Amazon introduces reserve share of voice for branded search

Amazon announced in October 2025 a new capability within Sponsored Brands called reserve share of voice, according to documentation published in the company's Advanced Tools Center. The feature allows advertisers to secure top-of-search placements for branded keywords at a fixed, upfront price through a fully self-service platform accessible via the Advertising Console and API.

The documentation states that the feature "enables advertisers to secure top-of-search (TOS) Sponsored Brands placements for branded keywords at a fixed, upfront price." By implementing this reservation system, brands ensure their advertisements appear in the top-of-search position for branded queries most of the time.

Alexander Swade, an Amazon advertising specialist, described the announcement as "a true novelty on Amazon Ads" in a video published October 16, 2025. "Historically, everyone was able to participate in an auction for any given keyword," Swade explained. "No matter if it's your own brand, a generic term, or your competitor brand, everyone could bid on those terms."

The system operates exclusively through API integration. Advertisers must first validate whether their branded terms qualify for reservation by submitting a reservation validation request with specific keywords. According to the technical documentation, the validation process returns responses indicating whether each keyword is "resolvable" based on brand registry information.

Amazon determines eligibility through its Brand Registry system. A sample response in the documentation shows keywords like "Mybrand" and "Mybrand bluetooth speaker" returning as "true" for reservation eligibility, while generic terms like "smartphone" return as "false" with the rejection reason: "No valid brand or trademark was found in the keyword."

"The way Amazon is doing this is via brand registry," Swade noted. "So via the terms that are within brand registry. And this is also where I see some issues popping up. I've worked on brands where the brand name in brand registry is not the term people are searching for."

The pricing model represents a departure from auction-based advertising. After validating keywords, advertisers specify a time frame with start and end dates. According to documentation examples, a three-month reservation for multiple branded keywords including variations like "Mybrand cell phone" and "Mybrand bluetooth speaker" carried a fixed price of $4,914 USD.

Implementation requires several technical steps. Advertisers create a "deal" with a defined time period and placements, then add at least five deal targets. The system assigns a deal ID, which advertisers must reference when creating campaigns. Once the deal state changes to "PROPOSED," Amazon's internal pricing engine calculates and assigns the final price to the deal.

The documentation specifies that "advertisers ensure that the ad will appear on sponsor brands top of search placement for those branded queries most of the time." This language indicates the feature does not guarantee 100% impression share. Swade emphasized this limitation: "They are not guaranteeing 100% impression share. It says most of the time. So there are still some possibilities that others show up on top of search."

The restriction applies only to Sponsored Brands top-of-search placements. Sponsored Products top-of-search and all rest-of-search placements remain subject to standard auction dynamics. Competitors can still bid on branded terms through these other ad formats and placements.

Amazon's advertising services revenue reached $15.7 billion in the second quarter of 2025, representing a 22% increase year-over-year, according to the company's earnings report. The platform's advertising portfolio spans Amazon's retail marketplace, Prime Video, Twitch, Fire TV, and live sports programming.

The feature addresses visibility challenges that have intensified as Amazon's marketplace becomes increasingly competitive. Sellers reported in August 2025 experiencing difficulty with product visibility, with one merchant stating that it became "almost impossible to find other products" outside of sponsored placements. The shift toward sponsored product prominence created pressure for sellers to increase advertising spend to maintain visibility.

For marketing professionals managing Amazon advertising campaigns, reserve share of voice represents a fundamental shift from auction-based bidding for branded terms. The fixed-price reservations for branded terms move toward predictable inventory buying more common in display advertising.

The competitive implications center on guaranteed placement for branded search terms. Search advertising typically operates through real-time auctions where advertisers compete for each impression. This approach provides certainty for brands concerned about competitors bidding on their branded terms.

Budget allocation decisions require evaluating the fixed cost against alternative auction-based strategies. The upfront payment structure differs from traditional cost-per-click models where advertisers pay only for actual clicks received. If branded search volume proves lower than expected during the reservation period, the effective cost per click increases beyond what auction-based campaigns might have delivered.

Swade outlined specific scenarios where the feature could prove problematic. "Let's say Amazon is looking back historically and you had a ton of branded volume and your branded volume is kind of going down," he explained. "You would be paying a price based on the historic data because Amazon doesn't see your brand volume is going down and you're securing this for the next three months and then you overpay because your branded volume is down."

Measurement capabilities for reserved campaigns follow standard Sponsored Brands reporting. The documentation indicates campaigns track impressions in the top-of-search segment. The key performance indicator "TOP_OF_SEARCH_IMPRESSION_SHARE" measures the percentage of eligible impressions where the ad appeared in the reserved placement. Standard metrics including clicks, spend, conversions, and attributed sales apply to reserved campaigns through existing reporting infrastructure.

Amazon introduced cost control optimization for Sponsored Brands in August 2024, providing a metric-based approach using cost per click parameters. The company has been expanding Sponsored Brands capabilities with features like new landing page options introduced in July 2024 for the "Grow brand impression share" campaign goal.

The Federal Trade Commission opened an investigation in September 2025 examining whether Amazon disclosed reserve pricing for some search advertisements. The new reserve share of voice feature makes pricing explicit through the upfront fixed-price model, though whether this addresses regulatory concerns remains to be determined.

Swade suggested the feature targets larger brands with substantial budgets. "I believe this is in my opinion nothing for the small brands. Probably nothing for anyone that is listening to this video," he said. "But it enables the bigger brands to secure their top of search share of voice basically through sponsored brands."

The documentation provides examples showing campaigns require lifetime budgets matching the fixed deal price. A sample campaign creation request shows a budget of $4,914 with a "LIFETIME" budget type and "FIXED_PRICE" cost type. Campaign optimization strategy parameters indicate "MAXIMIZE_IMMEDIATE_SALES" as the bid optimization approach.

Deal management includes deletion capabilities with specific restrictions. According to the documentation, deals in "PROPOSED" state cannot be modified. Advertisers can delete a proposed deal only if current time is less than the deal's start date time minus 12 hours. Deleting a deal also removes associated deal targets and archives associated campaigns.

The feature extends Amazon's broader strategy of providing predictable advertising inventory. Other platforms have implemented similar branded keyword protection mechanisms in specific contexts. According to industry observers, Apple has offered comparable features for brand name keywords in its advertising platform.

Campaign creation through the feature uses the Sponsored Brands V4 API. The technical implementation requires advertisers to include the "targetedPGDealId" parameter when creating campaigns, referencing the specific deal ID from the reservation process. Sample responses show campaigns receive automatic parameters including bidding optimization strategies and campaign goals focused on brand impression share.

For brands with steady or growing brand volume, the predictability of fixed costs may outweigh the risks of overpayment. The feature enables quarterly or annual budget planning with known advertising costs for branded term protection. Larger brands operating with predetermined budgets can allocate specific amounts to guarantee branded search presence without daily auction volatility.

The documentation includes regional availability information through the API endpoints, though specific geographic rollout details were not specified in the published materials. Implementation through API-only access suggests initial targeting toward advertisers with technical resources or agency partnerships capable of programmatic integration.

Timeline

• August 2024: Amazon introduces cost control optimization for Sponsored Brands, enabling advertisers to set performance-based parameters for campaign optimization
• July 2024: Amazon announces new landing page option for Sponsored Brands campaigns with "Grow brand impression share" goal, allowing customized pages without pre-existing brand stores
• August 2025: Amazon advertising revenue reaches $15.7 billion in Q2 2025, marking 22% year-over-year growth
• August 2025: Amazon sellers report declining visibility, with merchants stating it became "almost impossible to find other products" outside sponsored placements
• September 2025: FTC launches investigation into Amazon's advertising practices, examining whether the company disclosed reserve pricing for search advertisements
• September 2025: Amazon Marketing Cloud gains direct access for sponsored ads advertisers, removing traditional partner coordination requirements
• October 2025: Amazon announces reserve share of voice feature in Advanced Tools Center documentation, enabling fixed-price branded keyword reservations
• October 16, 2025: Alexander Swade publishes video analysis describing the feature as "a true novelty on Amazon Ads"

Summary

Who: Amazon Ads introduced the feature for vendors and registered sellers enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry. The feature serves advertisers seeking guaranteed branded keyword protection, with industry specialists suggesting primary adoption by larger brands with substantial advertising budgets.

What: Reserve share of voice enables advertisers to purchase guaranteed Sponsored Brands top-of-search placements for branded keywords at fixed, upfront prices rather than competing through auctions. The system requires API integration, brand registry validation, and minimum five-keyword deals with specified time frames. Placements appear "most of the time" rather than guaranteeing 100% impression share.

When: Amazon published documentation for the feature in October 2025, with industry analysis emerging October 16, 2025. Implementation requires advertisers to specify start and end dates for reservations, with examples showing one-month to three-month periods.

Where: The feature operates within Amazon's Sponsored Brands advertising platform, accessible through the Advertising Console and Amazon Ads API. Placements appear exclusively in Sponsored Brands top-of-search positions, while Sponsored Products and rest-of-search placements remain subject to standard auctions.

Why: The feature addresses visibility variability brands experience in search results and provides protection against competitor conquesting on branded terms. Fixed pricing enables predictable budget planning for larger brands, while the upfront cost structure represents a fundamental shift from auction-based bidding toward guaranteed inventory purchasing. Amazon's $15.7 billion quarterly advertising revenue demonstrates the platform's importance to the company's business model as marketplace competition intensifies.