Amazon Sponsored Ads Guideline and Acceptance Policies | Amazon PPC Policy

Amazon Sponsored Ads Guidelines are the most important is a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising program that allows businesses to promote products on Amazon Marketplace. These ads appear at the top of search results pages, and businesses only pay when a customer clicks on their ad. To ensure that Amazon Sponsored Ads are a positive experience for both businesses and customers, Amazon has a set of guidelines and acceptance policies that all ads must adhere to. These policies cover a variety of topics, including ad content, targeting, and pricing.

In this blog post, we will cover the key aspects of the Amazon Sponsored Ads Guideline and Acceptance Policies. These Amazon PPC policies will help you run your Amazon advertising hassle-free and make the best out of it.

1. Importance Of Amazon Sponsored Ads Guidelines and Policies

The importance of Amazon Sponsored Ads Guidelines and Policies lies in maintaining a positive shopping experience, protecting brand reputation, ensuring fair competition, complying with legal regulations, and optimizing ad campaigns. Adhering to these guidelines helps advertisers build trust with customers, avoid disruptions to their advertising efforts, and access advanced Amazon PPC features. These policies contribute to a safe, transparent, and efficient advertising environment on Amazon.

Finally, the guidelines and policies help to create a fair and competitive advertising environment for businesses. This is important because businesses want to know that they are competing on a level playing field.

The Amazon Sponsored Ads Guideline and Acceptance Policies cover a variety of topics, but some of the key aspects include.

2. Ad Format and Features For Amazon PPC Policies

Amazon Sponsored Ads Guideline offers a variety of ad formats and features to help advertisers effectively promote their products on the platform. Advertisers must also stay up-to-date with Amazon’s evolving advertising policies to ensure their campaigns remain in compliance.

Please make certain that your ad format aligns with the following criteria:

• Ensure that all images and videos are clear and of high-resolution
• Reserve animation exclusively for videos
• Ad creative should not obscure the ad templates.

Sponsored Brands should conform to dimensions

• 728×90 px
• 800×90 px
• 300×250 px
• 160×600 px
• 245×135 px
• 900×45 px

To learn more about Sponsored Video Ads on Amazon, please visit Sponsored Ads.

3. Content Guidelines For Amazon PPC/Advertising

All parts of your Amazon ads, including custom text, headline, logo, pictures, videos, and ASIN images, must meet these content rules. Here you will find the policies for Amazon Advertising content at the below steps.

3.1 Universal Guidelines   

Your ads must:

• Ads should be appropriate for everyone.
• Truly represent the content of the landing page.
• The ad should be in the primary language of the Amazon site where it is displayed.
• Be clear and accurate so customers get the right info before clicking or buying.

3.2 Prohibited Content For Amazon PPC/Advertising

Amazon’s PPC Policy has strict rules and restrictions on prohibited content to maintain a safe and trustworthy advertising environment. Amazon’s Sponsored Ads Guidelines strictly prohibit certain types of content.

• Offensive or Inappropriate Content: Ads must not contain offensive, discriminatory, or inappropriate language, imagery, or themes. This includes content that promotes hate speech, violence, or discrimination based on factors such as race, gender, religion, or nationality.        
• Misleading Claims: Sponsored ads should not make false claims about products, services, or promotions. They must provide accurate and honest information to customers.
• Infringing Intellectual Property: Ads cannot use copyrighted or trademarked materials without proper authorization. This includes using logos, images, or brand names that you do not have the right to use.
• Counterfeit Goods: Sponsored ads must not promote counterfeit or fake products. 
• Restricted Products: Ads should not promote products that are prohibited or restricted by Amazon’s policies. This includes items like illegal drugs, prescription medications, weapons, and more.
• Adult Content: Sponsored ads cannot contain explicit or adult content, including sexual imagery or adult-oriented products.
• Phishing and Malware: Ads must not contain links or content that leads to phishing websites, malware downloads, or any form of online security threats.
• Sensitive Information: Ads should not request or collect sensitive personal information from customers, such as Social Security numbers or credit card details.
• Political and Advocacy Content: Political ads and advocacy content may be subject to additional restrictions and requirements, depending on local laws and regulations.

3.3 ASIN or Product Image Guideline for Amazon Advertising

Ensure that the ASIN images featured in your advertisements adhere to Amazon Sponsored Ads Guidelines and align with Amazon’s Site Standards for Product Images. GIFs or any form of animation is strictly prohibited.

Regarding Sponsored Brands, please note the following restrictions:

• Avoid duplication: You cannot promote products that are identical or duplicate within the same ad.
• Custom Images: The use of custom images, such as slide show ad formats, is not permitted.
• Image Relevance: The ASIN images within your ad must be directly related to the product you are selling, and they should clearly represent any product variations, such as differences in color, model, or style.

3.4 Brand Logo Rules for Amazon PPC

The usage of a brand logo in Amazon’s Sponsored Ads Guidelines and Acceptance Policies is generally allowed, provided that it complies with Amazon’s policies and guidelines for Amazon PPC content. It should accurately represent the brand and adhere to any specific requirements outlined in the guidelines. 

However, it’s important to review the latest version of Amazon PPC policies and guidelines, as they may have evolved since September 2021.

3.5 Custom Image Rules and Policy For Amazon PPC

Custom images enable you to feature captivating visuals that showcase your products or brand within a relevant context or lifestyle setting in your advertisement. There are some rules included in Amazon PPC Policy.  It’s essential to ensure that these images align with your landing page, maintaining high resolution, quality, and visual appeal. However, your custom images should not:

• Consists of single or multiple product images set against a solid or transparent background.
• Comprise solely of a brand logo or a combination of logos.
• Duplicate any of your previously chosen product images.
• Include cluttered, excessive, improperly cropped, or unclear elements.
• Contain any additional text that isn’t naturally present in the image, such as text found on product packaging.
• Utilize letterbox or pillar-box formats that may disrupt the image’s proportions.

3.6 Keyword and Product Targeting

Keyword and product targeting are fundamental aspects of Amazon Sponsored Ads guidelines. The keywords or products you choose for your ads must directly relate to the product you’re promoting. Your ads should avoid targeting keywords or products that might lead to an offensive, insensitive, or undesirable shopping experience for customers. To learn more about keywords, please visit ecomclips.com

Some examples of restricted product categories and keywords are Amazon Sponsored Ads Guidelines:

• Inappropriate, offensive, or obscene keywords or products.
• Keywords or products associated with prescription medications, like “Lipitor” or “prednisone.”
• Products and keywords related to items not permitted under our prohibited products and content policies, such as e-cigarettes or sexually explicit adult products.

3.7 Optimized PPC/Ads

When choosing “Optimize your ads” to feature products based on shopper searches, it’s important to avoid specific product mentions in your headlines. Keep your headlines general to ensure that shoppers can understand your ad, regardless of which of your products are displayed.

3.8 Promotional and Holiday Messaging   

Amazon Sponsored Ads Guidelines and Acceptance Policies often include specific guidelines regarding promotional and holiday messaging in sponsored advertisements. These guidelines are crucial for sellers looking to create seasonal or promotional campaigns to attract customers during holidays, special events, or sales periods. While the exact details may change over time, here are some common principles you might find:

• Amazon’s PPC Policy prohibits the use of superlatives such as “Huge Savings” or “Gigantic Discounts.”
• The start and end dates of your ad campaign must reflect the duration of the offer or the saving period so that ads do not run on dates when the offer or the saving does not apply.
• Campaign dates for a specific holiday or seasonal event (for example, Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and Christmas) must start within a reasonable time frame leading up to the event and must end within 24 hours after the event date, or a reasonable time after that depending on the event.
• If you extend the campaign after the offer or the saving period ends, you must modify your ad copy by removing the promotional messaging that no longer applies.

3.9 Video Guidelines

If you’re trying to create brand video campaigns for your Amazon seller account, you must follow some rules and guidelines for Amazon PPC. Here we will see what sort of rules we need to follow as a seller for Amazon Video Campaigns. 

3.9.1 Basic Guidelines:

Sponsored Brand video ads provide an opportunity to captivate your audience with engaging videos within your advertisements.

Ensure that the video content in your ads directly relates to your product or brand and directs viewers to a landing page that is contextually relevant.

3.9.2 Video asset requirements:

Please ensure that your video complies with the following guidelines:

• Letterbox or pillar-box formats: Videos must not have bars on any side of the video content.
• Amazon does not permit blank or black frames at the start or end of videos.
• Video ads cannot end in ways that truncate a description (voice-over, speech, or written text) in the middle of a sentence.

3.10 Translations

After you’ve submitted your Sponsored Brand campaign, an automatic translation will be provided for you. The translation process may take some time, typically finishing within 24 hours of your default language campaign going live.

If you opt to provide your own translation, it must adhere to our Content Requirements and correspond to the content of the default language campaign. The review of translated campaigns typically takes up to 72 hours.

4. Amazon Ad/PPC Product Acceptability

This section outlines products that cannot be advertised and provides details on restrictions that apply to the promotion format or method for eligible products. Amazon’s PPC Policy depends on various factors, and Amazon sets specific rules and requirements to ensure a safe and compliant PPC environment. These policies are applicable to all ads unless specified otherwise.

4.1 General Requirements

Amazon Sponsored Ads Guideline and Amazon PPC Policy include a set of general requirements that advertisers must adhere to when creating and running PPC campaigns on Amazon’s platform. 

As the advertiser, you are only permitted to promote products that you either possess or have proper authorization to resell or distribute. Your advertisements must maintain honesty and accuracy. While crafting your ads, please make certain that your product descriptions are precise and truthful.

4.2 Prohibited Products

Prohibited products on Amazon Sponsored Ads Guideline and Amazon PPC Policy refer to specific categories of products and content that are not allowed to be advertised on Amazon’s platform. Advertisers must adhere to these restrictions, which may vary by region and can change over time, to maintain their advertising privileges on Amazon. 

The products listed below are globally prohibited.

• Adult products, such as pornography, sexually explicit products, toys, products claiming or designed to enhance sex, and other products and services of a similar nature, including products that are promoted for adult or sexual purposes.
• Beauty and Personal Care: Products that claim to permanently physically change natural body properties are prohibited.
• Competitions and sweepstakes.
• Drug testing kits.
• Disease diagnostic kits.
• Digital and computer hacking services and products.
• Get-rich-quick products.
• Medical devices intended or marketed for professional use
• Paternity tests, infidelity tests, or sexual assault test kits.
• Products related to gambling services.
• UV tanning services and equipment.

4.3 Restricted Products

Amazon Sponsored Ads Guideline and Acceptance Policies may include details about restricted products that have limitations or specific requirements when it comes to advertising. Amazon PPC policy includes restrictions on certain products and categories to ensure a safe and compliant advertising environment. 

These restrictions are in place to ensure compliance with legal regulations, safety standards, and Amazon’s own policies. 

While the specific list of restricted products and the guidelines related to them can evolve, here are some examples of what you might find in such policies:

• Alcohol and alcohol-related products
• Art and industrial supplies
• Beauty products
• Home-test kits
• Infant and baby products
• Knives
• Pharmaceuticals and healthcare – over-the-counter (OTC), supplements and medical devices
• Religious products
• Sexual Wellness
• Sports and outdoor products
• Used and Amazon Renewed Products

Staying current with Amazon’s Sponsored Ads Guidelines and Acceptance of PPC Policies is crucial for compliance. Adhering to these rules ensures a positive shopping experience. Regularly check Amazon’s official resources to stay informed and maximize your success with Sponsored Ads in the ever-changing e-commerce landscape.

Insights!

In the entire post, we have gone through the rules, policies, and guidelines for Amazon PPC Advertising that any seller must need to know. We have also gone through the rules for different types of campaigns. If you’re an Amazon seller who is struggling to solve Amazon PPC issues, or you need to know all the rules and policies before you want to start Amazon PPC, then this post is totally for you. 

We hope you found this post helpful and informative, if yes, please share this post with your friends and the e-commerce community. If you have any questions, please do not forget to mail us at our email address info@ecomclips.com. Happy Amazon advertising!