Amazon is dropping a pay-per-click advertising program that lets advertisers divert traffic from the retailer's platform to their own websites.
The largest internet-based retailer in America announced on Tuesday that it will permanently discontinue Product Ads program starting October 31. It is, however, introducing Amazon Text Ads to sellers as a new option, Marketing Land reported.
The retail giant has already begun notifying advertisers about its plan, but did not specify its reasons for dropping Product Ads.
It is however possible that Amazon wants to cut off programs that drove online customers off its own marketplace. After all, it has recently been focusing on getting shoppers to sign up and buy from its own marketplace through Amazon Prime membership, according to Ecommerce Bytes.
"At Amazon we are constantly reviewing the services we offer partners to help them best reach our customer base and grow their businesses. We're assisting Products Ads advertisers with other opportunities to reach Amazon customers, including Selling on Amazon (for businesses that aren't already) and Sponsored Products," the electric commerce company said in an email.
Amazon Products Ads have been very useful enabling numerous businesses that are not necessarily sellers on Amazon's online marketplace to purchase ad space on its website. Ads for a particular item would pop up on Amazon's website and direct customers to the manufacturer or retailer's own website.
Some sellers are reportedly disappointed with Amazon's decision to shut Product Ads since the program has helped boost their sales for up to more than 50 percent.
A survey conducted recently by Amazon and Pymnts.com revealed that 64 percent of respondents said they start searching for products in a marketplace before they check on their favorite websites, search engines and social media, Reuters has learned.
Meanwhile, sellers still have an option to use Amazon Text Ads, which, according to the company's spokesperson, is a new pay-per-click offering that as of the moment is in private beta allowing advertisers to create and run text ads on Amazon's website.
