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Amazon's Ads Business Posts 87% Growth

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  • Amazon's "Other" unit, which is primarily made up of advertising but also includes sales related to other service offerings, grew revenue by 87% year over year in the second quarter to more than $7.9 billion.
  • Amazon chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky cited new products and functionality for factors like higher demand and higher bid rates on a media call Thursday.

Amazon's ads growth just keeps ballooning. 

The company's "Other" unit, which is primarily made up of advertising but also includes sales related to other service offerings, grew revenue by 87% year-over-year in the second quarter to more than $7.9 billion, the company reported Thursday. That's up from the 41% year-over-year growth the segment saw in the second quarter of 2020 and up from the 77% year-over-year growth it saw last quarter.

Amazon chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky said Thursday that new products and functionality helped drive higher demand and higher bid rates.

Amazon Advertising launched "over 40 new features and self-service capabilities" in the quarter, the company said in its earnings release. Amazon said one example is a tool that creates regional sponsored product campaigns. It said it also expanded the services it offers in Australia, Europe, India, Japan and Saudi Arabia. 

Though the pandemic has significantly impacted certain segments of advertising spend, digital advertising has seen a hot period on the back of stay-at-home trends like online shopping. The digital ad momentum has stayed strong even as some parts of the world have begun to reopen.

Amazon's cut of the industry grabbed a 10% cut of the U.S. ad market last year and is expected to keep on taking share. The company made its first-ever presentation at the IAB NewFronts this spring, marking its foray into digital media's take on the traditional TV upfronts, when advertisers have traditionally committed a large amount of their yearly TV spending. The company also announced it will exclusively stream Thursday Night Football, further underlining Amazon's streaming ad ambitions. 

Amazon also appears well-poised to stomach some of the privacy-related changes impacting the digital ad world given its strong first-party relationship with consumers.  

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