A brand-registered seller has two formats bidding on the same searches. Sponsored Products puts a single listing in the results, looking like an organic result. Sponsored Brands puts a logo, a headline and several products at the top of the page. The question is not which one is better; they do different jobs. The question is where the next dollar goes.
Side by side
What it promotes. Sponsored Products: one listing. Sponsored Brands: the brand, with three or more products, a Brand Store page, or a video.
Where it appears. Sponsored Products: throughout search results and on product pages. Sponsored Brands: mostly at the top of search, with some placements lower on the page and on product pages.
Where the click lands. Sponsored Products: the product page, one click from the buy button. Sponsored Brands: a Brand Store page or a product list for collection ads, the product page for video ads.
Requirements. Sponsored Products: any professional seller. Sponsored Brands: Brand Registry.
Creative. Sponsored Products: none beyond the listing. Sponsored Brands: a headline, a logo, and optionally a custom image or video.
Typical role. Sponsored Products: direct response, the workhorse. Sponsored Brands: brand presence, range, and defense.
What Sponsored Products does better
Converts closer to purchase. The click lands on a product page with a buy button. For a shopper searching a specific product, nothing is shorter.
Scales further. More placements, more volume, more keywords per product. Most of an account's spend sits here for a reason.
Learns faster. With more volume, Sponsored Products campaigns show a readable pattern sooner, which makes it the right place to discover keywords before they are tried anywhere else.
What Sponsored Brands does better
Owns the top of the page. On a category search, the banner above the first result frames the shopper's view of everything below it. Sponsored Products cannot buy that position.
Shows the range. A shopper who did not want the first product may want the third. Brands with related products at different price points get cross-sell that a single listing cannot provide.
Defends the brand name. When shoppers search your brand, a Sponsored Brands ad on your own name keeps competitors from taking the top of that page. This is usually the cheapest, highest-converting Sponsored Brands campaign in an account.
Puts video in search. Sponsored Brands video is the only way to get a video into search results.
How they split a budget in practice
In most accounts that run both, Sponsored Products carries the majority of spend and Sponsored Brands a smaller share. The split is not a target to aim for; it is the result of each format earning its budget. The way to set it is keyword by keyword.
For each keyword where both formats run, compare cost per order across the two over the same period. Where Sponsored Brands matches or beats Sponsored Products, it deserves budget on that keyword. Where it costs much more per order, it is buying presence, and that is worth paying for only on keywords where presence matters: your brand name, and the two or three category terms that define your space.
The order of operations
1. Sponsored Products, running well. ACoS where you want it, search terms harvested, negatives current. Everything else builds on this.
2. Sponsored Brands on your brand name. Small budget, high conversion, protects searches you already earned.
3. Sponsored Brands video on your best product's main keywords. Video at the top of search tends to draw clicks a static listing does not, and it lands on the product page, so it converts closer to Sponsored Products than collection ads do.
4. Sponsored Brands collection ads on category keywords, sent to a Brand Store page built for the category. Only once the Brand Store has real pages. Sending category clicks to a store home page is the most common way this step fails.
5. Then grow whichever format is winning per keyword.
Scheduling them separately
The two formats often keep different hours. Brand and category searches, where Sponsored Brands lives, lean toward evening browsing. Specific product searches, where Sponsored Products converts best, are spread more evenly. Running both formats on one schedule means one of them is on the wrong schedule. This post on dayparting each format covers how to set them apart, and the heatmap shows whether your account follows the usual pattern.
The short answer
Sponsored Products first, always, until it runs well. Then Sponsored Brands on your own name. Then video. Then category. Let cost per order on each keyword decide the split, not a ratio from someone else's account.
Frequently asked questions
Should I run Sponsored Brands if I already run Sponsored Products?
Once Sponsored Products is running at an ACoS you can live with, yes, starting with a brand defense campaign on your own brand name. Sponsored Brands adds presence at the top of search and a multi-product format that Sponsored Products cannot provide, but it works best on top of a Sponsored Products program that already converts.
What share of budget should go to Sponsored Brands?
There is no correct universal split. A brand-defense campaign is usually small and cheap. Category campaigns can be larger if the Brand Store converts well. Start Sponsored Brands at a modest share of total spend, read it for a month, and grow it only where it matches or beats Sponsored Products on the same keywords.
Do Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Products compete with each other?
They can appear on the same search results page, but they do not bid against each other in the same auction slot. The real overlap is budget and attention: both can spend on the same keyword, and the question is which format turns that keyword's clicks into sales more cheaply.
Off Hours runs separate dayparting and budget rules per campaign, so Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Products each keep the hours their searches actually follow. Start a free 14-day trial.