Amazon + advertising: The e-commerce giant makes more from advertising than you might think

4/8/21 7:00PM

When you think of big digital advertising businesses the usual suspects come to mind; Facebook, Google, niche chart-based newsletters etc.. You might not have immediately thought of Amazon, but last year the e-commerce giant pulled in over $15bn in advertising revenue, making up more than 10% of the US digital ad market (data from eMarketer).

‍Searching differently

‍Shoppers that used to begin their product search on Google are now increasingly starting on Amazon. Amazon realized this a number of years ago and began to sell ads, putting promoted products further up the page. We tested out just how much advertising they sell with a simple test.

We went to Amazon and searched for "tablet". The first row of 4 tablets were a sponsored section, as were the next 2 products as we scrolled down. The one after that was an "Amazon's Choice" product, which conveniently was the Fire tablet... which is an Amazon brand. So effectively the first 7 products we saw were either promoted directly, or were an Amazon product.

Also in the news: Amazon workers in Alabama look unlikely to form a union (more in snacks below).

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Amazon expands low-price Haul section to 14 new markets as Amazon Bazaar app

Amazon is expanding its low-cost Amazon Haul experience to a new stand-alone app called Amazon Bazaar.

Amazon launched its Temu and Shein competitor a year ago as a US mobile storefront on its website and has since expanded to about a dozen markets. Consumers could purchase many items for under $10, as long as they were willing to stomach longer delivery times.

Now, thanks to success in those places, the programming is expanding to 14 new markets — Hong Kong, the Philippines, Taiwan, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Nigeria — with a new app and name: Amazon Bazaar.

“Both Amazon Haul and Amazon Bazaar deliver the same ultra low-price shopping experience, with different names chosen to better resonate with local language preferences and cultures,” the company said in a press release.

Amazon extends Haul’s ultra low-price shopping experience to 14 new destinations with new Amazon Bazaar app

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After watching small drones reshape the battlefield in Ukraine, the US Army has announced plans to buy 1 million drones over the next two to three years, according to a report from Reuters.

The military threat of China’s dominance of the quadcopter-style drone industry is also driving the decision. But China’s control over much of the supply chain for drones, including rare earth magnets, sensors, and microcontrollers, will make it much harder for American drone manufacturers to catch up.

Rani Molla

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