Amazon has launched a global media agency review, the commerce giant has confirmed.  

The company is one of the largest advertisers in the world, with global media expenditures of $5 billion, according to agency research firm COMvergence.  

Mediabrands handles about half of that figure globally while Amazon handles the other half in-house. About $2.4 billion of the total is earmarked for the US and of that figure Mediabrands handles about $1.3 billion with $1.1 billion activated in-house, per the COMvergence breakdown.   

Amazon consolidated its global media account in 2017 with Mediabrands, the Interpublic media management arm. It created a dedicated team pulling in resources throughout the company. 

Executives from Initiative, one of the client’s incumbents going into the 2017 review, have led the account.  

Amazon spokesperson Brad Glasser issued this statement: “As part of our regular course of business, we routinely review existing business relationships with third-party vendors and partners, and based on those reviews, may decide to solicit proposals from vendors interested in working with us. We look forward to the proposal process in this case and will evaluate the right next steps for our businesses once we’ve reviewed submissions.” 

It was not immediately clear at deadline if Amazon was working with an outside search consultant or who was being invited to pitch the business.  

It’s been a busy week in the new business arena. Omnicom Media Group was awarded Uber’s global media account after a four month review and Publicis won Kimberly-Clark's U.S. media assignment, also after a formal pitch.