For many Amazon sellers, advertising can feel like a never-ending expense. When sales dip, ad costs rise, or margins tighten, the instinct might be to turn off Amazon PPC ads and “pause” spending.
But here’s the hard truth: Turning off Amazon ads is one of the biggest mistakes sellers make!
It may seem like a way to save money, but in reality, it can cause a ripple effect that hurts your organic rankings, sales momentum, and long-term profitability.
In this guide, we’ll break down why pausing your Amazon ads can be so damaging and what you should do instead of shutting them off.
How Amazon PPC Impacts Your Organic Sales
Many sellers mistakenly view Amazon ads as separate from organic sales, but in reality, they are deeply connected.
When you run Sponsored Product Ads, Amazon’s algorithm takes note of how well your product converts. The more sales your ad drives, the more Amazon sees your product as highly relevant to shoppers.
🚀 The result?
Amazon boosts your organic rankings, making your product more visible in search results.
Now, let’s explore what happens when you turn those ads off.
The Hidden Costs of Turning Off Amazon Ads
1. Your Organic Rankings Will Drop
Amazon’s A9 Algorithm prioritizes products that generate consistent traffic and sales.
If your product is showing up on Page 1 because of strong ad-driven performance, turning off PPC will reduce that traffic, leading to lower sales velocity.
📉 What happens next?
- Amazon will see your product as less relevant and push it further down in search rankings.
- Your competitors (who are still running ads) will outperform you in organic rankings.
- It becomes harder to regain lost positions when you restart ads later.
🔹 Example:
A seller was ranking #3 for “wireless earbuds” thanks to strong PPC campaigns. When they paused ads to cut costs, their organic ranking dropped to Page 4 within 3 weeks. It took months to recover lost visibility.
2. Your Sales Velocity Slows Down
Sales velocity—the rate at which you sell products over time—is one of the most important ranking factors on Amazon.
Turning off ads = less visibility = fewer sales = Amazon lowering your ranking.
📉 Here’s what happens when sales velocity drops:
❌ Amazon stops pushing your product to shoppers.
❌ You lose your position in the Buy Box, reducing conversions.
❌ Competitors with strong ad strategies dominate the top results.
🛑 Biggest Mistake: Sellers assume they can “pause” ads for a few weeks and pick up where they left off. In reality, your competitors will have already taken your spot.
3. Losing the Buy Box Hurts Conversions
If you’re an FBA seller, maintaining Buy Box eligibility is crucial. One key factor in winning the Buy Box is sales consistency.
If ads are helping maintain a steady sales flow, turning them off can reduce your Buy Box percentage, meaning fewer customers will see the “Buy Now” button on your listing.
🚨 Warning: If you’re competing with multiple sellers on the same listing, turning off ads could cause Amazon to award the Buy Box to another seller who is running ads and maintaining sales velocity.
4. Your PPC Data Will Reset – Making Future Campaigns More Expensive
When you turn off Amazon ads, your campaign data history disappears over time.
🚨 What does this mean?
- When you restart ads later, Amazon treats it like a new campaign.
- You lose all past learning and performance data that optimized your bids and targeting.
- You have to retrain Amazon’s algorithm—leading to higher CPCs (cost per click) and wasted ad spend.
🔹 Example:
A seller who stopped ads for 3 months saw their CPC increase by 40% when restarting their campaign, because Amazon had to relearn which keywords performed best.
5. Competitors Will Take Your Market Share
While you’re pausing ads, your competitors are still spending.
📉 The result?
They outbid you, steal your sales, and dominate search rankings.
If a competitor is running Sponsored Product Ads + Sponsored Brand Ads, they can push your listing further down in search results, reducing your visibility.
🚨 And here’s the kicker: Even when you turn ads back on, your CPC will be higher because competitors outbid you during your pause.
What You Should Do Instead of Turning Off Amazon Ads
Now that we know why turning off ads is a mistake, let’s talk about smart alternatives to reduce ad costs without hurting your rankings.
✅ 1. Optimize Your PPC Campaigns for Profitability
If you’re thinking of pausing ads to save money, try optimizing them instead.
💡 Ways to make your PPC more profitable:
✔️ Lower bids on high-cost, low-converting keywords.
✔️ Increase bids on high-converting keywords to maximize ROI.
✔️ Use negative keywords to eliminate wasteful ad spend.
✔️ Optimize product listings (better images, descriptions, bullet points) to increase conversion rates.
🎯 The goal? Reduce ad spend while keeping profitable campaigns running to maintain sales momentum.
✅ 2. Switch to Lower-Cost PPC Campaign Types
Instead of turning ads off completely, shift to cost-effective ad types that keep your products visible without overspending.
💰 Try These Lower-Cost Ad Strategies:
✔️ Sponsored Display Retargeting – Targets shoppers who already viewed your product, increasing conversions.
✔️ Exact Match Keywords Only – Reduces wasted spend on broad terms.
✔️ Defensive ASIN Targeting – Target your own listings instead of competitors to maintain Buy Box dominance.
✅ 3. Reduce Daily Budgets, But Keep Ads Running
Rather than turning ads off completely, lower your daily budget to keep your campaigns active at a lower cost.
🔹 Example:
Instead of pausing a campaign that spends $50/day, lower it to $15/day to maintain momentum without overspending.
💡 Why this works: Amazon’s algorithm still sees consistent traffic, protecting your rankings while reducing costs.
✅ 4. Focus on External Traffic (Google, Social Media, Email)
Amazon loves external traffic, and it can boost rankings without paid Amazon ads.
💡 How to drive traffic without Amazon PPC:
✔️ Use Google Shopping Ads to send external visitors to your listing.
✔️ Leverage Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest for organic reach.
✔️ Use email marketing (if you have a customer list) to promote new offers.
🚀 The goal? Keep consistent traffic flowing without relying solely on Amazon PPC.
Final Thoughts: Keep Ads Running, But Spend Smart
Turning off Amazon ads is a costly mistake that can hurt rankings, slow sales velocity, and increase long-term ad costs.
Instead of shutting ads off, try these smart alternatives:
✔️ Optimize campaigns for profitability instead of pausing them.
✔️ Switch to lower-cost PPC strategies that maintain visibility.
✔️ Reduce daily budgets instead of completely stopping ads.
✔️ Leverage external traffic to keep rankings strong.
By using these strategies, you can reduce ad spend while still maintaining long-term success on Amazon. 🚀
Have you ever turned off your Amazon ads? What happened? Drop a comment below—I’d love to hear your experience!
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