Unknown to me, the Search ads were apparently the ones that I should have been using from the beginning, as these ads allow you to tell Amazon specifically what types of products to display.
Configuration:
2. Ad Format is the same as before. Grid shows four images, list, is links, and strip shows two products. The preview will show you an example of how the ads will be displayed on your site.
3. The Default category is the Amazon category that you want the ads to be displayed from. You may now understand how I was confused that the Recommendation ad's didn't work like the search ad's do, since the configuration seems to be the same. Needless to say it's not.
4. Default Search term - This is where the Search ads vary greatly from the "recommendation" ads. The keywords you enter into this box, separated by commas, tells Amazon specifically which products to display and from what Amazon categories. If related products to your keywords are available in multiple categories, there's no need to specify a specific category, just be specific with your keywords, and Amazon will do the rest.
5. Edit Title allows you to customize the title of the Amazon ads. It defaults to "Shop Related Products" but you can change it to anything you want it to display.
6. Advanced Search Terms - These MUST be configured
a. The ad size, just like in the recommendation ads, can either be responsive or custom. I always choose custom, and select one row, but you can also select two rows if you prefer. The responsive ads will try and auto format to fit your page, which in my experience does not always work well.
b. Show Search bar gives you the option to display an Amazon search window along with your recommended search products. I currently have this one set to No on my ads, but might reconsider as it allows visitors to do an Amazon search directly from your site.
c. Search Bar Placement only matters if you choose to have the search bar displayed on your ads. It can be displayed either above the results, or below as seen in the screenshot.
I have a question and a con to add, if you do not mind:
Question: say I configure an Amazon Native Custom Ads featuring 2 or more products, does it count as a single advertisement or as a multiple one? I am asking this in order to avoid being seen as a bridge site by Google.
Con: Prices do not match more often than not.
Having total control over products is great, but I have happened to advertise products costing 50 $, only to find out they were priced at 400$ or more.
My understanding is that Amazon does not pick the very same product that you intend to advertise, but the most expensive unit available.
Very many thanks in advance for your time and reply,
Ps.
On a separate note, the Site Stripe Custom Ads is off limits for me atm: I click on "Custom" and nothing happens.
It stopped working days ago, all of a sudden.
I contacted Amazon Support and they replied they reported the issue to their technical team. Nothing has changed so far.
Reply
As for the pricing, I personally have not used the Custom ads, I'm primarily using the Search ads at this time. From what I can tell Custom ad's should give you control over which items are displayed, but one never knows how exactly Amazon does things.
If you are looking to advertise a specific product I would use the link for just that product on your page, as opposed to the custom ads. I've been using the search ads as a means to display products relevant to the content of my page. For example, a post about "chemo hair loss" and I have a search ad displaying "chemo caps".
As for the site stripe issues. Yep, there is an issue. There are multiple posts in the Amazon affiliate forums. You can still create the ads by going to https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/home, and navigate to the Native Shopping ads, and Create custom ads.
Hope that helps!
Actually the post being discussed is not a review, but a simple story. Anyway I will take your comment into account.
Thanks again! :-)
I do use Ad Insterter as I love the control it gives me for placement and such.
Thanks again. This will definitely help people out when they go to deploy Amazon native ads in their site(s).
Glad that it helps!
