PPCPay-Per-Click
PPC is an advertising model where you pay only when a shopper clicks your ad. On Amazon it's the primary traffic driver for new listings and keyword rank building.
What is PPC?
Pay-Per-Click advertising means you bid for ad placements and are charged only when a shopper actually clicks your ad — not when it's shown. On Amazon, PPC operates as a second-price auction: you set a maximum bid per keyword, and if your ad wins the auction, you pay one cent more than the next highest bidder (not necessarily your max bid). This auction runs in real time for every search query, every time a shopper types in a search term.
Amazon offers three main PPC ad types: Sponsored Products (single product ads that appear in search results and on product pages), Sponsored Brands (banner ads featuring your brand logo and multiple products, appearing above search results), and Sponsored Display (retargeting ads that follow shoppers to other pages on and off Amazon). Each serves a different purpose in the marketing funnel.
Campaigns run on either automatic targeting (Amazon chooses which search terms to show your ad for, based on your listing content) or manual targeting (you specify exact keywords, phrase match keywords, or target specific competitor ASINs). Most sellers run both: auto campaigns to discover new converting search terms, and manual campaigns to bid precisely on proven performers.
Why it matters for sellers
PPC is how new Amazon listings get discovered before they have organic keyword rankings. Amazon's organic algorithm heavily weights sales velocity — but you can't generate sales without traffic, and you can't get traffic without ranking. PPC breaks this chicken-and-egg problem by buying traffic from day one, generating sales, and building the signals Amazon needs to rank your listing organically.
Even for established listings with strong organic rank, strategic PPC is essential for defending top positions, conquering competitor keywords, and driving incremental sales during promotional periods. Many high-volume Amazon sellers maintain PPC as a permanent channel, not just a launch tool.
How to use PPC
Start with one automatic campaign and two manual campaigns (broad match and exact match) per product. Set the auto campaign daily budget at $20–30 and let it run for 2–3 weeks. Download the search term report and identify which terms generated sales. Move those terms into your exact match manual campaign with a higher bid. Move terms that generated clicks but no sales into a negative keyword list.
For keyword research before launch, use tools like Helium 10's Cerebro or Jungle Scout's Keyword Scout to identify the top 20–30 search terms for your category. Prioritise exact match bids on the 5–10 highest-volume terms most relevant to your product, and use broad or phrase match for discovery.
Real-world example
You launch a new yoga mat. You set up an auto campaign ($25/day) and a manual exact match campaign targeting 'non slip yoga mat', 'thick yoga mat', and 'yoga mat for beginners'. After two weeks, the auto campaign surfaces 'yoga mat 6mm thick' as a high-converting term you hadn't targeted. You add it to your exact match campaign at $1.40 bid and remove it from auto to avoid bidding against yourself. Over 60 days, organic rank climbs for these terms and TACoS drops from 22% to 9%.
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Frequently asked questions about PPC
How much should I spend on Amazon PPC?
A common starting guideline is 10–15% of your target monthly revenue. So if you're aiming for $10,000/month in sales, start with $1,000–1,500/month in PPC budget. Adjust based on ACoS — if campaigns are profitable (ACoS below your margin), scale spend. If ACoS is consistently above break-even, optimise before adding budget.
What is the difference between automatic and manual PPC campaigns?
Automatic campaigns let Amazon choose search terms based on your listing content. They're great for keyword discovery but harder to control. Manual campaigns let you specify exact search terms and bids, giving you precision and efficiency. Best practice: run both, harvest converting search terms from auto into manual exact match campaigns.
Do I need PPC if my product ranks organically?
In most competitive categories, yes. Organic rank is never guaranteed to stay — a competitor's PPC spend or a promotional burst can displace you quickly. PPC also captures demand at the top of search results (ads appear above organic listings), providing a second opportunity to intercept buyers even when you rank organically.
What is keyword match type in Amazon PPC?
Match type determines how broadly your keyword triggers ad displays. Exact match only shows your ad for that precise search term. Phrase match shows it for searches containing your phrase in order. Broad match shows it for searches containing all the words in any order plus Amazon-added variations. Start broad for discovery, then tighten to exact match for efficiency.