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Amazon is starting to plug ads into generative AI.
Sponsored ads—Amazon’s core search ad format—could start appearing in placements for Rufus, according to Amazon Ads’ product releases for September. Rufus is Amazon’s seven-month-old shopping assistant that uses gen AI to help people find products within Amazon’s mobile app.
Rufus is a chatbot that can answer questions about the types of products that people are looking for—like what qualities or ingredients someone should consider when making a purchase. For example, asking Rufus to find products for travel pulls up links and the accompanying product detail pages for leakproof silicone bottles, travel adapters, and a portable charger.
Amazon’s tests with Rufus ads are only running in the U.S., according to Amazon’s product release.
“We continue to make enhancements to the Rufus experience, including improving brand and product discovery by introducing relevant sponsored ads that help customers discover selections related to their conversation with Rufus,” said an Amazon spokesperson.
In the product release, Amazon noted that Rufus is able to generate the text for ads with queries that require context. And Rufus campaigns will not be included in the metrics that advertisers receive from Amazon.
Amazon said that ads in Rufus will be tailored and relevant to what people are looking for. The ads will also be based on the search terms and context of the queries asked.
Amazon declined to share what the ads look like within Rufus.
Advertisers are cautious about Rufus
Advertisers are mixed about the potential of ads within Rufus.
Ross Caveille, cofounder of e-commerce adtech firm Acorn-i, said that ads in Rufus mirror how ads already appear in Amazon’s main search engine. Amazon’s main search engine shows a combination of organic results and ads when people type in a query, and Caveille suggested that advertisers will want their placements to similarly appear in Rufus.
“It would be advantageous to an advertiser to be able to sponsor a Rufus result that directs the shopper deeper to the product detail page,” he said. “Amazon needs to balance customer experience with advertising clutter, but a sponsored search result mixed with organic on Rufus is quite native to the user experience already in place.”