By Carl Wartzack, CEO, WBX
Amazon is no longer a dark horse in advertising. It’s now a central pillar in the digital ad economy. Recent forecasts show global ad spend hitting $1.17 trillion in 2025, rising 7.4% — and Amazon is one of the clear beneficiaries.
Here’s my take: what’s happening isn’t just momentum. It’s a structural shift — and brands that understand it will gain serious advantage.
Why Amazon Is Winning Big
1. Digital-First Platforms Dominate the Flow of Money
According to WARC data, 90% of new ad dollars this year are heading to digital-only platforms. Social media draws more than 40% of incremental spend, followed by search and retail media. Amazon, with its retail media backbone, is among the few platforms positioned to absorb this shift.
2. Retail Media Taking Off
Amazon’s retail media segment is projected to grow 13.7% in 2025, reaching $175 billion and making up nearly 15% of total global ad spend. That kind of share, backed by conversion-driven measurement, gives Amazon a compelling edge over pure media platforms.
3. Strength in Scale, Data & Inventory
Amazon sits at the intersection of reach, intent, and measurement. By combining retail-first data, streaming inventory, and closed-loop attribution, it delivers what many platforms can’t: measurable impact tied to commerce behavior.
4. The Advantage of the Netflix Deal
Adding Netflix’s ad inventory through Amazon DSP further strengthens its position in premium streaming. Now marketers can access leading CTV content from within the same ecosystem that drives their commerce campaigns. This integration nudges Amazon further down the path of a fully integrated ad platform.
Winners and Losers in This Shift
Winners
- Amazon — obvious, but the scale of growth suggests it will become the backbone of modern ad strategies.
- Premium publishers & streamers — they benefit from Amazon’s advertiser reach and measurement infrastructure.
- Brands committed to data-driven media — they get efficiency, transparency, and performance.
Losers
- Independent DSPs and adtech vendors — their differentiation shrinks as Amazon bundles data, inventory, and measurement.
- Smaller publishers — as ad dollars consolidate, it will be harder to compete for spend.
- Walled gardens with weak commerce integration — they’ll feel pressure as Amazon captures spend tied to action rather than just attention.
What This Means for Brands & WBX
At WBX, we believe the future of advertising lies in integration, not isolation. Retail media, CTV, and performance metrics need to work as one.
If you want media that:
- Reaches premium audiences,
- Delivers against measurable outcomes, and
- Eliminates disconnected channels—
You need to operate inside, not outside, platforms built for scale, relevance, and commerce activation.
Amazon has evolved from contender to cornerstone. Brands that understand and navigate this shift will outperform — not just today, but for years to come.
At WBX, we’re building solutions to make that shift possible. Let’s build what’s next.