Amazon Advertising Policy for Sponsored Ads
Amazon's policies for Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display advertising, what is permitted and what is prohibited.
Amazon's ad policy requires Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display ads to link to a live, compliant listing, accurately represent price and features, and avoid prohibited claims. Ads that break these rules get rejected with a reason code. Ad policy and listing policy are reviewed separately, but a suppressed listing also makes that product ineligible to run ads at all.
Key Points
- ✓Ads must link to compliant, active product listings
- ✓Ad copy cannot make claims that the listing does not support
- ✓Competitor brand names in Sponsored Brand headlines require special consideration
- ✓Prohibited content categories (drugs, weapons) cannot be advertised
- ✓Ad creative for Sponsored Brands must meet image and copy guidelines
Policy Details
Amazon Advertising policies govern all Amazon-native advertising including Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display. General policy requirements: ads must link to live, active listings that comply with all of Amazon's listing policies; ad creative must accurately represent the product and not make claims that the product listing does not support; prohibited product categories cannot be advertised (the same products you cannot list, you cannot advertise); and ad targeting must comply with Amazon's targeting policies (competitor keyword targeting is permitted for Sponsored Products but with restrictions for Sponsored Brands). Sponsored Brands specific policies: headline text must be directly relevant to the products advertised and cannot make superlative claims without factual basis; images must comply with general image requirements; video creative has additional guidelines around content, music licensing, and claims. Landing pages for Sponsored Brands must be either a product page, a Store page, or a custom URL within Amazon. Ad copy cannot include: contact information, URLs to external sites, pricing or discount claims not reflected in the current listing price, countdown timers or urgency language, and competitor comparisons that imply inferiority. Amazon reviews all Sponsored Brand creatives before they go live, rejections come with a reason code that identifies which policy was violated.
Common Violations
- ⚠Running ads to suppressed or inactive listings
- ⚠Sponsored Brand headlines making unverifiable claims
- ⚠Advertising restricted products
- ⚠Ad copy with drug or health claims
Questions sellers ask
What happens if my Amazon ad gets rejected?
Amazon returns a reason code identifying which policy the creative or targeting violated. Fix that specific issue, whether it is the ad copy, the image, or the landing page, and resubmit the campaign for review.
Can I target competitor brand names in Amazon ads?
Sponsored Products allows competitor keyword targeting with some restrictions. Sponsored Brands headlines cannot name a competitor or make comparisons that imply the competitor's product is inferior.
Do Amazon ads need to link to an active listing?
Yes. Ads must point to a live, in-stock listing that complies with Amazon's listing policies. If the listing is suppressed, inactive, or out of stock, the ad gets rejected or automatically paused.
What is not allowed in Amazon ad copy?
Contact information, links to sites outside Amazon, pricing or discount claims that do not match the live listing price, countdown timers or urgency language, and superlative claims ("best," "#1") without a factual basis.
Does an Amazon advertising violation affect my seller account health?
Ad policy and account health are reviewed through separate systems, but a listing pulled for an unrelated suspension instantly becomes ineligible to run ads, and repeated ad rejections are a signal Amazon tracks at the account level.
How do I know why Amazon rejected my Sponsored Brands creative?
Amazon shows the review outcome and a reason code in Campaign Manager after the creative review completes. The reason code names the specific policy, such as prohibited content or unverified claims, so you know what to change.
Can I advertise a product from a restricted category?
No. Amazon prohibits advertising the same product categories it prohibits listing, including drugs and weapons, regardless of whether the listing itself is otherwise compliant.
Check your listing for policy violations
The free audit tool checks your listing against Amazon policy requirements automatically.
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