Alongside Display Performance+, Amazon has also rolled out Brand+, a parallel offering for Streaming TV (STV) that applies the same automation principles to upper-funnel media. Together, these solutions demonstrate Amazon’s commitment to reducing manual complexity and making AI-driven optimization central to campaign management.
What Is Performance+ in DSP?
Performance+ is an objective-based campaign type available in Amazon DSP. Instead of manually configuring multiple line items, advertisers set a goal such as driving return on ad spend, and the system automatically allocates budgets across Amazon Display placements.
Key capabilities include:
- Automated budget allocation across inventory sources.
- Dynamic optimization of bids and placements in real time based on conversion likelihood.
- Streamlined setup, reducing the need for complex manual builds.
To qualify, Performance+ requires a minimum number of conversions within a set time period, which varies depending on the campaign’s selected goal and the tracked ASINs included. This ensures the algorithm has enough data to optimize efficiently.
For advertisers, the benefit is clear: campaigns that scale quickly while continuously learning and adapting to shopper behavior signals. Leaning into automation in DSP allows brands to save a significant amount of time and throw a huge net, ultimately reaching their most valuable users based on campaign goals, with far less steps. Additionally, it also makes it easier to scale spend around a single objective, instead of spending hours curating and building individual audience personas.
What About Brand+ for STV?
Brand+ extends the Performance+ model into Streaming TV campaigns. Instead of manually planning which audiences and placements to prioritize, advertisers provide Brand+ with a campaign objective, and Amazon’s AI determines the most efficient path to drive reach, awareness, or engagement.
The result is an upper-funnel solution that mirrors Performance+ for Display: simplified execution and improved performance through automation. For brands, this means automated efficiency across both performance-driven Display and awareness-driving STV.
The Benefits of Automation in DSP
As digital advertising grows more complex, automation has become an essential tool for scaling impact without sacrificing precision. In the DSP ecosystem, automation doesn’t just streamline execution, it enhances performance, efficiency, and reach. Here are three key advantages that show why automation is reshaping how brands approach DSP strategy:
- Time efficiency → Fewer line items and manual optimizations required.
- Smarter decision-making → Algorithms adjust bids and placements based on signals at scale.
- Cross-format reach → Ability to tap into Display and STV inventory under unified campaign objectives.
Brands who don’t embrace automation now could risk being left behind by the competition.
The Tradeoffs to Consider
While Performance+ and Brand+ reduce manual setup and streamline optimization, advertisers should be mindful of how automation shifts the balance between visibility and control:
- Reporting Visibility: Performance+ doesn’t surface insights at the line-item level in the DSP UI, but advertisers can still access detailed reporting on inventory, creative, and brand halo audiences through standard reporting pulls. The difference lies in how transparent the optimization path appears during day-to-day management.
- Control Levers: Advertisers can still adjust bids, include/exclude inventory, and apply targeting rules just as they would with manual line items. However, because the machine learning model performs best with larger data sets and broad placement availability, overly restrictive adjustments can limit its efficiency. The tradeoff is less about losing control and more about finding the right balance between guidance and flexibility.
- Potential Bias Toward Efficiency: Automation models often optimize toward lower-funnel performance unless guided by clear objectives. This makes it important to supplement Performance+ with complementary tactics (e.g., conquesting, upper-funnel DSP, or STV Brand+ campaigns) to ensure a full-funnel presence.
How Advertisers Should Approach Performance+ and Brand+
Ready to dive in? To fully capitalize on these new tools, advertisers should:
- Define clear objectives upfront: automation works best when the system has precise business goals.
- Pair automation with strong inputs: high-quality creative, optimized product detail pages, and a curated ASIN mix are critical.
- Supplement with manual strategies: use traditional DSP tactics for conquesting, audience testing, or custom targeting not covered by automation.
- Measure beyond surface metrics: leverage Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) to evaluate incrementality, halo effects, and cross-channel impact.
- Stay adaptive: align automation with retail realities like seasonality, inventory shifts, and competitive pressure.
The Bottom Line: Automation With Strategic Oversight
Performance+ and Brand+ represent Amazon’s clearest move yet toward an AI-first advertising ecosystem. For advertisers, these tools can drive meaningful efficiencies across both Display and Streaming TV. But automation is not a substitute for strategy.
The brands that will succeed are those that pair Amazon’s machine learning with human oversight: setting the right objectives, supplementing automated campaigns with manual tactics, and measuring outcomes holistically. With the right balance, Performance+ and Brand+ are not just new tools; they’re a glimpse into the future of retail media.