Open Auction? Deals? How to Buy Media on Amazon's DSP with Ross Walker & Danilo Alvares - Episode 422
Ecommerce Braintrust
· with Ross Walker & Danilo Alvares
· December 9, 2025
· 25 min
Summary
This episode demystifies Amazon's Demand-Side Platform (DSP), providing a clear roadmap for brands to leverage programmatic media buying effectively. It breaks down various access models and buying strategies, helping ecommerce operators choose the right approach to scale their advertising efforts and achieve specific growth and efficiency goals on Amazon.
Key takeaways
Brands should evaluate Amazon DSP access methods (managed service, agency seat, in-house) based on their resources and control preferences.
Implement a 'Crawl, Walk, Run' strategy for DSP deals: start with open auctions, progress to private auctions, and finally utilize preferred deals and programmatic guarantees for greater control and custom inventory.
Align your DSP deal types with your brand's specific goals (e.g., reach, efficiency, market maturity) to optimize ad spend and campaign outcomes.
Leverage Amazon's supply desk team for negotiating custom inventory deals that precisely target your audience and consider Project Deal Builder for democratizing this process.
Utilize Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) to unify data analysis and gain deeper insights into campaign performance across different DSP buying models.
Themes
ad techamazon advertisingprogrammatic advertisingretail media
🎙️Interview with Ross Walker & Danilo Alvares of Acadia DESCRIPTION Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Account Management. We're diving into a big topic this week: programmatic media buying through Amazon DSP, and the many different ways brands can leverage it. If you've been wondering how to get started with ADSP or how to access the right inventory to drive real results, this episode has you covered. To help us unpack it all, we've invited two of our in-house experts: Ross Walker, Director of Retail Media, and Danilo Alvares, Senior Retail Media Manager. Tune in to find out more! Quote: "The key, I would say, is balancing scale and transparency depending on what the brand is trying to learn and achieve." Danilo Alvares KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, Julie, Jordan, Ross, and Danilo discuss: Ways to Access Amazon DSP: The difference between the traditional Amazon Managed Service, agency/tech partner "seats," and brands owning and operating their DSP seat in-house. Evolution of DSP Access: How Amazon has opened up the DSP ecosystem, making it more user-friendly and accessible for agencies and self-service buyers. Buying Models - Crawl, Walk, Run: The progression from open auction (crawl) to private auctions (walk) to preferred deals and programmatic guarantees (run), describing the level of control, complexity, and inventory at each stage. <p dir="ltr" role="presenta
Frequently asked about this episode
What does this episode say about ad tech?
Brands should evaluate Amazon DSP access methods (managed service, agency seat, in-house) based on their resources and control preferences.
What does this episode say about amazon advertising?
Implement a 'Crawl, Walk, Run' strategy for DSP deals: start with open auctions, progress to private auctions, and finally utilize preferred deals and programmatic guarantees for greater control and custom inventory.
What does this episode say about programmatic advertising?
Align your DSP deal types with your brand's specific goals (e.g., reach, efficiency, market maturity) to optimize ad spend and campaign outcomes.
What does this episode say about retail media?
Leverage Amazon's supply desk team for negotiating custom inventory deals that precisely target your audience and consider Project Deal Builder for democratizing this process.
What does this episode say about ad tech?
Utilize Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) to unify data analysis and gain deeper insights into campaign performance across different DSP buying models.
