TLDR: Amazon’s advertising business reported a robust 24% year-over-year growth in Q3 2025, reaching $17.7 billion. This significant increase is attributed to the evolution of its Demand-Side Platform (DSP) into a ‘fully featured’ offering, the strong performance of live sports content on Prime Video, and the strategic integration of emerging generative AI tools. The company’s overall net sales climbed 13% to $180.2 billion, underscoring the growing importance of its advertising segment and substantial investments in artificial intelligence.
Amazon’s advertising division has delivered an impressive performance in the third quarter of 2025, with revenue soaring 24% year-over-year to $17.7 billion. This surge highlights the segment’s increasing role as a key profit driver for the e-commerce giant, complementing its traditional retail and cloud operations. The company’s total net sales for the quarter also saw a healthy increase of 13%, reaching $180.2 billion, while net income rose significantly to $21.2 billion from $9.9 billion in the prior year.
Several strategic pillars are credited for this advertising boom. A major contributor is the Amazon Demand-Side Platform (DSP), which CEO Andy Jassy confirmed is now considered ‘fully featured.’ Over the past 20 months, Amazon has diligently addressed perceived gaps in its DSP, expanding its reach well beyond its retail media origins. The platform now supports popular services including Roku, Netflix, Spotify, and SiriusXM, allowing advertisers to access a broader inventory across major subscription streaming platforms.
Live sports content on Prime Video has also emerged as a powerful magnet for advertisers. CEO Andy Jassy noted that live sports garnered substantial interest in upfront negotiations for the 2025-26 season, exceeding internal expectations for commitments. Flagship events like ‘Thursday Night Football’ averaged 15.3 million viewers this season, marking a 16% increase from the previous year, while the NBA’s debut on Prime attracted 1.25 million U.S. viewers.
Crucially, emerging generative AI tools are playing an increasingly vital role in Amazon’s advertising infrastructure. In September, Amazon unveiled a generative AI-powered agent within its Creative Studio. This innovative tool assists marketers throughout the campaign development process, from product research to generating creative assets and deploying media across Amazon Ads properties. These capabilities are further bolstered by existing AI-underpinned image, video, and audio generators, enabling AI-enhanced ad targeting and more efficient campaign execution.
Amazon’s commitment to AI extends beyond advertising. The company has raised its expected capital expenditures for the full year to $125 billion, up from a prior $118 billion, with executives anticipating further increases in 2026 amid what they describe as the ‘AI arms race.’ Amazon Web Services (AWS) achieved its highest growth rate in nearly three years, propelled by surging demand for generative AI tools such as Bedrock, Trainium custom silicon, and SageMaker. CEO Andy Jassy also highlighted the success of Rufus, an AI shopping assistant, which has been utilized by 250 million active customers this year. Interactions with Rufus surged 210% year-over-year in Q3, and shoppers using the tool are reportedly 60% more likely to make a purchase, with Rufus on track to generate over $10 billion in incremental annualized sales.
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Commenting on the quarter’s results, Andy Jassy stated, “Every single one of our advertising offerings this quarter grew in a meaningful way,” and added, “We’re seeing strong adoption from advertisers as we continue to evolve our ad strategies.” He also emphasized Amazon’s ability to help brands reach an ad-supported audience of more than 300 million consumers in the U.S., signaling the company’s clear intention to continue leaning into advertising as a strategic growth pillar.
