Nielsen audience segments arrive in Amazon DSP and Marketing Cloud

Nielsen announced on December 8, 2025, the availability of its audience segments from Nielsen Marketing Cloud across Amazon's advertising marketplace, including Amazon DSP and Amazon Marketing Cloud. The integration introduces third-party audience targeting capabilities through Zeotap Data Distribution, establishing a connection between Nielsen's consumer measurement infrastructure and Amazon's retail media platform.

The announcement positions Nielsen's proprietary audience segments within Amazon's expanding advertising ecosystem at a moment when the platform continues consolidating its infrastructure through unified interfaces and AI-powered automation. Amazon DSP advertisers can now activate Nielsen segments across Amazon's first-party supply sources, including Prime Video, Freevee, Twitch, Amazon.com, Fire TV, Kindle, and Alexa, in addition to third-party supply integrations.

According to Nielsen's announcement, the audience segments provide targeting and activation capabilities across industries including consumer packaged goods, automotive, and finance. The segments encompass demographics, shopping behaviors, and media consumption patterns derived from Nielsen's person-level panel and premium third-party data sources. These data assets aim to deliver what Nielsen characterizes as "the most accurate view of how consumers engage with media across channels and platforms."

The technical implementation operates through Zeotap Data Distribution, which handles the connection between Nielsen Marketing Cloud and Amazon DSP. Roqad acquired Zeotap Data in September 2025, establishing what both companies described as an exclusive integration capability with Amazon DSP that no other European provider could match. The Nielsen segments become available through this existing infrastructure, extending the partnership's reach from European markets into Nielsen's global measurement footprint.

Amazon Marketing Cloud access represents the second component of Nielsen's Amazon integration. Buyers can analyze and collaborate on Nielsen's audience data within the secure clean room environment that Amazon Marketing Cloud provides. The clean room architecture maintains data separation while enabling advertisers to perform analytics and build audiences across pseudonymized signals. This capability matters particularly for advertisers seeking to combine Nielsen's consumer insights with Amazon's first-party shopping and streaming data without direct data transfers between systems.

"With our audience segments now in Amazon's industry leading advertising ecosystem platforms, we offer marketers one of the industry's best data capabilities to help further drive marketing ROI," according to Kirsten Cummings, General Manager of Outcomes at Nielsen. The statement positions the integration as an extension of Nielsen's measurement capabilities into activation environments where advertisers execute campaigns and measure performance.

The development arrives as Amazon systematically expands third-party data availability across its advertising platforms. The company made Marketing Cloud directly accessible to sponsored ads advertisers in September 2025, eliminating traditional partner coordination requirements through enhanced interface capabilities including no-code templates and AI-powered assistance. Amazon extended Marketing Cloud's lookback window from 13 to 25 months in November 2025, enabling more comprehensive historical analysis for advertisers analyzing campaign performance over extended periods.

The Nielsen segments operate within Amazon DSP's existing targeting infrastructure. Advertisers access the segments through standard audience selection workflows rather than requiring separate technical implementation. This approach contrasts with data collaborations that demand clean room configurations or custom API integrations before activation can occur. The seamless availability reflects Amazon's strategy of reducing technical barriers for advertisers accessing premium data sources within its advertising ecosystem.

Nielsen Marketing Cloud functions as a comprehensive data and technology solution that powers data-driven advertising and provides real-time audience insights. The platform enables clients to manage marketing processes spanning media planning and activation to data management and attribution. Within Amazon's environment, these capabilities extend to campaign targeting across the demand-side platform and analytical workflows within the clean room infrastructure.

The timing coincides with substantial infrastructure changes across Amazon's advertising operations. Amazon introduced unified Campaign Manager that merges 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. Full-Funnel Campaigns can now set up and adjust multi-format campaigns across Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, display, and streaming television from a single prompt.

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 insights from Amazon Marketing Cloud without requiring specialized SQL knowledge. The agent reviews thousands of audience segments to recommend targeting options for Amazon DSP campaigns, a capability that becomes more valuable as third-party data sources like Nielsen expand the available segment library.

Third-party measurement capabilities have expanded across Amazon DSP throughout 2025. Integral Ad Science secured Media Rating Council accreditation for its third-party measurement capabilities on Amazon DSP properties in November 2025. The certification validated IAS's server-to-server integration for tracking impression, viewability, and invalid traffic data across Amazon's programmatic advertising platform. This accreditation marked the first time an independent verification provider received MRC certification for these specific metrics within Amazon's advertising ecosystem.

Measurement infrastructure improvements complement the data integration announcements. Amazon expanded conversion path reporting to worldwide availability in November 2025, extending access to advertisers across 29 countries following a beta launch that began in North America in January. Conversion path reporting displays the top five customer conversion paths within a 30-day window prior to purchase, integrating data from Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display, Sponsored TV, and Amazon DSP advertising formats.

Nielsen's integration with Amazon DSP extends the company's measurement capabilities into activation environments where advertising campaigns execute. Nielsen has systematically expanded partnerships across the marketing technology ecosystem throughout 2024 and 2025. The company announced partnerships with LiveRamp for enhanced audience planning and measurement capabilities within Nielsen ONE, Nielsen's advertising suite. That collaboration leverages LiveRamp's RampID technology to facilitate data integration and audience insights across platforms.

Nielsen made its Marketing Cloud data available on InfoSum's platform in September 2025, providing brands with access to Nielsen's consumer research capabilities without requiring direct data integration or complex technical implementations. The InfoSum availability launched across the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada markets, representing initial deployment phases for secure data collaboration that maintains privacy compliance across international markets.

The company has also expanded traditional measurement capabilities. Nielsen launched Big Data + Panel measurementfor the 2025 television season, combining its person-level panel with big data sources including first-party streaming service data, return path data from cable and satellite providers, and automatic content recognition data from smart televisions. The hybrid approach addresses limitations in traditional panel-only systems that faced challenges capturing fragmented viewing across multiple platforms and devices.

Vishal Tanwar, Vice President of Partnerships at Zeotap Data, stated that "distributing best-in-class Nielsen audiences on Amazon DSP is yet another step in fulfilling Zeotap Data's mission of building and distributing the most effective audiences for marketers globally." The statement positions the Nielsen integration as an extension of Zeotap's existing data distribution capabilities rather than an isolated partnership.

Amazon DSP's supply-side platform partnerships have expanded substantially throughout 2024 and 2025. Netflix became available in Amazon DSP in the fourth quarter of 2025 across 11 countries, adding premium streaming inventory to the platform's available supply. The platform added Disney's Real-Time Ad Exchange in June 2025, Spotify's inventory in October 2025 across nine markets, and Microsoft Monetize joined Amazon's Certified Supply Exchange program in October 2025 while Amazon DSP became the migration path for Microsoft Invest users before the February 2026 shutdown.

The Nielsen announcement addresses a fundamental challenge in retail media advertising: how brands can target audiences beyond previous purchase behavior on a platform. Consumer packaged goods companies operating on Amazon traditionally faced limitations when attempting to reach consumers who shop at competing retailers or who have not yet purchased their products through Amazon. Nielsen segments derived from panel data and third-party sources provide targeting signals independent of Amazon purchase history, enabling what the announcement described as targeting "people who shop at other stores, not just those who have previously bought their products on Amazon."

This capability matters particularly for advertisers managing upper-funnel awareness campaigns where previous purchase history provides limited targeting value. Traditional retail media advertising excels at retargeting existing customers and capturing high-intent searches, but introducing new products or reaching competitive shoppers requires audience data derived from sources beyond platform transaction history. Nielsen's consumer measurement infrastructure provides these signals through panel-based research and third-party data partnerships that capture shopping behavior across retailers, media consumption patterns across channels, and demographic characteristics.

The automotive and finance industries represent additional beneficiaries of expanded third-party data availability within Amazon DSP. Auto manufacturers launching new vehicle models seek consumers exhibiting purchase consideration behaviors that extend beyond Amazon browsing patterns. Financial services advertisers target demographic and psychographic segments defined by income levels, life stage transitions, and financial product ownership that Nielsen's panel research can identify but Amazon's shopping data may not comprehensively capture.

Amazon DSP's in-market audiences expanded to 32 countries in November 2025 with unified targeting definitions, adding Belgium, Egypt, South Africa, and Poland to the existing roster. The multi-country audience capabilities enable advertisers to use consistent audience definitions across different countries without requiring separate configuration for each region. Nielsen segments integrated through Zeotap Data Distribution complement these first-party audience capabilities with third-party measurement data covering additional consumer behaviors and attributes.

The integration operates within Amazon's expanding clean room ecosystem. Clean rooms have emerged as critical infrastructure for privacy-compliant data collaboration as cookie deprecation and regulatory requirements limit traditional data sharing mechanisms. Amazon Marketing Cloud functions as a secure, privacy-safe, cloud-based clean room solution where advertisers can perform analytics and build audiences across pseudonymized signals. The platform unifies signals across Amazon properties, advertiser inputs, and onboarded third-party providers, enabling flexible querying in privacy-protected environments.

Nielsen's segments backed by its industry-trusted, person-level panel and premium third-party data sources provide what the company characterizes as "the most accurate view of how consumers engage with media across channels and platforms." This measurement approach combines panel precision with big data scale, addressing limitations that single-methodology systems face in capturing comprehensive consumer behavior patterns. The panel consists of more than 100,000 people across 42,000 homes nationwide, representing the largest domestic measurement panel of its kind.

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. Brand suitability settings entered open beta in November 2025, allowing DSP advertisers to adjust both advertiser-level and ad-group level brand suitability settings via API for display and video media types on Twitch, third-party web, and mobile inventory.

The Nielsen integration represents another data source addition to Amazon's expanding marketplace of third-party audience providers. The platform's strategy involves creating an ecosystem of premium data partners rather than maintaining exclusive relationships with single providers. This approach gives advertisers choice in audience data selection while establishing Amazon DSP as neutral infrastructure rather than a competitor to measurement providers. The model mirrors strategies employed by The Trade Desk and Google Display & Video 360, which similarly provide access to multiple third-party data sources through their demand-side platforms.

Competitive dynamics in programmatic advertising have shifted substantially as Amazon DSP gains market share. Industry reporting from November 2025 suggested Omnicom Media Group appeared to move significant programmatic spending from The Trade Desk to Amazon DSP during the third quarter of 2025. Multiple sources expected Omnicom to shift more programmatic business to Amazon's DSP after Omnicom won Amazon's US marketing business in late 2024. Amazon reportedly aims to undercut The Trade Desk's approximately 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.

The integration introduces Nielsen's measurement expertise into Amazon's advertising technology infrastructure at a period when measurement methodologies face scrutiny across the industry. Independent third-party measurement serves as the foundation of transparent media and advertising ecosystems, enabling advertisers to compare effectiveness across different platforms and make informed budget allocation decisions. Walled garden platforms have created closed ecosystems where they exercise complete control over data collection, ad scheduling, content delivery, and audience measurement, making true verification by independent parties challenging.

Nielsen maintains deals with all major broadcasters, streamers, and professional sports leagues for its measurement services. The company releases The Gauge monthly, providing market share data for time spent across television platforms. Weekly Nielsen Streaming Top 10 rankings define top streaming content performance, while quarterly Ad Supported Gauge reports deliver comprehensive advertising-supported TV analysis across broadcast, cable, and streaming. These measurement capabilities now extend into activation environments through the Amazon DSP integration, connecting Nielsen's audience measurement with campaign execution.

The announcement specifies that Nielsen segments are available now through the Zeotap Data Distribution connection. Advertisers operating on Amazon DSP can access the segments through standard audience targeting workflows without requiring separate onboarding or technical implementation. This immediate availability contrasts with data partnerships that announce intentions but delay actual implementation pending technical integration work. The ready-to-activate status suggests pre-existing technical infrastructure between Zeotap and Amazon facilitated Nielsen's integration.

Amazon Marketing Cloud's role in the integration extends beyond simple data availability. Buyers can analyze Nielsen's audience data within the secure environment, combining it with Amazon's first-party signals and advertisers' own customer data to develop custom audience segments. This analytical capability enables more sophisticated targeting strategies than simply applying pre-defined Nielsen segments to campaigns. Advertisers can identify intersections between Nielsen behavioral data and Amazon shopping patterns, creating audience definitions that leverage both data sources simultaneously.

The clean room environment maintains privacy compliance across diverse regulatory frameworks including GDPR in Europe, CCPA in California, and various data protection laws across international markets. This compliance architecture matters particularly for global advertisers managing campaigns across multiple jurisdictions with different privacy requirements. The system's ability to apply consistent audience definitions while respecting local regulations addresses operational complexities that arise when executing international advertising campaigns.

Timeline

• January 5, 2021: Amazon launches Amazon Marketing Cloud beta for eligible agencies, advertisers, and tool providers
• September 10, 2025: Netflix becomes available in Amazon DSP starting Q4 2025 across 11 countries
• September 2, 2025: Roqad acquires Zeotap Data to strengthen European identity leadership
• September 16, 2025: Amazon makes Marketing Cloud directly accessible to sponsored ads advertisers
• October 7, 2025: Amazon DSP integrates Microsoft Monetize SSP as preferred partner
• November 4, 2025: Amazon DSP expands in-market audiences to 32 countries with unified targeting
• November 10, 2025: Amazon unifies DSP and sponsored ads in single Campaign Manager platform
• November 11, 2025: Amazon launches AI agent for automated campaign management across DSP and Marketing Cloud
• November 11, 2025: Amazon extends Marketing Cloud lookback window from 13 to 25 months
• November 12, 2025: Amazon introduces AI targeting for DSP campaigns with natural language commands
• November 13, 2025: Amazon expands conversion path reporting worldwide after beta launch
• November 13, 2025: IAS earns MRC accreditation for third-party Amazon DSP measurement
• December 8, 2025: Nielsen announces audience segments now available in Amazon DSP and Amazon Marketing Cloud

Summary

Who: Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement and marketing intelligence, partnered with Amazon Ads and Zeotap Data Distribution to make Nielsen Marketing Cloud audience segments available to advertisers. Kirsten Cummings serves as General Manager of Outcomes at Nielsen, while Vishal Tanwar holds the position of Vice President of Partnerships at Zeotap Data.

What: Nielsen's proprietary audience segments from Nielsen Marketing Cloud became available across Amazon's advertising marketplace, including Amazon DSP and Amazon Marketing Cloud. The segments provide targeting capabilities across industries including consumer packaged goods, automotive, and finance, encompassing demographics, shopping behaviors, and media consumption patterns. Advertisers can activate these segments across Amazon's first-party supply sources including Prime Video, Freevee, Twitch, Amazon.com, Fire TV, Kindle, and Alexa, in addition to third-party supply integrations.

When: Nielsen announced the availability on December 8, 2025, at 9:00 AM Eastern Time. The segments became immediately available through Zeotap Data Distribution connection, with no waiting period for technical implementation or onboarding.

Where: The audience segments operate across Amazon DSP for campaign targeting and activation, and within Amazon Marketing Cloud for secure data analysis and audience development. The integration functions across all markets where Amazon DSP operates, spanning North America, South America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific regions.

Why: The integration addresses limitations in retail media advertising where brands previously relied primarily on purchase history and on-platform behavior for targeting. Nielsen's third-party audience data enables advertisers to reach consumers based on shopping behaviors across retailers, media consumption patterns, and demographic characteristics that extend beyond Amazon's first-party signals. Consumer packaged goods companies can now target people who shop at other stores, automotive advertisers can reach in-market vehicle shoppers, and financial services brands can identify demographic segments defined by income and life stage transitions that Nielsen's panel research captures.