What changed
DVA display impressions on Amazon store pages counted only once the ad appears on screen
When
Notice posted November 3, 2026; change starts January 1, 2027
Who it affects
Advertisers running DVA (formerly Amazon DSP) display ads on Amazon homepage, detail, search and order pages
What to do
Save 2026 baselines, move KPIs to cost per outcome, ask Amazon in writing about billing

Key takeaways

  • From January 1, 2027, Amazon counts DVA display impressions on its store pages only once the ad appears on screen, and expects about 63% fewer.
  • Sponsored ads, DVA video and audio, and third party placements are not covered, per the notice.
  • Save 2026 baselines now and judge January on cost per detail page view and cost per purchase, not CPM or CTR.

How Amazon impression counting changes

  1. Amazon DSP buying becomes DVA and DVA+

  2. Notice to advertisers posted publicly

  3. Save 12 months of DVA display baselines

  4. Impressions counted only once on screen

  5. Google moves display counting to begin to render

What changed

Today Amazon counts an impression when the ad starts to download to the shopper's device, a method the industry calls count on download. From January 1, 2027, the notice says an impression will be counted once the ad appears on the shopper's screen. The change covers DVA display ads on the Amazon homepage, product detail pages, search results pages and order pages. DVA, short for Display, Video and Audio, is the name Amazon gave its former DSP buying experience at the end of September 2026.

Amazon told advertisers that impression counts on those placements should fall by about 63% on average, with bigger drops for placements lower on the page. Ads placed far down a detail page often download but are never scrolled into view, so they lose the most. The notice also says advertisers in testing saw higher return on ad spend and lower cost per acquisition, but it gives no test size or period, as PPC Land points out.

What is not covered

According to the notice as reported, the change does not apply to DVA video and audio, to DVA campaigns running on third party sites, or to sponsored ads. Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display reports keep their current counting, so a brand that only runs sponsored ads will see no change from this notice.

Several details are missing. The notice does not define how much of the ad must be visible, or for how long, to count as appearing on screen. It also does not say whether invoices, CPM bids or floor prices will be recalibrated, or whether historical data will be restated. Treat any claim on those points as unconfirmed until Amazon publishes help documentation.

The number most coverage misses: 37 out of 100

A 63% cut means 37 of every 100 impressions you see in reports today will remain, for the same delivery. That ratio drives every per impression metric. Clicks and conversions do not change because of a counting rule, so CTR and conversion rate per impression jump by about 2.7 times, and cost per thousand impressions rises by the same factor if spend stays flat.

Amazon is not alone. Google is moving display counting in Ad Manager and AdSense from count on download to begin to render on February 17, 2027, per Storyboard18. Amazon's rule goes further, since begin to render only requires the ad to start rendering, while Amazon's wording requires it to appear on screen.

Before Jan 1, 2027From Jan 1, 2027
Counted when ad starts downloading
Counted when ad appears on screen
Below the fold ads inflate counts
CPM and CTR comparable to 2026

Applies to DVA display on Amazon store pages only, per the notice

So what: the math for one brand

For example, using illustrative numbers: a brand spends $20,000 a month on DVA display on Amazon store pages at a $6.00 CPM. Its reports show about 3.33 million impressions, 4,000 clicks (a 0.12% CTR) and 400 purchases. In January 2027, with identical delivery, reports would show about 1.23 million impressions. If spend stays at $20,000, the effective CPM reads about $16.22 and CTR reads about 0.32%, yet the brand bought the same shoppers, clicks and sales.

The money risk sits in two places. First, any rule or tool that bids or alerts on CPM will think costs nearly tripled and may cut a campaign that is working. Second, if Amazon keeps CPM rates per counted impression unchanged, the same budget would buy more on screen exposure; if it raises rates to protect auction value, which one agency CMO quoted by PPC Land expects, cost per outcome should stay roughly flat. Either way, cost per detail page view and cost per purchase are the numbers that tell you the truth.

What sellers should do

Most of this work sits with whoever runs DVA campaigns and reporting. Do it before the December close.

  • Ads lead: export 12 months of DVA display data by placement (impressions, CPM, CTR, detail page view rate, purchases, new to brand purchases) before January 1. Metric: a saved baseline file per campaign.
  • Analyst: mark January 1, 2027 as a break in every dashboard and stop year over year comparisons of impressions, CPM and CTR. Metric: Q1 2027 reviews use cost per detail page view, cost per purchase and ROAS instead.
  • Media buyer: check bid rules, alerts and third party tools that act on CPM or impression volume, and pause or rewrite them for January. Metric: no automated budget cuts triggered in the first two weeks of January.
  • Media buyer: ask your Amazon account team in writing how invoices, CPM bids and floors change, and what counts as appearing on screen. Metric: a written answer filed with your 2027 plan.
  • Ads lead: review frequency caps, because a cap of three counted impressions will now mean three ads actually shown. Metric: reach and frequency in January versus December at similar spend.
  • Finance lead: set Q1 2027 DVA budgets on target cost per purchase or TACoS, not on impression goals. Metric: budget sheet with outcome targets, not impression targets.

Before January 1, 2027

  • Export 12 months of DVA display data by placement
  • Mark Jan 1 as a break in dashboards
  • Pause CPM based bid rules and alerts
  • Ask Amazon in writing about billing
  • Recheck frequency caps
  • Set Q1 budgets on cost per purchase

When this does not apply

If you only run Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands or Sponsored Display, nothing in this notice changes your reporting. DVA video, audio and campaigns that run off Amazon on third party sites also keep current counting, per the notice. And because Amazon has not yet published billing details, do not renegotiate rates or cut budgets on the 63% figure alone; wait for documentation and your own January data.

Where PPC Spider helps

Display decisions should rest on outcomes, not impression counts. Our Amazon advertising news channel tracks changes like this one and the Amazon DVA and DSP updates from unBoxed 2026. Read our guide to Amazon DSP vs sponsored ads to see where each fits, and our Amazon DSP agency team can rebase your 2026 benchmarks before January. To see where spend leaks today, book a free Amazon audit.

Sources

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