Amazon pushing into local ads, raising stakes with Google, Facebook
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Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) is reportedly amping up its advertising business (and a growing competition with big-tech rivals there) with a focus on local ads.
The tech/retail giant has been advertising in major cities to build a Local Ads team to build relationships with local media, according to Insider - a "rare opportunity" to "create a brand new business and revenue stream for Amazon Advertising," the company says.

That expansion is raising competitive facing with the Internet ad duopoly of Google (GOOG) (GOOG) and Alphabet (FB) - a local ad push suggests Amazon is looking heavily at the vast SMB market that makes up the bulk of Google/Facebook ad revenues - and Amazon's $31 billion in 2021 ad revenue makes it No. 3 behind those two.
The high-margin ad business has been a bright spot in internal tracking, after the first quarter had some lackluster sales and rising costs, Insider says.
The new push likely means Amazon's Local Ads would sell Amazon ad-tech products like streaming TV ads and a demand-side platform selling ads off the retail giant's website.