Dive Brief:
- A survey for analytics firm Advertiser Perceptions' annual industry report found that Amazon Advertising Platform has more users than Google’s DoubleClick Bid Manager making it the top demand-side platform, or DSP, as reported by Adexchanger.
- The survey included 800 demand-side marketers, with 60% on the agency side and 40% with brands.
- Amazon’s DSP surprisingly topped the list with 40% of respondents saying they are using it, narrowly followed by Google’s at 36% with a ten point drop off to the rest of the players in space including MediaMath, Rocket Fuel, BrightRoll and AppNexus.
Dive Insight:
The survey was the first time Amazon Advertising Platform was even included. Advertiser Perceptions Chief Strategy Officer Kevin Mannion said Amazon has been flying under the radar when it comes to offering software for automated ad buying, building a presence over the past couple of years. “It was a real surprise for us, and we rarely say that because we feel we know where the arrows are pointing," Mannon said.
The reason Amazon topped the list of DSPs, at least in part, is its relationships and access to brands because of the e-commerce tie-in.
In December, Amazon introduced a cloud-based header bidding product called Transparent Ad Marketplace, a reflection of the company is trying to stay ontop of the latest developments in digital advertising services.
Amazon has slowly built itself into a tech giant through products like its DSP and Amazon Web Services cloud computing provider. Even as it has branched into new areas like artificial intelligence with its Alexa personal digital assistant powering its Echo and Dot hardware devices, Amazon has consistently kept the main brand name front and center, and just like with its DSP success, Amazon’s core e-commerce roots are never far from the reason it does so well in new business spaces.
