• by Laurie Sullivan , March 21, 2019

Amazon has capitalized on searches for products on mobile. Now the marketplace plans to add mobile video ads triggered by searches.

The mobile video ads appear in response to search results in its shopping app, according to one report, which provides better targeting options than the open web.

It turns out people searching on apps have a higher propensity to buy than those scrolling through Facebook or watching videos on YouTube, according to the report.

Amazon has been testing the ads on Apple’s iOS platform for several months, and a similar product for Google’s Android platform is planned for later this year.

Brands will spend nearly $16 billion on mobile video advertising in 2019, up from 22.6% in 2018, according to eMarketer.

Running video ads triggered by product searches within Amazon’s closed environment in the shopping app on the mobile phone could prove lucrative for the marketplace.

In an unrelated conversation about brand safety with Scott Silverman, the vice president and general manager of Marketplace at InMobi said in-app advertising protects brands from hostile environments often found on the open web.  

“The biggest advantage for advertisers on mobile phones come from pervasive IDs, so you’re not beholden to the cookie,” he said. “When someone uses their mobile phone there are ways to probabilistically and deterministically establish the devices linked to one person. It opens all kinds of opportunities.”