Amazon debuts sponsored product ads for third-party sites

Amazon’s advertising ambitions continue.

The platform’s sponsored product ads, one of its primary ad formats, are expanding to third-party websites, the company announced this week.

The ads will run on select publishers, including BuzzFeed, Hearst Newspapers, Pinterest, and Mashable. Amazon’s sponsored product ads operate on a cost-per-click basis.

The participating sites were already using Amazon’s demand-side platform (DSP), which offers video, display, and banner ads, according to Ad Age. The sponsored product ads will be displayed to consumers depending on factors like whether they are likely to be interested in an item and the context of the page. The ads will only appear if the advertised item is in stock.

“As is the case today, all ads will link to the Amazon product page, making it simple for customers to move from inspiration to browsing or buying in just one or two clicks,” according to an Amazon blog post.

In April, Pinterest announced Amazon as its “first partner for third-party ads,” which will help make “every Pin shoppable,” Pinterest CEO Bill Ready said at the time.

The announcement comes after Amazon noted earlier this month that its ad business brought in $10.7 billion in Q2, a 22% increase year over year. According to Insider Intelligence, Amazon’s ad business accounts for 7.3% of the global digital ad market; Meta and Alphabet, meanwhile, each have more than 20%.

Though its advertising division represents a small segment of its overall business, it’s an area of growth for Amazon. Earlier this month, Insider reported that Amazon is “staffing up to build new ad products for publishers.”