Amazon Publisher Services Review [Build, Monetize and Grow]

The Amazon Publisher Services (APS) is a suite of monetization services, based in the cloud, that provides monetization solutions to online publishers to sell and manage advertising space on their websites, mobile apps, and other digital businesses.

It has been offering a suite of services and advanced advertising technologies to publishers to build, monetize, and grow their business since 2016, namely

• the Transparent Ad Marketplace
• the Unified Ad Marketplace, and,
• the Connections Marketplace

Amazon Publisher Services Overview

The three (3) services provided by APS— transparent ad marketplace, unified ad marketplace, and connections marketplace — help publishers grow revenue, improve user experience, and easily connect to ad tech services.

With a single APS cloud-based header bidding integration, they help you increase your earnings with unique ads from Amazon and other leading buyers, and provide access to the most in-demand adtech service providers.

1. Transparent Ad Marketplace (TAM)

• TAM is the service where you can keep your direct relationships with buyers. It provides transparency into the world of online advertising.
• Advertisers and publishers can see what’s happening with their ads, including where ads are being shown and how well they’re performing.
• TAM helps increase earnings by allowing publishers to access unique ads from Amazon and leading buyers while maintaining direct relationships with buyers.

2. Unified Ad Marketplace (UAM)

• UAM allows Amazon to handle contracts and payments with all buyers for publishers. It simplifies the process of connecting advertisers and publishers.
• Advertisers can easily find places to display their ads, and publishers can easily find ads for their websites or apps.
• UAM centralizes the bidding and ad buying process, streamlining interactions between advertisers and publishers.

3. Connections Marketplace (CM)

• CM is the ad tech services marketplace where publishers can discover and try various ad tech service solutions.
• It helps with addressability, ad quality, monetization efforts, and more.
• CM enables publishers to activate multiple service solutions through their existing APS integration.

Accepted publishers unlock the power of APS by choosing the pathway that suits them best.

With the Transparent Ad Marketplace (TAM), large publishers gain exclusive access to leading buyers, including Amazon, preserving direct relationships and overseeing ad performance.

Alternatively, through the Unified Ad Marketplace (UAM), small and mid-size publishers entrust Amazon to handle bidding, payment, and ad placement seamlessly.

Regardless of the path, publishers of all sizes benefit from APS’s Connections Marketplace (CM), a gateway to an array of ad tech solutions that enhance addressability, ad quality, and monetization strategies.

APS empowers publishers to optimize ad revenue and streamline operations.

Who Should Use Amazon Publisher Services

Whether you are a large, mid-sized, or small online publisher looking for a way to sell and manage your advertising space, this ad network may be the right option for your business.

A large-scale publisher would be like a big news website with millions of visitors each month or a popular video streaming service, etc., and can get into the program through the Transparent Ad Marketplace (TAM).

A mid-size publisher may be a regional lifestyle blog with a decent following or a local news website catering to a specific community, receiving moderate traffic.

On the other hand, a small publisher could be someone who has a personal blog about their favorite hobby, a quaint website dedicated to niche interests, or a compact mobile app offering unique content.

These smaller entities, with only a few thousand visitors each month, can enter the APS program through the Unified Ad Marketplace (UAM).

APS vs. Other Ad Networks

• APS work with publishers who are big enough to already have their own supply-side platform or SSP and just need to centralize bidding programmatically on the APS marketplace.
• They also work with small to mid-size publishers who might not need SSPs because they may work directly with ad networks. SSPs become important when publishers have so many ads and advertisers that it’s tough to manage them all alone.
• A small publisher might be thinking, I have a lot of ads too, but it’s different because in this case the ads get displayed after an ad auction.
• You need SSPs if already have advanced advertising setups and relationships with many advertisers directly, hence use multi-header bidding (or ad auctions, which is a way of selling advertising space on a website and other digital businesses).
• It’s not just about traffic but also about the complexity of managing ads. SSPs help streamline this.

Small ad networks are like local shops, and APS is like a huge mall.

In a local shop, you sell what you have. In a mall, you have a platform that attracts big brands to bid for your ad space.

APS gives you access to a massive marketplace of advertisers like these, potentially increasing your revenue because big advertisers want to be seen on popular sites.

What Can You Monetize with Amazon Publisher Services

Example types of digital businesses monetizable with the APS ad management platform include:

• streaming and advanced TV,
• audio,
• web, and
• mobile apps.

How Does Amazon Publisher Services Work?

This is an invitation-only program and each publisher integration is manually reviewed to ensure the most value to both publishers and advertisers.

APS provides ad tools and services that help publishers create, manage, and sell their ad inventory on their websites, mobile apps, and other digital properties.

Connections Marketplace service lets you discover ad tech services solutions

Connect with one or more ad tech services with the APS connections marketplace with one integration.

Then try out different ad tech services that help you monetize effectively by taking care of different things for you such as:

• ad quality,
• creative quality,
• ad identity,
• addressability,
• monetization efforts, and
• a host of other services to try.

Transparent Ad Marketplace is APS’ Self-service Option

With TAM, publishers get to keep their direct relationships with buyers and advertisers.

Unified Ad Marketplace is APS’ Amazon-managed Option

On the Unified Ad Marketplace service, Amazon handles contracts and payments with all buyers for you.

UAM supports the following ad formats:

• Desktop: 728×90, 300×250, 160×600, 300×600, 970×250
• Mobile Web: 300×250, 320×50
• Tablet Web: 728×90, 300×250, 160×600, 300×600, 970×250

Benefits of Monetizing with Amazon Publisher Services

If you are a publisher looking for a new and more efficient way to have direct access to top advertisers, then this one is for you.

There are many benefits to using APS:

• Centralized system for reporting and analysis of bid requests, impressions, and earnings.
• A centralized platform for publishers to manage relationships and services with demand partners.
• A programmatic bidding ad marketplace.
• Amazon DSP and Amazon-managed relationships between the SSPs and publishers. An SSP, or supply-side platform, is a software solution that automates the selling of ad space for you.
• Flexibility to keep your direct relationships with buyers through the Transparent Marketplace, or have Amazon handle contracts and payments with all buyers through the Unified Ad Marketplace.
• In an ad network that caters to small publishers, all you care about is that ads get displayed on your site, that’s all. But within a platform like APS you make way more money because you take bidding yourself which means you handle ad auctions or have Amazon handle it for you.
• Using Amazon as a bidder means Amazon helps you get ads from big advertisers. They simplify the process, potentially increasing your earnings.
• Revenue potential is higher with Amazon because they bring in advertisers with bigger budgets.

Amazon Publisher Services Application Requirements

• Needs to be a small, mid-size, or large-scale publisher with significant traffic volume.
• The niche of your business has to be one acceptable in the program.
• Before now, not many geographies were accepted, so your business may have needed to be based in a ‘first-world country’ like the US, UK, Canada, etc. As of the time of updating this guide, seems that has changed.

How To Get Into The Amazon Publisher Services Program

Getting enrolled in the program is almost the same as joining any other ad network.

Head over and fill out the APS Contact US Form. Then wait to be contacted by one of the program representatives.

This is a step-by-step process to fill out the APS Contact form to kick-start the application process.

1. Select Publisher Type

2. Fill Your Personal and Company Details

Fill in your personal and company details.

3. Input Website or Digital business details, Comments, and Submit

Complete the remaining details, add comments, if any, and submit.

If your APS request is approved from the application stage, you will receive an invitation link to sign up and create your account with APS.

How To Setup APS on a Website Through UAM and GAM

1. Integrate Unified Ad Manager (UAM) with Google Ad Manager (GAM)

From your Unified Ad Marketplace dashboard, go to:

• Set Up
• Set Up GAM
• Add “New GAM Account”.
• Then, follow the instructions wizard for connecting UAM and Google Ad Manager.

2. Add JavaScript to Website Header

Next, go to the Resources tab. Then > Add Javascript > “Integrate UAM alone”.

From here you can find the Javascript that has been copied into your site’s header.

How To Set Up APS on a Mobile App

1. Create an App

Log into your Amazon account, which you should already have by now.

• Now select “SETUP > App & Slot Setup > Add New App > Input URL and Add New App” to create an app.

• Next, select “Actions > SETUP > ADD A SLOT” and add an ad slot to your app.

2. Set up your slots in APS Network

Then add slots and define for each slot:

• Name
• Ad size
• Price points (auto/manual)

Finish adding all slots and pick up your credentials:

• Get your app ID
• Download the price point CSV file

3. Activate APS Network

Configure APS parameters into your selected integration platform of choice.

Example platforms to use (note that this is not a recommendation):

• AppLovin
• IronSource
• Appodeal, etc

Follow the rest of the process as will be directed or contact a developer or your developer team to complete the setup for you.

Once the setup process is complete, you are ready to deliver APS demand to demand partners within your website or mobile application.

Amazon Publisher Services Application Requirements

Interested publishers will need to comply with some set of policies set forth by Amazon for the program.

These policies are designed to protect the interests of Amazon, its partners, and customers.

The following are some of the most important rules that publishers must follow when using APS:

1. Should have an Amazon account.
2. Publishers may not use any deceptive or misleading advertising or marketing practices.
3. Publishers may not engage in any activities that could harm the Amazon brand or reputation.
4. Publishers must ensure that their website and content comply with all applicable laws and regulations.
5. Publishers must use the approved Amazon advertising creative and comply with all formatting requirements.
6. Publishers must not infringe on the intellectual property rights of others.

Amazon Publisher Services Alternatives

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• TrafficForce CPM Ad Network Review: For Publishers
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• Media.net Review: Second-largest Contextual Advertising Network
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• Infolinks Review: Global Advertising Platform
• SmartyAds Review: Full-Stack Programmatic Ad
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• Adsterra Guide: Place Ads and Make Money
• Propel Media Ad Marketplace Review

Bang On

Amazon Publisher Services consists of three services/marketplaces: Transparent Ad Marketplace (TAM), Unified Ad Marketplace (UAM), and Connections Marketplace (CM).

TAM focuses on maintaining direct relationships with buyers, UAM simplifies contract and payment processes, and CM helps publishers discover and implement various ad tech solutions.

APS payment methods provides payments to publishers through:

• Direct deposit
• Wire transfer, or
• by Check.

So, now that you understand how APS can help you monetize your traffic, it’s time to start using it!

There are a few other different ways to monetize your traffic besides ads and APS, and the best way to start is to experiment with a few different methods to see what works best for you.

So, this post on the best monetization methods is naturally the next best read for you.