Should I run ASIN targeting on competitor listings?
Yes for defensive and conquest campaigns. Sponsored Products ASIN targeting on your own catalog defends your detail pages. Targeting competitor ASINs works best when your product has a clear differentiator (price, rating, bundle) that shows up in the sponsored slot.
Where ASIN targeting wins
Own-brand targeting: cross-sell across your catalog on your own detail pages. Category targeting: sub-category with refinements to keep it relevant. Competitor targeting: pick weaker-rated or higher-priced competitors where your card wins the comparison.
Where it burns money
Broad category targeting with no refinements. Competitor targeting against category leaders with better reviews. Always start with a small budget and 2 weeks of data before scaling.
Frequently asked questions
Is ASIN targeting the same as product targeting?
Yes, in Amazon's UI they are the same feature.
Can competitors block me from targeting them?
No. Any brand-registered or non-restricted ASIN can be targeted.
Should I target complements or competitors?
Both, in separate campaigns so you can budget them differently.
See this in Nova
Nova surfaces this metric per SKU in near real time so you can act before your next monthly close catches it.
Try Nova free for 14 daysRelated questions
Do I need branded defense PPC campaigns on Amazon?
Yes, if competitors bid on your brand terms or you are brand-registered with real branded search volume. A dedicated Sponsored Products exact campaign on your brand keywords is cheap insurance. Add Sponsored Brands headline on your top brand queries to own the fold.
Sponsored Brands vs Sponsored Products: which should I run first?
Sponsored Products first, every time. SP drives direct sales on ready-to-buy queries and gives the fastest read on unit economics. Sponsored Brands adds top-of-funnel brand exposure and store traffic but usually shows a longer payback and needs SP data first to know which keywords deserve the SB budget.
How often should I harvest keywords from Amazon PPC?
Weekly for active accounts, bi-weekly for smaller ones. Pull the search-term report from the last 7 to 14 days, promote high-converting search terms into exact-match campaigns, and add wasteful ones as negatives. Any longer than 2 weeks and you burn budget on losers.
How do bid adjustments by placement work in Amazon PPC?
Amazon lets you multiply bids on Top of Search, Product Pages, and Rest of Search, up to 900% on each. Top of Search converts best on brand and high-intent keywords. Product Pages work for competitor conquest. Rest of Search is often the least profitable and rarely deserves a positive adjustment.
How do I find wasted Amazon PPC spend?
Pull 60 days of search-term reports. Flag any search term with 15+ clicks and 0 orders as negative candidates. Flag campaigns whose 30-day ACoS is 2x your target with no volume gain as pause candidates. Between the two, most accounts recover 5% to 15% of budget in a week.