Amazon Marketing Stream (AMS) Data

What is AMS Data?

Amazon Marketing Stream is a product offered by Amazon that provides advertisers and integrators with near real-time access to campaign metrics and information from their Amazon Ads campaigns. It operates on a push-based model, delivering data directly to the advertisers’ or integrators’ AWS accounts. By subscribing to Amazon Marketing Stream and providing their existing Amazon Ads API token and AWS account details, users can receive hourly performance metrics, including details such as targeting expression performance by placement and budget consumption messages. Additional campaign data sets will also become available for subscription in the future.

The introduction of Amazon Marketing Stream addresses the limitations of the previous pull-based Amazon Ads API calls, which provided daily performance metrics and required multiple manual calls throughout the day for more real-time insights. With Amazon Marketing Stream, advertisers can optimize their campaigns more effectively by leveraging hourly performance metrics for intra-day optimization. For example, they can increase bid amounts during high-conversion rate hours or ensure their campaigns stay within budget during specific periods. The data from Amazon Marketing Stream also allows for optimization based on the combination of targeting expressions and ad placements, expanding the dimensions for campaign optimization.

The near real-time information provided by Amazon Marketing Stream enables quick responsiveness to campaign changes. Advanced API users can develop applications that respond promptly to budget consumption updates, allowing them to adjust campaign budgets before they run out.

In terms of operational efficiency, Amazon Marketing Stream eliminates the need to manage API throttling as it delivers push-based information. Additionally, the delivery of performance metrics and campaign information in near real-time eliminates the need for manual comparison between aggregated API metrics and previously pulled metrics. Instead, Amazon Marketing Stream provides the delta, simplifying complex technical operations for integrators and advertisers.

Overall, Amazon Marketing Stream offers several advantages, including more effective campaign optimization, quick response to campaign changes, and improved operational efficiency through push-based delivery of near real-time data.

Advantages

1. Improved Data Granularity: One of the standout features of Amazon Marketing Stream is its ability to provide highly detailed data. Unlike the reporting API, which offers daily summaries, Amazon Marketing Stream delivers hourly updates on crucial metrics like traffic and conversions. This enhanced granularity enables advertisers to track campaign performance in near real-time, empowering them to make data-driven decisions quickly.
2. No Throttling, Increased Accuracy: Gone are the days of making repetitive API calls to get intra-day updates. With Amazon Marketing Stream, advertisers no longer need to worry about throttling or data delays. By automatically streaming data to your AWS account, Amazon Marketing Stream ensures a steady flow of accurate and up-to-date information. This uninterrupted data stream translates into more accurate campaign analysis and optimization.
3. Near Real-Time Messaging: Staying on top of your campaign’s budget is essential for maintaining a competitive edge. Amazon Marketing Stream provides advertisers with timely notifications about budget consumption. By receiving alerts when campaigns are running low on budget, advertisers can take immediate action, optimizing or reallocating funds to ensure their campaigns continue to perform effectively.
4. Deep Dive into Performance: Amazon Marketing Stream offers a comprehensive dataset that allows advertisers to dive deep into campaign performance. This includes access to a wide range of dimensions, such as target ID, placement, and ad level. Furthermore, advertisers can analyze granular data, such as keyword performance for specific placements. This wealth of information enables advertisers to identify high-performing strategies, optimize underperforming areas, and refine their marketing approach with precision.
5. Compared to API-based reports, Amazon Marketing Stream takes reporting to the next level. It offers all available dimensions in a single dataset, providing a comprehensive view of your campaign performance. Whether it’s performance at the target ID, placement, or ad level, Amazon Marketing Stream has you covered. You can delve into granular details, such as keyword performance for specific placements, gaining invaluable insights to enhance your campaign efficiency.
6. Insights on Deltas Instead of Aggregates: Understanding how your campaigns evolve over time is crucial. Amazon Marketing Stream goes beyond providing aggregate values by focusing on deltas. By pushing delta values instead of aggregates, you can gain a clearer understanding of how your campaign performance is changing over time. This invaluable insight allows you to make informed optimizations and drive better results.
7. Simplified Workflow: Amazon Marketing Stream seamlessly integrates with your AWS account, providing native access to all your advertising data. The streamlined workflow eliminates the need for complex ETL processes. Additionally, Amazon Marketing Stream updates your data dynamically, showing you exactly what has changed. This simplifies your data analysis and optimization efforts, making your workflow more efficient.

Near real-time access to hourly metrics and campaign messages

Limitations

Considerations and Limitations of Amazon Marketing Stream

While Amazon Marketing Stream offers numerous benefits, it’s important to be aware of some limitations, as the platform is currently in open beta and continues to evolve based on feedback from partners and advertisers. Here are some high-level limitations to consider:

1. Campaign Type Limitations:
   At this stage, Amazon Marketing Stream supports conversion and traffic data for Sponsored Products and Sponsored Display campaigns only. Other campaign types may not be fully integrated with the platform yet. Keep this in mind when evaluating the suitability of Amazon Marketing Stream for your specific campaign goals.
2. Regional Availability:
   While Sponsored Products and Sponsored Display data is available in all marketplaces supported by the Amazon Ads API, there are some regional limitations to be aware of. Budget usage data, for example, is not available for campaigns in the Indian marketplace. Ensure that the regions you are targeting align with the available data within Amazon Marketing Stream.
3. Data Type Restriction:
   Amazon Marketing Stream focuses solely on advertising data and does not provide access to retail data. If your analysis or marketing strategy relies heavily on retail-related insights, you may need to explore alternative solutions or combine Amazon Marketing Stream with other data sources.
4. Queue Support:
   Currently, Amazon Marketing Stream supports simple SQS (Simple Queue Service) queues. However, it does not support FIFO (First-In-First-Out) queues. If your workflow heavily relies on FIFO queue functionality, you may need to consider alternative approaches or adapt your processes accordingly.

As Amazon Marketing Stream evolves, it’s important to stay updated on any changes or new features being introduced. Keep an eye on official announcements and documentation to leverage the platform effectively while considering its current limitations. Providing feedback and suggestions to Amazon can also help shape the future development of Amazon Marketing Stream to better align with your specific needs.

How to use Amazon Marketing Stream

Manage campaigns intraday: Analyze hourly variations, helping you optimize campaign attributes such as increasing bids during hours with greater performance.

Build responsive applications: Take actions in near real time on changes such as campaigns going out of budget.

Keep local reporting store in sync: Help maintain campaign reporting in sync with Amazon Ads’ reporting on a continuous basis as Amazon Marketing Stream pushes changes to dimensional campaign information in near real time.

Develop push notifications: Keep advertisers informed by setting up timely, trigger-based notifications within your campaign management interface.