How to Get Started with Automatic Targeting on Amazon?

Automatic targeting is often the first step for Amazon sellers looking to launch effective PPC campaigns without deep advertising expertise. By allowing Amazon’s algorithm to match your ads with relevant customer searches and product pages, automatic campaigns can quickly boost visibility and generate valuable keyword insights.

In this guide, we’ll break down how automatic targeting works, explore the different match types, compare bidding strategies, and provide actionable tips for optimizing performance—especially when launching new products. Whether you're new to Amazon Ads or refining your current strategy, this post will help you unlock the full potential of automatic targeting.

‍

What is Automatic Targeting on Amazon?

Amazon’s automatic targeting uses its own algorithm to decide which customer searches your ads will show up for. You don’t need to input keywords—it’s hands-off. Amazon looks at your product title, description, backend keywords, and customer behavior to determine relevance.

‍

Types of Automatic Targeting

There are four match types inside an automatic campaign:

• Close Match: Your ad appears when a shopper searches for keywords closely related to your product.
  
  
• Loose Match: Your ad appears for broader search terms that may still be somewhat relevant.
  
  
• Substitutes: Your product shows up on detailed pages of items that can be considered alternatives.
  
  
• Complements: Your ad appears on listings for items that go well with your product (e.g., a phone case on a smartphone page).

‍

Benefits to Using Automatic Targeting on Amazon

‍

Boost Visibility and Traffic

Auto campaigns help increase product exposure by securing placements across search results and product pages—even for new listings—driving more impressions and clicks.

‍

Support Listing Optimization and Amazon Recognition

They reflect how Amazon interprets your listing. Analyzing irrelevant search terms can highlight the need for listing improvements. Plus, more engagement helps Amazon better categorize your product.

‍

Discover High-Performing Keywords

Auto campaigns are a valuable tool for uncovering relevant search terms based on real shopper behavior. These insights can feed into manual campaigns and organic ranking strategies.

‍

Track Market Trends and Customer Intent

Auto campaigns help capture emerging keywords and shifting consumer behavior in real time—keeping your targeting fresh and aligned with current demand.

‍

Compare Product Variants and Expand Associations

By running auto ads across multiple SKUs, you can identify best-selling variants and even gain traffic from related product pages through Amazon’s cross-category placements.

‍

What Are Bidding Strategies in Amazon Automatic Ads?

Amazon provides sellers with three distinct bidding strategies tailored for automatic targeting within their advertising campaigns. Each strategy offers a different level of automation and control over bidding amounts.

1. Dynamic Bids - Down Only: The reduction is triggered when the system predicts that a particular click is improbable to convert into a sale. By lowering bids in these instances, the strategy aims to optimize advertising spend, preventing wasted budget on clicks with low potential.
2. Dynamic Bids - Up and Down: This more aggressive strategy allows for greater flexibility in bid adjustments. Amazon's system will dynamically increase bids, up to a maximum of 100% of the initial bid, when it identifies a click that it assesses as having a high probability of resulting in a successful transaction or sale. Conversely, the system will also decrease bids when it predicts a low likelihood of conversion. 
3. Fixed Bids: With this strategy, advertisers maintain complete control over their bid amounts. The bid remains consistently at the value set by the user, and no automated algorithmic adjustments are applied. It is often preferred by advertisers who want to maintain strict budget control or those who have a strong sense of the value of each click.

‍

Which Bidding Strategy is ideal for Amazon Sellers?

When launching new products on Amazon, choosing the right bidding strategy is critical to controlling ad spend and optimizing performance. Many experienced sellers recommend avoiding the “Up and Down” option especially during the early stages of a product’s lifecycle.

“Up and Down” option is especially risky for new product launches, where conversion data is limited and inconsistent. Switching from Fixed Bids or Down Only to Up and Down may cause your bids to double, increasing your ACOS without guaranteed results.

For new products, Fixed Bids provide better cost control and more stable data for testing keywords and optimizing campaigns. Once your product gains traction and has a steady conversion rate, you can consider using Dynamic Bids – Up and Down to scale efficiently—particularly if you're managing a large number of campaigns and don’t have enough time. In this situation, we suggest you lower your based bid in order to reduce ad waste.

‍

Use an Amazon advertising automation tool

To further reduce risk and improve efficiency, it’s a smart move to use an Amazon advertising automation tool. For example, a platform like m19 can help you manage bids more intelligently by integrating conversion data and campaign goals. When paired with dynamic bidding strategies, automation tools like m19 ensure more consistent performance and better control over your overall ad spend.

‍

8 Common Issues and Solutions Related to Amazon Automatic Targeting

‍

1. How should I optimize high-cost, low-conversion core keywords discovered from automatic campaigns?

When automatic campaigns surface core keywords that drive high spend but yield poor conversions, we recommend the following steps:

a. For keywords with few or no conversions:
Add them as negative exact matches in your auto campaign to avoid wasting budget at this stage.

b. For keywords with some conversions and strong relevance:
Create a dedicated manual campaign with exact match targeting. This gives you greater control over budget and bids while strengthening the association between your product listing and the keyword.

c. To improve conversion potential:
Optimize your listing content, refine your pricing, and boost product ratings and reviews. Enhance these elements can increase your product’s competitiveness for this keyword and improve return on ad spend (ROAS).

‍

2. Should I pause auto ads if manual ads are performing better after a period of running ads for a new product?

Turning off automatic ads is not advisable, as each ad type serves a distinct purpose. Automatic campaigns help increase visibility and drive broader traffic. Keeping them active provides the following benefits:

a. Evaluate the relevance of search terms triggered by automatic ads and understanding how well the product listing is recognized by Amazon’s system. This insight can guide further optimization of the product detail page.

b. Collect relevant customer search terms that can be used to strengthen the keyword base for manual targeting.

‍

3. How to let my ads show in top-of-search placement?

Amazon determines where to place your ads based on relevance and bidding. Consequently, explicit configuration for ad display on either the search results page or the product detail page is unavailable.

To optimize top-of-search exposure, it is advisable to elevate the bid specifically designated for top of search placement.

‍

4. How should I optimize high-performing keywords identified through automatic ads?

Automatic campaigns are a valuable tool for quickly gathering keyword data, especially identifying high-performing search terms suitable for manual targeting. These keywords often show a strong combination of high impressions, click-through rates (CTR), and conversion rates.

To evaluate keyword performance, we recommend downloading and analyzing the Search Term Report. Depending on your business stage and goals, focus on metrics such as conversion volume, CTR, and profitability indicators like ACOS and conversion rate.

Based on your advertising budget plan, select a manageable number of high-performing keywords to transfer into manual campaigns. This allows for more precise bidding, better targeting, and greater control over performance.

‍

5. Why do ASINs or keywords still appear in reports even after being added to the negative list in auto campaigns?

The advertising reports consolidate performance data from all campaign types and ad groups. If a keyword or ASIN you’ve negated is still appearing, please check:

• Which campaign or ad group is generating the impressions or clicks.
• The match type.
• Whether the negative match was applied at the correct level and in the correct format (e.g., negative phrase vs. negative exact).

Be cautious when applying keywords with loose match, to negative keywords, as they often drive significant traffic. Before negating, assess their value based on:

• Traffic volume.
• Ability to bring clicks or impressions.
• Conversion rate.
  
  

6. My auto ads performed well for a month, but recently conversions dropped and ACOS increased. Why?

When ad performance fluctuates, it's important to first check external factors that may be influencing results, such as:

• Overall traffic trends in your category
• Significant pricing changes by major competitors
• Shifts in category’s average order value (AOV)

If the category is facing reduced demand, higher CPCs can lead to increased ACOS. Similarly, a drop in average selling price may hurt your conversion rate, even if your own pricing hasn’t changed.

If your automatic campaign has been running for some time, consider launching manual campaigns with lower CPC bids focused on long-tail keywords. Additionally, use ASIN targeting to capture more qualified traffic and improve your return on ad spend.

‍

7. What should I do if auto ads only bid on broad and high-traffic keywords?

The search terms shown in auto campaign reports are derived from how Amazon interprets your product listing. If the system is consistently generating generic, high-volume terms, it may indicate that your listing content is not sufficiently specific. Consider following suggestions:

a. Refine your listing content to guide Amazon’s keyword recognition more accurately. Strategically place core terms—such as usage scenarios, visual features, key functions, and target audience—throughout your title, bullet points, backend keywords, and description.

b. Launch manual campaigns using phrase or exact for your core and long-tail keywords. This not only helps correct Amazon’s keyword understanding but also increases your chances of matching with more relevant long-tail search terms.

Monitor the keyword match quality via manual campaign performance and search term reports to assess the effectiveness of your changes.

‍

8. Should I run both automatic and manual campaigns with exact match keywords?

Yes, running both simultaneously is recommended. If you’ve conducted keyword research before launch, t’s appropriate to run manual campaigns with exact match keywords which are:

• Highly relevant
• Have moderate to high search volume
• Have manageable competition levels
  

Ensure your product listing is fully optimized and properly indexed by Amazon. You can use Amazon’s keyword suggestions as a reference: if the suggestions seem irrelevant, review and revise your listing content to improve keyword alignment.

In parallel, keep automatic campaigns active to discover new, relevant keywords—especially those gaining traction. Once your auto campaign has accumulated sufficient data, use the Search Term Report to identify strong-performing terms. Move these into manual campaigns, and consider negating underperforming terms in your auto campaign to focus your budget more effectively.