Platforms & Channels

Amazon Ads vs Google Ads

In short: Amazon Ads sells placement to a shopper who is already inside a buying session on Amazon's own catalog; Google Ads sells placement to a searcher who might be anywhere in their journey, on a page you control. That difference in where the click lands is the real split: Amazon keeps the shopper on Amazon and reports its own attributed sales, which overlap with other channels and rarely reconcile against total revenue, while Google sends the click to your own site where you own the full conversion picture. Sending Google traffic to an Amazon listing loses most of that visibility, since you don't control the landing page or its tracking. If you sell primarily through Amazon's catalog, fund Amazon Ads to win the point of purchase; if you sell through your own site, Google Ads keeps you in control of the data.

By the AdFlint research team · Fact-checked against current Google and Meta platform behavior · Last reviewed July 2026

Amazon Ads

Sells sponsored product, sponsored brand, and display placements against shoppers already browsing Amazon's catalog with immediate purchase intent.

Retail media placed at the point of purchase, where the shopper is already in a buying session and the platform closes the loop on the sales it drives. It suits anyone selling physical products through Amazon. The usual mistake is judging it against site-wide return targets: Amazon reports its own attributed sales, which overlap other channels and rarely reconcile with total revenue.

Full definition

Google Ads

Runs paid ads across Google Search, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, and millions of partner sites, billed mostly per click through a live auction.

The largest search-driven ad system, spanning keyword-triggered Search results plus Display, Shopping, YouTube, and automated Performance Max inventory. It suits businesses whose customers already search for what they sell, because the intent is explicit. The usual mistake is leaving new campaigns opted into Search Partners and Display by default, then blaming Search for the cheap, low-quality traffic that actually arrived from elsewhere.

Full definition

Side by side.

The differences that actually change what happens in your account.

 Amazon AdsGoogle Ads
Where the click landsAn Amazon product listing you don't fully control the layout or tracking of.A page on your own site, or less commonly a marketplace listing with limited visibility back to you.
Shopper's state of mindAlready inside a purchase session, browsing or comparing products to buy now.Anywhere from early research to ready-to-buy, depending on the query.
Attribution ownershipAmazon reports its own attributed sales; the numbers overlap other channels and rarely reconcile with total store revenue.You own the conversion tracking end to end, through GA4, enhanced conversions, or your own analytics.
Access requirementRequires an Amazon seller or vendor account and a live product catalog on Amazon.Requires only a Google Ads account and a destination page - no marketplace dependency.
Core metric usedACOS/TACOS - ad cost against Amazon sales, distinct from a blended marketing ROAS.ROAS or cost per conversion against your own site's revenue.
Format rangeSponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display, plus programmatic reach through Amazon DSP.Search, Shopping, Display, Video and Demand Gen, and Performance Max.
Failure modeJudging Amazon Ads against site-wide return targets when its reporting only ever reflects Amazon-attributed sales.Driving Google traffic to an Amazon listing and losing most conversion visibility since you don't control that page's tracking.

What actually separates them.

01

Amazon Ads places you inside a purchase session the shopper is already in; Google Ads places you at the moment a query is typed, which can be anywhere from early research to ready-to-buy.

02

Amazon's attribution is self-contained and self-reported - it counts sales it believes it drove within its own catalog - while Google Ads traffic lands on assets you control, so your own analytics own the full conversion picture.

03

Running Google Ads traffic to an Amazon product listing forfeits most of the conversion visibility Google traffic normally provides, since you don't control that landing page or its tracking.

04

Amazon Ads requires an active seller or vendor account and live catalog listings to exist at all; Google Ads has no such marketplace dependency and works for any business with a destination page.

05

Amazon's core efficiency metric, ACOS or TACOS, measures ad cost against Amazon-attributed sales specifically, while Google's ROAS or cost-per-conversion metrics measure against whatever conversion event you've defined on your own site - the two numbers are not directly comparable without reconciling what each actually counts.

Which one should you use?

Use Amazon Ads when

  • You sell physical products through an active Amazon seller or vendor account.
  • Your buyer is already shopping on Amazon and comparing listings there.
  • You want to win placement at the actual point of purchase rather than earlier in the funnel.
  • You're prepared to judge performance on Amazon's own attributed metrics, like ACOS or TACOS, rather than expecting them to reconcile with total revenue.

Use Google Ads when

  • You sell through your own site and need to own the full conversion data.
  • Your buyer's search intent spans research through ready-to-buy, not just an active shopping session on a marketplace.
  • You want one measurement stack across search, Shopping, and video.
  • You don't have or don't want to depend on an Amazon catalog presence.

Common questions.

Should I run Google Ads to drive traffic to my Amazon listing?

Be cautious - once the click lands on Amazon, you lose most of the conversion tracking and page control you'd normally have with Google traffic, since you don't own that landing page. It can work for expanding Amazon sales rank, but don't expect the clean attribution you'd get sending traffic to your own site.

Why don't my Amazon Ads numbers match my total store revenue?

Amazon Ads reports sales it attributes within its own system, which overlaps with organic Amazon sales and other channels in ways that don't reconcile cleanly against your total revenue. Judge Amazon Ads on its own ACOS or TACOS metrics rather than expecting it to tie out to a site-wide return target.

Do I need a product catalog to run Amazon Ads?

Yes. Amazon Ads requires an active seller or vendor account with live listings in its catalog - the ad formats, Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display, all point back to products that already exist there, unlike Google Ads which just needs a destination page.

Can Amazon Ads reach people off of Amazon.com?

Yes, through Amazon DSP, which buys programmatic placements across Amazon-owned properties and select off-Amazon sites and apps, distinct from the on-site Sponsored formats that only show within Amazon's own catalog pages.

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