As Amazon becomes ever larger and expands into new lines of business, the Seattle e-commerce behemoth is turning its sights on the golden goose of two Silicon Valley rivals: digital advertising.
Google and Facebook dominate the extremely lucrative business of selling digital ads, but experts say Amazon is positioning itself to snatch away market share. At the same time, the company has been on a Bay Area expansion binge as it battles for more of the region's top tech talent.
"They have made the determination to take the advertising business seriously," said Rob Norman, chief digital officer for GroupM, an arm of advertising powerhouse WPP.
Driving Amazon's digital advertising advances are the company's efforts to make it easier for customers to buy ads on Amazon websites, combined with a growing awareness in the business world that Amazon can offer advertisers a huge audience of consumers who are eager to buy, experts said.
"Many (advertisers) had resisted it for a long time but are starting to realize that you need to be on Amazon, as you are on the other platforms," said Forrester Research analyst Samantha Merlivat.