Amazon introduces AI targeting for DSP campaigns

Amazon announced on November 12, 2025, the launch of Ads Agent targeting capabilities within Amazon DSP, introducing artificial intelligence-driven audience segment recommendations that eliminate hours of manual targeting configuration. The announcement came from Amazon Ads unBoxed, the company's annual conference showcasing advertising solutions for businesses at various customer journey stages.

The targeting feature enables advertisers to define campaign objectives through natural language descriptions or document uploads. According to Amazon, the system pre-populates targeting intent based on existing campaign settings, which advertisers can refine before receiving automated suggestions for relevant audience segments and keywords. The implementation marks a significant technical shift in how advertisers interact with demand-side platform targeting controls.

Advertisers access the feature through the "Add targeting with AI" option within the Targeting widget at the line-item level. After entering targeting intent, the system generates audience and keyword suggestions that can be applied directly to line items. The interface maintains transparency by providing supporting rationale for each recommendation, enabling advertisers to make informed decisions about audience targeting strategies.

The system's automation addresses a fundamental challenge in programmatic advertising: the complexity of manually navigating thousands of available audience segments. Amazon DSP contains extensive targeting options spanning behavioral segments, contextual categories, and first-party shopping signals. Manual segment selection requires substantial time investment and platform expertise to identify relevant combinations for specific campaign objectives.

Amazon's unified Campaign Manager platform, announced November 10, 2025, provides the infrastructure supporting these AI-driven targeting capabilities. Internal Amazon testing data covering June through August 2025 indicated advertisers using smart search features reduced bid optimization workflow time by 26%, according to internal Amazon Advertising Report measurements comparing US advertisers' performance before and after adoption.

The AI-generated recommendations combine multiple data sources including shopping behavior patterns, streaming activity, and browsing signals across Amazon's ecosystem. This first-party data integration differentiates Amazon's approach from targeting solutions relying exclusively on third-party audience providers or contextual signals. The system analyzes campaign objectives against available audience segments to identify combinations most likely to deliver campaign goals.

North American advertisers operating in the United States gained initial access to the targeting feature. Self-service advertisers and agencies can use the functionality through Amazon DSP interfaces. The geographic limitation reflects Amazon's typical product launch pattern, with initial US availability preceding international market expansion based on performance validation and localization requirements.

The automation maintains advertiser control through several mechanisms. Users review all suggestions before application, modify recommended segments, and retain ability to add manual targeting selections alongside AI-generated recommendations. This hybrid approach addresses concerns about fully automated systems removing strategic decision-making from campaign management processes.

Amazon's broader Ads Agent announcement on November 11, 2025, introduced capabilities spanning campaign creation, optimization, and analytics across Amazon Marketing Cloud and Multimedia Solutions with Amazon DSP. The targeting feature represents one component within this comprehensive automation framework designed to reduce technical barriers for advertisers lacking specialized programmatic expertise.

The system processes uploaded media plans to extract targeting requirements, eliminating manual transcription from planning documents to platform interfaces. This document analysis capability streamlines workflows for agencies managing campaigns across multiple clients with standardized planning formats. The natural language processing enables advertisers to describe targeting objectives using business terminology rather than platform-specific taxonomy.

Amazon DSP's systematic capability expansion throughout 2025 established the foundation for AI-driven automation. The platform integrated Netflix inventory in September 2025, added Spotify's audio and video inventory in October across nine markets, and incorporated Microsoft Monetize into its Certified Supply Exchange program. These partnerships expanded available inventory for AI-targeted campaigns.

The targeting automation addresses scale challenges for advertisers managing campaigns across multiple countries. Amazon DSP expanded in-market audiences to 32 countries on November 4, 2025, with unified targeting definitions enabling consistent audience selections across markets. The AI system can recommend appropriate audience segments for multi-country campaigns without requiring manual configuration for each geographic market.

Technical implementation maintains privacy compliance across diverse regulatory frameworks. The system operates within Amazon DSP's existing data governance structures, ensuring audience recommendations respect regional requirements including GDPR in Europe and various data protection laws across Asia Pacific. This compliance-by-design approach addresses a fundamental challenge in automated targeting systems that operate across jurisdictional boundaries.

The feature arrives amid broader industry movement toward AI-powered campaign automation. Google removed language targeting from search campaigns with plans for complete removal by the end of 2025, replacing manual language selection with automated detection through artificial intelligence systems. Meta's Advantage+ suite handles targeting, creative optimization, placements, and budget allocation with minimal oversight, representing what some industry experts characterize as an existential tension between AI-powered efficiency and brand control.

Amazon's approach differs by maintaining transparency through rationale explanations for each recommendation. The system surfaces reasoning behind audience suggestions rather than operating as what industry observers characterize as a "black box" where advertisers cannot see which signals platforms prioritize. This transparency addresses advertiser concerns about fully automated systems making strategic decisions without visibility into underlying logic.

The targeting feature complements Amazon DSP's goal-based bidding functionality launched September 19, 2024, enabling advertisers to specify desired reach and frequency goals for brand campaigns. Combined with AI-driven targeting recommendations, these capabilities create comprehensive automation frameworks addressing both audience selection and campaign optimization objectives.

Marketing professionals managing programmatic campaigns face increasing complexity as advertising platforms expand available inventory and targeting options. Amazon DSP reached a monthly ad-supported audience of 275 million customers in the United States as of October 2024. The platform's recent enhancements include frequency cap controls that saved up to 26% of campaign budgets and drove up to 21% incremental reach, according to Amazon performance data.

The elimination of manual targeting work enables advertising teams to focus resources on strategic planning and creative development rather than technical platform configuration. Agencies managing multiple client accounts benefit from standardized workflows that reduce training requirements for team members unfamiliar with Amazon DSP's extensive targeting taxonomy. The natural language interface lowers technical barriers for brands managing in-house advertising programs without dedicated programmatic specialists.

Amazon's unified reporting system announced November 11, 2025, provides measurement infrastructure for AI-targeted campaigns. Advertisers can analyze performance across sponsored ads and DSP campaigns through consolidated reporting interfaces, enabling assessment of AI-generated targeting recommendations against campaign objectives. The standardized metrics represent technical challenges given different measurement methodologies used across advertising products operating in retail environments versus third-party inventory accessed through demand-side platforms.

The feature's effectiveness depends on data quality and campaign objective clarity. Vague targeting descriptions produce less relevant recommendations than specific audience definitions with clear performance goals. Advertisers providing detailed media plan documents with comprehensive targeting requirements receive more precise suggestions than those entering brief natural language descriptions. This data dependency reflects fundamental limitations in AI systems requiring sufficient context for accurate recommendations.

Amazon's advertising services revenue reached $15.7 billion in the second quarter of 2025, representing 22% year-over-year growth according to financial results announced July 31, 2025. The company's systematic investment in automation capabilities positions Amazon DSP as increasingly competitive with established demand-side platforms including The Trade Desk and Google's Display & Video 360. The Trade Desk reported $739 million in third quarter revenue on November 6, 2025, with CEO Jeff Green characterizing Amazon's advertising business as fundamentally different from The Trade Desk's open internet focus.

The targeting automation matters for marketing professionals because it eliminates technical barriers preventing brands from executing sophisticated programmatic campaigns. Small and medium-sized businesses lacking programmatic expertise can now leverage Amazon DSP's advanced targeting capabilities through conversational interfaces rather than requiring specialized knowledge of platform taxonomy and audience segment structures. This accessibility shift potentially changes competitive dynamics in digital advertising, enabling broader advertiser participation in programmatic channels previously dominated by large brands with dedicated trading desk operations.

Timeline

• September 19, 2024: Amazon DSP launches goal-based bidding to enhance brand campaign efficiency across global markets
• September 10, 2025: Netflix announces partnership providing Amazon DSP advertisers access to premium streaming inventory across 11 countries
• October 1, 2025: Amazon DSP adds Spotify's global audio and video inventory across nine markets including US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Brazil, and Mexico
• October 7, 2025: Amazon DSP integrates Microsoft Monetize SSP as preferred partner while becoming designated transition path for Microsoft Invest customers
• November 4, 2025: Amazon DSP expands in-market audiences to 32 countries with unified targeting definitions across markets
• November 10, 2025: Amazon unifies DSP and sponsored ads in single Campaign Manager platform through beta launch
• November 11, 2025: Amazon launches AI agent for automated campaign management across DSP and Marketing Cloud platforms
• November 11, 2025: Amazon launches unified reporting system across advertising products in open beta
• November 12, 2025: Amazon Creative Agent adds TV capabilities at unBoxed conference for streaming television creative generation
• November 12, 2025: Amazon introduces Ads Agent targeting capabilities within Amazon DSP at unBoxed conference

Summary

Who: Amazon Ads announced the feature for self-service advertisers and agencies using Amazon DSP in the United States, with development teams presenting the capability at the company's annual unBoxed conference.

What: Ads Agent targeting functionality enables advertisers to define campaign objectives through natural language descriptions or document uploads, receiving AI-generated recommendations for relevant audience segments and keywords with supporting rationale for each suggestion.

When: Amazon announced the feature on November 12, 2025, at Amazon Ads unBoxed, the company's annual conference showcasing advertising solutions for businesses connecting with customers across various journey stages.

Where: The targeting feature is available exclusively within Amazon DSP for North American advertisers operating in the United States, accessible through the Targeting widget at the line-item level within campaign interfaces.

Why: The automation eliminates hours of manual targeting work by streamlining audience segment selection from thousands of available options, reducing technical barriers for advertisers lacking specialized programmatic expertise while maintaining transparency and control through recommendation rationales.