Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) has stopped buying a popular type of Google (GOOG, GOOGL) ad, according to people familiar with the decision. The move deepens the rift between the technology titans and signals Amazon's growing ambition in the digital advertising market. [Bloomberg]
linky
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-10/amazon-is-said-to-halt-google-shopping-ads-as-rivalry-heats-up
They are dropping shopping ads? Kinda huge.
That article is saying April 18, but I've seen a drop in traffic starting two days ago. I'm trying to determine if its cause and effect. On the flip side, it means PLA ads will have a higher ROI now for independent sites.
Amz search still sucks for ferreting out a specialty item so I use G. Typically, Amz ranks 1st or 2nd with their ad positioned just above the organic listing. Most users would click the ad. I've been thinking Amz is really blowing a bunch of money. The question is, will they keep the organic position?
>I've seen a drop in traffic starting two days ago
How so? Traffic that was coming straight from G serps to your FBA product?
I can't tell you where the traffic is coming from -- not privy to that information, but I can say that the overall impression rate is down across our items.
About a year back RKG noted Amazon was more competitive on mobile than desktop for PLA distribution ad.
https://www.merkleinc.com/blog/amazon-focusing-mobile-google-product-listing-ads
So many consumers already have Amazon.com accounts coupled with stored payment information and 1-click ordering meant Amazon gets a far higher conversion rate on mobile than most advertisers do.
When the Walmart & Google relationship sours Google will likely have to buy Target to try to stay competitive with Amazon.com.