Earlier this month, Amazon Ads launched a self-service workflow for third-party measurement studies within Amazon DSP across 18 countries. The update allows eligible advertisers and agencies to discover supported measurement vendors, configure studies, fund them, and access results directly within DSP.
As a senior Amazon marketplace manager at Fluid Marketplaces, I see this as a strategic move by Amazon to enable brands to measure the full scope of campaigns, factoring in areas such as attribution, rather than focusing measurement primarily on transactions.
Firstly, let’s take a look at what the new workflow can and can’t do.
A key nuance is that the “self-service” element is not the same as Amazon opening up DSP access itself. DSP campaign activation remains relatively gated through approved DSP seats, Amazon DSP agency partnerships, reseller agreements, or Amazon-managed access structures.
The “self-service” aspect specifically relates to the measurement and study management layer, right after the campaign launches.
Previously, advertisers often had to coordinate manually with Amazon reps and third-party vendors to launch incrementality, brand lift, or attribution studies. The launch aims to reduce operational friction around enterprise-level media measurement, moving post-campaign analysis and validation process into the DSP interface itself, streamlining workflows for advertisers already operating within the DSP ecosystem.
What this says about Amazon’s direction
Firstly, it is important to clarify what the reference to “50+ third-party vendor products” means. This refers to integrated measurement providers and study types rather than 50 approved advertisers or agencies.
Eligibility and rollout limitations still apply. Not all DSP advertisers may immediately see the functionality due to factors such as DSP seat type, region, campaign scale, supported inventory, ad format eligibility, and phased rollout status.
What I find most interesting is what this says about Amazon’s broader direction.
Over the past 12-18 months, Amazon Ads has been steadily shifting toward a more mature full-funnel media ecosystem rather than purely a marketplace advertising platform.
We’ve already seen this through:
- Increased self-service DSP accessibility,
- Performance+ and Brand+ automation,
- Deeper attribution and path-to-conversion reporting,
- Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) expansion,
- Stronger new-to-brand and incrementality reporting,
- Increased focus on streaming TV and upper-funnel media.
Indicator of strategic shift
Another subtle indicator of this strategic shift is Amazon’s gradual change in language and reporting terminology within the advertising console, such as replacing “Orders” with “Purchases,” reflecting a broader move toward media- and consumer-outcome-based measurement rather than purely marketplace-transaction reporting.
More importantly, the launch also supports Amazon’s push toward greater advertiser confidence in upper-funnel investment. One of the largest barriers to scaling DSP budgets has historically been proving incrementality and business impact beyond standard ROAS (return on ad spend) reporting.
The move suggests Amazon is increasingly positioning itself alongside enterprise media ecosystems such as Google DV360 and The Trade Desk, where measurement, activation, optimisation, and attribution operate within a more unified infrastructure.
While DSP access itself remains a significant operational advantage due to ongoing platform gating and varying levels of feature access, Amazon’s move toward self-service measurement may reduce some of the exclusivity associated with campaign validation and reporting workflows.
The competitive advantage for agencies is therefore likely to evolve rather than disappear. Agencies will increasingly differentiate themselves not simply through access to DSP, but through how effectively they combine activation capabilities, measurement interpretation, incrementality analysis, audience planning, creative strategy, and full-funnel media execution into tailored growth strategies for each brand.
In practice, this means the value shifts away from purely “having access to DSP” and more toward the ability to translate DSP data and measurement into meaningful commercial decision-making, scalable media frameworks, and long-term business growth.
While this update may not immediately impact smaller DSP advertisers operationally, it signals Amazon’s long-term direction: making enterprise-grade media measurement and validation more scalable, self-service, and embedded directly into the Amazon Ads ecosystem.
Need support with your brand’s Amazon DSP campaigns?
As an agency that specialises in Amazon DSP, Fluid Marketplaces will be helping the brands we work with to understand how the new self-service workflow can be used to help them to measure campaigns holistically and obtain the insights they need to achieve growth. If you would like to speak to one of our Amazon DSP experts about this, contact us here, and someone will get back to you to arrange a call.
