#113: Why Amazon Is Ignoring Your Ads

Read Time: 3 Minutes

Last week, one of my clients was pulling her hair out over Amazon Ads.

Despite high bids and perfectly relevant targeting, her ads weren't spending.

The books were great. Her covers were professional. Over 1,000 reviews on Book 1. The targeting was spot-on.

So why was Amazon seemingly ignoring her ads while inferior books got all the visibility?

The answer hit me like a brick...

The Uncomfortable Truth About Amazon's Algorithm

Amazon doesn't care about your book quality.

Or your perfect keywords.

Or your beautiful cover.

Amazon cares about one thing: making money.

Why... because they only make money when books actually sell.

Think about it.

Amazon takes a 30%-70% cut of every sale.

No sale = no profit for them.

So their algorithm is ruthlessly programmed to favour books with proven sales velocity. Books that consistently and historically convert clicks into cash.

Your new release with zero sales history?

Amazon's algorithm sees it as a risky investment.

Yes, you can sell new books and books with very little sales history with Amazon Ads alone, but 9 times out of 10, it's going to slow, hard and expensive.

The Catch-22 That's Killing Your Ads

Here's where it gets even more challenging.

Books with little sales history get less ad visibility.

Less visibility = fewer sales.

Fewer sales = continued poor performance.

Amazon's algorithm doubles down on this logic, creating a vicious cycle that's almost impossible to break with Amazon Ads alone.

Meanwhile, books with consistent sales patterns get preferential treatment in the ad auction.

They pay less for better placement.

Their organic visibility improves.

Their ads actually get the budget they set. 

The Secret Weapon Most Authors Gloss Over

But there's a way to "game" this system.

And it's hiding in plain sight.

Off-Amazon marketing.

Here's what most authors don't realise:

Any off-Amazon marketing that drives sales on Amazon can create the sales history Amazon craves. 

Facebook Ads for most authors. 

BookBub Ads for others.

Email newsletters for the patient ones.

Social media for some. 

The channel doesn't matter.

What matters is the consistent sales velocity that Amazon's algorithm can see and measure.

While Amazon's algorithm is deciding whether your book is worth promoting, your off-Amazon marketing is driving consistent sales from an entirely different ecosystem.

And these off-Amazon ecosystems don't care how many sales you're making on Amazon.

The sales (and borrows if your books are in Kindle Unlimited) create momentum and sales velocity – that's what Amazon cares about.

On top of this, Amazon's algorithm has recently started favouring external traffic even more heavily than it has ever done in the past.

They want to see that readers are discovering your book from multiple external sources—not just their own internal systems. 

Suddenly, when you get your off-Amazon marketing dialed in, Amazon's algorithm sees your book differently and your ads start doing what they were designed to do.

The Strategic Sequence That Changes Everything

The authors who use promote their books on and off Amazon don't run their marketing efforts in isolation.

They use a sequence like this:

Step 1: Launch off-Amazon marketing to drive initial sales velocity

Step 2: Let consistent sales "warm up" Amazon's algorithm for 2-3 months

Step 3: Launch Amazon Ads with the advantage of proven performance

Step 4: Watch multiple ad platforms amplify each other

I've seen plenty of books that wouldn't spend a cent on Amazon Ads suddenly start driving sales (and page reads) with the same targeting and bids once the off-Amazon marketing has built the sales foundation.

The Compound Effect

This isn't just about getting Amazon Ads to work.

It's about creating a flywheel.

Amazon Ads start getting the budget they deserve. 

Your bids become competitive instead of ignored.

Organic visibility improves due to increased sales velocity.

The algorithm starts recommending your book to readers.

Your off-Amazon marketing becomes more effective as Amazon's recommendation engine brings in readers who then get retargeted.

Your on and off-Amazon strategies start working for you instead of against you.

The Reality Check 

Most authors approach advertising backwards. 

They start with Amazon Ads because it feels logical—advertise where readers buy. 

But Amazon's algorithm punishes this approach for unproven books.

It's like trying to get a job without experience, but you can't get experience without the job (chicken or the egg come to mind here?)

Off-Amazon marketing breaks this cycle.

It's your foot in the door.

Your proof of concept.

Your sales history generator.

What This Means For You 

If you've been struggling with Amazon Ads—especially if they're not spending despite high bids and relevance—the problem might not be your campaigns.

It might be that you're missing the foundation that Amazon's algorithm is looking for.

Off-Amazon marketing isn't just another advertising channel.

It's the driver that your Amazon Ads need.

And when you understand how these strategies work together, everything changes.

Your advertising becomes systematic instead of scattered.

Your results become predictable instead of random.

Your business becomes sustainable instead of stressful.

The question isn't whether you should run Facebook Ads, BookBub Ads or Amazon Ads.

The question is...

Are you building the sales foundation Amazon's algorithm is looking for?

That's it for this week.

Thanks for taking the time to read and enjoy your weekend.

To Your Success
– Matt