- Amazon Attribution is free and links tagged off-Amazon clicks to Amazon sales.
- The Brand Referral Bonus averages about 10% of qualifying sales, per Amazon, and varies by category and price.
- Attribution uses a 14-day, last-touch model, so slower purchases and earlier clicks get no credit.
- The bonus covers US store sellers in Brand Registry, and arrives as a credit against referral fees after about two months.
- Amazon's own ads and untagged traffic earn nothing, and secondary sources report one program per tag with Associates.
- Count the credit in your break-even ROAS: at 42.5% margin, a 10% bonus moves it from 2.35 to 1.90.
What will you accomplish by setting up Amazon Attribution?
You will finish with one Attribution campaign per product group, a unique tag on every outside link, a naming system your team can read, and bonus enrollment if you sell in the US store. You will also be able to judge each channel on profit after the credit, which is the number that decides budgets.
You cannot put a Meta or Google pixel on an Amazon checkout page, so those platforms only see the click. Attribution ties that click to Amazon's own record of the detail page view, the add to cart and the purchase.
Amazon lists the tool as free to use. The bonus is a separate program with its own enrollment, so running tags alone does not sign you up.
Who is eligible for Amazon Attribution and the Brand Referral Bonus?
Attribution serves professional sellers in Brand Registry, plus vendors, KDP authors and agencies with Amazon clients, across nine countries. The Brand Referral Bonus is narrower: as of November 2026 Amazon describes it as a US store program for seller brand owners. A brand selling only in the UK or Germany can measure traffic but cannot earn this credit.
| Requirement | Amazon Attribution | Brand Referral Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Who | Registered professional sellers, vendors, KDP authors, agencies | Professional sellers with a Brand Representative role on a registered brand |
| Where | US, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Netherlands, UK | US store only |
| Traffic | Outside channels such as search, social, display, video and email | Tagged outside traffic only, with Amazon's own ads excluded |
| What you get | Click, cart, purchase and sales reports | Credit against future referral fees |
Two of Amazon's own pages disagree. The product page lists nine countries including Mexico and the Netherlands, while its longer guide lists seven. We follow the product page because it reads as the current one. That page also mentions running sponsored ads in one section but not in its FAQ, so confirm it when you register.
The bonus needs a brand in Brand Registry, which in turn needs an active or pending trademark. Our post on Brand Registry benefits covers what else that enrollment gets you. An advertiser based elsewhere, in India for example, can still use Attribution if it sells in a listed country, and Amazon words the bonus rule around the US store. Amazon addresses the program to seller brand owners, and Advertise Purple reports that first-party vendor sales do not count.
What are the steps to set up tags and claim the credit?
Enroll in the bonus first, then build an Attribution campaign in Amazon Ads Agent, create one ad group per tactic, and paste each generated tag into the destination URL of that ad or link. Check the data after two days. Credits then show up about two months after the sale month.
- Check that your account meets the Attribution rules, and for the bonus check that you sell in the US store on a Professional plan with a Brand Representative role in Brand Registry.
- Register in Seller Central before the traffic runs. Advertise Purple gives the path as Brands, then Brand Referral Bonus. Only tagged traffic can earn the credit.
- Sign in to Amazon Ads Agent, expand the navigation, choose Measurement and Reporting, then Amazon Attribution, and select Create campaign.
- Pick manual or bulk creation, name the campaign, and add in-stock products with photos and prices, including the size and color variations shown in your creative.
- Create one ad group per tactic or creative, setting its name, publisher, channel and click-through URL. Each ad group produces its own tag, which you can download as a CSV.
- Paste the tag into the destination URL field of the ad, post, email link or button, replacing the plain Amazon URL, or send it to the publisher. Use each tag once.
- Click every live link once and confirm it lands on the right page. After one to two days, compare clicks against publisher data and investigate any gap above 20%.
- Review campaigns weekly, download the weekly bonus report in Seller Central, and check credits in Transaction Details about two months after each sales month.
Manual or bulk tag creation?
Use manual creation for anything without a template: TikTok, email, creators, organic posts. Bulk upload only supports Google Ads and Facebook or Instagram. You download Amazon's template, fill it from a Google Ads report or a Meta Ads Manager export, and upload it. Amazon says one file can hold up to 100,000 Google keywords or 8,500 Meta ads, and that tag creation takes roughly 10 minutes.
If you already pay for a tool connected to the Amazon Ads API, ask about it first. Amazon says API tags can use macros for Google, Facebook and Instagram, so one tag per publisher and client can replace thousands.
Product page or Store?
Send traffic to a detail page when the ad sells one product. Send it to your Store when the creative is about the range. Each destination gets its own tag, so testing both on Meta gives you a straight comparison.
How should you name Attribution campaigns and ad groups?
Name campaigns by product group and goal, and name ad groups by where the tag will live. Amazon says campaign names are visible only to you, so write them for the person reading the report six months from now. A fixed pattern lets you sort a download by channel without a lookup sheet.
| Level | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign | product group, goal, start month | dogbeds_launch_2701 |
| Ad group, paid | publisher, channel, audience, creative, start month | meta_social_cold_videoA_2701 |
| Ad group, email | publisher, channel, list segment, send, link | klaviyo_email_buyers_jan1_hero |
| Ad group, creator | platform, channel, creator handle, placement | tiktok_social_handle_bio |
Those patterns are our suggestion and the examples are made up. Amazon only asks that ad group names describe where and how each tag is used. Keep a sheet that maps each tag to its owner, spend and start date, because Amazon's metric list has no spend field.
Amazon's channel options are display, email, search, social and video. If a publisher is missing, choose New and type it in, spelled the same way every time, because the channel publisher report groups on that field.
How do you tag Google, Meta, TikTok, email and influencer traffic?
Each channel gets its own tags at the most detailed level you will act on. Google and Meta can use bulk files at keyword and ad level. TikTok, email and creators need manual tags per ad, link or person. Amazon's pages name social, search and email channels but never mention TikTok by name.
| Channel | How to tag | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Google search | Bulk file from Google Ads report data, one tag per keyword | Keyword data appears in a separate Keyword and creative report |
| Meta | Bulk file from an Ads Manager export, one tag per ad | New ads need tags too, so rerun the file when you add them |
| TikTok | Manual ad group, channel social, one tag per ad | Compare clicks in TikTok Ads Manager against Attribution after launch |
| Manual ad group, channel email, one tag per link or button | Your email tool may wrap links for its own click tracking, so test a real send | |
| Creators | Manual ad group, one tag per creator and placement | Check how the creator is paid before you hand over a tag (see the traffic rules) |
Tag email first if you have a list. Media cost is close to zero, and Amazon names emails as a bonus source, so nearly all of the credit stays with you. Use your own opted-in list, built outside Amazon.
Creators need a decision up front. Attribution suits a creator you find and pay yourself, with a tag per person so you can compare them. Creator Connections has its own reporting inside Amazon, and we found no Amazon statement that its sales earn the bonus, so do not budget as though they do.
What can Amazon Attribution measure, and what can it not?
Attribution measures clicks on tagged links and what those shoppers did on Amazon within 14 days, with credit going to the most recent click. It cannot see ad views, sales after the window, your margin or whether the sale would have happened anyway. Treat it as a click-to-sale record for comparing tactics.
Amazon's guide states the 14-day, last-touch model directly. Reports run from clicks through to purchases and sales, and new to brand figures use a one-year lookback. Each conversion metric has a promoted version and a total version that adds other products from your brand, which Amazon calls brand halo.
Where the numbers mislead
- Last touch hides the opener. A shopper who clicks a creator video on Monday and a Google ad on Thursday, then buys on Friday, shows as a Google sale. The creator gets zero in that report.
- The window cuts off slower purchases. A sofa buyer who takes three weeks to decide never appears, so high-ticket products will look worse here than they really are.
- Views do not count, since a conversion needs a click. Polar Analytics points out that Meta's own reporting can include views, which is one reason the two totals rarely agree.
- Amazon's metric list covers sales with no cost or margin field, so a campaign can look strong and still lose money.
- Attributed sales are not the same as added sales. Polar Analytics also warns that adding Attribution to Meta and Google totals can exceed real revenue, and recommends holdout or geographic tests to prove lift.
Amazon's guide does not explain what happens when a tagged click is followed by a Sponsored Products click before purchase. We assume both reports may claim that order, so never add them together. The product page also promises real-time insights while the guide says to wait one to two days before validating, so go with the guide.
How does the Brand Referral Bonus credit actually work?
Amazon says the bonus averages about 10% of qualifying sales, with the exact rate set by category and sales price. It also covers other products from your brand bought within 14 days of the click. The money arrives as a credit against future referral fees, generally after a two-month wait that allows for returns.
The 10% average and the 14-day rule are both Amazon's own wording, repeated across its seller blog, its Attribution guide and a Seller Forums post. Your own rate may differ. Amazon's published examples are 11% for clothing and, for furniture, 10% on the first $200 of the price and 7% above that. Its backpack example uses 7%.
The full category table sits on a Seller Central help page behind sign-in, so we could not read it for this article. Advertise Purple estimates a range of 5% to 45%, though its category figures are not consistent from one section to the next. Pull your own rate from Seller Central before you build a forecast.
The timing works like this in Amazon's example: a July sale earns $7, and in September that credit cuts a $14 referral fee to $7. It can also spread across fees, clearing a $5 fee and taking $2 off a $6 fee. Shipping charges, gift wrap, cancellations and returns can all change the amount.
Amazon points to Transaction Details for monthly figures, and Seller Central also offers a weekly bonus download. A 2022 announcement added credit data to Attribution reports as a beta. We could not confirm its status today, so reconcile against Seller Central.
As of November 2026 we found no Amazon announcement of a rate or rule change for 2027.
What is the real return once the credit is counted?
Add the credit to your contribution before comparing it with ad spend. A 10% credit lowers your effective ACOS by ten points, and at a healthy margin it can take a losing campaign to about break even. It rarely rescues a thin-margin product, and the cash comes two months after you pay for the clicks.
These numbers are invented to show the arithmetic. A $40 product costs $9 to make, $8 in FBA and other fees, and $6 in referral fee, leaving $17 per unit before ads. Meta spend is $4,000 at $1.00 a click, with a 5% purchase rate, one unit per order, a 5% return rate and an assumed 10% bonus.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Clicks | 4,000 |
| Orders and attributed sales | 200 orders, $8,000 (reported ROAS 2.0) |
| Net of 10 returned units | 190 units, $7,600 (net ROAS 1.9) |
| Contribution before ads, 190 x $17 | $3,230 |
| Result before credit, $3,230 less $4,000 | Loss of $770 |
| Credit at 10% of $7,600 | $760 |
| Result after credit | Loss of $10 |
Effective ACOS moves from 52.6% ($4,000 on $7,600) to 42.6% ($3,240 on $7,600). A 2.0 ROAS on a dashboard tells you nothing about that break-even result. The sheet leaves out return handling costs, which would hurt, and brand halo sales, which would help. Our FBA profit calculator and ACOS and TACOS calculator will give you the inputs.
The break-even ROAS on net sales is 1 divided by the sum of margin and bonus rate. This table runs it at three margins.
| Margin before ads | No credit | 7% bonus | 10% bonus | 11% bonus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42.5% | 2.35 | 2.02 | 1.90 | 1.87 |
| 25% | 4.00 | 3.13 | 2.86 | 2.78 |
| 15% | 6.67 | 4.55 | 4.00 | 3.85 |
Read the bottom row before scaling cold traffic. At 15% margin you still need a 4.0 net ROAS with a 10% credit, which is a high bar for shoppers who have never heard of you. If your margin number is shaky, start with our guide to contribution margin.
Keep the two uses of this data apart. For the credit, it does not matter if the shopper would have bought anyway, so tag everything allowed. For budget decisions it matters a lot, so discount retargeting and brand search, which pick up buyers already on their way to you.
Which traffic rules can cost you the bonus?
Amazon's core rules are that traffic must carry an Attribution tag and that its own ads do not qualify. Third-party sources report a further rule from 2025: you cannot earn the bonus and an Associates commission on the same tag or traffic. Read the current terms in Seller Central before launching any affiliate or creator program.
- Untagged traffic earns nothing. Amazon says all traffic needs a tag to qualify, even if your marketing clearly caused the sale.
- Sponsored ads and Amazon video ads are excluded. Social, search, display and email are the channels Amazon names as eligible.
- Associates overlap is the risky one. SPS Commerce reported in May 2025 that Amazon now bans combining the two for the same traffic, and Levanta words it as one program per tag, with a denied bonus or program removal as possible outcomes.
- Traffic quality can count against you. Levanta says only brand-safe sources qualify and points to the Associates participation requirements as the reference.
- Re-marketing can still earn. Amazon said in 2023 that US enrolled brands keep the bonus on eligible conversions from its Attribution audience, which covers people who clicked tagged ads in the last 30 days and runs in Amazon DSP and Sponsored Display.
We could not read the Brand Referral Bonus terms because they sit behind Seller Central sign-in. The Associates restriction above comes from SPS Commerce and Levanta, and some older guides still say both programs can run on the same traffic. Follow the stricter reading until you have read Amazon's wording.
In practice, keep separate links for separate deals. A creator earning Associates commission uses their own link, and those sales stay out of your credit forecast. A creator on a flat fee can use your tag. For that re-marketing audience in a wider plan, our post on full-funnel campaigns shows where it could sit.
What mistakes break Attribution tracking, and how do you fix them?
Most tracking failures come from a shared tag, a link that drops its URL parameters, a product left off the campaign, or mismatched date ranges. Amazon treats a 10 to 20% click gap against publisher data as normal, with anything above 20% worth investigating. Run the checks below in order before you blame the channel.
| What you see | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| More clicks in Attribution than the publisher | Date ranges differ, or a tag is shared across creatives or trackers | Align dates and give each creative its own tag |
| Fewer clicks than the publisher | Date ranges differ, or you are comparing ads with no tag | Filter publisher data to tagged ads only |
| No clicks at all | Tag not implemented correctly | Recheck the destination URL field and test the live link |
| Clicks but no sales | ASINs not assigned, or sales are sitting in brand halo | Check campaign products and open the Total metrics columns |
| Different numbers from Stores insights | The two tools use different attribution methods | Pick one source for each decision |
That table follows Amazon's troubleshooting tips. We would add four more of our own.
- Shortened or wrapped links. Tags work through URL parameters, so any redirect that strips them loses the click. Test the final URL in a browser.
- Judging a campaign on day three. Orders can still arrive for 14 days after a click, so recent weeks are always understated.
- Promoting a product that is out of stock. Amazon limits measurement to in-stock products with photos and prices.
- Booking the credit too early. Forecast it two months late and after returns.
What should your Amazon Attribution setup checklist include?
Use this list before any outside campaign goes live and again at the first monthly review. It covers enrollment, tag placement, validation and the profit math, and it assumes you already know which products and channels you plan to test during your first month of tagged traffic.
- Brand Registry active, with the Brand Representative role on the right account
- Bonus enrollment confirmed in Seller Central for US store sales
- Your bonus rate copied from the Seller Central table
- One tag per ad, keyword, email link or creator placement
- Tag sheet with owner, spend, start date and creator pay terms
- No Associates commission running on a bonus tag
- Live links tested, including email sends and bio links
- Click gap checked at two days and kept under 20%
- Monthly per-channel sheet of net sales, contribution, spend and credit
- Credits reconciled against Seller Central about two months after each sales month
For help with the Amazon side of your advertising, our Amazon advertising agency page explains how we work. Our Growth plan is a flat $999 a month on up to $20K of monthly ad spend, with no long-term contract.
Sources and data notes
Facts in this article were checked against the sources below on November 6, 2026. Amazon and agencies change programs and prices often, so confirm details before you act.
- Amazon Ads: Amazon Attribution product page
- Amazon Ads: Your complete guide to Amazon Attribution
- Sell on Amazon: Brand Referral Bonus
- Amazon Ads: See your Brand Referral Bonus in Amazon Attribution reporting (beta)
- Amazon Ads: Amazon Attribution re-marketing
- Amazon Seller Forums: Make more through the Brand Referral Bonus
- SPS Commerce: Amazon seller updates, May 2025
- Levanta: Understanding Amazon's Brand Referral Bonus program
- Polar Analytics: Amazon Attribution, what it tracks and misses
- Advertise Purple: Brand Referral Bonus on Amazon, complete breakdown
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Amazon Attribution free?
Yes. Amazon describes Attribution as a free measurement solution, so there is no fee for creating tags or reading reports. You still pay for the outside media you run, such as Google or Meta clicks, and for any tool provider you choose to connect through the Amazon Ads API.
How much is the Amazon Brand Referral Bonus?
Amazon says it averages about 10% of qualifying sales, and the rate depends on category and sales price. Its published examples are 11% for clothing and, for furniture, 10% up to $200 and 7% above that. Check the full table in Seller Central, since your own rate may differ from that average.
What is the Amazon Attribution window?
Amazon states a 14-day, last-touch model. A purchase must happen within 14 days of a click on a tagged link, and credit goes to the most recent click. Purchases after day 14 are not credited, and earlier clicks by the same shopper get no credit in the report.
Does the Brand Referral Bonus work outside the US?
As of November 2026 Amazon describes it as a program for US seller brand owners selling in the US store. Attribution itself works in more countries, including the UK and Germany, so brands selling there can measure outside traffic but should not plan on earning this credit on those sales.
Is the Brand Referral Bonus paid in cash?
No. Amazon applies it as a credit that offsets referral fees on future sales. It generally arrives after a two-month wait to allow for returns and cancellations. A $7 credit might cut one $14 fee to $7, or be spread across two smaller fees over time.
Can I track TikTok and influencer traffic with Amazon Attribution?
Yes, using manual tags. Amazon's bulk upload covers only Google Ads and Facebook or Instagram, so create an ad group for each TikTok ad or creator placement and choose the social channel. If the publisher is not listed, choose New and enter its name. Then test the live link.
Can I earn the bonus and an Associates commission on the same link?
Treat the answer as no. SPS Commerce reported in May 2025 that Amazon bans combining them for the same traffic, and Levanta describes the rule as one program per tag. We could not read Amazon's terms behind Seller Central sign-in, so confirm the wording there before launch.
Does Amazon Attribution show profit?
No. Reports cover clicks, page views, add to carts, purchases, units and sales, with no cost or margin data. To see profit, combine attributed net sales with your contribution margin, your media spend and the bonus credit in a separate sheet for each channel, then compare the channels on that result.
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