Cowen is out with a great report on Amazon's ad business that's worthy of thread

(This was based on a survey of ~50 large ad agencies - @retailgeek would appropriately warn us about surveys, so think of this as directional)

First, looking at the numbers, Amazon is the #3 platform way behind Google and FB (but already bigger than Twitter, Snap, TikTok, etc.). In this question, agencies reveal Amazon has the most emerging mindshare as part of digital spend.

Second, when asked 'why is amazon gaining share', respondents noted the strong ROI. This makes sense because if you think about the funnel - the bottom of the funnel is someone on Amazon looking for a SKU and someone on Google saying: "I want a Nikon Z6 camera"

In fact, here's the ROI stack from respondents->. Note that Google is 4-5x Amazon (doesn't make sense longterm to me), but Amazon is 8x Facebook - hmmm.

Here the question is: Where are those $ your clients are spending on Amazon coming from - note that analog/TV is 'biggest loser', but #2 is Google., then FB is 4 - doesn't add up right?

Last point: The piece points out that of all the ad networks, Amazon's ads are the least exposed to all the privacy laws and Apple IDFAs. I hadn't really thought about that. Amazon isn't relying on tracking you across web/devices, you are there in their silo and they show ads.

Conclusion: In 3-5yrs, Amazon Ads could take material share frm FB and even Google (the display is most vulnerable). Amazon Ads could be an AWS-scale LOB here with similar margins by 2025. All the dynamics are in their favor.

Question: If you are Google and FB, do you see it coming yet? What do you do? I think you need to get REAL serious about e-commerce marketplaces Insta checkout, FB marketplace, Google Shopping/actions, are a start, but these guys better 1000x or they will be nxt amzn roadkill.