Amazon has ditched the pay-per-click advertisements that previously appeared at the end of its search results.
These product ads were a hit among small retailers who didn’t sell their products on Amazon, but who could showcase their merchandise via these ads at the bottom of users search results pages.
These ads gave small retailers access to Amazon’s 280 million customers. In return, Amazon earned a fee ranging from 10 cents to $2.05 per click from the advertisers.
The product ads showcased images of merchandise along with the link to the retailer’s site. The new text ads do not include any images of merchandise.
The company has started notifying advertisers that Product Ads will be shut down as of October 31.
The replacement ad option called Amazon Text Ads, and the email sent to advertisers suggests that as one of a couple of alternatives.
Going forward, Amazon will include text ads along with the product searches, removing the product ads that showcased pictures of merchandise linked to retail sites outside its platform.
