Inside Amazon's growing ad business: Everything we know about how the e-commerce giant is making inroads with marketers

Reuters/Joshua Roberts

Jeff Bezos, president and CEO of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post, speaks at the Economic Club of Washington DC's "Milestone Celebration Dinner" in Washington, U.S., September 13, 2018.

• Amazon is steadily building an advertising business that competes with Google and Facebook.
• Amazon's ad business doubled year-over-year and made $10 billion in 2018. Analysts expect for it to grow significantly more over the coming years.
• Amazon is increasingly rolling out new ad video and search formats and measurement tools to win budgets from big brands.
• At the same time, Amazon's ad business is experiencing a number of growing pains like proving to advertisers that its platform can increase brand awareness and loyalty.
• Business Insider has pulled together all of our recent coverage chronicling Amazon's advertising business. You can read most of these stories by subscribing to BI Prime.

Amazon is increasingly taking on Facebook and Google for digital advertising dollars. Here's the latest on what we know about the company's moves to turn advertising into a larger revenue stream.

New ad formats and measurement tools

• Amazon is pushing harder into video search ads, and industry insiders say it's a direct attack on Google
• 'It's in this weird middle ground:' Amazon has a new plan to win over big brands with video ads, but agencies aren't buying it
• Amazon is finally letting brands track traffic from Facebook in its latest effort to cozy up to big marketers
• Amazon is opening up ads in AmazonFresh, its Instacart killer, to win over big packaged-goods brands

Relationships with agencies

• Inside Amazon's charm offensive to win over big brand budgets from Madison Avenue
• Marketers say Amazon's advertising business is difficult to navigate. Here's why the company thinks the 'chaotic' structure actually makes sense.

Amazon's move into private labels

• Amazon's private-label business is on a tear and rival marketers are racing to stay a step ahead of its tactics
• Many of Amazon's exclusive products look just like other brands you know and love - see them side by side
• Warren's plan to fight big tech directly threatens one of Amazon's most successful businesses

OTT

• Amazon wants to take on OTT heavyweights like Roku for advertising dollars. Here's the pitch deck it's using to sell marketers video ads.
• Big brands like Verizon and Toyota are backing Amazon's Freedive as the e-commerce giant pushes deeper into OTT advertising
• A top Amazon Studios exec talks about why it puts a huge focus on experiential marketing and reveals how it will push its 'Lord of the Rings' series
• It seems like Amazon and Google may finally be ending their streaming video feud

Influencer marketing

• Amazon is now paying influencers big commissions to sell its products. We got a leaked document that shows how it all works.
• Amazon wants to build an army of influencers to help sell products. We got an inside look at how much people are making.
• Amazon is paying influencers big commissions to sell its products, and it's open to anyone. Here's how to sign up.
• Meet the influencer agency that is helping Amazon merchants break free of the e-commerce giant

Moving into New York

• Amazon decided to shut down HQ2 in New York but advertisers see no sign of the e-commerce giant slowing down its attack on Madison Avenue

Competing with Google and Facebook

• The growth rate of Amazon's ad business is plunging but revenue is still up
• Digital now makes up the majority of marketers' ad spending, and Amazon is poised to win big as it eats into Google's share
• Amazon's ad business is set to more than quadruple by 2023 - and Google should be worried
• Amazon's nascent ad business is bigger than it's ever been - and it's starting to make inroads with big brands
• 'They should all be worried': Google's move to bring shoppable ads to image searches should terrify Amazon, Instagram, and Pinterest
• Google's ad business is facing its biggest new threat in years, but for Google's Q1 earnings, Amazon's 'bark is worse than the bite'