Amazon’s advertising business grew 18% in the fourth quarter

An Amazon warehouse and distribution centre in an industrial park in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022.

Amazon’s online advertising business logged $17.29 billion in the fourth quarter, up 18% from a year ago. Analysts polled by StreetAccount were expecting Amazon to report ad revenue of $17.4 billion.

The online retail giant revealed its latest advertising sales results on Thursday as part of its fourth-quarter earnings. The company said fourth-quarter sales were $187.79 billion, which was ahead of analysts’ estimates of $187.3 billion. But the company’s shares fell on disappointing guidance for the current quarter.

Amazon’s online advertising unit has grown considerably over the years, and is the third biggest platform in the global digital advertising market, trailing Alphabet and Meta, respectfully, according to data provided to CNBC by Emarketer.

Meta last week reported fourth-quarter sales that rose 21% year over year to $48.39 billion.

Alphabet also reported its fourth-quarter earnings last week, and said its Google advertising sales and YouTube ad revenue came in at $72.46 billion and $10.47 billion, respectively representing an 11% and 14% increase from the prior year.

As part of Microsoft’s latest quarterly earnings, revealed last week, the enterprise tech giant said its search and news advertising sales increased 21% year over year. Microsoft does not disclose that unit’s specific quarterly sales figures.

Also on Thursday, Pinterest reported fourth-quarter sales of $1.15 billion, representing an 18% increase from the prior year during the same period.