AI this, AI that. These days, it feels like everything runs on AI. And guess what? The Amazon world is no different. Sellers already have a ton on their plate - creating listings, building a brand, staying in front of customers, keeping account health in check, managing inventory…the list goes on. So when automation showed up, it’s no surprise that sellers were quick to jump on board.

Amazon itself has rolled out plenty of automation tools with things like dynamic bidding, budget rules, automated targeting, and even campaign suggestions built right into Seller Central. And then there’s advertising. Sure, it’s one of the most powerful areas to automate, but because ads directly affect the bottom line, sellers often get a little skeptical. Sellers have a lot of questions about PPC automation, and with this blog, we’ll clear the air.

What parts of Amazon PPC should I automate first, and what should stay manual?

Not everything in PPC should be automated right away. The trick is to start with the repetitive, number-crunching work and keep the strategy calls in your hands.

Good places to start with automation:

• Bid adjustments: Automating small bid increases or decreases based on performance saves time and keeps your CPC in check. Example: if a keyword gets 20 clicks and no sales, automation can lower its bid by 10%.

• Search term harvesting: Moving winning search terms from auto campaigns into manual ones can easily be rule-based.

• Negative keywords: Automatically blocking terms that burn spend without conversions helps control wasted budget.

• Budget pacing: Daily or weekly budget caps that adjust to avoid overspending.

Keep these manuals (at least in the beginning):

• Campaign structure (deciding which ASINs or match types go where)

• Keyword research and creative testing (Sponsored Brands headlines, Sponsored Display audiences)

• Launch strategy and seasonal pushes (Prime Day, BFCM)

• Automation handles the heavy lifting, but your judgment drives the direction.

How much time can automation realistically save each week? 

The time you save depends on how complex your account is, but most sellers agree that PPC automation cuts out hours of routine work.

Typical time spent without automation:

• Checking bids and budgets daily: 30–60 minutes

• Pulling reports and spotting bad keywords: 1–2 hours

• Manually adding negatives or moving search terms: 1–2 hours

• Adjusting campaigns during promos or seasonality: another 1–2 hours

That’s 4–6 hours per week, per account, often more if you manage multiple marketplaces.

With automation in place:

• Bid changes, budget pacing, and search term moves run in the background

• Reports turn into alerts or summaries instead of raw spreadsheets

• You spend time reviewing changes instead of making every small tweak

Realistically, you can save half a working day or more every week. For agencies or multi-brand sellers, that time compounds fast, freeing you up to focus on strategy, creative, and scaling.

Can automation help if my campaigns have low impressions or no sales? 

Automation is great at managing and optimizing, but it can’t fix a campaign that doesn’t have enough data to work with. If your ads aren’t getting impressions or sales, automation has nothing to adjust, it’s like asking cruise control to work when the car isn’t moving.

In these cases, you need to first focus on the basics:

• Keyword selection: Are you targeting terms with actual search volume? Using keyword research tools or Amazon’s suggested terms can help.

• Bids: If your bids are too low, your ads may never show. Sometimes raising bids slightly is all it takes to kickstart impressions.

• Listing quality: Even with clicks, poor images or weak copy will stop sales from happening.

Once impressions and sales start coming in, automation can take over to optimize bids, control wasted spend, and scale winners. 

Are budget rules worth it, or do they cause overspend? 

Budget rules can be really useful, but they’re not a “set and forget” solution. By design, they automatically increase or decrease your daily budgets when certain conditions are met, like during Prime Day, Black Friday, or when your campaign is hitting a strong ROAS.

Why they’re worth it:

• They keep high-performing campaigns from going “out of budget” in the middle of the day.

• They help you capture more traffic during peak events without you constantly monitoring.

• They let you plan by setting schedules (for example, doubling budgets only on weekends).

Where they can backfire:

• If you don’t set guardrails, Amazon may spend more just because the budget is higher, even if performance dips.

• Rules don’t always “think” about profit. They follow the conditions you set, so weak campaigns might get extra spend if your trigger is too broad.

The safest approach is to use budget rules on proven campaigns and set hard caps. That way, you maximize opportunity without letting spending run wild.

Should I automate a single SKU per campaign setup, or group SKUs and let rules sort it out? 

Both setups work, but the right choice depends on how much control you want.

Running one SKU per campaign gives you very clean data. You know exactly which ASIN is driving impressions, clicks, and sales. This makes automation rules easier to apply because there’s no mix-up between products. For example, if automation lowers bids due to high ACoS, you know it’s reacting to the true performance of that single SKU.

On the other hand, grouping SKUs can make sense if products are very similar (same category, price point, or target audience). In that case, automation can spread the budget across them and focus spending where performance is strongest. But the downside is less clarity, if one product is eating budget with poor returns, it can drag the others down.

Quick rule of thumb:

• Use single SKU campaigns for best-sellers, high spend, or when testing new products.

• Use grouped campaigns for smaller, low-volume items where you don’t want to manage dozens of tiny campaigns.

Automation works in both setups. It’s your campaign structure that decides how clear the results will be.

Which metrics should my rules use and in what order?

When setting up PPC automation, the metrics you choose matter just as much as the rules themselves. A good starting sequence looks like this:

• Clicks and impressions: First, make sure a keyword is actually getting enough traffic. No point in automating if there’s no data.

• Conversions (orders): If clicks don’t lead to orders after a certain threshold, that’s your first red flag.

• ACoS or ROAS: Once conversions are happening, these tell you if the spend is efficient. For example, you might lower bids if ACoS is above 40% but raise them if it’s below 20%.

• TACoS or overall profitability: Beyond campaign-level results, you want to see if ads are helping organic sales too.

Some sellers also add conversion rate (CVR) into their rules as a tie-breaker, helpful for spotting products that get clicks but can’t close sales.

If you’re unsure where to start, this is where working with an Amazon PPC consultant can help. They’ll know how to layer these metrics so automation doesn’t act too early or too late.

What are the common pitfalls sellers report with PPC automation tools? 

Automation saves time, but it’s not bulletproof. Many sellers dive in too quickly and then get frustrated because the results don’t match their expectations. Some common pitfalls include:

• Acting on too little data: Rules kick in after just a handful of clicks, which leads to good keywords being paused too early or bids being lowered before enough conversions come through.

• Over-optimizing for ACoS: Focusing only on ACoS often cuts off campaigns that build long-term sales and ranking. Sometimes a higher ACoS is acceptable if it drives organic growth.

• Too many overlapping rules: Having multiple rules that push bids up and down at the same time creates a tug-of-war effect and messy results.

• No guardrails: Without max CPC caps, budget limits, or lookback windows, spend can spike in ways you didn’t intend.

• Ignoring the creative side: Automation can’t fix weak product pages or poor ad creatives. If those aren’t strong, no rule will deliver sales.

The key is to treat automation as a helper, not a replacement for strategy. It handles the grunt work, but you still need to set the direction and review results regularly.

Will automation lower ACoS or just shift spend around?

This is one of the biggest concerns sellers have, and it’s a fair question. The truth is, automation doesn’t magically lower ACoS, it follows the rules you set. If your rules are designed well, they can absolutely help bring ACoS down. But if the setup is too broad, you may just end up shifting spend from one set of keywords to another without any real gain.

For example, if a rule simply cuts bids on anything with high spend, it might lower ACoS in the short term but also starve keywords that need time to convert. On the other hand, rules that factor in conversions and profitability can steadily trim wasted spend while protecting proven performers.

That’s why a mix of automation and human oversight works best. You can let automation handle routine bid changes and budget pacing, but strategic calls, like keyword expansion or creative testing, still need your input. Many sellers bring in Amazon pay per click advertising management experts at this stage, because experience helps in setting the right balance between automation and manual control.

What automation tool should I use for my PPC campaigns?

There are plenty of tools out there for automating PPC, and honestly, the best choice depends on how hands-on you want to be. Some sellers stick with Amazon’s built-in options like dynamic bidding, budget rules, and campaign suggestions. These are fine to start, but they’re also limited. You don’t get much flexibility in setting your own conditions.

Third-party platforms give you more control. They let you create custom rules, move search terms automatically, manage negatives in bulk, and keep a closer eye on profitability. Think of them as an Amazon product ads management tool that saves you hours of manual work.

Since you’re here, it’s worth mentioning BidBison. It’s a simple, rule-based automation tool that helps cut the repetitive grind out of PPC while keeping you in charge of the strategy. Instead of spending hours adjusting bids or adding negatives, you set the rules once and let BidBison do the legwork.

At the end of the day, the right tool is the one that fits your workflow and doesn’t make you feel like you’re giving up control.