Amazon quietly shutters product ads that drove traffic to outside sites

The change is expected to take effect on October 31, after which advertisers will no longer be able to post the Product Ads that are proving to be very lucrative for small businesses that are selling their products on their own websites outside of Amazon. Such pay-per-click ads were displayed at the bottom of search results, and when clicked, directed visitors to the manufacturers’ or retailers’ own site.

The program enabled many businesses, which are not sellers on Amazon’s online marketplace necessarily, to purchase ad space on its website.

Executive chairman atChannelAdvisor, Scot Wingo said that their customers didquite well with the program as it offered a middle ground to collaborate with AMZN but also not permitting them to view all their transaction data.

The tweak means that Amazon will from the autumn offer modest text ads to run alongside product searches, according to an email sent to the site’s advertisers, and seen by Wall Street Journal.

“At Amazon we’re continually reviewing the providers we provide companions to assist them greatest attain our buyer base and develop their companies”, the corporate stated in an e mail to Reuters.

Amazon is set to end some of its pay-per-click advertising this October, in a move that could suggest the etailer is looking to cut off the amount of money Google makes from its website.

“We are disappointed with the news”, said Angela Hsu, vice president of Internet business and marketing at Lamps Plus, a home decor company that used the product ads program.

The proposed replacement are Amazon’s Text Ads: a new product which is awaiting a description on the Amazon Advertising page.

Consumers are more and more beginning their product searches on e-commerce marketplaces corresponding to Amazon earlier than wanting on particular person retailer’s web site.

A recent survey released by Amazon and Pymnts.com found that 64 per cent of respondents said they begin searching for a product on a marketplace, followed by their favourite websites, search engines and social media.

eMarketer estimated that AMZN’s total ads business could generate $1.26 billion this year and can expand to $1.83 billion by 2018. eMarketer gives predictions by tracking online advertising.

Amazon is also inviting retailers to sell their products on Amazon itself, an option that is not too attractive for businesses that want to stay in control of the buying experience and their customers’ information.