Top 10 Amazon PPC Mistakes That Kill Your Profitability (And How to Avoid Them)

At first, running Amazon PPC seems simple: select keywords, set bids, fire up ads.

But let’s face it: most sellers lose money because of small mistakes they don’t even realize they’re making.

These errors quietly siphon your budget, lower your ranking, and crush your profitability.

In this article, you will learn about the 10 biggest PPC mistakes sellers make, why they happen, and how you can fix them.

Let’s begin.

1. Targeting broad, irrelevant keywords

Most beginners target every keyword that looks “close” to their product.

But broad keywords bring tons of clicks and almost no conversions.

Example:

Selling a “kids water bottle,” but targeting “water bottle.”

Fix:

You receive clicks from adults, gym-goers, and office buyers, but no one actually wants a kids-themed product.

Solution:

Use long-tail and relevant keywords like:

• kids spill-proof water bottle
• BPA-free kids water bottle
• toddler drinking bottle

2. Not Using Negative Keywords

Negative keywords prevent your ads from appearing for irrelevant searches.

Most sellers ignore them – and lose money.

Example:

The keywords you should block, in case of selling a high-value water bottle, are:

• cheap water bottle
• free water bottle
• used water bottle

Solution:

Add negative keywords every week to avoid wastage.

 

 

3. Incorrect Bidding Strategy: Too High or Too Low

New sellers overbid to win the top spot, but high bids destroy ACOS.

Others underbid – and never get impressions.

Fix:

Start with balanced bids, then adjust based on:

• CTR
• Conversion rate
• Placement performance
• Profit margin

Avoid emotional bidding; instead, use data-driven adjustments.

4. Not Considering Listing Quality Before Running Ads

This is one of the biggest profit killers.

A weak listing = low conversion = wasted ad spend.

Signs your listing is hurting ads:

• Low-quality images
• Bad Titles
• Weak bullets
• No A+ content
• Missing keywords

Solution:

Continually optimize your listing before running PPC.

5. Running Only Automatic Campaigns

Auto campaigns are great at discovery, but they cannot scale on their own.

You need control, and auto-campaigns won’t provide that.

Fix:

Use this structure:

Auto Campaign (Keyword Harvesting)

• Manual: Exact match
• Manual: Phrase match
• Manual: Broad match
• Product targeting campaigns

This gives balance and profitability.

6. Not separating branded from non-branded keywords

If someone searches your brand name, they’re already looking for you.

These clicks convert easily.

But mixing brand + generic keywords destroys data accuracy.

Correct:

• Create separate campaigns:
• Branded keywords
• Competitor keywords
• Generic keywords

This improves optimization and profitability.

7. Disregarding Search Term Reports

This report shows EXACTLY what customers typed.

Most sellers never check it — huge mistake.

Fix:

• Check weekly and take actions like:
• Add Converting Terms to Exact Match Campaigns
• Add wasting terms to negative keywords.
• Pause high-spend non-converting keywords.

8. Not Testing New Ad Types

Many sellers use only Sponsored Products and avoid Sponsored Brands or Display ads.

This limits your visibility and hurts long-term ranking.

Correct:

Use a full PPC mix:

• Sponsored Products
• Sponsored Brands
• Sponsored Display
• Sponsored TV Ads (for brand awareness in 2025)

More coverage = more sales.

9. Not Monitoring Daily

PPC isn’t “set it and forget it”.

Amazon changes every day — competition, bids, placement costs, traffic, everything.

If you don’t adapt, you lose money.

Corrections:

• Monitor
• Bids
• Keywords
• Placement performance
• Search trends

Conversion rates, Daily optimization = healthy ACOS.

10. Scaling Too Fast (Without Checking Profit):

A few good days will send some sellers straight into doubling their budget. Then, ACOS jumps, profits drop, and panic begins.

Scale slowly and safely:

• Increase the budget only when the category is stable.
• Increase bids only on strong, converting keywords.
• Expand keywords gradually.
• Intelligent scaling protects profitability.

How eCom Managers Help You Avoid These Mistakes

Most sellers waste money by trying to manage everything themselves. eCom Managers fixes this by managing PPC with a fully optimized, profit-first system:

• Deep keyword research, Keyword pruning or the removal of waste, and Daily bid adjustments.
• Weekly negative keywords, Listing optimization, A/B testing of images & titles, Structured campaign setup, Optimizing Sponsored Products, Brands & Display.
• Using Sponsored TV Ads for established brands. They take complete control so that your ads can finally be profitable and not stressful.

Final Thoughts:

Amazon PPC can be your biggest growth tool or your most significant money drain. And that difference depends on how well you avoid these 10 mistakes. Most sellers lose money not because PPC is complex or because they don’t want to, but because they don’t know what’s hurting their performance.

Correct these errors, and your sales & ROI will start rising fast.