Amazon has grown its quarterly advertising revenue by 24 per cent – nearly a third of the ad revenue that Meta reported – and another sign that digital ad spend on tech platforms has rebounded after a bumpy 2023.
Amazon’s first quarter ad revenue grew to $11.8 billion (A$18.2 billion), up from $9.5 billion in the first quarter of 2023.
It also reported 24 per cent growth in annual advertising revenue compared with Q1 2022 to Q1 2023.
Amazon also cut its quarterly sales and marketing budget by 6 per cent to $932 million compared with the same period a year ago.
Its growth in advertising reflects a broader recovery trend from the largest digital advertising platforms.
The largest global advertising business and Google parent company Alphabet increased its Q1 revenue by 13 per cent to $61.66, with video sharing platform YouTube up 21 per cent to $8.1 billion.
Social media group Meta reported its largest increase since 2021, with revenue up 27 per cent to $36.5 billion.
Amazon advertising services was the star performer among Amazon’s service lines and an engine for future growth, alongside the fees Amazon charges third-party sellers for commission, shipping and fulfilment (which was up 24 per cent to $36.3 billion).
In Australia, Amazon Ads is led by former MediaCom boss Willie Pang.
Amazon’s largest business – online marketplace – grew quarterly revenue by 7 per cent to $54.7 billion, while its cloud business, Amazon Web Services, was up 17 per cent to $25 billion.
“This Q4 was a record-breaking Holiday shopping season and closed out a robust 2023 for Amazon,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said. “While we made meaningful revenue, operating income, and free cash flow progress, what we’re most pleased with is the continued invention and customer experience improvements across our businesses.”
