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Commerce & Retail Tech2 min read

Amazon Ads Agent merges DSP and console: AI picks the spend

Amazon Ads Agent folds Amazon DSP and the ads console into one AI-run platform. DVA+ lets Amazon decide where the budget goes. Keep your own measurement.

At unBoxed on September 29, Amazon merged its self-serve ads console and Amazon DSP into one product: Amazon Ads Agent. Sponsored ads, streaming TV, video, display and audio now sit in one place, with an AI assistant that builds campaigns, writes creative and moves budget. For a small seller, the setup barrier for upper-funnel ads just dropped. So did your view into where the money goes.

What actually happened

Per AdExchanger and Amazon's product page:

  • The Amazon Ads console and Amazon DSP are now one platform, Amazon Ads Agent. The "DSP" name gives way to DVA (display, video and audio)
  • DVA+ is a new AI-run campaign type. You pick an objective and a budget; Amazon handles targeting, inventory, format mix, bidding and creative. It comes in Performance+ (sales and conversions) and Brand+ (video and prospecting) flavors
  • Full-Funnel Campaigns coordinate search, streaming, video and display, and AdExchanger reports they are aimed at smaller advertisers who want streaming TV and audio without a DSP learning curve
  • The assistant keeps context across campaigns, generates video creative, drafts media plans and optimizes live campaigns. It can also write Amazon Marketing Cloud queries in plain language
  • A "traditional DSP-type experience" remains available under advanced settings
  • Access covers Brand Registry sellers, vendors and agencies. Amazon also offers an Ads MCP Server so outside tools and agents can connect

Why Amazon Ads Agent matters for your business

The defaults favor the house. In DVA+, Amazon decides which of its own surfaces get your budget and grades the results with its own measurement. That is not fraud. It is a conflict of interest that you should plan for. The FTC is already suing over Amazon's ad auction.

Hold back a control. Run DVA+ against a manual campaign or a geo holdout, and compare against your Shopify or ERP sales, not the Amazon dashboard alone. If incremental revenue does not show up outside Amazon's reporting, cut the budget.

Use the MCP server to pull your data out. An API into your ad account means you can put spend, ROAS and margin in one sheet next to your other channels, the same way we argued when Amazon DSP started selling ChatGPT ads.

Key takeaways

  • Amazon merged its ads console and Amazon DSP into Amazon Ads Agent on September 29
  • DVA+ (Performance+ and Brand+) hands targeting, bidding and creative to Amazon's AI
  • Full-Funnel Campaigns bring streaming TV and audio to smaller advertisers
  • A manual, DSP-style mode still exists under advanced settings
  • Test AI-run campaigns against a holdout and your own sales data
  • Use the Ads MCP Server to pull spend into reporting you control

Not sure if your Amazon ad spend earns its keep? We build reporting that puts ad spend next to real margin, from your own sales data. Run the numbers or tell us what you sell.

Sources: AdExchanger, Amazon Ads.

  • #amazon-ads
  • #amazon-dsp
  • #retail-media
  • #ai-agents
  • #paid-media
TR

Tommy Rush — Founder, Rush Commerce

Operator turned builder. 15+ years running operations — now shipping the systems businesses run on. More

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