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.

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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.

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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).

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Benefits to Using Automatic Targeting on Amazon

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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8 Common Issues and Solutions Related to Amazon Automatic Targeting

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

When automatic ads begin surfacing core keywords that drive significant spend but deliver poor conversions, we recommend the following actions:

a. If the keyword has zero conversions: Add it as a negative exact match in the auto campaign to avoid wasting ad spend at the current stage.

b. If the keyword has some conversions and is highly relevant to your product: Create a dedicated manual campaign with exact match targeting for this keyword. This allows you to control budget and bids while reinforcing the connection between your listing and the keyword.

c. Improve conversion potential: Optimize your listing content, adjust pricing, and improve product ratings and reviews. Enhancing these areas increases your product’s competitiveness under this core keyword and may improve return on ad spend.

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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. Each advertising type serves distinct purposes. Automatic advertisements contribute to enhanced visibility and expanded traffic. Maintaining their operation offers the following benefits:

a. Assessing the relevance of automatic ad search terms and the degree to which the listing is recognized by Amazon's system. This informs further optimization of the product detail page.

b. Gathering relevant customer search terms to augment the keyword foundation for manual targeting.

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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 premier search result placement.

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

Automatic campaigns can quickly gather valuable keyword data, including high-performing search terms that are well-suited for manual targeting. These keywords typically exhibit a strong combination of high impressions, high click-through rates (CTR), and high conversion rates.

We recommend downloading and analyzing the “Search Term Report” to evaluate keyword performance. Depending on your business maturity and objectives, focus on metrics such as conversion volume, click-through rate, and key profitability indicators like ACOS and Conversion Rate.

Based on your available advertising budget, select a manageable number of high-performing keywords to migrate into manual campaigns for more precise bidding and targeting.

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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).

For high-traffic or broad keywords, be cautious when applying negatives, as they often drive significant traffic. Before negating, assess their value based on:

• Traffic volume
• Ability to bring clicks or impression
• 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 assess external factors, such as:

• Overall traffic trends in your category
• Major competitor pricing changes
• Shifts in category average order value

If the category is experiencing reduced demand, higher CPCs may result in higher ACOS. A decline in average selling price can also impact your conversion rate while your pricing remains unchanged. 

If your automatic campaign has run for some time, consider launching manual campaigns with lower CPC bids for long-tail keywords, and use ASIN targeting to capture more qualified traffic and improve your ROAS.

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7. What should I do if auto ads only generate broad, high-volume 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 the following:

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 phrases or exact matches 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.

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8. Should I run both automatic and manual exact match ads for new products?

Yes, running both simultaneously is recommended. If you’ve conducted keyword research before launch, it’s appropriate to run manual exact match ads for keywords that are:

• Highly relevant
• Have moderate to high search volume
• Operate in a manageable competitive landscape
  
  

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.