Amazon Ads

https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/11/10/23450349/amazon-advertising-everywhere-prime-sponsored-products

In class, we discussed Amazon as a destination for digital advertising.  Reading this article, I found the size and scope of Amazon's ad unit to be quite astounding, especially the quote that says "Amazon's ad revenue surpassed the money it makes from Prime, Prime Video, and its other audio and e-book subscriptions combined."  

It is interesting how vast a portfolio of advertising placement Amazon has; in addition to ads on the site when shopping on Amazon, there are ads on digital prosperities such as Twitch, advertising in digital video content (including Thursday Night Football), and then on top of that, advertising placement on physical boxes sent out by Amazon.

Amazon is a company known for its leadership principles (https://www.amazon.jobs/content/en/our-workplace/leadership-principles) - and at the top of the list is that they are "customer centric."  The other business units - Prime, Prime video, audio, and e-book subscriptions are just that: customer centric.  These are all areas of the business meant to attract and retain customers.  Advertising, however, is historically not customer friendly, as most people don't like ads.  The article highlights this struggle as it described friction between the ad division and the customer experience division.  

However, given the huge profitability of the Ad Unit, it seems likely that this business will only continue to grow.  It will be interesting to see if "Customer Centric" continues to stay as the top Leadership Principle as this growth continues.  

(Additional link: https://advertising.amazon.com/solutions/industries/automotive-marketing - an interesting link that shows how Amazon positions it to advertisers in different industries, in this case the automotive industry)