Amazon + Google Ads: driving and measuring external traffic

What this integration unlocks

• Measurement of Google Ads traffic sent to Amazon listings
• Amazon Attribution tags that report clicks, detail-page views, and sales
• Eligibility for the Brand Referral Bonus, averaging 10% of qualifying sales, for eligible US sellers
• Insight into which Google campaigns actually drive Amazon sales
• Bulk tag creation from a Google Ads keyword export, up to 100,000 search keywords per file

Setup steps

1. 1

   Set up Amazon Attribution

   Amazon Attribution is a free measurement tool for professional sellers enrolled in Brand Registry, vendors, KDP authors, and agencies whose clients sell on Amazon. It generates tagged links for external traffic sources. Create attribution tags for your Google Ads campaigns so clicks to your Amazon listings are measured.

   Without attribution tags, Google-to-Amazon traffic is invisible, and you cannot tell which campaigns drive marketplace sales.

2. 2

   Use the tagged links as Google Ads destinations

   Point your Google Ads final URLs at the Amazon Attribution tagged links so each campaign, ad group, or keyword can be measured separately. Paste each tag into the destination URL field in place of the plain ASIN or Store URL. For search campaigns, Amazon's bulk upload template takes keyword data from Google Ads and creates up to 100,000 keyword tags in one file, so you can measure at keyword level without building tags by hand.

   Test that the tagged link redirects correctly to the listing and that clicks register in the Amazon Attribution console.

3. 3

   Claim the brand referral bonus

   Amazon's Brand Referral Bonus pays an average of 10% of qualifying sales driven by non-Amazon marketing. It accumulates as credits that offset referral fees on future sales, and Amazon notes a waiting period of about two months, to allow for returns, before credits apply. The rate varies by category.

   Eligibility is narrower than Amazon Attribution: you need a seller account in Amazon's US store, a Professional selling plan, and a brand enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry. Vendors and agencies can measure with Attribution, but the bonus is for sellers who meet all three conditions. Sales only qualify when the traffic comes through Amazon Attribution tags, so the tags from step 2 are what make the bonus possible.

4. 4

   Reconcile and interpret

   Amazon Attribution reports clicks, detail-page views, add-to-carts, purchases, units sold, product sales and new-to-brand metrics. It uses a 14-day, last-touch model: a click only gets credit if the purchase happens within 14 days of it. Read these alongside Google Ads cost to compute a real cost per Amazon sale, then subtract the Brand Referral Bonus credit where you are eligible.

   Amazon does not publish how off-Amazon traffic affects organic ranking, so treat any rank change as something to watch, not a return you can bank.

Common issues

Common questions