Amazon DSP adds content exclusion categories for brand suitability control

Amazon introduced on December 18, 2025, the introduction of content material exclusion classes for its demand-side platform, enabling advertisers to handle model suitability settings throughout Twitch and third-party net and cell stock by a single setup. The characteristic extends Amazon’s present model suitability framework by permitting advertisers to decide out of particular content material subjects that battle with model values.

In keeping with the announcement, content material exclusion classes operate as binary on-off switches. When advertisers choose a content material class, their commercials is not going to seem alongside that content material sort throughout Amazon DSP’s stock sources. The implementation simplifies marketing campaign administration by eliminating the necessity to configure a number of controls throughout completely different provide sources.

The launch additionally expands the model suitability report to incorporate content material exclusion classes. Advertisers can confirm commercial placements throughout completely different stock tiers and content material exclusion classes, offering enhanced monitoring capabilities for model suitability compliance.

Amazon DSP self-service advertisers can entry content material exclusion classes by three strategies: the Amazon DSP console beneath “Inherited settings” adopted by “Normal” and the “Model suitability” part, the general public API, and the majority software spreadsheet. The characteristic rolled out throughout all markets the place Amazon DSP operates, together with North America, South America, Europe, the Center East, and Asia Pacific areas.

The geographic availability spans 43 markets. North American protection contains the US, Canada, and Mexico. Brazil represents South American entry. European markets comprise the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland, Austria, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Eire, Denmark, and Luxembourg. Center Japanese areas embrace Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait. Asia Pacific protection extends to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, India, and Singapore.

Extending November’s model suitability framework

The content material exclusion classes construct on Amazon DSP’s brand suitability settings that entered open beta in November 2025. That preliminary launch launched advertiser-level and ad-group stage model suitability tiers by API controls, increasing past Twitch to third-party stock sources.

Model suitability represents an evolution past primary model security protections. Whereas model security establishes baseline filters in opposition to inappropriate content material, model suitability allows advertisers to align campaigns with particular model values and marketing campaign goals. The excellence issues as a result of model security gives minimal acceptable requirements whereas model suitability permits customization based mostly on particular person advertiser preferences.

Amazon maintains a distinction between these two ideas in its implementation. Model security necessities apply universally throughout all provide suppliers, with stock insurance policies mandating content material filtering for disallowed materials. Content material exclusion classes function above this baseline, permitting advertisers to limit placements additional based mostly on subjects they contemplate unsuitable no matter whether or not content material violates model security insurance policies.

The unified strategy addresses fragmentation challenges that beforehand required advertisers to configure separate controls for Twitch stock and third-party sources. Advertisers operating cross-inventory methods can now apply constant model suitability requirements with out duplicating configuration work throughout a number of provide paths.

Trade context for content material controls

The programmatic promoting {industry} has systematically expanded model suitability instruments all through 2024 and 2025. Google Ad Manager introduced AI-powered brand safety automation in November 2025, utilizing machine studying to establish writer preferences and robotically floor probably undesirable commercials for evaluation.

DoubleVerify launched content-level controls for Meta’s Fb and Instagram platforms in February 2025, introducing 30 new avoidance classes by AI-powered evaluation. The platform expanded these capabilities in August 2025, unifying suitability controls and measurement throughout all content material classes whereas offering protection in 34 languages.

Scope3 integrated with Amazon DSP in March 2025, providing customized AI fashions that robotically block content material failing to match advertiser values and advertising and marketing targets. The partnership launched Model Requirements for customized model security standards and Necessities for blocking high-emission, low-quality stock.

The Media Score Council issued a major coverage revision in October 2025, restricting property-level ad verification services from claiming “brand safety” capabilities until they embrace content-level evaluation of photographs, movies, and audio. That coverage established a terminology distinction between model suitability—which property-level checking can handle—and model security, which now requires content-level examination.

Analysis from DoubleVerify’s November 2025 survey of twenty-two,000 customers and 1,970 entrepreneurs throughout 21 international locations revealed that just about two-thirds of entrepreneurs promoting on social media expressed considerations about model suitability in these placements. Model suitability considerations intensified amongst bigger organizations, reaching 74 p.c amongst firms with 5,000-9,999 workers.

The identical analysis discovered that 64 p.c of customers stated the style of close by content material influences their notion of commercials. Way of life content material generated probably the most optimistic model notion at 53 p.c, whereas horror content material produced probably the most damaging impression at 23 p.c. Commercial adjacency results doubled damaging notion charges in comparison with basic platform suitability—whereas 16 p.c of customers thought of social platforms typically unsuitable for model promoting, this determine elevated to 32 p.c when customers evaluated particular content material with adjoining commercials.

Technical implementation particulars

Content material exclusion classes combine with Amazon DSP’s present inherited settings structure. Advertiser-level controls apply campaign-wide defaults that particular person campaigns can inherit robotically. This hierarchical construction permits advertisers to ascertain organization-wide model suitability requirements whereas sustaining flexibility for campaign-specific changes when wanted.

The API implementation allows programmatic administration of content material exclusions throughout a number of advertiser accounts. Businesses and managed service suppliers can implement standardized model suitability configurations at scale somewhat than manually adjusting settings by the console for every advertiser they handle.

The majority software spreadsheet integration helps mass updates to content material exclusion settings throughout a number of campaigns concurrently. This functionality advantages advertisers managing a whole lot of lively campaigns who want to use constant model suitability modifications with out particular person marketing campaign edits.

Amazon DSP implements model suitability measures on a best-effort foundation. In keeping with documentation from the November model suitability launch, content material classification errors, language help constraints, and dynamic content material modifications could often lead to misaligned commercial placements. This caveat displays technical limitations inherent in automated content material classification methods.

The model suitability report growth gives verification capabilities for monitoring placement efficiency. Advertisers can evaluation the place commercials delivered throughout stock tiers and content material classes, figuring out any cases the place placements occurred in content material segments they meant to exclude. This reporting allows reactive changes when automated exclusions fail to stop unsuitable placements.

Consolidation inside Marketing campaign Supervisor

Amazon consolidated its sponsored ads and Amazon DSP interfaces into Campaign Manager on November 10, 2025. The unified platform combines beforehand separate shopping for instruments right into a single interface with AI-powered optimization options.

Kelly MacLean, vp of Amazon Adverts, instructed Digiday that entrepreneurs now obtain a consolidated view into how campaigns ship suggestions throughout the funnel. The consolidation represents Amazon’s try and make full-funnel promoting less complicated to plan, execute, and measure no matter model measurement or inside experience.

The content material exclusion classes characteristic matches inside this broader infrastructure consolidation. Moderately than sustaining separate model suitability controls for sponsored commercials and programmatic DSP campaigns, advertisers can handle these settings by unified inherited settings that apply throughout marketing campaign varieties.

Amazon’s promoting income reached $17.7 billion within the third quarter of 2025, representing 22 p.c year-over-year progress. The Commerce Desk CEO Jeff Inexperienced famous throughout a November 7 earnings name that Amazon will doubtless generate roughly 70 billion {dollars} in promoting income for the total 12 months 2025.

Measurement and verification companions

Integral Ad Science secured Media Rating Council accreditation for its third-party measurement capabilities on Amazon DSP properties in November 2025. The certification validates IAS’s server-to-server integration for monitoring impression, viewability, and invalid visitors knowledge throughout Amazon’s programmatic promoting platform.

The accreditation marked the primary time an impartial verification supplier obtained MRC certification for these particular metrics inside Amazon’s promoting ecosystem. IAS’s measurement resolution covers each show and video commercials throughout desktop net, cell net, and cell app environments.

DoubleVerify became the first third-party provider to measure Amazon Customized Audiences in November 2023, providing viewability, model suitability, fraud detection, and invalid visitors monitoring by server-to-server integration. The partnership enabled Amazon DSP advertisers to entry impartial verification metrics for campaigns focusing on customized viewers segments.

These third-party measurement partnerships complement Amazon’s inside model suitability reporting by offering impartial validation of commercial placement high quality. Advertisers can cross-reference Amazon’s model suitability reviews in opposition to third-party verification knowledge to establish discrepancies between meant exclusions and precise supply.

Twitch’s position in content material controls evolution

Twitch expanded its Content Controls feature to incorporate show promoting in Might 2024, following the preliminary launch of Content material Controls for Twitch Premium Video in October 2023. The characteristic provides self-service advertisers three suitability tiers—Expanded, Reasonable, and Restrictive—based mostly on the International Alliance for Accountable Media Suitability Framework.

Twitch’s Content material Controls implementation preceded Amazon DSP’s broader model suitability framework by roughly 18 months. The streaming platform’s early adoption of tiered model suitability controls doubtless knowledgeable the next growth to third-party stock sources by Amazon DSP.

The International Alliance for Accountable Media framework gives industry-standard classifications that assist advertisers navigate model security considerations throughout numerous media platforms. GARM’s framework has grow to be extensively adopted throughout programmatic promoting platforms, enabling constant model suitability approaches no matter stock supply.

Amazon’s implementation of content material exclusion classes extends past GARM’s tier-based strategy by permitting topic-specific exclusions. Whereas GARM tiers present broad content material filtering based mostly on total suitability ranges, content material exclusion classes allow advertisers to dam particular content material themes that battle with model positioning even when that content material would possibly in any other case fall inside acceptable suitability tiers.

Differentiation from competitor approaches

Microsoft Advertising launched enhanced website exclusion tools in August 2025, permitting advertisers to dam as much as 10,000 web sites per listing. The characteristic helps each Viewers adverts and Search adverts throughout all markets, representing a major growth from earlier limitations.

Microsoft’s strategy focuses on domain-level exclusions somewhat than content-level class blocking. Advertisers keep lists of particular web sites they wish to keep away from somewhat than defining content material subjects for automated classification and exclusion. This system requires ongoing listing upkeep as new web sites emerge or present websites change content material focus.

Meta removed detailed targeting exclusions for ad accounts in January 2025, implementing the change steadily with new advert units shedding entry to exclusion capabilities whereas present advert units retained the characteristic. Meta inspired advertisers to make use of different viewers controls together with model safety and employment standing restrictions.

Amazon’s content material exclusion classes symbolize a center path between Microsoft’s guide area lists and Meta’s elimination of granular exclusions. The category-based strategy gives automated exclusion capabilities with out requiring advertisers to take care of complete web site lists, whereas providing extra management than platforms which have eradicated detailed exclusion choices totally.

Efficiency implications for advertisers

The Affiliation of Nationwide Advertisers documented programmatic promoting challenges in its December 2023 programmatic media provide chain transparency research. The analysis beneficial that advertisers prioritize creation and use of web site inclusion lists somewhat than specializing in exclusion lists.

In keeping with the ANA evaluation, inclusion lists allow advertisers to establish and bid solely on web sites and apps that align with model values and insurance policies. By specializing in desired stock somewhat than making an attempt to keep away from unsuitable placements, advertisers can streamline efforts, cut back complexity, and improve marketing campaign effectiveness.

The analysis steered operating 95 p.c of programmatic exercise by inclusion lists and 5 p.c by way of open market stock. The latter portion would supply alternatives to seek out and check new domains that might subsequently be added to inclusion lists.

Amazon’s content material exclusion classes operate as automated exclusion mechanisms working above any inclusion listing methods advertisers would possibly make use of. Advertisers can outline most popular stock sources whereas concurrently making use of content material class exclusions to filter out unsuitable placements even inside typically acceptable provide sources.

DoubleVerify research released in November 2025 discovered that 60 p.c of selling professionals reported information setting stock outperforms marketing campaign baselines. Nonetheless, the identical analysis confirmed that businesses exhibit heightened sensitivity to controversial subjects in contrast with brand-side entrepreneurs.

Content material exclusion classes handle this rigidity by permitting advertisers to outline exact boundaries round acceptable content material varieties. Manufacturers that discover information environments ship sturdy efficiency can entry these placements whereas excluding particular information subjects that battle with model positioning or create regulatory considerations.

The implementation arrives as advertisers more and more prioritize contextual relevance following third-party cookie deprecation. Content material-based focusing on and exclusion mechanisms achieve significance as identifier-based viewers focusing on turns into much less viable throughout open net stock.

Strategic concerns for advertisers

Advertisers should steadiness attain goals in opposition to model suitability necessities when configuring content material exclusion classes. Overly restrictive exclusions could considerably restrict accessible stock, probably rising prices by decreased public sale competitors or stopping campaigns from reaching efficiency targets.

The unified strategy simplifies configuration however requires strategic occupied with organization-wide model suitability requirements versus campaign-specific wants. Advertisers managing numerous product traces with various danger tolerances could must create separate advertiser accounts to use completely different content material exclusion configurations.

The reporting growth allows measurement of trade-offs between model suitability strictness and marketing campaign efficiency. Advertisers can analyze whether or not tighter content material exclusions enhance model notion metrics whereas probably decreasing conversion quantity or rising acquisition prices.

Content material classification accuracy represents an ongoing problem for automated model suitability methods. Amazon’s acknowledgment that misaligned placements could often happen regardless of content material exclusion settings means advertisers ought to implement monitoring processes somewhat than assuming good exclusion execution.

Third-party verification partnerships present extra oversight layers. Advertisers involved about model security violations ought to contemplate implementing impartial measurement alongside Amazon’s inside model suitability reporting to establish classification errors that lead to placements inside excluded content material classes.

The characteristic’s availability by API and bulk instruments suggests Amazon anticipates enterprise-scale deployment. Massive advertisers and businesses managing a whole lot of accounts can implement standardized model suitability frameworks programmatically somewhat than counting on guide console configuration.

Timeline

Abstract

Who: Amazon DSP self-service advertisers throughout 43 world markets gained entry to content material exclusion classes by the Amazon DSP console, public API, and bulk software spreadsheet.

What: Content material exclusion classes allow advertisers to decide out of particular content material subjects throughout Twitch and third-party net and cell stock sources by unified controls. The characteristic operates as binary on-off switches that stop commercials from showing alongside chosen content material varieties. The launch extends model suitability reporting to incorporate content material exclusion class verification.

When: Amazon introduced the characteristic on December 18, 2025, making it accessible instantly to all Amazon DSP self-service advertisers by console, API, and bulk software entry strategies.

The place: The characteristic operates throughout all Amazon DSP markets together with North America (United States, Canada, Mexico), South America (Brazil), Europe (United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland, Austria, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Eire, Denmark, Luxembourg), Center East (Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait), and Asia Pacific (Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, India, Singapore).

Why: The unified strategy simplifies marketing campaign administration by eliminating the necessity to configure a number of controls throughout completely different provide sources. Advertisers can execute cross-inventory methods whereas sustaining constant model suitability requirements, serving to defend model fame and guaranteeing commercials seem in appropriate environments. The implementation addresses rising advertiser considerations about content material adjacency, with DoubleVerify analysis displaying that just about two-thirds of entrepreneurs specific model suitability considerations in social media placements.