Amazon DSP: Costs, campaigns and how it differs from Sponsored Ads

The ads for the cordless hedge trimmer go live in March. Trouble is, plenty of shoppers aren’t thinking about their hedge yet. The garden brand Example Garden sells as a vendor on amazon.de, runs Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands, and gets clicks. But those ads almost only reach people who already search Amazon for a cordless hedge trimmer. With Amazon DSP, the brand can show up earlier: on Prime Video, on Twitch or on a news site.

Since September 29, 2026, the shared platform for Sponsored Ads and DSP has been called Amazon Ads Agent, and DSP campaigns are turning into the new campaign type DVA+ (display, video, audio). DVA+ is in beta in the US. Advertisers in Germany who already used Amazon DSP still see the familiar Amazon DSP interface.

The hedge trimmer shows what DSP adds on top of Sponsored Ads, from ad placements to access, costs and reporting.

What is Amazon DSP?

DSP stands for demand-side platform. Advertisers use this software to buy ad space automatically instead of booking each website one by one. It works across many websites, apps and streaming services at once, and it’s called programmatic advertising. We explain DSP, PPC, FBA and other terms in our list of Amazon abbreviations.

Amazon’s DSP buys display, video, audio and streaming TV ads: on Amazon’s own sites and services, and on third-party websites and apps (Amazon Ads: Amazon DSP, Amazon Ads: Display, video and audio).

Here’s how the hedge trimmer gets onto a screen:

A shopper browses hedge trimmers on amazon.de but doesn’t buy.
A few days later, she reads an article on a news site that sells ad space through Amazon DSP.
Amazon sees that she fits the campaign’s audience and bids for the placement.
If the bid wins, she sees Example Garden’s banner. In the evening she sees the brand again, as a video ad on Prime Video.
A click on the banner takes her to the hedge trimmer’s product page.

Placements can also be agreed directly with individual publishers instead of being bought at auction. These are called programmatic guaranteed deals (PG deals).

You don’t have to sell on Amazon to use Amazon DSP. A car maker or a streaming service can advertise with it too. Advertisers who don’t sell on Amazon can only book display, video and audio campaigns, though, not Sponsored Ads.

Amazon DSP today: part of Amazon Ads Agent and DVA+

Amazon is retiring the name “Amazon DSP”. Its own DSP page says DSP has evolved into Amazon Ads Agent. People still search for “Amazon DSP”, so this article keeps the term. The main steps, as of October 2026:

Date	What happens	Applies to
Jan 9, 2025	DSP campaign and creative API generally available	incl. Germany
Nov 10, 2025	New campaign manager: Sponsored Ads and DSP in one place, beta for selected advertisers	incl. Germany
Jan 1, 2026	New view attribution for DSP ads in the Amazon store	incl. Germany
Sep 29, 2026	The platform is renamed Amazon Ads Agent, new campaign type DVA+	Announcement
End of Oct 2026	Open beta of DVA+ planned	US only
through Q4 2026	International expansion of DVA+ planned	Coming soon
Q1 2027	DVA+ in 35 markets and API access planned	Coming soon

What DVA+ is

DVA+ stands for display, video, audio. The campaign type builds on Brand+ (awareness) and Performance+ (conversions). According to Amazon, DVA+ brings together Sponsored Display, Sponsored TV and programmatic campaigns.

The familiar DSP features such as audiences and custom bids sit in the “advanced settings”. In the US beta, existing programmatic advertisers and large agencies get these settings right away. New advertisers and Sponsored Ads-only customers start with DVA+ and get the advanced settings on request through their account manager.

The names change too: on its product pages, Amazon now calls Sponsored Display “display ads”, and existing campaigns keep running without interruption. Sponsored TV is now part of streaming TV ads.

DVA+ is available in an expanded closed beta in the US. Amazon plans the open beta for the end of October 2026 (Amazon Ads: DVA+). As of this article, Amazon has not confirmed whether it has started.

What changes in Germany (and what doesn’t)

Advertisers in Germany who already used Amazon DSP still see the Amazon DSP interface. For the move to the new platform, Amazon promises that campaigns, audiences, creatives, deals, performance history and pricing carry over, and that DSP certification stays valid. You don’t need to do anything.

Amazon moves existing DSP accounts to the new ad account automatically. You can’t merge separate Sponsored Ads and DSP accounts yourself yet. Amazon only announces that for “a future release”, so: coming soon.

DVA+ for Germany: coming soon. Amazon plans the international expansion through Q4 2026 and 35 markets for Q1 2027, without naming Germany explicitly. The new full-funnel campaigns are available only in the US.

Where DSP ads appear

A banner on a gardening blog, a spot on Prime Video: together, the placements you can book are called “inventory”. This is the biggest difference from Sponsored Products. DSP inventory falls into three groups.

Amazon DSP / DVA+

DVA+: in beta in the US

Amazon-owned placements

Amazon store in DE
Prime Video in DE
Twitch in DE
Fire TV in DE
IMDb DE not confirmed
Amazon Music, podcasts DE not confirmed
Thursday Night Football US only

Streaming partners

Netflix in DE
Disney+ in DE
Hulu US only
ESPN US only
Roku US only

Third-party websites and apps

Thousands of websites and apps DE not confirmed
Online video (instream, outstream) DE not confirmed

Key: “in DE” = bookable in Germany · “US only” = only in the US · “DE not confirmed” = no source names Germany for this placement

As of 31 Oct 2026. Availability differs by country.

Amazon-owned placements

These include the Amazon store (amazon.de, amazon.com), Prime Video, Twitch, Fire TV, IMDb, and Amazon Music and podcasts. Twitch and Fire TV Channels also run in Germany: Amazon’s streaming TV ad specs list German spot lengths for both. For IMDb and Amazon Music, Amazon doesn’t list countries. So before you plan, check with Amazon or your agency whether you can book them in Germany.

Prime Video shows ads in Germany. According to Amazon, Prime Video with ads reaches more than 17 million customers per month on average in Germany (as of June 2025). Interactive video ads and pause ads have been available in Germany since September 2025. Thursday Night Football is US only.

Streaming partners

According to Amazon, Netflix ads can be booked through Amazon DSP since Q4 2025, in Germany too. Disney+ can also be booked through DSP in Germany and other EU countries.

US only: Hulu and ESPN through Disney’s ad exchange DRAX, and Roku with around 80 million signed-in users.

Third-party websites and apps

On top of that come thousands of websites and apps from other publishers, plus video ads on the open web: instream before a video and outstream directly on a page. Amazon doesn’t publish a country list for this inventory. Where it’s available in Germany, Example Garden can show both with the same campaign: the hedge trimmer banner on a gardening blog and the spot on Prime Video.

Amazon DSP vs. Sponsored Ads

“Sponsored Ads = cost per click on Amazon, DSP = cost per thousand off Amazon”: that rule of thumb no longer holds. Sponsored Products also appear on third-party sites. Sponsored Brands and display ads can also be billed by vCPM, per 1,000 viewable impressions. For your planning, three questions matter: who controls targeting and inventory, who can book, and how is it billed?

When Sponsored Ads are enough and when to add DSP

Someone searches for a cordless hedge trimmer, and the ad is ready: that’s where Sponsored Ads come in. You pay for the click and quickly see what it brings in. That’s where you start.

DSP comes in when the hedge trimmer should be on screen before the search: on Prime Video, with streaming partners and on the open web. Remarketing across many sites and fixed deals with publishers are possible too. For that you need budget, creatives and someone to manage the campaigns.

For Example Garden, that means Sponsored Products for the hedge trimmer search, and DSP for spring awareness on Prime Video. On top of that, the brand uses DSP to reach people again who looked at B0EXAMPLE1 but didn’t buy. Whether that pays off only shows in your own test. There’s no general number for it.

Setting up an Amazon DSP campaign: goals, targeting, creatives

For the hedge trimmer campaign, Example Garden needs three decisions: what it wants to achieve, whom it targets and which creatives it shows.

Goals

Build brand awareness or sell hedge trimmers? That decides the goal. Brand+ aims at awareness and long-term loyalty. Performance+ aims at conversions and optimizes for cost per action (CPA) or ROAS.

Targeting

Amazon builds audiences from shopping, browsing and streaming signals. By its own account, Amazon draws on signals from more than 300 million authenticated customers worldwide.

You don’t have to limit your campaign to audiences and retargeting. Keyword targeting has been generally available since November 2025. Since February 20, 2026, products and in-market categories have been added as tactics, both in Germany too.

Remarketing reaches people again who have already interacted with your products. For example, the shopper who looked at the hedge trimmer but didn’t buy. Amazon also names remarketing explicitly in its guide to display ads.

Gardening blog, streaming spot, banner: the budget goes fast. Start small, test, and expand what works. In the US beta, DVA+ has no minimum spend. Check with Amazon what applies in Germany.

Creatives and examples of DSP ads

DSP ads come in four forms:

Display: banners on Amazon sites, IMDb and third-party websites
Online video: instream before a video or outstream on a page
Streaming TV: spots on Prime Video, Fire TV, Twitch and in streaming apps such as Netflix
Audio: ads on Amazon Music, in podcasts and other audio inventory

For Example Garden, that could look like this:

A banner shows the hedge trimmer. “Shop now” leads to the product page.
A short spot on Prime Video builds brand awareness in spring.
Someone pauses the gardening show for a moment. The pause ad appears.

What does Amazon DSP cost?

You pay per 1,000 impressions (CPM) plus fees. There’s no official CPM price list. According to Amazon, prices and buying options depend on format and placement (Amazon Ads: Demand-side platform).

Media costs aren’t the whole bill. Amazon names these additional fees, but no rates (Amazon Ads: Pricing transparency):

Fee	How it’s charged
Technology fee	Percentage of media costs, the rate is shown when you create the campaign
Amazon audiences and third-party audiences	published CPM
Managed service fee	percentage
Omnichannel measurement	percentage of media costs

Amazon has published concrete numbers only for PG deals: a 0% fee on Amazon-owned placements and 1% with premium streaming publishers. This applies within Complete TV, which was in beta in 2025. Amazon doesn’t say which countries these rates apply to.

On minimum budgets:

Managed service: usually at least USD 50,000, varying by country according to Amazon. Amazon doesn’t publish a EUR amount for Germany.
Self-service: no management fee, you set the budget yourself. Amazon doesn’t name an official minimum budget for Germany.
Streaming TV packages: self-service with a recommended campaign minimum of USD 10,000, managed service with a campaign minimum of USD 50,000.
DVA+: CPM with no minimum spend, in beta in the US.

Earlier versions of this article gave “approx. 10,000 EUR” for the managed service. That doesn’t match Amazon’s current guide, which usually states at least USD 50,000.

A single total for the hedge trimmer campaign isn’t enough. Ask for media costs, technology fee, audience fees and service fee as separate lines. That’s how you compare offers from Amazon and from agencies.

Self-service, managed service or agency: who can use Amazon DSP?

Amazon DSP is open to sellers, vendors, agencies and advertisers who don’t sell on Amazon. For DVA+, you need an Amazon Ads Agent account.

Self-service: you run the campaigns yourself. There’s no management fee, but the other fees from the cost section still apply.

Managed service: Amazon manages the campaigns. A minimum budget applies, and Amazon charges a percentage service fee.

Agency: many agencies buy DSP for brands. Ask up front how the agency bills and who owns the account.

Availability depends on the country. For example, Amazon only opened self-service DSP for Belgium and Poland on September 25, 2026.

Example Garden wants to show the hedge trimmer outside search too. If it has budget for creatives and a team or agency to manage the campaigns, DSP is an option. The same goes for other vendors and brand owners with that goal. Smaller sellers are better off starting with Sponsored Products and display ads, both without a minimum budget.

Amazon DSP reporting and measurement

Since November 11, 2025, there has been shared reporting for Sponsored Ads and DSP, across accounts and countries. It’s in the report builder, the reporting API and Amazon Marketing Stream. It launched as an open beta, in Germany too. Self-service DSP was included from the start; for managed-service DSP accounts, Amazon announced Q1 2026.

For automation, the DSP campaign and creative API has been generally available since January 9, 2025, in Germany too. With it, you create and change campaigns, ad groups, targeting and creatives. Read more about the interface in our article on the Amazon Ads API. Amazon plans API access for DVA+ for Q1 2027.

Example Garden puts the ROAS of its 2025 spring campaign next to the one from 2026. They look comparable, but they rest on two different measurement models: on January 1, 2026, Amazon changed view attribution. DSP campaigns with ads in the Amazon store (and Sponsored Brands and display ads with vCPM) now use a shorter window that relies more on purchase signals. Click-based attribution stays the same. The 14-day metrics for all views remain available.

Since September 16, 2025, advertisers with Sponsored Ads can also use Amazon Marketing Cloud directly in their Amazon Ads account, with no-code templates and in Germany too. No DSP contract is needed.

Conclusion: recommendations

Start with Sponsored Products. DSP pays off when customers should see your brand before they search and streaming TV matters to you. Budget and campaign management need to be in place.
If you already use DSP in Germany, keep working in the Amazon DSP interface. There’s nothing to migrate.
Watch for the launch of DVA+ in Germany (coming soon) and for display ads and streaming TV ads moving into DVA campaigns.
Ask for the fees to be itemized line by line.
Compare ROAS only within the same attribution model, so either before or after January 1, 2026.

To see where DSP fits in the bigger picture, read our articles on retail media and Amazon marketing.

Frequently asked questions about Amazon DSP

What is Amazon DSP?

Amazon DSP is Amazon’s demand-side platform. You use it to buy display, video, audio and streaming TV ads on Amazon sites, on Prime Video and Twitch, and on third-party websites and apps.

What is the difference between Amazon DSP and Sponsored Ads?

Sponsored Ads reach people who are already searching on Amazon and are mostly billed per click. DSP aims at reach and remarketing, bills per 1,000 impressions, also reaches Prime Video and streaming partners, and is open to advertisers who don’t sell on Amazon.

What does Amazon DSP cost?

You pay a CPM plus fees, such as a technology fee and audience fees. There’s no official CPM list. The managed service usually starts at USD 50,000; Amazon doesn’t name a EUR amount for Germany.

Do I have to sell on Amazon to use Amazon DSP?

No. Advertisers who don’t sell on Amazon can book display, video and audio campaigns, but not Sponsored Ads.

What is DVA+?

DVA+ is the new campaign type for display, video and audio in Amazon Ads Agent and replaces the previous DSP campaign. It’s in beta in the US; for Germany, it’s coming soon.

Is Amazon DSP available as self-service?

Yes. You can run campaigns yourself (self-service, no management fee) or have Amazon manage them (managed service, with a minimum budget).

Can I advertise on Netflix and Prime Video through Amazon DSP?

Yes, in Germany too. Prime Video shows ads there, and Netflix inventory can be booked through Amazon DSP since Q4 2025.

Amazon DSP: What it is, what it costs and how it differs from Sponsored Ads

What is Amazon DSP?