Amazon Copied TikTok – And It Could Reshape Who Wins in 2026

Welcome to our weekly newsletter, Hunter's Insights!

In this special edition, we bring you essential Amazon updates and industry insights to keep you ahead in the fast-paced world of e-commerce:

📲 Amazon Introduces TikTok-Style Shoppable Videos on Search & PDPs

🚫 Amazon Ends Shoppable Collections Beta – What Sellers Should Do Next

📵 Amazon Draws a Line on AI Access With New Agent Policy

📊 Amazon Removes Negative Bid Modifiers Across Sponsored Ads

📩 Amazon Adds Listing Preferences to Flat File Downloads

🤖 Amazon Launches Ads Agent for Campaign Automation

❓ Prime Badge Disappearing on Active FBA Listings

📲 Amazon Introduces TikTok-Style Shoppable Videos on Search & PDPs

Amazon is introducing short-form, TikTok-style shoppable videos in search results and product pages. This transition makes video a key feature in the buying journey, enabling visual product demonstrations right at the moment of discovery. It combines branding, education, and conversion without needing shoppers to leave the platform.

What this means for brands:

• Increased visibility: Products can capture attention beyond static thumbnails

• Integrated conversion path: Shoppers can watch and purchase within the same flow

• Creative-driven differentiation: Early adopters gain attention while competitors compete primarily on CPC

Static images and basic A+ Content are insufficient in competitive categories. Brands that emphasize usage demonstrations and benefit storytelling will thrive as short-form video integrates into Amazon's search and product pages. Amazon is adopting content formats from social media to enhance its commerce experience.

🚫 Amazon Ends Shoppable Collections Beta – What Sellers Should Do Next

Amazon will retire Shoppable Collections on February 27, 2026, replacing it with the Brand Story module on Product Detail Pages and the A+ Content Manager. Though it may seem like a failed experiment, Amazon usually removes beta features when data indicates that better integration can enhance user engagement.

What’s happening:

• Shoppable Collections removed: Beta ends February 27, 2026

• Brand Story becomes default: It replaces the module on affected PDPs

• Core elements likely retained: Engagement-driving components appear to be folded into Brand Story

• Placement friction resolved: Sellers no longer have to choose between Brand Story and Shoppable Collections

Combining surfaces simplifies PDP layout and enhances brand storytelling. Sellers should optimize their Brand Story by February 27, using it as the main PDP surface and repurposing media from Shoppable Collections in A+ Content. This boosts brand presence and creates a focused experience in the conversion funnel.

📵 Amazon Draws a Line on AI Access With New Agent Policy

Amazon updated its Agent Policy on March 4 to tighten rules for AI agents and automated systems. These systems must identify as automated, comply with Amazon's policies, and cease access upon request, formalizing Amazon's control over AI interactions in its ecosystem.

What the new policy requires:

• Disclosure: AI agents must clearly identify themselves as automated systems

• Continuous compliance: Tools must operate within Amazon’s policies at all times

• Immediate shutdown capability: Access must stop upon Amazon’s request

• Stronger enforcement foundation: Clear framework for restricting unauthorized automation

Amazon is clarifying AI automation boundaries by enforcing compliance with approved APIs and governance frameworks. Systems lacking proper authentication now face higher operational risks. This update supports compliant infrastructures and regulates tools using informal scraping or loose automation, without restricting AI.

📊 Amazon Removes Negative Bid Modifiers Across Sponsored Ads

Amazon is standardizing placement controls for Sponsored Brands, allowing only positive bid adjustments. This change also applies to Sponsored Products and Sponsored Display, eliminating the option to decrease bids in new campaigns. Advertisers can now only increase placements.

Key points:

• Positive modifiers only: New campaigns can't apply bid decreases.

• Cross-format impact: Change affects SP and SD as well.

• Legacy campaigns: Older settings for bid decreases remain active for now.

• Workaround: Lower base bids and apply higher placement modifiers to control effective CPC.

Advanced advertisers often lower base keyword bids and boost placement multipliers for optimal effective bids. While older campaigns may still use bid-decrease options, this may change. Balancing base bids and positive modifiers will be key for effective placement control in the future.

📩 Amazon Adds Listing Preferences to Flat File Downloads

Amazon has launched Listing Preferences in the flat file download process, allowing sellers to set default values for recurring fields. This means they can skip starting from blank templates and have their saved preferences automatically fill in when downloading new flat files.

What's new:

• Pre-set default values: Save brand, manufacturer, compliance, and category attributes

• Auto-populated templates: Download flat files with key fields filled

• Fewer listing errors: Minimizes manual entry mistakes and missing attributes

• Faster catalog expansion: Accelerates bulk listing for larger inventories

This update highlights Amazon's ongoing effort to standardize product data, enhancing indexing and catalog integrity. Sellers using blank templates may create unnecessary workflow friction. Listing Preferences provide a more efficient way to manage product data going forward.

🤖 Amazon Launches Ads Agent for Campaign Automation

Amazon has introduced Ads Agent, an AI tool for planning, launching, and optimizing ad campaigns with minimal manual effort. Available in Amazon Marketing Cloud and Amazon DSP, it streamlines workflows by cutting setup time and automating adjustments, while still allowing advertisers final approval.

What Ads Agent can do:

• Build campaigns from an uploaded media plan

• Identify and apply automated targeting segments

• Adjust pacing across large campaign portfolios

• Generate SQL queries for deeper AMC analytics

• Require advertiser approval before launch

The value proposition is efficiency: reduced setup time and increased focus on strategy. Clear decision logic is vital for automating budgets and bidding. If Ads Agent offers transparency, it can simplify account management; otherwise, diagnosing performance issues becomes difficult. As automation expands, AI's ability to clearly explain its actions will be crucial.

❓ Prime Badge Disappearing on Active FBA Listings

Amazon sellers are experiencing the disappearance of the Prime badge from their FBA listings, despite no policy violations. This issue reduces visibility and sales, leading sellers to seek clarification from Amazon.

Across multiple high-volume accounts, sellers are seeing:

• Buy Box intact, but Prime shipping fees are showing for Prime customers

• FBA inventory in stock

• Strong Account Health metrics (1000/1000)

• 0% Order Defect Rate

The Prime badge is missing, delivery dates are extended, and conversion rates are down. FBA sellers should consider this a system visibility issue rather than a performance violation. If you're using Fulfilled by Amazon, check your listings to ensure Prime status is displayed correctly.

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