Amazon Ads has rolled out 10 new capabilities across Brand+ and Performance+ inside Amazon DSP, combining a wider use of advertiser data and audio inventory with a major change to how new streaming television campaigns are set up.
The update, published July 22, 2026, said the features had launched as of July 20 or were due in the following weeks, either in Open Beta or general availability. Among the most significant changes, Amazon opened first-party audience data as an optimization input at no extra charge, moved audio for Brand+ to general availability in 16 locales, and removed the old single-deal default from new Brand+ streaming television prospecting lines through Automatic Deal Selection.
First-party data moves into optimization
Two of the new features center on Audience Signals. In Open Beta, Brand+ Prospecting campaigns and Performance+ Customer Acquisition and Unified Consideration tactics can now use advertiser audiences fed through Ads Data Manager.
According to Amazon, those audiences are not used as hard targeting limits. Instead, they serve as optimization inputs, similar to conversion event data, so the system can look for high-value customers while still finding users outside the supplied segments. The company said there is no additional fee for using Audience Signals, while exclusions continue to work separately.
The source article said the practical effect for advertisers is lower migration cost, because teams that already built audiences in Amazon Marketing Cloud, data management platforms, or custom cohorts can now use those assets in automated products without giving them up.
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Audio expands, but podcasts are still missing
Amazon also widened audio buying across its automated tools. Audio for Brand+ moved from Open Beta to general availability and now includes third-party exchange open exchange supply alongside Amazon’s first-party inventory and third-party Amazon Publisher Direct sources.
The rollout covers 16 locales. Nine have combined first-party and third-party supply: the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and France. Seven have third-party supply only: Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.
Audio for Performance+ separately entered Open Beta across Customer Acquisition, Remarketing, Retention, Consideration, and Search. Amazon said audio creatives must be submitted as MP3 or WAV files in 30-second or 15-second spots through the Amazon Ads creative workflow, and every audio line item must include a display companion creative. Performance+ audio also must include at least one third-party inventory source, and guaranteed deals are not supported.
The source article noted a gap remains in podcasts. Amazon states that podcasts are not yet available for Brand+ or Performance+.
Automatic Deal Selection changes STV setup
The most operational shift landed in streaming television. Automatic Deal Selection for Brand+ STV entered Open Beta and is turned on by default for new Brand+ STV Prospecting lines.
Nicole Goksel, senior product manager – technical at Amazon Ads, described the change in a LinkedIn post. "Previously, Brand+ campaigns ran on a single, pre-configured deal", she wrote. According to Goksel, new Brand+ lines now receive "a continuously optimized set of deals across Amazon and the open internet", refreshed as deal performance data arrives.
That change means buyers no longer start with one specified deal on a new prospecting line unless they opt out. The source article said this flips the default from manual deal choice to system-selected deal groups.
There is also an unresolved geography question. The July 22 launch announcement lists Automatic Deal Selection for Brand+ STV as available in the United States only. Goksel’s post said the feature was integrated into Brand+ during the second quarter and is enabled by default on new Brand+ STV Prospecting lines across the Americas. The source article said Amazon had not published a reconciliation of the two descriptions.
More features run in the background
Several other updates were described as model or signal changes that require little or no advertiser action.
Brand Outcome Optimization entered Open Beta and is enabled by default on Reach goal lines for all Brand+ advertisers. Amazon said it predicts the likelihood that a user will take a brand-relevant action, including branded search, detail page views, and add-to-cart, across Display, online video, streaming television, and audio.
Prime Video Signal Integration also entered Open Beta and is enabled by default for Prime Video Ads supply.
In Performance+, Asynchronous Remarketing reached general availability for Remarketing and Retention, while Expanded Conversion Support for App Ads reached general availability and allows Performance+ Remarketing to accept "Other" conversion types from Mobile Measurement Partners.
The source article said four of the 10 features switch on by default and noted that three of the four background model changes are default-on, even though Amazon framed the launch around advertiser control.
Managed service access expands, API timing does not
Amazon also said the Managed Service Campaign Proposal Builder is now generally available, giving Amazon Media Group managed service entities access to Brand+ and Performance+ through existing media planning workflows.
All 10 features are available through the Amazon Ads campaign creation interface. However, the company said API support details would be shared later through technical documentation updates, with no dates attached.
Broader rollout, uneven availability
Brand+ and Performance+ operate across roughly 34 markets in five regions, according to the source article, but feature availability is uneven. Audio is limited to the 16 locales listed in the launch materials, and Automatic Deal Selection for Brand+ STV was listed on the launch page as United States only, despite Goksel’s broader description.
The source article said the announcement bundles together a new advertiser input and a removed advertiser choice: first-party audiences can now feed optimization at no fee, while new streaming television prospecting lines shift deal selection to the system by default. That tension, it said, runs through the release.