Amazon Ads Not Delivering: A Step-by-Step Troubleshooting Guide

Amazon ads stop delivering for a short list of reasons: a payment problem, a paused or ended campaign, an exhausted budget, an ineligible product (out of stock, no Buy Box, restricted), a creative still in moderation, or bids and targeting that are too weak to win auctions. The fastest way to find which is to start at the account level, then check the campaign status, then the ad and product status, then bids and targeting.

Step 1: Is it the whole account or one campaign?

Open the campaign manager and look at impressions for yesterday across all campaigns.

• Every campaign at zero: almost always billing. See Amazon Ads payment failed. Also check whether your Seller Central account has an issue that affects selling.
• Some campaigns at zero: continue to Step 2 for each one.
• Impressions present but much lower than usual: skip to Step 5 (bids, competition and relevance).

Step 2: Read the campaign status

The Status column in the campaign manager is the first clue. Hover over it for details.

Portfolio caps catch a lot of people. If several campaigns share a portfolio with a monthly or date-range cap, they all stop once it is hit. See portfolios and budget caps.

Step 3: Check the ad and product status

Open the campaign, then the ad group, then the Ads tab. Each product ad has its own status.

• Out of stock: Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands will not show ads for products that cannot be bought. Restock or advertise a different variation.
• Not featured offer / not buyable: your offer does not hold the Featured Offer (Buy Box). See ineligible due to Buy Box.
• Ineligible: the product may be in a restricted category, or the listing has an issue such as missing required details or a suppressed listing.
• Pending review or rejected: common for Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display creatives. See Amazon ad rejected for policy.
• Landing page not available: for Sponsored Brands, the store page or products linked may be broken or ineligible.

Step 4: Check the listing in Seller Central

Some problems only show up on the listing side. In Seller Central, check Manage All Inventory for the ASIN.

• Is the listing active, or suppressed for missing information or a policy issue?
• Is it Featured Offer eligible? There is a column for this in the inventory view.
• Is there available inventory, including inbound stock that has not yet been received?
• Is the price unusually high compared with recent prices? Amazon can remove the Featured Offer for any seller when it judges a price uncompetitive, which also stops ads.

Step 5: Bids too low to win

If the campaign and products are eligible but impressions are near zero, you are probably losing auctions. Compare your bids to Amazon's suggested bid range shown next to each keyword. If your bid is well below the low end, you will rarely win.

• Raise bids on zero-impression keywords by 20 to 30% and recheck after 3 to 5 days.
• Check that a placement adjustment is not the only thing carrying the bid; base bid matters for rest-of-search and product pages.
• If you use 'Dynamic bids - down only', Amazon may lower bids in auctions it thinks will not convert, which can reduce impressions on new campaigns.

Use the PPC bid calculator to find the maximum bid your margins can support before raising.

Step 6: Targeting too narrow or not relevant

• Exact match keywords with very low search volume will barely deliver. Add phrase or broad versions to test demand.
• Product targets on ASINs with little traffic produce few impressions.
• Negative keywords can block more than intended. A negative phrase 'kids' blocks every search containing that word. Review campaign- and ad-group-level negatives.
• Amazon also considers relevance. If your listing does not mention the concept in the keyword, the ad may struggle to serve on it even with a strong bid.

Step 7: Time limits you may have set

Dayparting schedules and budget rules can also stop delivery. If you or a tool set campaigns to run only during certain hours, or a rule lowers budgets after a threshold, a campaign can look broken when it is simply following instructions. Check for schedules and rules, including ones set in third-party software, before changing bids. The dayparting guide explains how schedules interact with budgets.

Step 8: New campaign patience

Brand-new campaigns can take a few hours to start serving, and impressions are often low in the first day or two while Amazon gathers data. If it has been less than 24 to 48 hours and nothing else is wrong, wait before changing much.

Worked example

A seller notices a manual exact campaign for a yoga mat dropped from about 3,000 impressions a day to zero. Status: Delivering. Ads tab: the blue 6 mm variation shows 'Out of stock' and the other two colors show 'Not featured offer'. In Seller Central, the seller finds they raised the price from $34.99 to $44.99 during a supplier delay, and the Featured Offer badge disappeared for those variations. Returning the price to $36.99 restored Featured Offer eligibility within a day, and impressions came back. The blue variation stayed off until stock arrived.

A quick checklist

1. All campaigns at zero? Check billing.
2. Campaign status: paused, ended, scheduled, out of budget, portfolio capped?
3. Ad status: out of stock, not featured offer, ineligible, rejected?
4. Listing: active, in stock, Featured Offer eligible, price in line?
5. Bids: near or above suggested range?
6. Targeting: enough search volume, negatives not over-blocking, listing relevant?
7. New campaign: give it 24 to 48 hours.

If your ads deliver impressions but do not get clicks or sales, that is a different problem. See impressions but no clicks.

FAQ