Welcome to the Clear Ads Podcast, Highway to Sell. You’re listening to Tom, and this week we’ve got a special guest while Ronny is away on vacation — the one and only George joining us.
It’s a special one today because we’re going to be talking about trends and predictions for 2023 — what we expect in the year ahead and what’s likely coming in Q1.
Before we look forward, we’ve got to look back at the year that’s just gone. 2022 actually saw some decent global growth across Amazon marketplaces. We also saw a few new marketplaces launch — Sweden, Egypt, Turkey, and the Netherlands — which is a good sign that in 2023, we’ll probably see even more.
Europe especially is becoming more diverse within the Amazon ecosystem. It’s no longer just pan-EU where everyone shops through Germany or France; we’re now seeing dedicated marketplaces in multiple countries. It’s exciting, though it does bring some logistical challenges for sellers who relied heavily on Germany before.
Tom:
As an agency, we’ve started running ads in Sweden, Turkey, the Netherlands, and Poland — so it’s definitely expanding.
George:
Yeah, and wherever a new market opens up, the competition is always lower at the start. The barrier to entry is higher, but those who get in early can benefit from low CPCs, high impression share, and a much wider reach.
No marketplace will ever match the U.S., but if you’ve got your logistics sorted, there’s no reason you can’t build sales across multiple new regions as they open.
Tom:
It’ll be interesting to see how Amazon launches those new markets, because when Sweden opened, it took about 8–12 months before PPC was even enabled. My guess is they’ll still stagger the rollout so they can iron out issues first.
We’ve also started to see the ability to manage multiple marketplaces from a single sponsored ads account, rather than having separate ones for each region. That’s a step toward global management being smoother.
But with that comes complexity — multilingual support, different currencies, and possibly watered-down seller support. And let’s be honest, seller support has always been… well, not Amazon’s strongest department.
George:
True! But advertising on Amazon is being taken much more seriously now. The ad revenue is huge, and Amazon’s now heavily investing in their partner program — accrediting agencies like ours with training, exams, and direct account reps.
Tom:
Yeah, they’ve rolled out new DSP exams this year, including an advanced certification. And DSP itself has evolved a lot — new targeting options, improved reporting, scrapping old dynamic ads for responsive ones, and a much cleaner UI.
George:
Right, and you can see Amazon prioritizing advertising placements too. Just type any keyword into the search bar — sponsored placements dominate. Sponsored brand ads now allow videos right at the top of the page, which pushes organic results further down.
Before, those videos were halfway down the page. Now they’re the first thing shoppers see, and that’s massive for engagement.
Tom:
And they’re adding sponsored display videos too. I saw a LinkedIn post recently — a simple product search where organic listings barely appeared on the first screen. Sponsored products were everywhere.
They’re even introducing sections like “Top-rated products” and “Related searches”, which feed in more ads dynamically. Amazon is clearly leaning further into paid placements, which makes ad strategy more important than ever.
George:
Exactly. And with that comes better support for agencies. We have monthly calls with our Amazon rep who keeps us up to date on every new feature.
Tom:
Yeah, it’s great. Updates used to be buried on Amazon’s website — now we get them directly. They’re making us part of the ecosystem, not just outsiders managing ads.
They’re also helping with localization — we can now send English listings to Amazon’s internal translation team to get localized for European markets. It’s far more user-friendly than before.
George:
So that’s the good side. But let’s talk about the hard part for sellers.
The old “search-find-buy” giveaway tactics are gone. Sellers now have to rely heavily on PPC to launch products, which means spending more money up front.
Big established sellers — the seven, eight, nine-figure ones — can afford to run at a loss during launch and make it back later. But smaller sellers are feeling the squeeze.
At the same time, Amazon has tightened verification — you now need video verification to open a seller account. They’re trying to make it fairer, but the result is more friction and higher costs per click.
That’s why many sellers are starting to use Google Ads to Amazon, because — unbelievably — Google CPCs are now cheaper than Amazon’s in many categories.
Tom:
Yeah, and Amazon’s now partnering with third-party tools like Amped and PixelMe to provide better attribution for external traffic. They’re also expanding the influencer and social side — Amazon Posts and Amazon Live are growing fast.
George:
Exactly. Amazon Posts lets shoppers follow brands, so they see updates, promotions, and new releases in a feed — just like social media.
And Amazon Live allows brands to go live on video, demo products, and even have those videos embedded in their listings afterward. It’s all about turning Amazon into a social commerce platform, much like Instagram or TikTok, but within Amazon’s own walls.
Tom:
And because they’re integrating all these touchpoints — storefronts, live videos, product listings, follower feeds — Amazon is clearly moving toward helping brands build communities, not just sell cheap deals.
George:
Exactly. And alongside that, agencies and sellers are getting much better at tracking profitability, not just ACoS. Tools like Sellerboard and Shopkeeper now show net profit, inventory levels, and margins at a glance.
It’s changing how we optimize — focusing less on ACoS or TACoS and more on bottom-line profit.
Tom:
Right. And as CPCs continue to rise, sellers are learning that profitability isn’t just about ad spend — it’s about lifetime customer value.
Tools like Nozzle can now track how long it takes for a repeat-purchase product to become profitable. Some sellers are willing to lose money on the first sale because they know repeat buyers will make up for it later.
We’ve seen sellers spending heavily on customer acquisition knowing it’ll pay off after the second or third order.
George:
Exactly. And just to show how costs have changed — a client we helped three years ago came back recently. His campaigns were identical, but his monthly ad spend has grown from £5–10K to £30–40K just to stay competitive.
Without proper profitability tracking, that kind of growth can feel terrifying. Smaller sellers should definitely get those tools in place now before scaling up.
Tom:
Let’s touch on DSP — because that’s evolving fast too. We’ve seen the launch of audio ads, which now play on Alexa devices, Fire tablets, and even Apple Music for free listeners.
It’s early days, but it shows Amazon testing the waters for voice and audio commerce.
George:
Yeah, I remember attending a conference in Austin focused entirely on voice and audio. Everyone agrees it’ll be big eventually — especially for repeat purchases.
If you’ve already bought detergent or toothpaste before, it’s easy to reorder by voice. It’s less suited for visual items like clothes or phone cases, but for essentials, it’s perfect.
Tom:
Exactly. It’s all about convenience. And voice search optimization might become part of SEO soon — making sure Alexa can actually find your brand when someone says, “Order bleach” or “Buy more dog food.”
George:
And beyond voice, there’s also talk of virtual reality shopping, though I think we’re still a few years away from that being mainstream.
Tom:
Yeah, maybe one day we’ll have avatars trying on clothes in a digital store. For now, let’s focus on things that are actually happening — like sourcing.
Sellers are still dealing with supply chain issues from China — high shipping costs, worker shortages, and strict lockdowns. That’s pushing more sellers to explore nearshoring to India, Mexico, and Vietnam.
George:
Exactly. Manufacturing in China is changing. Workers are moving into tech and office jobs, leaving factories short-staffed. It’s forcing sellers to look elsewhere — and that shift will continue in 2023.
Tom:
Coming back to DSP — another major change this year was the transition to responsive ads. Dynamic eCommerce ads are disappearing, and responsive ads now allow logos, reviews, and better automation.
They’re easier to build, more efficient, and Amazon’s clearly betting on them as the future of display.
George:
There’s also far more audience targeting now — in-market, lifestyle, behavioral. We can target new mums, hobbyists, or frequent buyers.
And with Amazon Marketing Cloud, we can finally map the entire customer journey across ad types — from awareness to conversion. It’s powerful stuff.
Tom:
Exactly. And with the new Marketing Stream beta, we can see performance by the hour of the day, every day of the week. That allows proper day-parting and granular bid control — something advertisers have wanted for years.
George:
Plus, the Search Query Performance Report has been a game-changer — finally letting us see how our keyword performance compares to the market as a whole.
Once Amazon opens API access for that data, it’ll completely change how software tools and agencies strategize.
Tom:
Absolutely. There’s never been more visibility — or more opportunity — in Amazon advertising.
George:
Yeah. And that’s a wrap for this episode! We hope you’ve enjoyed this deep dive into 2023 predictions.
Tom:
If you’ve got ideas for future topics, reach out on social or via our website. And if you’d like Clear Ads to work on your Amazon account, head to clearads.co.uk and book a free audit.
George:
Speaking of which — we’ve got a special competition running right now. If you get a free audit from us and your account does at least $750K in annual revenue, you’ll be entered into a draw to win:
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A free scholarship to Kevin King’s Billion Dollar Seller Summit (Virtual) worth $1,500
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A $1,000 cash prize
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And a free ticket to next year’s Festivus event, including three nights of hotel accommodation.
Just go to clearads.co.uk/event-competition for details.
Tom:
That’s an incredible giveaway — what a way to wrap up the year.
George:
Thanks everyone for listening. Have a great festive season and a happy new year!
Tom:
Take care everyone. Bye!
George:
Bye!
