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- Amazon now allows individual bid adjustments per search term within exact-match keywords
- You can bid differently on "running shoe" vs. "running shoes" vs. "running shoe for men"
- Term-level bids override keyword-level bids. Default keyword bid applies when no term bid is set.
- Available for exact match only in Sponsored Products. Broad and phrase match not supported.
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What's Happening
Amazon now lets advertisers adjust bids at the individual search term level within Sponsored Products campaigns. Previously, you set one bid for an exact-match keyword and Amazon applied it equally to all grammatical variants. Now you can bid differently on "running shoe" vs. "running shoes" vs. "running shoe for men." Brands running their P&L on Nova tend to catch this in the fee-detail view first, before it lands in the weekly review.
This is a major shift in PPC granularity. For the first time, sellers can allocate more spend to the specific search term variants that actually convert, rather than paying the same amount for every variation Amazon matches. It's available in the Campaign Manager and through the Amazon Advertising API.
The feature is live for exact-match keywords in Sponsored Products campaigns across the US marketplace. Broad and phrase match keywords still work the same way. Amazon's documentation confirms that term-level adjustments override the keyword-level bid for matched terms.
Match Type
Exact
Only exact match supported
Control Level
Per Term
Individual search term bids
Status
Live
US marketplace
Key Details
| Detail | What You Need to Know |
|---|---|
| What Changed | You can now set different bids for individual search terms within the same exact-match keyword. Singular, plural, and grammatical variants can each have unique bids. |
| Where to Find It | Campaign Manager in Seller Central. Navigate to your keyword, then expand to see matched search terms with individual bid adjustments. |
| Bid Priority | Term-level bids override keyword-level bids. If no term-level bid is set, the keyword bid applies as the default. |
| Limitations | Only available for exact match. Broad match and phrase match keywords do not support term-level adjustments. |
Impact on Sellers
This is genuinely useful for high-volume sellers. If you've ever looked at your search term report and noticed that "yoga mat" converts at 12% but "yoga mats" converts at 6%, you couldn't do much about it. Both got the same bid because they matched the same exact keyword. Now you can bid $1.50 on the high-converting singular and $0.80 on the weaker plural.
The downside is complexity. If you're running thousands of keywords, managing individual term-level bids adds significant operational overhead. You'll need solid search term data and a clear system for deciding which terms deserve custom bids.
Where This Matters Most
Categories where singular vs. Plural intent differs significantly. "Phone case" (one case for one phone) vs. "phone cases" (comparison shopping for multiple options) can have very different conversion rates. Same for "vitamin D" (specific product search) vs. "vitamin D supplements" (browsing behavior).
Pro Tip
Don't try to set term-level bids on every keyword. Focus on your top 20 keywords by spend. Pull the search term report for the last 60 days and identify terms where conversion rate varies by more than 30% between variants. Those are your highest-impact opportunities.
What You Should Do Now
- 1.
Pull Your Search Term Report
Download the last 60 days of search term data from Campaign Manager. Sort by spend and identify your top 20-30 keywords. For each, check how conversion rates differ across matched search terms.
- 2.
Identify High-Variance Terms
Look for keywords where one variant converts at 10%+ and another converts at under 5%. These are your best candidates for term-level bid adjustments. The bigger the gap, the more you'll benefit from differentiated bidding.
- 3.
Set Conservative Initial Adjustments
Start with 20-30% bid increases on high-converting terms and 20-30% decreases on low-converting terms. Don't go extreme on day one. Let the changes run for 7-10 days and measure the impact before adjusting further.
- 4.
Track Results at the Term Level
After 2 weeks, compare term-level performance before and after adjustments. Are high-bid terms getting more impressions and maintaining conversion? Are low-bid terms reducing wasted spend? Adjust accordingly.
How Nova Helps
Track PPC Performance to Inform Bid Decisions
Nova's PPC Analytics help you Nova's PPC Analytics help you track product-level ad performance and identify where your ad spend delivers the best return. Use this data to inform which search terms deserve higher or lower bids. And identify where your ad spend delivers the best return. Use this data to inform which search terms deserve higher or lower bids.
Combine this with Custom Analytics to build reports that track profitability trends alongside your PPC spend. See whether bid adjustments are translating into better margins.
Sources
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