Amazon Marketing Cloud

Overview

Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) is a cloud-based clean room for analyzing advertising signals and building audiences. It combines pseudonymized Amazon Ads data with advertiser inputs and signals from onboarded third-party providers, allowing eligible advertisers to query connected information within a privacy-focused environment. AMC is built on AWS Clean Rooms.

Advertisers can use AMC to examine customer journeys across Amazon Ads media and channels, then apply audience insights to sponsored, video, and display advertising. Analysis is available through SQL as well as tools for generating and visualizing insights without SQL. The service offers access to hundreds of campaign fields, including ad-attributed impressions, clicks, and conversions, with 25 months of ad traffic signals.

Amazon Marketing Cloud was founded in 2019. Its maker, Amazon, was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Seattle.

Key features

• Journey measurement: AMC measures customer journeys across Amazon Ads media and channels. Advertisers can assess advertising impact at Amazon's online and offline stores and on advertiser-owned sites.
• Custom audiences: Audiences can be built from engagement records, conversion events, and segment information, then activated for sponsored, video, and display ads.
• SQL and no-SQL analysis: Flexible querying supports SQL analysis. Curated templates and Ads Agent assistance provide another route to generating and visualizing insights without SQL.
• Connected signals: Ads Data Manager and integrated signal management tools connect Amazon Ads, advertiser, and third-party provider signals. APIs support reporting, audience management, and onboarding first-party signals through streams or uploads.
• Privacy safeguards: AMC accepts pseudonymized inputs and returns aggregated, anonymous outputs. Advertiser-uploaded signals remain in the dedicated instance and cannot be exported or accessed by Amazon.
• Partner integrations: Amazon lists Xmars, Pacvue, Treasure Data, and LiveRamp as software vendor partners with native AMC integrations.

Pricing

Amazon Marketing Cloud costs free. The free plan is available at no cost to eligible advertisers, with access through a web-based interface and API. Eligibility is required, so the free listing does not mean the service is open to every advertiser.

Platforms

AMC is available through web and API access, with cloud deployment. Amazon DSP advertisers can request access from their Ad Tech Account Executive; sponsored ads advertisers can use self-service access. Amazon directs prospective users to an Amazon Ads account executive, and its Ads Agent course describes product support within AMC.

Who it's for

AMC is aimed at eligible advertisers who need to analyze Amazon Ads performance across connected signals or build audiences from engagement and conversion information. Its measurement coverage includes Amazon Ads channels, Amazon stores, and advertiser-owned sites. Advertisers able to work with SQL can query signals directly, while curated templates and Ads Agent assistance offer a no-SQL path for insight generation and visualization.

The product's aggregated output controls and pseudonymized inputs are relevant to advertisers working with sensitive audience data. Those safeguards also mean AMC provides aggregate results rather than identifiable individual-level outputs.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Available at no cost to eligible advertisers.
• Supports both SQL analysis and no-SQL insight tools.
• Combines Amazon Ads, advertiser, and onboarded third-party signals.
• Supports audience building, campaign measurement, and API-based reporting and onboarding.
• Returns aggregated, anonymous outputs and keeps advertiser-uploaded signals in the dedicated instance.

Cons

• Access is limited to eligible advertisers.
• Advertiser-uploaded signals cannot be exported or accessed by Amazon.
• Results are aggregated and anonymous rather than individual-level.

Alternatives

Advertisers comparing media-buying tools can also consider Adform DSP, illumin, Moloco Ads, Nexxen DSP, rtb.com, Infillion DSP, and Simpli.fi. Adobe Advertising Creative is another listed advertising option. For broader category comparisons, see Demand Side Platform, Data Clean Room Software, Live Shopping Platforms, and Email Marketing Analytics Software.

Verdict

Amazon Marketing Cloud brings campaign measurement, audience building, and signal analysis into a privacy-focused clean room, with both SQL and no-SQL ways to work. Its broad advertising signal access, API support, and native partner integrations suit eligible advertisers seeking to connect campaign and first-party data. Its limits are equally clear: access depends on eligibility, and advertiser data is protected through an environment that does not allow exported signals or identifiable individual-level outputs.