Amazon mobile video ads to challenge Facebook and Google

Amazon mobile video ads - smartphone - play button

Amazon wants a piece of the digital advertising marketing space that’s currently dominated by Facebook and Google.

A new form of Amazon mobile video ads is to be introduced to the eCommerce giant’s smartphone shopping app. Amazon reportedly intends to sell video spots on its mCommerce platform.

Amazon has been testing the ads on the iOS platform and plans to rollout a test for Android later this year.

For several months, the Amazon mobile video ads have been on Apple’s iOS platform, according to people who are familiar with the plan, Bloomberg reports. These same people, who requested to remain anonymous due to they’re not being authorized to share this information publicly, also said that a similar product is in the works for the Android mobile platform for later this year (2019).

The short video ad spots pop up in response to search results on the Amazon shopping app. This ad space presents a valuable opportunity for advertisers. The reason is people searching for products on the app are more likely to buy than consumers who scroll through Facebook or watch videos on Google-owned YouTube.

These new Amazon mobile video ads present a fresh revenue opportunity for the company.

Initially, Amazon’s advertising strategy primarily revolved around selling space that features brand logos, product images and descriptions. Selling more video ads opens up a new revenue stream for Amazon as advertisers will spend big money to claim this space.

Advertisers are changing where they choose to spend on advertising to appeal to the growing number of people who are watching videos on mobile. According to EMarketer, brands will spend an estimated $16 billion on mobile video advertising in 2019, which is 22.6% more compared to 2018.

Amazon first dabbled into product-related video content two years ago in an effort to prevent shoppers from turning to Instagram or YouTube to watch video demonstrations and testimonials from influencers not present on Amazon.

To make matters worse for Amazon, many of the video posts on these social media platforms featured links to sites other than Amazon, further encouraging consumers to buy elsewhere.

Bloomberg notes that according to an anonymous source, the company has a $35,000 ad budget to run the spots at 5 cents per view, with ads running for 60 days. Another anonymous source said that prices vary by category and not everyone who wants to buy video ad space on Amazon pays a fixed rate.

Amazon mobile video ads - smartphone - play buttonUltimately, with this latest Amazon mobile video ads push, mobile shoppers can expect to see more product videos on the platform.

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