• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer, October 7, 2025

Microsoft is winding down its demand-side platform (DSP), “Microsoft Invest” and named Amazon DSP as its preferred partner. But Microsoft is not the only big tech company putting its trust in Amazon.

The company announced earlier this year that it would shutter Invest -- formerly known as Xandr DSP and before that, AppNexus.

The shutdown had been scheduled to be complete by March 2026, the company explained in a blog post. At the time, the company did not have a replacement for its DSP, and many thought it would rewrite the code based on artificial intelligence (AI). It may still do so.

Advertisers following Microsoft's recommendation and moving to Amazon DSP will increase their reliance on Amazon, potentially limiting their flexibility and access to the open internet.

We became aware earlier this year that it would shutter its DSP, but the consolidation reduces the number of major DSPs, which could lead to higher costs per click (CPC) and increased competition for advertising placement.

Today's announcement reshapes Microsoft’s advertising strategy, and enables its ad employees to focus on its core advertising products -- namely “Microsoft Advertising Platform,” “Monetize,” and “Curate.”

Microsoft has scheduled the official shutdown of Invest for February 28, 2026, the company said Tuesday, adding that its partnership with Amazon DSP should ensure a smooth transition for advertisers.

Advertisers using Invest will need to migrate campaigns, data and workflows.

The company also said Microsoft Monetize will join Amazon Ads’ Certified Supply Exchange program to enable Amazon DSP advertisers to access premium Microsoft inventory and curated deals that combine Amazon shopping insights with Microsoft’s inventory.

Microsoft Monetize is now a preferred supply-side platform (SSP) in Amazon’s “Certified Supply Exchange” program, intended to give advertisers using Amazon DSP more efficient access to Microsoft Monetize's open internet ad inventory and deals.

Advertisers that partner with Microsoft Monetize can now use special deal packages, including “Amazon Shopper Insights,” that match Amazon's shopping data with Microsoft Monetize inventory.

Interestingly, Microsoft is not the only large company partnering with Amazon DSP. On Monday, Adobe and Amazon announced a partnership to support their mutual customers through what the companies call real-time collaboration and data privacy.

Adobe Real-Time CDP Collaboration is intended to help publishers, brands and their agency partners gain insights through clean-room workflows.

This new integration analyzes shopping and other signals from Amazon DSP, “Sponsored Products,” and “Sponsored Brands” to find high-potential audience segments.

It will allow mutual customers to combine performance data from Amazon DSP and Sponsored Ads in Amazon Marketing Cloud to improve targeting, bidding and creative strategies across display, video and search channels.  

Insights are provided through aggregated data to understand how customers discover, consider, and purchase products across Amazon’s retail site, DSP and sponsored ad channels.