Amazon Ads Data: How to Access Amazon Historical Data & Why It Matters?

Trying to access three months’ old Amazon Ads data only to find “no data available.” How many times have you come across this situation? 

You know that Amazon deletes historical data from its Advertising Console after just two months. So, if you want to look at day-by-day data from three months ago, you won’t be able to access it.

This limitation makes it hard for brands to make the right decisions. 

Access to Amazon Ads historical data is crucial for understanding past performance and planning future strategies. Amazon advertising is all about experimenting and learning from previous campaigns. And “data harvesting” or the availability of data for longer durations is a crucial (and less talked about) component of ad operations. Managing profitable Amazon PPC campaigns requires continuous, data-driven optimization and decision-making. 

Limited data availability is a real challenge when it comes to time series and long-term data analysis, such as year-over-year comparisons of Amazon ad campaigns. To help you maximize the potential of your advertising campaigns, we’ll discuss the challenges in accessing Amazon historical data and explore different methods to access it.

What’s the Amazon Lookback Window for Different Advertising Reports?

Understanding the lookback window for different advertising reports is crucial when accessing Amazon historical data. 

The lookback window refers to the maximum time frame for which Amazon retains and provides access to specific advertising data through various platforms like the Amazon Ads Console, APIs, and third-party software solutions.

Let us break down the lookback periods for different advertising reports across these platforms.

1. Amazon Ads Console

The Amazon Ads Console is the primary platform where advertisers access their campaign data. It also provides multiple reports, each with a different lookback period. The reason behind different report lookback periods is that each report is owned by a different advertising team within Amazon. Hence, there is non-uniformity in the length of data storage.

Here’s a breakdown of the lookback windows for different advertising reports:

1. Targeting Report (90 days)

2. Search Term Report (65 days)

3. Advertised Products Report (90 days)

4. Purchased Products Report (60 days)

2. Amazon APIs

Amazon's APIs can be utilized if you connect to a data warehouse to download your data. Amazon APIs have recently increased their data aggregation period to 95 days (up from 60 days earlier) for Sponsored Products data reports. However, for Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display Ads reports, data is still only available for 60 days.

3. Third-Party Software

Using third-party software for data analytics or ad automation can extend your access to historical data. For instance, with Amazon Retail-Aware PPC Optimization Software like atom11, you can save ads data like campaign name, click-through rate, cost per click, number of clicks, ACoS, total sales, and other key metrics, for up to 1.5 years.

Common Approaches to Harvesting Amazon PPC Data

Now that we know historical data sources, it is time to learn how data can be harvested from each platform. 

1. Harvesting Data from Amazon Advertising Console

Process

• Manually download monthly reports from the Amazon Advertising Console.

• Aggregate reports in a folder for future access.

Pros

It is completely free. There are no costs associated with downloading reports manually.

Cons

• The process is time-consuming and cumbersome, demanding consistent manual effort to download and store reports before they expire.

• There’s a significant risk of data loss if it's not managed diligently.

• Data fragmentation makes it challenging to consolidate information from multiple reports.

2. Harvesting Data Using APIs

Process

• Auto-download reports with Automated Data Retrieval via APIs or Data Warehouses at specified intervals.

• Store the data in your data warehouse for unlimited retention.

Pros

• Automated data harvesting eliminates the need for manual downloads. 

• It enables you to store and access extensive historical data, offering greater flexibility and customization in data retrieval.

Cons

• Setting up and maintaining API integrations requires technical expertise and resources. 

• The initial investment can be high, and ongoing maintenance is necessary due to frequent API updates, making it a costly and resource-intensive solution.

3. Harvesting Data Using Third-Party Software

Process

Using third-party software like atom11 for automation and analysis helps you automatically harvest, consolidate, and store data.

Pros

• Easy to use with an automated approach to data harvesting. 

• Extended data retention beyond Amazon’s standard lookback periods, for up to one year or more.

• Consolidates data seamlessly from various reports.

• Offer a user-friendly interface with advanced analytics, saving time and resources compared to manual methods.

Cons

This method may involve subscription fees or licensing costs, which can add up over time. Dependence on third-party providers means you need to ensure they comply with data protection regulations and that your data remains secure and accessible.

Data Harvesting With Amazon Ads Console vs. API vs. Third-Party Software

While on one hand, Amazon Ads Console provides easy data visibility without technical expertise, it does not offer long-term data retention. Further, the platform doesn’t provide advanced analytics to help you gain insights into potential issues and make informed strategic decisions. 

On the other hand, API isn’t easy to use. It requires technical expertise. Plus, you don’t get access to analytics and insights. 

However, third-party solutions like atom11 give you the best of both worlds. It’s easy to use, offers long-term data retention, and provides access to advanced analytics, helping you build effective, data-driven Amazon Ads optimization strategies. 

Here’s How atom11 Helps You Look back into Amazon Data and Make Better Decisions

Atom11 helps you harvest data up to 1 year, serving as a perfect co-pilot in helping you drive decisions for advertising to boost brand awareness and conversion rates. This is how it helps:

Automated Data Harvesting: Atom11 automatically retrieves data from APIs, saves it in its database, combines it with multiple reports, and allows you to visualize the same on its dashboard. No efforts required. 

Unified Data: Atom11 consolidates multiple reports, so you don’t have to bear the grunt work of combining reports using vlookups. It saves your precious time and resources.

Better Data Comparison: Having up to 1 year of campaign data means you can compare them, observe trends, identify bottlenecks, benchmark performance, and make better decisions. 

Simplifying Next Steps After Data Harvesting

With atom11, you can expect insights along with data. We provide recommendations based on long-term and short-term data. You can use search term performance data to identify harvesting and negating opportunities. You can use data to figure out experiments done over time and their results. 

Suppose you identify a low CTR pattern for specific keywords from your search term performance data. Using atom11’s data harvesting and analytics capabilities, you can analyze competing ads for these keywords, edit the ad copy, adjust bids, and more. 

If you’re interested in getting more control over your data using the data for insights and driving actions, book a demo with atom11 today. 

About atom11

Atom11 is an Amazon PPC automation software. We bring retail data from Seller Central and advertising data from Ad Console to provide better insights and actionability. 

Get in touch with us today to set up table stakes automations for bids and budgets and combine inventory data with ads to set up automations around the same.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good CTR for Amazon ads?

A good CTR for Amazon Ads can be anywhere between 0.3% to 0.5% and above. CTR rates below 0.3% can be considered poor and demand immediate attention.

What is PPC data on Amazon?

PPC data on Amazon include Amazon Ads performance metrics such as impressions, total ads, ACoS, CTR, sales, and keyword performance data that helps advertisers develop effective strategies to optimize their ads.

What is Amazon Ads API?

Amazon Ads API allows you to connect with Amazon’s advertising platform and manage advertisers’ resources. It allows automated campaign management, performance data retrieval, and other bulk operations using the ads dashboard.

Are Amazon ads effective?

Yes, Amazon ads are effective as they help brands improve visibility and conversion rates. According to data, Amazon ads bring in 20% more Return On Investment (ROI) than average brand marketing strategies.