Amazon is aggressively growing its advertising. Here's everything to know about its ad business.

Amazon's advertising revenue has soared 50% year over year in the third quarter to $8 billion as more people shop from home.

EMarketer said Amazon claimed 10.3% of the US digital ad market in 2020, up from 7.8% in 2019 — competing with Google and Facebook for ad budgets. That growth has attracted Walmart, Instacart, Walgreens and other retailers that have joined Amazon in vying for a slice of the ad pie.

And under new CEO Andy Jassy, the company has been shaking up its ad business to attract new advertisers that typically buy television.

Here's the latest on Amazon's moves to grow its advertising business and the growing competition it faces.

Amazon's ad business is big and growing

Amazon netted $23 billion in advertising in the first three quarters of 2021 — up from $13.5 billion in the same period in 2020.

While that amount is a tiny sliver of Amazon's revenue from retail sales and Amazon Web Services, its cloud business, advertising is one of its fastest-growing areas. The tech giant continues to cut into advertisers' search budgets that mostly go to Google. It's also ramping up its audio and video sales pitch.

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Who runs Amazon's ad business

Amazon has built a team of execs to pitch advertisers on its ad business, including longtime Amazon employees like Colleen Aubrey, who is part of Amazon's executive suite; and agency and brand vets who work directly with marketers.

• Read more: Alan Moss is spearheading Amazon's push to steal ad dollars from Facebook and Google. Insiders lay out his playbook for getting a slice of the $70 billion TV ad market.
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• Amazon just made a big hire from ad agency Dentsu to help it take a share of the $70 billion TV-advertising business 

Amazon faces growing competition for ad dollars

Other big retailers and delivery companies including Albertsons, Instacart, and Walmart are scrambling to build their own ad businesses, and hiring top talent to do so.

• Read more: See the 30-page leaked pitch deck that reveals Macy's big push into advertising
  
• 4 ways that Walmart, Instacart, and Target are copying Amazon to build billion-dollar ad businesses
• Albertsons is ditching its longtime advertising partner to build an ad business internally. A top exec describes how it'll work.
• Walmart is going after Amazon's ad business — advertisers who control millions name 6 things it needs to do to win their budgets
  
• How eBay is trying to overhaul its advertising business to be more like Amazon and Walmart
• Walmart unleashes a crucial new weapon to grab advertising budget from Amazon, but it's still lagging behind
• Amazon, Walmart, and Instacart are vying for advertising dollars — here's exactly how much they charge for ads
• Experts lay out how Instacart, Walmart, and other retail ad sellers can take on Amazon in digital advertising
• Uber just hired a top Amazon advertising exec. Here are 45 other big hires that show how it and other companies are warring for advertising dollars

Amazon is tough for advertisers to navigate

Marketers have complained that Amazon is tough to navigate. Amazon said its complex approach is by design, but has rolled out tools to make it easier for marketers to buy and measure ads. Nonetheless, its structure has spawned a cottage industry of firms that specialize in helping marketers navigate the site.

• Read more: Meet 18 firms solving companies' giant problems selling and advertising on Amazon
• Amazon is breeding a new crop of marketing startups, and investors are buying in
• Marketers say Amazon's advertising business is difficult to navigate. Here's why the company thinks the 'chaotic' structure actually makes sense.
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• Amazon started showing a favored metric for advertisers this month, making it easier for large brands to compare ad efficiency against Google and Facebook
• Amazon is rolling out a tool that shows just how much Google and Facebook ads drive people to do their shopping on the e-commerce site

How to get a job at Amazon

Amazon is consistently looking for advertising talent, but its tough interviewing process and particular culture can make it hard for outsiders to break into the company.

We talked to insiders about how to ace the interview process.

• Read more: Amazon is known for its ruthless interviewing process. We talked to insiders about how to get a job there.
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