Sponsored Brands video

Use Sponsored Brands video to stand out in desktop and mobile shopping results and help customers discover your brand and products as they shop on Amazon. Ads are keyword targeted, cost-per-click, and link customers directly to the product detail page where they can learn more and purchase.

Anatomy of the ad unit

A. Product details
The primary product image and associated product information (title, star rating, review count, price and Prime eligibility) from the detail page are automatically displayed.
B. Video
The video will play automatically when 50% of it is on-screen.
C. Sponsored tag
The Sponsored tag is overlaid in the upper right-hand corner during the first 3-seconds of playback, then fades out. On-screen text or brand logos should not obstruct this tag.
D. Mute toggle button
The mute toggle button is overlaid in the lower right-hand corner of the video and controls audio playback. By default, videos always start without audio. Customers can enable audio by tapping on this button. If it is a silent video or there is no audio the mute toggle will not be displayed.

On-screen text guidelines

We recommend adding on-screen text to videos that rely on voiceover to communicate the product message. To ensure text can be easily read on smaller screen devices we recommend using Helvetica or a similar san-serif font at a minimum size of 80 px. We also recommend displaying the text in white on top of a black bounding box set to 80% opacity (seen in the example below). Please ensure text does not interfere with the safe area template.

Creative guidelines and best practices

• Know your audiences — Amazon customers are shopping for products and brands. Your content should be educational, demonstrative, and product focused.
• Show your product — Our research shows that videos that feature the product prominently within the first second typically perform better than those that don’t. Do not waste your chance to engage shoppers by fading in from black or starting with an empty frame.
• Keep it brief and focused — We recommend an optimal video length of 15–30 seconds to relay your message and hold customers’ attention. Limit your content to just a handful of key selling points to ensure your message is received.
• Optimize for the format — This video unit auto-plays without sound and runs inline in the search results with no option to go full screen. Your videos should work without sound, and you’ll need to ensure that on-screen text can be easily read on a mobile device and isn’t obstructed by the user interface that is positioned within the video area (See our safe area template).
• Consider the loop — Once this video ends, it will automatically loop. Consider adding an end card to allow for some breathing room, or get creative and make your loop seamless.

Video and audio specifications

Top moderation rejection reasons

Avoid these top rejection reasons to help ensure your Sponsored Brands video ad is approved in moderation.

• Black or empty frames at the start or end of videos. Don’t waste your chance to engage shoppers by using black or empty frames.
• Video contains no audio. Audio is required as shoppers can enable sound by toggling the audio icon in the bottom right corner of the frame.
• Video is abruptly cropped at the maximum video duration. Abrupt edits can result in an incomplete video and a poor customer experience.
• Video includes Amazon branding elements. Amazon trademarks, products or references to Amazon products or services are prohibited.
• Video includes customer reviews. Customer reviews (including star ratings), even if these reviews are on Amazon, are not permitted.

Acceptance criteria

In addition to meeting the above technical specifications, video ads must meet the following criteria. Videos that do not meet these guidelines will not be accepted.

• Critical content within the video (such as on-screen text) must not obstruct the user interface. To ensure your video meets this guideline, please download the safe area template.
• All on-screen text must be a minimum of 30 pts and be legible.
• Letterboxing/Pillarboxing: Videos should not have black bars on any side of the video content.
• Videos must be in the language of the locale in which it is displayed, be easily understandable and clearly identify the brand or product promoted.

Ad policies

All Sponsored Brand video campaigns are subject to Amazon’s Creative Acceptance Policies. All content must be appropriate for a general audience and must comply with all laws, rules, and regulations that apply to the advertiser or the advertising content in any location where the advertisements may appear. Ads that do not meet these policies will not be accepted for video in search.

How to get started

“Video” is a new ad format you can choose when building your Sponsored Brands campaign.