Amazon PPC glossary, A to Z

Comparing two versions of a listing element or ad, such as a main image or title, to see which drives a better click-through rate, conversion rate or sales. Brand owners can run them with Manage Your Experiments.

A Seller Central score that shows how well your account follows Amazon's selling policies. A low rating can put the account at risk of suspension.

A Brand Registry feature that adds rich images, comparison charts and text modules to the product description. It replaced the older name Enhanced Brand Content (EBC).

A set of ads inside a campaign that share the same targets and bids. Grouping by product or theme keeps bids and search terms easy to read.

The number of times your sponsored ad was shown to shoppers. Impressions measure reach, not engagement.

Orders credited to an ad click within the attribution window. Used to work out ad sales, conversion rate and cost per order.

Sales credited to your ads within the attribution window. The basis for ACoS and ROAS.

The total you paid for ad clicks and impressions over a period. Shown as Spend in the Amazon Ads console.

The current state of an ad or campaign: delivering, paused, out of budget, under review or not delivering because of an issue.

Choosing who sees your ads: by keyword, by product or category, or by audience. Each ad type supports different options.

A document a vendor sends Amazon before an inbound shipment arrives, listing contents, quantities and packaging.

An unofficial name sellers use for Amazon's search ranking algorithm. Amazon does not publish the name or the weights, but sales, conversion rate, relevance and reviews clearly matter.

Amazon's advertising business and platform. Sellers and vendors run Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display campaigns in the Amazon Ads console.

A consignment program for publishers, authors and media creators to sell books, music and films directly to Amazon.

A company that buys and scales Amazon brands, using capital and operating know-how to grow revenue across a portfolio.

Amazon's program for listing and selling in other countries' marketplaces from one seller account.

An Amazon Ads data feed that sends hourly campaign metrics to your own systems through the API, so bids can react within the day.

The older Vendor Central reporting suite, in Basic and Premium versions. Largely replaced by Brand Analytics and Search Query Performance.

A badge Amazon shows on a product it recommends for a specific search, based on factors such as ratings, price, delivery speed and how often shoppers buy it.

The unique 10-character code Amazon gives every product in its catalog. Ads, reports and listings all key off the ASIN.

A paid Vendor Central service that gives a vendor a dedicated Amazon account manager and strategic support.

Amazon's bulk storage service that holds inventory and refills FBA stock automatically.

The yearly negotiation between Amazon and a vendor covering cost prices, co-op funding, allowances and terms.

The time after an ad click in which a purchase is credited to that ad. Sponsored Products uses 7 days for sellers and 14 days for vendors; Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display use 14 days.

A Sponsored Products campaign type where Amazon chooses the searches and products to show your ad on, based on your listing. Useful for finding new search terms.

The average revenue per unit sold over a period.

Business-to-business sales on Amazon, made to Amazon Business buyers, often with quantity discounts and business pricing.

Business-to-consumer sales to individual shoppers. The default Amazon marketplace model.

Search terms added in the listing's back end that help a product get indexed for searches but are not shown to shoppers. Amazon limits them to 250 bytes in the US.

A limited-time promotion featured on Amazon's deals pages that runs longer than a Lightning Deal.

A product's rank by recent sales within a category, updated hourly. A lower number means more sales.

The most you are willing to pay for a click on a keyword or product target. You often pay less than your bid.

A shipping document issued by a carrier that lists the goods, quantities and destination of a freight shipment.

A free set of Seller Central reports for brand owners in Brand Registry, including Search Query Performance, Top Search Terms and Repeat Purchase Behavior.

A free Amazon program for brand owners with a registered or pending trademark. It protects the brand and unlocks A+ Content, Brand Analytics, Sponsored Brands, Brand Stores and Project Zero.

A free multi-page brand storefront on Amazon for Brand Registry sellers, with its own URL and no competitor ads.

The ACoS at which an ad sale makes no profit and no loss. It equals your margin before ad costs.

A keyword match type that can show your ad for searches containing the keyword's words in any order, plus close variations and related searches. Good for discovery, costly without negatives.

A numbered category in Amazon's catalog tree. Browse nodes power category navigation and filters, and decide where a product's Best Sellers Rank is counted.

The average amount a campaign can spend per day. When it runs out, the campaign's ads stop showing until the next day.

The short feature lines under a product title. They carry keywords for search and the main reasons to buy.

One listing that sells several items together at one price, used to raise order value.

The Add to Cart and Buy Now panel on a product page. When several sellers offer the same product, the seller who wins the Buy Box gets most of the sales, and ads only show while you hold it.

A promotion where buying one item gets a second one free or at a discount.

The top level of an Amazon Ads account: one ad type, a daily budget, a start and end date, and one or more ad groups.

An Amazon label for products that lose money for Amazon after fees, shipping and price. CRaP products can be blocked from sale.

The number of units packed in one shipping case, used for inbound shipment planning.

The Selling Partner API endpoint for reading and updating catalog and listing data in bulk.

An Amazon page that groups products by category so shoppers can browse and filter.

A payment dispute where a buyer's bank or card issuer reverses a transaction.

One variation, such as a size or color, under a parent ASIN. Child ASINs share the listing's reviews.

The number of times shoppers clicked your ad. Amazon removes invalid clicks before you are charged.

The share of ad impressions that turn into clicks. It shows how compelling your image, title and price look in the results.

A badge for products with recognized sustainability certifications.

The steady yearly growth rate that would take a number from its starting value to its ending value over several years.

Refunds, replacements or credits Amazon gives customers, often charged back to the vendor.

The share of purchase order units a vendor confirms.

Revenue minus variable costs: what is left to cover fixed costs and profit.

The share of clicks or sessions that become orders. In Amazon Ads it is orders divided by clicks.

Marketing funds a vendor pays Amazon, often as a share of purchases, to support promotion of its products.

The direct cost of making or buying the products you sold, including materials and inbound freight.

Ad spend divided by the number of orders (or another action). On Amazon it usually means ad cost per order.

What you pay on average for each ad click, set by the auction and your bid.

The cost of 1,000 ad impressions. Sponsored Display can be billed this way on viewable impressions.

A discount shoppers clip on the search results or product page, shown with a green badge. Coupons can lift click-through and conversion rates.

The latest time a fulfillment center can pick and pack an order and still meet its delivery promise.

A vendor term where Amazon deducts a set percentage of invoices instead of returning damaged goods.

Changing bids or budgets by hour or day of the week, so spend goes to the times when shoppers buy.

A one-day discount featured on Amazon's Today's Deals page.

A shipping term where the seller pays all costs, duties and taxes to deliver goods to the buyer's destination.

The full product page: title, images, price, bullet points, description, A+ Content, reviews and the Buy Box.

How many times shoppers viewed a product page. Called Glance Views in Vendor Central.

A vendor model where the vendor ships orders straight to Amazon customers instead of to Amazon warehouses.

A vendor model where Amazon buys from an overseas manufacturer and imports the goods itself.

Selling products that a third-party supplier ships directly to the customer. Amazon allows it only when you are the seller of record.

A Sponsored Products setting where Amazon changes your bid in real time based on how likely a click is to convert: down only, up and down (up to 100% more for top of search, 50% elsewhere), or fixed.

A standard for sending orders, invoices and shipping documents between trading partners automatically.

The delivery date Amazon promises shoppers at checkout. Missing it hurts seller metrics.

A 13-digit barcode used to identify products outside North America.

An FBA option that stores inventory in one European country and fulfills orders from other EU marketplaces.

A keyword match type that shows your ad only for that search and close variants such as plurals and misspellings. The tightest control over spend.

The date by which a seller must ship an order to meet the delivery promise.

A shipping term where the buyer takes on all costs and risk from the seller's factory or warehouse.

A Vendor Central program where Amazon shares forecast purchase orders ahead of time.

A shipping term where the seller delivers export-cleared goods to a carrier chosen by the buyer.

A shipping term that sets the point where cost and risk pass from seller to buyer, usually when goods are loaded at the port.

A tracking number a freight carrier assigns to a less-than-truckload shipment.

Amazon-certified packaging that is easy to open, uses less material and ships without an extra box.

A service where Amazon stores your inventory and picks, packs, ships and handles returns and customer service for your orders. FBA offers usually show the Prime badge.

Storing and shipping your own orders instead of using FBA.

An Amazon warehouse that receives, stores, picks, packs and ships inventory.

The barcode Amazon assigns to each FBA product per seller, so units can be traced to the right account.

A freight shipment that fills a whole truck.

A product category that needs Amazon's approval before you can list in it.

The Vendor Central name for product page views.

A network for sharing standardized product data between trading partners.

The family of standard product identifiers, including UPC, EAN, JAN and ISBN.

The total value of goods sold over a period, before fees, returns and costs.

The first half (January to June) and second half (July to December) of the year. H2 holds Prime Day in most years, Black Friday and the holiday peak.

Products classed as dangerous goods, such as flammable, corrosive or pressurized items. They need extra review before FBA will accept them.

The old name for Sponsored Brands ads.

Products large or heavy enough to need special FBA handling and fees.

When another seller lists a counterfeit or unauthorized offer on your branded ASIN, or changes your listing content.

The share of the impressions available for a target or search that your ads won. Sponsored Products reports top-of-search impression share.

A listing removed from search results because of a policy or data problem, such as a missing image or a title that breaks the rules.

Trademarks, patents and copyrights. Brand Registry helps protect registered IP on Amazon.

A 13-digit identifier for books.

A listing attribute that tells Amazon exactly what the product is, which affects browse placement and search filters.

The Japanese version of the EAN barcode.

The annual plan a vendor agrees with Amazon on growth targets, funding and promotions.

A number used to track performance. For Amazon ads the usual KPIs are ACoS, TACoS, ROAS, CTR, conversion rate and total sales.

A word or phrase shoppers type into Amazon search. Keywords drive both organic ranking and PPC targeting.

Setting a separate bid for each keyword so you pay more for searches that sell and less for those that do not.

When several of your campaigns target the same search and compete with each other, raising your own cost per click.

Moving search terms that convert from automatic and broad campaigns into exact match campaigns, and adding the ones that waste money as negatives.

Finding the searches shoppers use for your products, with their volume and how well they convert.

The full cost of a product delivered to the warehouse: product cost, freight, duties and fees.

An ocean freight option where several shippers share one container.

A freight option where several shippers share one truck.

A short, limited-quantity deal featured on Today's Deals for a few hours.

Improving a product page, from title and images to bullet points and A+ Content, to rank higher and convert more of the traffic it gets.

Longer, more specific searches with less volume and less competition. They often convert better and cost less per click.

A Sponsored Products campaign type where you choose the keywords or products to target and set the bids.

The price a manufacturer recommends retailers charge.

Amazon's old seller API, replaced by the Selling Partner API.

The setting that controls how closely a search must match your keyword for your ad to show: broad, phrase or exact.

Amazon's term for orders the seller ships, the same as FBM.

The lowest price a brand allows retailers to advertise a product at.

The smallest order a supplier will accept.

A comparison of a number with the same number last month.

Results from the first day of the month to today.

An FBA service that ships orders from your other sales channels using your FBA inventory.

Searches you tell Amazon not to show your ad for. The main tool for cutting spend on searches that never sell.

Products or brands you exclude from your product-targeting campaigns so your ads stop showing on them.

What is left from revenue after all costs, fees, ad spend and taxes.

Revenue after discounts, returns and allowances.

The process of creating a new product listing in Vendor Central.

Bringing a new product to market on Amazon, usually with ads to build early sales, reviews and rank.

Orders from shoppers who have not bought from your brand in the past 12 months. Reported in Amazon Ads for brands in Brand Registry.

A specific sub-category of products for a defined group of shoppers.

A Vendor Central status meaning Amazon will not reorder a product.

The share of orders with negative feedback, an A-to-z Guarantee claim or a chargeback. Amazon expects it to stay under 1%.

The total value of products ordered in a period, from Seller Central Business Reports. It includes ad sales, so it is the total sales figure for TACoS.

In Vendor Central, the value of units customers ordered.

Sales that came without an ad click: total sales minus ad sales.

Sales of products other than the one advertised, made after a shopper clicked your ad, within the attribution window.

When a product has no available inventory. Ads stop and organic rank often drops while you are out of stock.

An FBA program that spreads your inventory across European fulfillment centers so orders ship faster.

A non-buyable listing that groups variations (child ASINs) such as sizes or colors.

An ad model where you pay each time a shopper clicks your ad. Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and most Sponsored Display ads work this way.

A keyword match type that shows your ad for searches containing your keyword phrase in the same order, with words before or after it.

Where a Sponsored Products ad shows: top of search, rest of search or product pages. You can raise bids for top of search and product pages by up to 900%.

A folder in the Amazon Ads console for grouping campaigns, often by brand or product line, with an optional budget cap.

A richer tier of A+ Content with larger images, interactive comparison charts and carousels.

A vendor agreement that credits Amazon when the vendor lowers a cost price on stock Amazon already holds.

Amazon's paid membership with fast free delivery and member deals. FBA and Seller Fulfilled Prime offers carry the Prime badge.

Amazon's yearly deals event for Prime members, one of the biggest sales periods of the year.

Products made by a manufacturer and sold under your own brand.

Ad targeting that shows your ad on chosen products (ASINs) or categories instead of on searches.

The Amazon seller plan at $39.99 a month that unlocks advertising, Brand Registry tools and bulk listing.

A statement of revenue, costs and profit over a period.

Profit as a percentage of revenue. Margin before ad costs is your break-even ACoS.

A Brand Registry program that lets eligible brands remove counterfeit listings themselves, without filing a report each time.

A record confirming that a shipment was delivered.

The first three quarters of the year: January to March, April to June and July to September. Prime Day usually falls in Q3.

October to December: the peak season with Black Friday, Cyber Monday and holiday shopping. Clicks cost more, and sales rise faster.

An informal name for the weeks after the holidays, when shoppers spend gift cards and ad costs fall back.

Lower per-unit prices for larger orders, common for Amazon Business buyers.

The price a manufacturer suggests for selling a product.

The commission Amazon takes on each sale, a percentage of the price that depends on the category, often 15%.

A Brand Analytics report showing how many of your customers buy again and what share of sales they make up.

Profit as a percentage of what you spent to earn it.

The share of orders that customers return.

Researching the keywords a competitor's product ranks or advertises for by starting from its ASIN.

An Amazon Ads bidding option that changes bids automatically to aim for a target return on ad spend.

A Brand Analytics number ranking a search term by how often it is searched in a marketplace. Rank 1 is the most searched term.

The exact words a shopper typed before clicking your ad. Not always the same as the keyword you bid on.

An Amazon Ads report listing the searches that triggered your ads, with clicks, spend and sales for each. The main source of new keywords and negatives.

How often a keyword is searched, usually per month.

The dashboard third-party sellers use to list products, manage inventory and orders, and read reports.

A program where sellers ship Prime orders from their own warehouse while meeting Prime delivery speeds.

The share of available inventory sold in a period.

A visit to your Amazon pages. All of one shopper's activity within 24 hours counts as one session.

A program for products that ship in their own packaging without an extra Amazon box.

An ad format with your logo, a custom headline and several products, shown at the top of and within search results. Needs Brand Registry.

An ad format that targets shoppers by product, category or audience, often to reach people who viewed your product or a competitor's. Billed per click or per viewable impression.

Amazon's core cost-per-click ad format. It promotes single products in search results and on product pages.

Your own code for each product variant, used to track inventory.

A program where shoppers get repeat deliveries of eligible products at a discount.

The ACoS you aim for on a product: usually break-even ACoS minus the profit you want to keep.

An independent seller on Amazon's marketplace, as opposed to a vendor selling to Amazon (1P).

The first row of sponsored results on the first page of search, usually the placement with the highest click-through and conversion rates.

A rolling 12-month period ending today.

A product or category any seller can list in without approval.

Seller Central's conversion rate: units ordered divided by sessions.

The 12-digit barcode used to identify products in North America.

A review Amazon cannot match to a purchase on Amazon.

A consumption tax charged in the UK, EU and other regions.

A version of a product, such as a size or color, grouped under one parent listing.

Cost per 1,000 viewable impressions. Sponsored Display can be billed this way.

A manufacturer or distributor that sells products to Amazon at wholesale; Amazon then sells them to shoppers.

The invitation-only portal vendors use to sell to Amazon.

The time a vendor takes to ship after Amazon places a purchase order.

A review label showing Amazon confirmed the reviewer bought the product on Amazon.

An Amazon program where trusted reviewers receive free products in exchange for honest reviews. Open to Brand Registry sellers.

A rebate a vendor pays Amazon after purchases pass agreed volume levels.

Amazon's outlet for returned, used or slightly damaged items sold at a discount.

Ad spend on clicks that never lead to an order, usually from searches that do not match what you sell.

A comparison of a number with the same number last week.

A comparison of a period with the same period last year. The fairest view for seasonal products.

Results from January 1 to today.