The battle of giants – Google Ads vs. Amazon Ads

Google Ads vs Amazon ads 

In the world of digital advertising, Google and Amazon are like yin and yang. Even though they are similar, there are also a lot of differences which make them the biggest competitors in the advertising world. 

Quick overview

Since 2012, when Amazon released its advertising platform, it has a growing conversion rate which is sometimes 10x higher than the one on Google. The main reason why Amazon visitors convert better is their position in the sales funnel. They have higher purchase intent and focus to find the best products that will fit their needs. 

Obviously, Google feels threatened by Amazon since this e-commerce platform in 55% of cases is the first stop searchers go to for online shopping. So, as a response, Google has upgraded its own ecommerce tab – Google Shopping, opening up to organic product listings. The goal is to give retailers a better chance to be discovered and potential customers more options when searching for products.

What unites them? 

If you have an advertising experience on both platforms you know that they have many similarities. Some even say that Amazon copied Google advertising tools since there are a lot of terms which both platforms use and similar targeting options.

Same advertising model

First of all, both platforms have PPC advertising model. What does this mean? Well, the point is that advertisers only pay when someone clicks on their ad. Still, when you click on Google ad, it redirects you to another retail website to convert there, but on Amazon you always stay on the platform. 

Similar ad account structure 

Second, they have similar ad account structure. Ads are organized by ad groups and also triggered with keywords. This way, it is easier to organize campaign flow and see how you can optimize it to get more conversions. 

Similar ad types

Also, Google and Amazon have similar ad types. When you see Amazon Sponsored Product Ads, it is easy to find resemblance with Google’s Product Listing Ads. Just, on Google you can see product name, price and shipping info and on Amazon you can see the name, price, availability and product ratings. 

Same keyword match types

You must have noticed that these platforms have exactly the same match types: broad, phrase and exact match. Since Google’s advertising platform is older, it is obvious that Amazon copied these keyword match types. The distinction is that Google has modified broad match which is a keyword type between broad and phrase. 

What distinguishes them?

Even though Google and Amazon advertising platforms are based on the same advertising model, these two competitors wouldn’t be the most famous ones if there weren’t differences which separate them. 

Ad destination

Amazon wants to keep its visitors on the platform so when you click the ad, it leads you to the desired product page. On Google, you are always redirected to other websites which have paid to have their product or service displayed through ads. 

Ad ranking

Different goals are the main reason why these two have different ad ranking. Amazon ranks higher ads which are more profitable and Google favores ads which have higher CTR (click – through – rate). But both platforms value relevant ads with clear title and description so they are more likely to have better search positions. 

Availability of ads

Second difference is the availability of ads to certain advertisers. On Amazon, if you are a third party seller, you don’t have an option to choose Sponsored Display ads. While on Google you can use Search, Display and Video ads with no limitations. 

Audience targeting options 

Up to this day, Amazon has pretty basic targeting options for it’s Sponsored Display ads based on searchers behaviour and interests. While Google offers a wide range of remarketing tools based on which websites users visit and which actions they take online. 

What they can learn from each other?

There is a reason why Google and Amazon are the most successful companies. They constantly compete with new features and innovations while the revenue of both competitors is hitting the roof. Still, one thing is sure, both could learn so much from each other.

Google could teach Amazon how to catch visitors’ attention no matter on which position of the sales funnel they are in. However, Google is the platform with the best advertising tactics and very developed and well functioning ad system. 

On the other hand, Amazon could teach Google how to successfully lead the e-commerce department – Google Shopping. With Amazon’s features like user friendliness, flexibility, great customer care and review system Google could improve its shopping experience and consumers trust. 


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