Google Ads for Amazon Sellers: Measurement & Optimization That Drives Real Growth

In the very competitive Amazon market of today, depending only on internal PPC is a sure way to lose money. As Advertising Cost of Sales (ACoS) goes up and competition heats up, smart sellers are going outside of Amazon to find new customers and keep their profit margins safe.  This is the point where having a smart plan for Google Ads for Amazon Sellers: Measurement & Optimization is not only helpful but also necessary.  

You can get more customers, improve your organic rank, and make your brand stronger by sending high-intent traffic straight to your listings from other websites. This complete guide is made for Amazon sellers in the US who want to stop guessing and do something about it.  We’ll show you the exact steps you need to take to set up your campaigns, the tools you need, like Amazon Attribution, to find out your real return on investment, and the best ways to optimize your ads so that clicks turn into sales that make you money. 

Why Your Amazon Brand Can’t Afford to Ignore Google Ads

A well-executed external traffic plan should be a core part of any complete Amazon SEO Strategy. While many brands hire for Amazon SEO Services or Amazon Listing Optimization Services to improve on-platform visibility, mastering Google Ads gives you control over a powerful stream of off-platform traffic. 

While Amazon is a product search engine, Google is the search engine for everything—including initial product discovery. Recent studies show that over 46% of product searches begin on Google, not Amazon. If you’re not there, you’re invisible to nearly half of your potential market. 

Here’s why Google Ads is a critical growth lever for your Amazon business: 

Get Away from the Busy Auction

The Amazon advertising auction is very competitive. When you bid on popular keywords, you could end up paying a lot, which cuts into your profits. While Amazon Ads generally have lower CPCs, Google Ads can still be cost-effective—especially when targeting niche, high-intent keywords that face less competition on Google. This can deliver a stronger Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) when done strategically. 

Reach Shoppers at Every Stage

Amazon PPC is mostly aimed at people who want to buy something right now.  You may reach clients earlier in their journey with Google Ads. This helps people learn about your brand and leads them to your items when they are ready to buy. This is a very important aspect of a complete Amazon SEO and PPC plan.

Get the Amazon Brand Referral Bonus

Amazon pays sellers to bring in traffic from outside the site.  You can get a bonus of about 10% of the purchases made from your Google Ads traffic through their Brand Referral Bonus Program.  You get this bonus back straight, which lowers your “Amazon advertising cost” and makes your campaigns a lot more profitable.

Boost Your Organic Rankings

A consistent stream of external traffic that converts well speeds up your sales. This is a strong hint to Amazon’s A9 algorithm that your product is relevant and in demand, which might help it rank higher in organic search results.  Additional sales from Google can lead to additional sales on Amazon, which can start a powerful growth flywheel.

The Foundation: How to Accurately Track Google Ads Performance with Amazon Attribution

You cannot optimize what you cannot measure. For years, the primary challenge with Google Ads for Amazon Listings was the “black box” effect—you could see the clicks you sent, but you couldn’t see if they resulted in sales. 

Google’s native conversion tracking is useless here; it can only track actions up to the point a user leaves for Amazon. This is where Amazon Attribution becomes your single source of truth.

What is Amazon Attribution?

Amazon Attribution is a free tool available to all brand-registered sellers. It bridges the data gap between your external marketing channels (like Google Ads) and actual sales performance on Amazon. It allows you to generate unique tracking URLs for your campaigns so you can see precisely how shoppers interact with your products after they click your ad. 

With Attribution, you can finally answer critical questions: 

• Which Google Ads campaigns, ad groups, and keywords are driving the most sales? 

• Are customers adding my product to their cart (ATC)? 

• How many “New-to-Brand” customers are my ads acquiring? 

Step-by-Step: Setting Up Amazon Attribution for Google Ads

Setting up tracking is straightforward. Follow these steps before you spend a single dollar on ads. 

1. Navigate to Amazon Attribution: In Seller Central, go to Advertising > Measurement & Reporting > Amazon Attribution. 

2. Create a New Campaign: Click “Create campaign.” You’ll be prompted to create your advertiser account first if you haven’t already. 

3. Create In-Bulk (Recommended): Select the “Upload a file to create in-bulk” option. This allows you to generate unique URLs for multiple keywords and ads at once, which is essential for granular tracking. 

4. Define Your Ad Group and Publisher: Name your ad group (e.g., “Google Ads – Product Name – Broad Match”) and select “Google Ads” as the publisher. 

5. Add Your Products and URLs: In the creation tool, list the product ASINs you will be advertising. For the “Click-through URL,” you can link to your product detail page or your Amazon Storefront. 

6. Generate Your Tracking URLs: Amazon will generate unique tracking URLs (Attribution Tags) for each entry. These are the URLs you will use in Google Ads. 

Once you have your attribution tags, you will place them in the “Final URL” field within your Google Ads campaigns. Now, all data will flow back into your Amazon Attribution dashboard, giving you the clarity you need for true Google Ads for Amazon Sellers: Measurement & Optimization.

Next-Level Tracking with Google Ads ValueTrack Parameters

While Amazon Attribution tells you what happened on Amazon, Google’s ValueTrack templates tell you why it happened. By combining them, you achieve a complete, end-to-end view of your funnel. 

A tracking template is a URL suffix that you add at the ad group or campaign level in Google Ads. It dynamically inserts data about the click into your URL. 

Here’s a powerful template you can use: 

{lpurl}?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign={campaignid}&utm_content={adgroupid}&utm_term={keyword} 

Let’s break that down: 

• {lpurl}: This is the landing page URL, which will be your Amazon Attribution link. 

• utm_source=google: Identifies the traffic source. 

• utm_medium=cpc: Identifies the medium as cost-per-click. 

• {campaignid}: Automatically inserts the ID of the campaign that got the click. 

• {adgroupid}: Inserts the ad group ID. 

• {keyword}: Inserts the exact keyword that triggered your ad. 

By using this, you can cross-reference your Amazon Attribution sales data with your Google Ads performance data to see exactly which keywords are the most profitable, not just which ones get the most clicks. This level of detail is essential for effective Amazon search term optimization, both on and off Amazon.

Actionable Optimization Strategies for Profitable Campaigns

With your measurement foundation in place, it’s time to optimize. A successful strategy for Google Ads for Amazon Sellers: Measurement & Optimization hinges on a few core pillars.

1. Keyword Strategy: Focus on Buyer Intent

Don’t boil the ocean. Target keywords that signal a high intent to purchase. 

• High-Intent Keywords: Focus on long-tail keywords that include terms like “buy,” “for sale,” “deals,” or specific model numbers. For example, instead of “running shoes,” target “buy men’s trail running shoes size 11.” You can use a reverse keyword search Amazon tool to uncover the long-tail terms customers are already using to find products like yours. 

• “On Amazon” Keywords: A powerful tactic is to bid on keywords that explicitly mention Amazon, such as “[product name] on Amazon.” These searchers have already decided on their preferred marketplace; you just need to put your product in front of them. 

• Negative Keywords: Your negative keyword list is just as important as your target list. Continuously add terms like “free,” “DIY,” “reviews,” or competitor brand names (unless you’re running a specific competitor campaign) to avoid wasting money on irrelevant clicks. 

2. Ad Copy That Bridges the Gap

Your ad copy has one job: convince the searcher to click through to your Amazon listing. 

• Call Out “On Amazon”: Mentioning “On Amazon” or “Available with Prime Shipping” in your headline or description builds immediate trust and sets clear expectations. 

• Highlight Key Benefits & Social Proof: Use ad copy to feature top benefits, five-star ratings, or key differentiators. For example: “Top-Rated Waterproof Speaker on Amazon | 24-Hr Battery.” 

• Maintain “Ad Scent”: The promise in your ad must perfectly match the content on your product detail page. If your ad promises a 20% discount, that discount better be immediately visible when they land on the page.

3. Campaign Structure & Bidding Strategy

A logical campaign structure is crucial for control and analysis. A common best practice is to structure your campaigns by product line and match type (e.g., Broad, Phrase, Exact). 

When it comes to bidding, the debate of Manual PPC or Automated PPC is key. 

• Start with Manual CPC: When you first launch, use Manual CPC or Enhanced CPC. This gives you maximum control to gather initial data without letting Google’s algorithm overspend. Set conservative bids and see what kind of traffic and clicks you get. 

• Graduate to Automated Bidding: Once you have at least 15-30 conversions tracked in Amazon Attribution within a 30-day period, you can cautiously test automated bidding strategies like Target ROAS or Maximize Conversions. The algorithm needs this historical data to work effectively. Effective Amazon advertising management requires knowing when to let the machine take over. 

This level of control is something often sought by users of Amazon PPC Software or those working with an Amazon PPC Agency.

4. Refining with Data: Device, Geo, and Dayparting

Once your campaigns have been running for a few weeks, dive into your data to find optimization opportunities.

• Device: Is your mobile traffic converting as well as your desktop traffic? Amazon traffic is heavily mobile, but conversions are often higher on desktop. You can apply positive or negative bid adjustments for different device types based on your ROAS data. 

• Geographic: Are sales concentrated in specific regions of the US? If you sell winter gear, you might focus your budget on northern states during the fall and winter. 

• Dayparting (Time of Day): Does your product sell better in the evenings or on weekends? You can schedule your ads to show only during peak conversion times, stretching your daily budget further. 

Reporting and Scaling: From Data to Dominance

Your Amazon Attribution dashboard is your primary hub for performance analysis. Schedule time weekly to review these key metrics: 

• ROAS (Return on Ad Spend): This is your north star. ROAS = Sales / Ad Spend. A ROAS of 4 means you’re making $4 for every $1 you spend. 

• ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sales): This shows your ad spend as a percentage of revenue. ACoS = Ad Spend / Sales. This helps you understand profitability relative to your product margins. Understanding what is a good ACoS on Amazon (typically below 30% but varies by category) is crucial. 

• New-to-Brand Metrics: This shows how many of your sales came from customers who had never purchased from your brand before. This is a powerful indicator of sustainable growth and is a key metric when you want to know how to build a brand on Amazon. 

Turning Metrics into Actionable Strategies

Use this data to make informed decisions. Double down on what’s working by increasing budgets by 10-20% on high-ROAS campaigns. Be ruthless in cutting what’s not working—pause keywords or ad groups with low ROAS to stop budget leakage. Effective Amazon Sponsored Brand Ads Management, Amazon Sponsored Display Ads Management, and Amazon Sponsored Ads Management all rely on this same data-driven principle. 

While Google’s targeting is keyword-based, it’s worth noting how it differs from Amazon PPC product targeting, which allows you to target specific ASINs. You can mimic this on Google by bidding on competitor brand name keywords. For a full-funnel strategy, you can use Amazon PPC Services for bottom-of-funnel conversion and Google Ads for new customer acquisition. 

Finally, consider the full picture of your metrics. What is your Amazon Click Through Rate (CTR) on your ads? While Google’s benchmarks differ, a low CTR could signal a mismatch between your keyword and your ad copy. Investigating what is a good CTR for Amazon ads can provide context for your on-platform efforts as well. Integrating all of this data is the ultimate answer to how to increase sales on Amazon, and requires powerful Amazon Analytics Tools to see the whole picture. 

Conclusion: Turn Clicks into a Scalable Growth Engine

Implementing a structured plan for Google Ads for Amazon Sellers: Measurement & Optimization is no longer an eccentric idea; it’s necessary for long-term, profitable growth. Being able to avoid the crowded Amazon advertising auction lets you reach a huge new group of possible buyers. 

Focusing on buyer-intent keywords, learning Amazon Attribution, and making data-driven changes will turn your ad spend from a cost into a reliable and growable investment. In addition to making more sales, you’ll also improve your brand’s natural exposure and make it stronger and more durable on the world’s biggest market. 

Partnering with us at SellerMetrics, an Amazon seller agency established by former sellers who have successfully grown and sold brands, could give your efforts an edge. SellerMetrics can help you turn Google Ads into long-term growth on Amazon, contact us now.

FAQ: Measurement & Optimization For Drives Real Growth