What is the best bidding strategy for Amazon PPC?

There is no single best one. Dynamic bids down only suits most discovery and profit campaigns because your bid is a ceiling. Up and down suits proven exact match keywords with healthy margin where you want top of search. Fixed bids suit tests and branded defense.

How much can Amazon raise my bid with dynamic bidding?

Amazon's current guide says dynamic bids up and down can raise bids by up to 100%, so a $1.00 bid can reach $2.00. Older documentation capped increases outside top of search at 50%. Placement adjustments are applied on top, so total bids can go higher.

What are placement bid adjustments on Amazon?

They are percentage increases to your bid for a specific placement: top of search on the first page, rest of search, or product pages. Amazon allows up to 900% for each. Use the placement report to see which placement converts best before raising any of them.

Should I use fixed or dynamic bids for a product launch?

Many sellers use dynamic down only at launch so Amazon can cut bids on weak clicks while the bid stays capped. If rank is the goal and margin allows, up and down on a few exact keywords can win more top of search impressions. Review results weekly.

How often should I change Amazon PPC bids?

Amazon suggests reviewing bids about every two weeks and limiting changes during tests, so you can see what each change did. High spend campaigns may need weekly checks. Change bids based on enough clicks to be meaningful, not on one day of data.

Amazon PPC Bidding Strategy: Fixed vs Dynamic Bids (2026)

What changed: Three Sponsored Products bid strategies plus placement adjustments up to 900%
When: Updated October 2026
Who it affects: Anyone running Sponsored Products campaigns
What to do: Set a target CPC from margin, then pick a strategy per campaign goal

Key takeaways

Down only is the safe default; up and down suits proven, high margin keywords.
Placement adjustments up to 900% stack with dynamic bids, so set them from placement data.
Maximum bid equals order value times conversion rate times target ACoS.

Amazon bidding strategies compared

	Fixed	Down only	Up and down
Amazon raises bid			Yes, up to 100%
Amazon lowers bid
Spend risk	Predictable	Lowest	Highest
Best for	Tests, brand defense	Discovery, profit	Proven exact keywords

The three Amazon bidding strategies

Every Sponsored Products campaign has one campaign bidding strategy. It applies to all keywords and targets inside the campaign, so campaigns with different goals should be split rather than forced to share one strategy.

Fixed bids: Amazon uses your exact bid and does not change it based on how likely a sale is
Dynamic bids, down only: Amazon lowers your bid in real time when a click is less likely to convert
Dynamic bids, up and down: Amazon raises bids for clicks more likely to convert and lowers them for clicks less likely to convert

How dynamic bids up and down works

Amazon's current guide says this strategy can raise or lower bids by up to 100%. Its own example: a $1.00 bid can rise to $2.00, so you should be ready to spend up to double your entered bid on high intent clicks. Earlier Amazon documentation, still quoted widely, capped increases at 100% for the top of the first search page and 50% for other placements, so check the help text in your console for the exact rule in your marketplace.

Amazon recommends up and down when sales are the main goal, for high-performing campaigns, for keywords where you want top of page placement, and for deal ASINs or products with excess inventory. It is the most aggressive option, so it belongs on products with healthy margin.

When to use dynamic bids down only

Down only is the safer default for most campaigns. Amazon can cut your bid on weak clicks but never raises it, so your maximum bid is a hard ceiling. Amazon's targeting guide suggests down only when ROAS is the priority, and it suits new launches with limited data, low margin products and broad or automatic campaigns where many searches are only loosely relevant.

When fixed bids make sense

Fixed bids give the cleanest test conditions. Because Amazon does not adjust the bid, changes in results come from your changes, not the algorithm. Use fixed bids to test placement adjustments, to defend branded keywords at a known price, or when you manage bids with your own rules or software and do not want Amazon adjusting on top.

Placement adjustments: top of search, rest of search, product pages

Placement adjustments raise your bid by a percentage for a specific placement. Amazon allows up to 900% for top of search on the first page, rest of search and product pages, and Amazon added rest of search adjustments in early 2024 for all targeting types and bid strategies.

The adjustment stacks with dynamic bidding. A $1.00 bid with a 100% top of search adjustment becomes $2.00 for that placement, and up and down bidding can then push it higher. That compounding is why placement adjustments should be set from data in the placement report, not guessed.

Check the placement report for conversion rate and ACoS by placement
Raise top of search only where it converts better than rest of search
Start with small adjustments such as 20% to 50% and review after two weeks
Avoid large placement boosts on top of up and down bidding until data supports it

How to calculate your maximum bid from margin

Bids should come from the economics of the product. First work out break-even ACoS, which is the profit margin before ad spend. Then pick a target ACoS below it. The maximum bid that hits that target is average order value multiplied by conversion rate multiplied by target ACoS.

Example: a $30 product with a 10% click to order conversion rate and a 25% target ACoS supports a bid of about $0.75 per click. If you use up and down bidding, enter a bid that stays profitable even if Amazon doubles it on some clicks, or use down only. Our guide to a good ACoS for Amazon shows how to set the target.

Target bid formula

1Average order value
Example: $30
2Conversion rate
Example: 10% of clicks order
3Target ACoS
Example: 25%, below break-even
4Maximum bid
$30 x 10% x 25% = $0.75

Choosing a bidding strategy, step by step

Use this order when setting up or auditing campaigns.

Split campaigns by goal: launch, rank, profit or brand defense
Calculate break-even and target ACoS for each product group
Set the base bid with the target CPC formula
Choose down only for profit and discovery campaigns
Choose up and down for proven exact keywords with strong margin
Add placement adjustments only after reading the placement report
Review bids about every two weeks and limit changes during tests

Budget rules and automation

Amazon also offers budget rules for Sponsored Products. Schedule-based rules raise budgets for events such as Prime Day or a custom period, and performance-based rules raise budgets only when ACoS, CTR or conversion rate meet a threshold over the previous seven days, for campaigns with at least a $10 daily budget. They are useful guardrails, but they do not change bids by margin. For hour-level control, see our guide to Amazon dayparting, and for the full routine read how to optimize Amazon PPC.

How PPC Spider sets bids

PPC Spider caps every bid at the product's break-even ACoS, calculated from margin after fees, and SpiderOS adjusts bids and placements when the data shows a target is off. Learn more about our Amazon PPC management service or see plans on Amazon agency pricing.

Sources

Amazon Ads: Guide to dynamic bidding up and down with Sponsored Products (advertising.amazon.com/library/guides/dynamic-bidding-sponsored-products)
Amazon Ads: Best practices for your Sponsored Products ads (advertising.amazon.com/library/guides/sponsored-products-best-practices)
Amazon Ads: Launch announcement, rest of search placement adjustments (advertising.amazon.com/resources/whats-new/improve-campaign-performance)
Amazon Ads: Budget rules launch announcement (advertising.amazon.com/resources/whats-new/dynamic-budget-control)

Want this done for your account?

We run these playbooks on client accounts every day. Start with a free audit.

Get a free audit