The Rise of Amazon Ads: Who the Winners and Losers Are

Key Points

• Amazon Ads is consolidating power across retail and connected TV.

• Independent demand-side platforms like The Trade Desk could face increasing pressure.

• Even Alphabet and Meta aren’t immune to Amazon's rise.

• 10 stocks we like better than Amazon ›

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has quietly built a digital advertising business that's now too big to ignore. In 2024, Amazon Ads generated more than $50 billion in revenue, making it one of the fastest-growing segments of the company.

The company's recent partnership with Netflix only underlines Amazon's growing role in the space. By selling Netflix's advertising inventory through Amazon's demand-side platform (DSP), Amazon has solidified its position as a must-use platform for marketers. For investors, the question is no longer whether Amazon Ads is a real contender, but which players will win and which ones will lose as its influence expands.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

Image source: Getty Images.

Winners: Amazon, premium streamers, and advertisers

The most obvious winner here is Amazon itself. The company has a combination of advantages in the digital ad space that most of its rivals can only dream of: authenticated user data, purchase intent signals, and premium inventory across retail, video, and streaming. By combining these assets inside its demand-side platform, Amazon makes it easy for advertisers to reach high-value audiences with measurable outcomes.

The Netflix deal adds even more muscle. Streaming has become the new frontier of advertising, and Netflix is the crown jewel of connected TV inventory. By bringing Netflix ads into its DSP, Amazon gives marketers access to premium content and simplifies the buying process. For advertisers, that's efficient and measurable. For Amazon, it's a flywheel: more data, more inventory, and more ad dollars staying inside its ecosystem.

Advertisers also come out ahead -- at least in the short term. With Amazon, they get better targeting and closed-loop attribution, tying impressions directly to purchases. The flip side is concentration risk: The more marketing budgets shift into Amazon, the less leverage advertisers may have down the road, echoing what's already happened with Alphabet and Meta.

Premium streamers like Netflix (and Roku) also benefit. They gain access to Amazon's massive advertiser base and infrastructure, and they don't have to build their own sales machines from scratch. This ensures they can compete with traditional broadcasters and newer entrants alike.

Losers: Independent adtech companies, smaller publishers, and other "walled gardens"

The rise of Amazon Ads is not good news for everyone. Independent demand-side platforms, especially The Trade Desk, could face more competitive pressure. For years, The Trade Desk positioned itself as the independent alternative to Google and Meta, offering neutrality, transparency, and cross-channel reach. However, if advertisers can purchase premium streaming inventory directly through Amazon's DSP, The Trade Desk's leverage could slowly diminish.

That said, neutrality still matters. Some advertisers may resist relying too heavily on Amazon, preferring to use independent platforms that can span connected TV, retail media, and the broader open web. The Trade Desk's relationships with Disney, Roku, and other publishers give it some weight, but it's too early to say whether such relationships will be enough to preserve the company's moat.

Smaller publishers also risk losing ground. If ad dollars consolidate into Amazon, Netflix, and other large platforms, independent websites could struggle to attract marketing spending. AI-driven search further complicates this picture, reducing traffic to traditional publishers and shrinking the open web ad supply.

Even Alphabet and Meta will feel the heat. While they still dominate digital advertising, Amazon is steadily taking more share in two critical areas: retail media and streaming video. Meta's performance ads look less differentiated when brands can advertise right at the point of purchase on Amazon. Alphabet faces pressure as product searches increasingly begin on Amazon rather than Google, while its YouTube unit must contend with Netflix and other streaming platforms selling ads through Amazon's DSP.

The bigger and longer-term picture

Amazon isn't just another player in digital advertising -- it's building a vertically integrated ecosystem. From retail data to Prime Video and now Netflix, Amazon controls both the data advertisers crave and a large slice of the available ad inventory. This integration makes it one of the most powerful ad businesses in the world.

For the industry, the trend is clear: Scale and data are driving consolidation. Advertisers increasingly want major partners that can deliver both reach and measurable results. Amazon checks both boxes, and that creates structural challenges not only for independents like The Trade Desk but also for giants like Alphabet and Meta.

What does it mean for investors?

Amazon Ads is a clear long-term winner. The Netflix deal strengthens Amazon's position in connected TV, expands its already rich inventory pool, and makes its DSP more indispensable to advertisers.

For rivals like The Trade Desk, the challenge is differentiation. Its neutrality, transparency, and ability to bridge multiple channels remain valuable, but the fight for premium streaming inventory is heating up.

In other words, Amazon isn't just competing in advertising anymore. It's setting the rules of the game. It's a great time to be bullish about Amazon stock (and to an extent, major publishers like Netflix or Roku), but less so on independent platforms like The Trade Desk.

Should you invest $1,000 in Amazon right now?

Before you buy stock in Amazon, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Amazon wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $662,520!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,043,346!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,056% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 188% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of September 15, 2025

Lawrence Nga has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Meta Platforms, Netflix, Roku, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.