Introduction
Imagine launching a new Amazon PPC campaign, expecting a flood of traffic and sales, only to be met with zero impressions, zero clicks, and zero sales. Frustrating, right? If your Amazon ads seem invisible, don’t panic—there are hidden reasons why this might be happening.
In this guide, we’ll break down five common but often overlooked reasons why your Amazon ads aren’t performing and provide actionable solutions to fix them.
1️⃣ Your Bids Are Too Low
Why It Happens
Amazon’s advertising platform operates on a bidding system. If your bid is significantly lower than the suggested bid range, your ad won’t even enter the auction. This means it won’t be displayed, leading to zero impressions.
How to Fix It
✔ Check the Suggested Bid Range: When setting up your campaign, Amazon provides a suggested bid range based on historical data. Stay within this range to remain competitive. ✔ Increase Your Bids Gradually: Start with a bid that matches the suggested bid and slowly increase it if necessary. A small increase can push your ad into auctions and improve visibility. ✔ Use Dynamic Bidding: Amazon offers ‘Dynamic Bids – Up & Down,’ which automatically adjusts your bids to compete for better placements.
2️⃣ Another Product is Stealing Your Impressions
Why It Happens
If you sell multiple variations of a product (e.g., different colors or sizes), Amazon only shows one variation per search result. If your black version is winning impressions, your green version might be invisible—even if you’re bidding high.
How to Fix It
✔ Check Your Advertised Product Report: Download this report from your Amazon Advertising Console to see which variation is getting impressions. ✔ Optimize Your Best-Performing Variation: Focus your ad spend on the variation that’s already getting traction. ✔ Run a Separate Campaign for Each Variation: This allows you to control bidding and visibility for each color, size, or style individually.
3️⃣ You Accidentally Negated Your Keyword
Why It Happens
Many sellers unknowingly block their own ads by incorrectly using negative keywords. If you accidentally negated a keyword that’s crucial for your campaign, your ad won’t appear for those searches.
How to Fix It
✔ Double-Check Your Negative Keyword List: Go to the ‘Negative Keywords’ tab in your campaign settings and review your blocked terms. ✔ Use Negative Keywords Correctly: Negative exact match will block only that specific term, while negative phrase match can block related searches. Be precise in your exclusions. ✔ Test with a Broad Match Campaign: If you’re unsure which keywords you might have mistakenly blocked, run a broad match campaign with minimal negative keywords.
4️⃣ Your Product Isn’t Eligible for Ads
Why It Happens
Amazon restricts ads for certain products, suppressed listings, or if you’re losing the Buy Box. If your product falls into any of these categories, your ads won’t run.
How to Fix It
✔ Check for Buy Box Eligibility: Go to your Campaign Manager → Products Tab → Look for any red flags indicating Buy Box issues. ✔ Fix Suppressed Listings: Check for missing images, incomplete product details, or policy violations in the ‘Manage Inventory’ section. ✔ Review Amazon’s Restricted Products List: Ensure your product isn’t on the restricted list, as Amazon blocks ads for certain items (e.g., supplements, medical devices, and hazardous materials).
5️⃣ Your Keyword Isn’t Relevant
Why It Happens
Amazon prioritizes relevance when displaying ads. If your product listing doesn’t align with your target keyword, Amazon won’t show your ad—even if your bid is high.
How to Fix It
✔ Improve Your Listing’s SEO: Ensure your title, bullet points, and description contain your target keywords naturally. ✔ Check Your Backend Search Terms: Go to Seller Central → Manage Inventory → Edit Listing → Keywords tab. Add relevant search terms that aren’t in your visible content. ✔ Use Auto Campaigns for Data: Run an automatic campaign to see which keywords Amazon associates with your product and adjust your manual campaigns accordingly.
Conclusion
If your Amazon ads are stuck at zero impressions, clicks, or sales, don’t get discouraged. Diagnosing the problem is the first step toward improving performance. By adjusting your bids, optimizing your variations, fixing keyword issues, ensuring eligibility, and improving relevance, you can turn your invisible ads into high-performing campaigns.
🚀 Start troubleshooting today and watch your Amazon ads finally gain the traction they deserve!
