideration campaigns. Reach goals suit awareness campaigns with Amazon audiences. A mismatched goal can make a good targeting choice look poor. For a comparison with DSP's targeting depth, see Sponsored Display versus DSP.

A sensible starting setup

Start with two campaigns. One contextual product targeting campaign on your own listings and a short list of close competitors, optimized for conversions. One views remarketing campaign on shoppers who viewed your products, also optimized for conversions. Run both for several weeks before judging, since display attribution and volume take time to settle.

Add category targeting and Amazon audiences once the first two are stable and you know your cost per order for Sponsored Display. Keep each targeting type in its own campaign, so results are not blended.

Whatever you add, keep reading each campaign against its own job. A remarketing campaign should be judged on cost per order. An awareness campaign should be judged on reach and new customers. Mixing those standards is the most common reason sellers switch off Sponsored Display campaigns that were doing what they were built to do.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between contextual and audience targeting in Sponsored Display?

Contextual targeting shows ads based on the product or category a shopper is viewing right now. Audience targeting shows ads based on what a shopper has done before, such as viewing or buying certain products. Contextual is about the page; audience is about the person.

Which Sponsored Display targeting should I start with?

Many sellers start with contextual product targeting on their own and close competitor listings, and with views remarketing for shoppers who visited their pages without buying. Both have clear intent and are easy to measure. Broader audiences come later.

Can Sponsored Display ads show outside Amazon?

Audience targeting can reach shoppers on Amazon and on third-party sites and apps where Amazon serves ads. Contextual targeting focuses on product and category pages on Amazon. Check placement reporting to see where your ads appeared.

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