Amazon Ads is changing how it counts display impressions on its own store. From January 1, 2027, a Display, Video & Audio (DVA) display ad on the Amazon Store will only count as an impression once it actually appears on the shopper's screen. Any brand running DVA display campaigns, the product formerly called Amazon DSP, should expect far lower impression numbers in its reports.
According to Amazon's notice to advertisers, as reported by PPC Land, impression counts on these placements will be about 63% lower on average under the new method. The notice became public on November 3, 2026, and Storyboard18 reported the same figures on November 6.
What exactly is changing?
Area | Until December 31, 2026 | From January 1, 2027 |
|---|---|---|
When an impression counts | When the ad starts to download to the shopper's device (count-on-download) | Once the ad appears on the shopper's screen |
Placements covered | DVA display ads on the Amazon Store | Same: homepage, product detail pages, search results pages and order pages |
Reported impressions | Current baseline | About 63% lower on average, with bigger drops for placements lower on the page |
Performance claim: Amazon says advertisers in testing saw ROAS go up and CPA go down, though results depend on the campaign.
What the notice leaves out: it does not say whether billing moves to the new count, and it does not mention DVA video or audio, DVA on third-party sites, or Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands.
Why does this matter for sellers?
Here's the thing. If 63 of every 100 impressions you count today disappear from your reports, every metric built on impressions moves with them. PPC Land worked out that a campaign with the same spend and clicks would show a CPM about 2.7 times higher, so a $5.00 CPM reads as $13.51, and click-through rate rises by the same factor. Nothing about what shoppers saw or did has changed. Only the counting has.
That breaks year-over-year comparisons for January 2027 and any target built on CPM or reach. It also leaves an open question on cost. If a thousand impressions means a thousand on-screen views from January, you could be paying for a different unit than you bought in December. Brands that set budgets, frequency caps or agency reports on impression goals need to plan for this before Q1 planning closes.
What should sellers do now?
Save a December 2026 baseline: export impressions, CPM, CTR, ROAS and CPA by placement for your DVA display campaigns so you can compare like for like after the switch.
Reset Q1 2027 targets: move goals away from raw impressions and reach toward ROAS, CPA and new-to-brand sales for Amazon Store display.
Watch below-the-fold placements: Amazon says placements lower on the page will see the largest drop, so review where your product page and search placements sit.
Check your invoices in January: compare billed impressions with reported impressions to see whether spend per thousand changes.
Ask your account team: confirm whether bids, billing and view-through attribution are adjusted for the new count.
eStore Factory Tip: Treat January 2027 as a new baseline for Amazon Store display, not a sudden drop in reach, and judge campaigns on sales and cost per order instead. If you want help resetting your DVA and Sponsored Ads benchmarks for 2027, our Amazon Sponsored Ads experts can audit your setup.
