Amazon consolidates ad platforms while expanding streaming and music features

Amazon dominated marketing news this week with a sweeping consolidation of its advertising infrastructure, positioning the e-commerce giant to challenge established players across programmatic buying, streaming media, and personalized content experiences. The moves signal Amazon's ambition to simplify advertiser access while tightening its grip on the digital advertising ecosystem.

Amazon introduced a unified Campaign Manager that merges the Amazon DSP and Ads Console into a single buying tool, fundamentally reshaping how advertisers interact with the platform. The consolidation eliminates the fragmented experience that previously forced advertisers to navigate separate interfaces for search advertising and programmatic buying. Kelly MacLean, VP of Amazon Ads, said "Advertisers of all sizes can now very simply manage campaigns across the funnel through one global entry point."

The unified platform brings search advertising and programmatic buying into one workflow. Full-Funnel Campaigns can set up and adjust multi-format campaigns across Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, display and streaming TV from a single prompt. The integration represents Amazon's most significant advertising platform reorganization since launching its DSP, collapsing what were historically distinct buying channels into unified infrastructure.

Amazon paired the platform consolidation with agentic AI tools that generate creative, build campaigns, recommend targeting, and write Amazon Marketing Cloud queries using natural language. Ads Agent interprets media plans, builds campaign structures, recommends budgets and surfaces AMC insights. Creative Agent generates or scales video and display assets that fit Amazon's retail and streaming environments. The AI integration addresses what MacLean characterized as constant advertiser feedback about complexity. "We just constantly hear how complex it is right now," she said in an interview. "So that's really where we've anchored a lot on hearing their feedback, figuring out how we can drive even more simplicity."

The Campaign Manager represents more than interface consolidation—it signals Amazon's strategy to remove barriers preventing smaller advertisers from accessing its full advertising stack. Previously, the DSP carried minimum spend requirements that limited access to larger enterprises. The unified platform maintains existing commercial models: advertisers already using Sponsored Ads can continue running Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and video, audio and display formats in Campaign Manager without added fees. The DSP still carries existing minimum spend requirements, but the unified interface makes the distinction less relevant for advertisers who need both capabilities.

Amazon's advertising consolidation occurs as the company gains ground against established programmatic competitors. Omnicom Media Group appeared to move significant programmatic spending from The Trade Desk to Amazon DSP during Q3 2025, according to AdExchanger reporting from November 18. Two sources at ad tech platforms observing programmatic bidding patterns said they've seen Omnicom agencies shifting spend from The Trade Desk to Amazon DSP during Q3. One source said Omnicom appeared to move a double-digit share of expected Q3 spend from The Trade Desk to Amazon DSP, characterizing the shift as an "inflection point" in the holdco's programmatic bidding habits.

Multiple sources expected Omnicom to shift more programmatic business to Amazon's DSP after Omnicom won Amazon's US marketing business last year. The relationship creates obvious synergies—and raises questions about how Omnicom manages conflicts when a client also operates advertising technology the agency uses for other clients. Amazon reportedly aims to undercut The Trade Desk's roughly 20% ad tech take rate to win over agencies. Amazon DSP charges no fees for programmatic guaranteed deals on Amazon-owned media and collects a 1% fee for ads on open web publishers. That pricing advantage becomes harder to ignore as agencies face pressure to demonstrate cost efficiency.

Omnicom Media Group didn't confirm any holdco-level shifts in programmatic spending. A spokesperson said the holdco endorses different DSPs as client needs dictate. "Omnicom makes recommendations across the major DSPs based on individual client objectives, in the context of both efficiency and effectiveness," the spokesperson said. "The DSP space is highly dynamic, with capabilities across the board evolving constantly and new features being developed on a continuous basis." The diplomatic language masks what appears to be significant reallocation of programmatic spending toward Amazon's platform—a shift that could accelerate following the Campaign Manager launch.

Amazon announced December 3 the rollout of a dedicated news destination within Prime Video, providing US customers with access to local, national, and world news coverage from major networks at no additional cost. The feature began rolling out December 3 and will reach all US customers by the end of 2025. The news hub aggregates content from ABC News Live, CBS News 24/7, LiveNOW from Fox, CNN Headlines, and NBC News NOW among hundreds of other channels. Prime Video plans to expand the selection to more than 200 channels by year's end.

The news destination positions Prime Video as comprehensive entertainment infrastructure offering movies, series, sports, live events, and information programming through a single interface. More importantly for advertisers, it creates additional premium inventory across diverse content categories. The news hub joins Amazon's growing suite of streaming features introduced throughout 2025. Prime Video launched AI-powered video recaps in November 2025, generating personalized summaries synchronized with individual viewing history. Fire TV added AI-powered scene navigation in early December 2025, allowing viewers to jump to specific movie moments using natural language commands through Alexa+.

Amazon's first-party data integration distinguishes its advertising capabilities from competing streaming platforms. The company's e-commerce infrastructure provides shopping behavior insights that inform advertising strategies across Prime Video inventory. Amazon enabled zip code-level ad targeting for Prime Video in November 2025, introducing location-based interactive advertisements displaying nearest dealership information, local agent contact details, or regionally specific pricing. The news destination expands the contexts where that targeting data applies, giving advertisers access to audiences consuming current events coverage alongside entertainment content.

The news hub rollout positions Amazon to compete directly with traditional news streaming services and cable news networks for advertising dollars. Major news providers including ABC News Live, CBS News 24/7, LiveNOW from Fox, CNN Headlines, NBC News NOW, BBC News, FOX Weather, Bloomberg TV+, NBC Sports NOW, and Telemundo Al Día participate in the offering. The integration provides convenient access to news content without requiring separate applications or subscriptions for basic access—a distribution advantage that could shift viewing habits away from standalone news apps.

Amazon Music launched 2025 Delivered on December 2, transforming streaming history into personalized insights while creating "a virtual music festival poster with your 'dream lineup' of artists based on listening history." The 2025 Delivered feature presents a "personalized music festival" based on each subscriber's most-streamed content. The experience begins when subscribers "snap on your virtual festival wristband," which triggers display of personal insights including most-played artists, tracks, and genres from the entire year.

The timing of the 2025 Delivered launch on December 2 positions Amazon as a direct competitor to Spotify Wrapped, which typically releases in early December. Spotify unveiled the 11th iteration of Wrapped on December 3—just one day after Amazon's launch. The competitive dynamic illustrates how year-end recaps have become crucial marketing moments for streaming services, generating social media amplification through user-generated content sharing. Amazon Music previously launched Insights with Monthly Recaps on August 1, 2025, creating a dual-track system providing both monthly and annual summaries.

The festival poster visualization in 2025 Delivered represents a distinct approach to displaying listening data. Rather than simple lists or charts, the poster format taps into music festival culture and the aspirational nature of festival lineups. The personalized analytics approach serves subscriber retention objectives by creating recurring engagement touchpoints. Monthly Recaps give subscribers 12 moments per year to rediscover listening patterns, while 2025 Delivered provides comprehensive year-end summary reinforcing subscription value.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy shared insights about career decisions and business persistence during a December 2 employee discussion, revealing his greatest professional regrets stem from abandoning projects before completion rather than from failed initiatives. "I haven't regretted a lot of the decisions I've made in my life," Jassy said. "I feel like you make the best decisions you can with the information you have at the time, and you don't have perfect information." The qualification that followed addressed a specific pattern: "But the ones I've looked back on and felt a little bit of remorse about have been the decisions where I left something where I felt like I really didn't give it everything I could."

The December 2 remarks continued themes Jassy emphasized throughout 2025 about organizational decision-making and sustained investment. Amazon's advertising infrastructure expansion accelerated during the year through partnerships, technical integrations, and platform consolidation that reflected multi-year strategic development rather than rapid pivots. Amazon's position in advertising technology markets derived from AWS infrastructure built over decades, retail marketplace data accumulated through billions of transactions, and content properties assembled through sustained investment in Prime Video and other services. These assets combined to create competitive advantages unavailable to platforms lacking equivalent scale.

Jassy's emphasis on persistence aligns with patterns visible in how Amazon develops capabilities. The company entered advertising gradually, building measurement infrastructure before expanding inventory. Amazon Marketing Cloud required infrastructure investment in AWS, data accumulation across retail and streaming properties, and privacy framework development before enabling advanced measurement capabilities advertisers now access. Amazon's Model Context Protocol Server launched in closed beta on November 13, 2025, enabling AI agents to interact with advertising APIs through natural language. The capability built on AWS infrastructure, advertising platform development, and API architecture refined through years of iteration.

The persistence philosophy manifests in how Amazon constructed its advertising business. The company didn't rush to compete with established players—it methodically built infrastructure, accumulated data, expanded inventory, and developed tools that leverage unique advantages from its e-commerce foundation. The Campaign Manager consolidation represents the latest iteration of that strategy: simplifying advertiser access to capabilities Amazon spent years building separately.

Amazon's advertising revenue demonstrates the financial stakes involved in these technical improvements. The company reported $15.7 billion in advertising revenue for Q2 2025, representing 22% year-over-year growth. The advertising business has become Amazon's primary profit engine beyond AWS, making continued investment in platform capabilities strategically essential. CEO Jassy's comments about persistence provide context for understanding Amazon's patient approach to advertising market development—an approach that's now paying off as the company gains share from established programmatic competitors.

The week's announcements illustrate Amazon's multi-front strategy for advertising dominance. The Campaign Manager consolidation removes friction from the buying process. The Prime Video news hub expands premium inventory. The Music 2025 Delivered feature creates engagement moments that reinforce subscriptions. Together, these moves strengthen Amazon's position across the advertising value chain—from buying infrastructure to inventory to audience engagement.

Amazon's pricing advantage over competitors like The Trade Desk becomes more relevant as economic pressure squeezes programmatic margins. Wall Street investors questioned programmatic dynamics during Q3 earnings calls, according to AdExchanger reporting from November. Magnite, PubMatic and Nexxen disclosed that unnamed DSPs unexpectedly and precipitously decreased spending on their platforms in Q3. Nexxen CEO Ofer Druker said the company "didn't see this wave of growth coming into the system" that usually occurs in October. The heated tensions in programmatic aren't about philosophical positions—everybody is making less money.

That context makes Amazon's 1% fee for open web publisher ads particularly attractive compared to The Trade Desk's roughly 20% ad tech take rate. Amazon charges no fees for programmatic guaranteed deals on Amazon-owned media, further sweetening the proposition for advertisers who want to buy across Amazon's expanding streaming inventory. The pricing advantage, combined with Amazon's first-party shopping data and simplified buying interface, creates compelling reasons for agencies to shift spend toward Amazon's platform.

Digiday's Programmatic Marketing Summit in New Orleans from December 1-3 featured discussions about how Amazon's growing dominance affects the programmatic ecosystem. The conference explored agentic ad-buying, AI-powered attribution, and automated workflow overhauls—capabilities Amazon now offers through its unified Campaign Manager. A working group session examined IAB Tech Lab's Agentic RTB Framework, which aims to provide standards for how AI agents incorporate into real-time bidding processes.

Amazon's advertising moves this week demonstrate coordinated execution across multiple business units. The Campaign Manager launch required coordination between DSP and Ads Console teams. The Prime Video news hub required negotiations with major news providers. The Music 2025 Delivered feature required alignment on competitive timing against Spotify. CEO Jassy's public comments about persistence reinforced organizational culture supporting long-term infrastructure investment. The synchronized rollout suggests Amazon operates its advertising business with strategic discipline—identifying opportunities, building capabilities, and launching when competitive conditions favor maximum impact.

The question facing competitors: how to respond when Amazon controls unique advantages they can't replicate. The Trade Desk can't offer shopping behavior data tied to billions of retail transactions. Google can match some capabilities but faces antitrust scrutiny limiting aggressive expansion. Meta operates in social environments fundamentally different from Amazon's commerce and streaming contexts. The structural advantages Amazon built through patient investment in infrastructure now manifest as competitive moats protecting market share gains.

Amazon's advertising strategy for 2025 becomes clear through this week's announcements: simplify access, expand inventory, leverage unique data, undercut competitor pricing, and execute with patience. The approach is working. Omnicom's apparent shift of programmatic spending toward Amazon DSP suggests major agencies recognize the platform's advantages. The Campaign Manager consolidation removes remaining friction preventing broader adoption. Amazon entered advertising gradually, built measurement infrastructure first, expanded inventory strategically, and now simplifies access as the business scales. That's persistence paying off.

Timeline

• December 2 - Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks to employees about persistence and controlling controllable factors in business decisions
• December 2 - Amazon Music launches 2025 Delivered personalized year-end recap feature with festival poster visualization
• December 3 - Amazon Prime Video news hub begins rolling out to US customers with 200+ channels planned by year's end
• December 3 - Amazon unified Campaign Manager consolidation announced, merging DSP and Ads Console into single platform
• December 3 - Amazon agentic AI tools launch including Ads Agent and Creative Agent for campaign management
• November 13, 2025 - Amazon launches closed beta for Model Context Protocol Server enabling AI agent advertising integration
• November 2025 - Amazon enables zip code-level ad targeting for Prime Video with location-based interactive advertisements
• November 2025 - Prime Video introduces AI-powered video recaps generating personalized summaries
• Early December 2025 - Fire TV launches AI-powered scene navigation with Alexa+ integration
• August 1, 2025 - Amazon Music launches Insights with Monthly Recaps feature
• Q3 2025 - Omnicom appears to shift double-digit percentage of programmatic spending from The Trade Desk to Amazon DSP
• Q2 2025 - Amazon reports $15.7 billion in advertising revenue, representing 22% year-over-year growth