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Amazon Says Its Ads Agent Cut CPMs 18% In Beta. Agencies Should Ask What The Baseline Was

Ufuk Ercüment ·3 min read·How we report Share Print
In this piece
    Figure Beta CPMs fell 18%
    BETA CPMS DECLINEBeta CPMs fell 18%. Indexed so the before value is 100; after is 82.−18%BETA CPMS DECLINEINDEXED · BEFORE = 10010082BEFOREAFTER
    Programmatic Desk

    The story. Amazon Ads has merged its ad console and DSP into one AI-powered platform. A VP says beta advertisers saw lower CPMs and CPAs, and that marketers keep the decisions. (AdExchanger, 19 October 2026)

    The numbers in this piece

    18%Beta CPMs decline
    16%Beta CPAs decline
    90%of US households

    01What happened

    • One platform, fewer steps. The new product combines Amazon’s ad console and DSP. Advertisers can launch a programmatic campaign in as few as four clicks.
    • The pitch is breadth. Kelly MacLean, Amazon Ads VP of science, engineering and product, calls it “programmatic for everyone”. That includes advertisers who do not know programmatic.
    • Beta CPMs fell 18%. Advertisers using Amazon Ads Agent saw 18% lower CPMs in beta tests, according to MacLean.
    • Beta CPAs fell 16%. The same tests showed 16% lower CPAs, according to MacLean.
    • Delivery improved 65%. MacLean also cites a 65% improvement in delivery. She calls the results “real live campaigns, budgets and measurable outcomes”.
    • The graph is the edge. MacLean says Amazon’s authenticated graph connects 90% of US households, letting AI optimize on purchase signals, not proxies.
    • Marketers keep the strategy. In her words, “the advertiser is owning the why and the what” while AI helps drive the how.

    02What it means for buyers

    Amazon is lowering the cost of entry to its DSP. For a brand or agency that avoided it because setup was heavy, four clicks removes the excuse. That is the real news, and it widens Amazon’s advertiser base.

    The beta figures need care. They come from Amazon, in an interview, and the report gives no baseline, sample size or campaign mix. A CPM that falls 18% against what? A manual setup built by a new user, or a tuned campaign from an experienced team?

    Delivery is the telling number. A 65% improvement suggests campaigns that were underspending before the agent. That is a different result from beating a well-run benchmark, and an agency should read it that way. This reading is APH analysis, not Amazon’s claim.

    The control question is real too. MacLean says advertisers can move from simple campaigns to advanced settings as trust grows. Buyers will want to see which settings stay open and what the agent decides on its own. The report does not say.

    Amazon has made its DSP easier to start and is backing it with beta numbers it controls.

    03What buyers should do about it

    Figure 2 MacLean says Amazon's authenticated graph connects 90% of US households, letting AI optimize on purchase signals
    90%of US households
    Programmatic Desk

    04Offer tie-in

    Teams weighing Amazon Ads alongside Microsoft Advertising can talk to us about running both from one managed service.

    05The bottom line

    Amazon has made its DSP easier to start and is backing it with beta numbers it controls. Treat the numbers as a reason to test, not a result to quote.

    Sources & caveats

    Sources: AdExchanger, “How Amazon Ads Plans To Make Programmatic Simple Without Taking Control From Marketers” (19 October 2026), for the product description, the four-click claim, the beta results, the 90% household figure and the MacLean statements. The reading of the delivery figure and the recommendations are APH desk analysis. This piece advances our 27 September coverage of marketers handing campaign optimization to AI agents.

    Tags
    Amazon AdsAmazon DSPAI AgentsProgrammaticBuyersMeasurement
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