Automatically optimize Amazon Ads bids and delivery schedules

Use the Amazon cards in Ad Optimization to automatically adjust bids and placement bid adjustments to your target ACoS, receive delivery schedule proposals that pause ads during underperforming hours, and receive proposals to stop Amazon DSP ad groups. The card that calculates Google Ads and Yahoo! Search Ads bid targets from gross margin each week uses the same Auto-apply mechanism. Open Ad Optimization from the left menu.

What you can do

Requirements

• Available on the Business plan.

• Owners and Admins can change settings and approve proposals. Only Owners and Admins can open bid target proposal details.

• Sponsored Products cards require an Amazon Ads connection. Amazon DSP proposals require a connection to an Amazon DSP advertiser.

• Delivery Schedule Optimization proposals are sent for campaigns with at least 3 weeks of hourly performance data from the last 4 weeks.

Get started with Bid Optimization and Placement Bid Optimization

1. Set a target ACoS

Click Settings on the Bid Optimization card. A list of active Amazon Sponsored Products campaigns appears. Enter a target ACoS (ad spend ÷ ad-attributed sales) as a percentage for each campaign you want to optimize, then click Save. Values must be greater than 0 and no more than 200. Only campaigns with a target set are included in bid and placement bid optimization. You can also set the same target ACoS in the Target Value column under Ad Settings > Campaign Management.

Use the product's gross margin as a guide for ACoS. Setting ACoS equal to gross margin is the break-even point (zero profit). Lower values place more emphasis on profit. If you are unsure, start 10–20% below gross margin. If you have set gross margins for individual products, you can select Automatic from gross margin to have Cascade calculate the target ACoS instead of entering it manually (see the next section).

Set the target ACoS automatically from gross margin

Go to Ad Settings > Campaign Management and click the Target Value column for the campaign to open Set Target ACoS. Under How to set the target ACoS, select Automatic from gross margin (the default is Manual).

• Cascade calculates the effective gross margin and target ACoS using the per-product gross margins set under EC > Catalog and the sales mix of products advertised in that campaign over the last 30 days (or the click mix if there are no sales). The screen shows "Effective gross margin X% → Target ACoS X%" and each product's share, gross margin, and gross margin source (item setting / Uniform / Not set).

• The calculation cannot run and you cannot save if any products have no gross margin set, there is no ad performance data for the last 30 days, or both sales and clicks are 0. Follow the reason shown to set gross margins in Catalog or set a uniform gross margin in Settings on the Bid Target Auto-Calculation card.

• After you save, the value is recalculated daily, and the latest value is used as the target ACoS. If you change the gross margin, bids reflect the change starting with the next day's calculation. Placement bid adjustments reflect it starting with the next weekly calculation.

For configured campaigns, the value and Auto (gross margin) appear in the Target Value column in Campaign Management and in the Settings list on the Bid Optimization card. Change the value from the Target Value column (you cannot change it in the Settings list).

Auto (gross margin) · paused means the target ACoS can no longer be calculated. For example, a product's gross margin may have been removed, or the advertised products may have changed to include products with no gross margin set. While paused, bid and placement optimization do not run for that campaign (settings are retained, and optimization does not continue using an old value). Once you resolve the missing information shown, optimization resumes automatically with a calculation on the next day or later.

2. Review the initial notification

The first analysis after setup notifies you of the AI's proposed bid changes. Auto-apply starts with the next day's proposals for bids and the next set of proposals for placements. The proposal screen shows Bid at proposal and Proposed bid for each keyword and target, along with recent Clicks, Cost, Ad sales, Actual ACoS, and Target ACoS.

Each bid adjustment is between 0.8 and 1.2 times the current bid, based on performance over the last 30 days. Keywords with fewer than 10 clicks are not adjusted. Keywords with at least 20 clicks and 0 purchases are reduced to 0.8 times the current bid. Over a 30-day period, cumulative adjustments stay within 1/2 to 2 times the original bid.

The placement bid proposal screen shows the change in bid adjustment for each placement (X% → X%), clicks, ad cost, CV, sales, ACoS, and the Max effective multiplier resulting from the combination with the bidding strategy.

3. Review Auto-apply results

View applied changes in the Change history tab under Ad Settings > Campaign Management. Open an applied proposal to see "Applied: X" and how many of those changes Cascade applied automatically.

Stop automatic application

In Settings, clear the target ACoS for the campaign and save. Proposals awaiting approval are also canceled.

Use Delivery Schedule Optimization

• When Proposal ready appears on the Delivery Schedule Optimization card, open View proposal. The screen shows clicks, ad cost, and CV by hour, the hours marked as Proposed off hours (up to 12 hours), and the Period.

• Review the details, select the rows you want to approve, and click Apply schedule. A schedule is created for each campaign. The campaign pauses when the scheduled pause period begins and resumes when it ends (changes can take up to 30 minutes to apply). The schedule does not appear as a schedule in the Amazon Ads console.

• View approved schedules in the Delivery Schedule tab under Ad Settings > Campaign Management. You can enable, disable, or delete them. Disabling or deleting a schedule restores delivery that Cascade paused.

If you do not want proposals for a specific campaign, select Don't propose for this campaign again on the proposal screen. You can undo this setting from the same Delivery Schedule tab.

Use Amazon DSP proposals

If you have connected an Amazon DSP advertiser, an Amazon DSP campaigns section appears in Settings on the Bid Optimization card. Campaigns are the units previously called Orders in the Amazon DSP console. Proposals are generated for each ad group (formerly called a line item) within them.

• Set a target ACoS for a campaign with a sales objective to receive base bid (minimum bid) proposals for its ad groups in Bid Optimization. You cannot set this for campaigns without a sales objective.

• Set Stop proposals to Receive to receive proposals to stop underperforming ad groups on the Stop proposals card. The reason is either "No purchases" or "ACoS is at least X times the target." Select Stop or Dismiss for each row, then click Run. Dismissed rows are not proposed again for 30 days.

• Amazon DSP proposals are not applied automatically. Approval is required each time. Resume stopped ad groups in the Amazon DSP console. Cascade does not stop the last 1 active ad group in a campaign.

Removing the target ACoS also removes the stop proposal setting.

Use Bid Target Auto-Calculation

• Enter Gross Margin (%) in Settings on the Bid Target Auto-Calculation card (a uniform setting for the entire product, greater than 0 and no more than 100). Set per-product gross margins under EC > Catalog (Set per-product gross margins in Catalog). This uniform gross margin is also used for products without a per-product gross margin when Amazon target ACoS is set to Automatic from gross margin.

• Use LTV comparison window (days) (30, 90, 180, or 365 days; default: 90 days) to select the period used to reflect differences in repeat purchases between campaigns in the targets. A longer period leaves fewer customers available for comparison. A shorter period makes differences in repeat purchases less apparent.

• If conversions have no monetary value, such as inquiries or leads, connect closed order data (CRM, CSV, or EC) to calculate it automatically from the order value × close rate. You need at least 10 closed orders linked to leads for which a certain period has passed since acquisition.

• After setup, AI calculates target ROAS / target CPA each week from gross margin and performance, then applies them to Google Ads and Yahoo! Search Ads campaigns using Smart Bidding. The card shows Auto-applied.

• Proposals to "loosen" or "tighten" targets based on target CPA are not applied automatically. They appear on the card as Awaiting approval. Open View proposal, review Current → Recommended and Reason, then click Approve. You have 72 hours to approve. Expired proposals are not applied.

• Review applied changes in the Change history tab.

To stop automatic application, remove the gross margin setting.

Related features

• Bid proposals based on competitor price changes: When Cascade detects a price drop or similar change for a competitor product on your watchlist under EC > Pricing, Bid Optimization receives a proposal to lower bids for ads on that product page by 20% only while the competitor's price is lower. This proposal requires approval. If the competitor's price returns to its previous level, proposals awaiting a decision expire (Manage your Amazon prices and competitor prices in Pricing).

• Budget proposals for sale periods: If you have connected Amazon sales data, Budget Optimization receives proposals to increase daily budgets for campaigns advertising products eligible for coupons, flash sales, or price discounts, starting 3 days before the promotion begins (Use Budget Optimization).

• Placement Optimization: Proposals to exclude placements in Google Ads, Meta Ads, Microsoft Ads, and Yahoo! Display Ads (About Placement Analysis & Exclusions).

Troubleshooting

Related articles

• Use Ad Optimization (AI optimization)

• Manage campaigns

• About EC Analysis

• Set per-product gross margins in Catalog

• Manage your Amazon prices and competitor prices in Pricing