Amazon PPC can be your brand’s biggest growth lever, or its biggest money pit. Most sellers pour thousands into ads without understanding where that spend is going or why it underperforms. But there’s a better way that drives immediate returns and builds long-term visibility, profitability, and operational strength.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this guide:

• Why “Top of Search” (TOS) is the most powerful yet underutilized ad placement—and how reallocating budget here can slash your ACOS and skyrocket your conversions.
• How to analyze your placement performance data to uncover hidden inefficiencies in your current campaigns.
• How to use PPC profits to fund a smarter supply chain—so you can stay in stock, scale faster, and never miss a sales surge.
• The exact steps top 1% brands take to build a PPC-powered logistics flywheel that compounds results month after month.

If your ad spend feels like it’s treading water or sinking profits, it’s time to shift strategy. Read on to discover how smart allocation and logistics alignment can transform Amazon PPC from a cost center into a compounding engine of growth.

Are you wasting Amazon ad spend?

Most brands are leaving money on the table with their Amazon PPC campaigns without even realizing it.

At MyFBAPrep, we see the ripple effects of inefficient advertising every day: too much ad spend going to the wrong placements, low conversions, bloated ACOS, and stalled organic rankings. But there’s a simple fix that could unlock both short-term wins and long-term momentum.

The Hidden Goldmine: Top of Search (TOS)

It makes logical sense that Top of Search drives better ACOS and higher CVR, but we see a lot of ad budget being spent on Product Pages and the Rest of Search.

According to GNO Partners, Top of Search (TOS) has a 15-18% conversion rate, ACOS as low as 27%, the highest CTR (click-through rate) among other ad placements, and a direct impact on organic rank growth due to higher engagement and sales velocity. However, the majority of ad spend goes to placements with lower performance.

That’s like renting billboard space on a back alley when you could be front and center on Times Square.

Why This Matters for Your Brand

Amazon’s algorithm rewards velocity and conversions. The higher your conversion rate, the better your organic search rank.

So when you shift your PPC budget toward Top of Search, two things happen:

1. Short-term: Lower ACOS → more efficient sales → higher ROAS
2. Long-term: Higher CVR → organic rank boost → reduced dependency on paid ads

This is one of the rare PPC optimizations that fuels both profitability and compounding brand equity.

What Smart Brands Should Do Now

If you’re reading this and realizing you’ve been sleeping on TOS, here’s what to do.

Audit Your Campaign Placement Data

• Use Amazon’s placement reports or templates to review your placement data
• Look at ACOS, CVR, CPC, and % of total spend by placement

If TOS Is Outperforming (which it probably is):

• Gradually shift budget toward TOS
• Monitor impact on ACOS and CVR weekly
• Set bid adjustments for Top of Search in Campaign Manager (+50% to +100% if justified)

Tie It to Your Operational Flywheel

• More sales velocity = higher inventory turnover
• Higher rank = better visibility → more DTC interest
• Predictable demand = smarter warehouse allocations (where MyFBAPrep thrives)

The MyFBAPrep Angle: Marrying Ad Strategy to Operational Firepower

Most ad agencies stop at ACOS, but at MyFBAPrep, we build infrastructure that scales with your PPC wins:

• Rapid restock for best-sellers driven by TOS campaigns
• Real-time fulfillment and carton forwarding to keep up with rank-induced demand spikes
• Elastic network to move goods between facilities and keep FBA in stock

If you’re spending on Amazon ads but not dominating Top of Search, you’re subsidizing competitors. It’s time to shift spend, double your impact, and let your operations catch up with your marketing.

Let’s make sure your backend is built to handle your front-end success.

Contact us. You win the click. We win the delivery.

The data behind Amazon PPC placements

Most brands burn through their budget, but the top 1% unlock exponential growth because they don’t ignore all of the data Amazon is giving out.

It’s not enough to stay on top of where your ads appear. How those placements perform determines profitability and growth trajectory.

Let’s break down the numbers from the GNO Partners analysis shared by Ouriel Rybski. Three placement categories, three drastically different outcomes.

Placement Performance Snapshot

Check out the numbers shared by Ouriel Rybski of GNO Partners.

To summarize how Top of Search, Rest of search, and Product pages fare against each other:

Top of Search

• CVR: 15-18%
• ACOS: 27-33%
• % of Spend: 11-22%

Rest of Search

• CVR: 3-10%
• ACOS: 40-49%
• % of Spend: 52%+

Product Pages

• CVR: 2-10%
• ACOS: 44-57%
• % of Spend: 26-38%

Key takeaways

• Top of Search is your conversion powerhouse with lowest ACOS
• Product Page ads get a big slice of spend, but deliver weak returns
• Rest of Search eats up >50% of budget with meh performance

This is a misallocation issue. Not a spend issue.

Top of Search is high-converting as it captures high-intent buyers searching with purchase-ready terms. It also gets algorithmic weight for organic rank boosting, and drives faster sell-through, helping you stay in stock and ahead of competitors

The PPC Flywheel (Only If You Allocate Correctly)

Smart brands shift spend to TOS → conversion spikes → organic rank improves → less PPC needed over time → margin expands

But none of this happens if you’re dumping money into low-return placements. So, here’s what to do next:

• Download Your Placement Report (Sponsored Products > Placement)
• Compare CVR and ACOS by segment
• Set Bid Adjustments (TOS +50% or more if it’s your best-performing zone)
• Cut waste from Product Pages & Rest of Search gradually

And just as important…

What Happens When the Backend Can’t Keep Up?

This is where brands hit a wall. Your product ranks and orders pour in, but your 3PL misses SLAs or runs out of stock. Suddenly you’re losing rank faster than you earned it.

At MyFBAPrep, we fix that.

• Pre-position inventory near Amazon FCs for instant replenishment
• Use carton forwarding to restock fast without overpaying on storage
• Leverage real-time visibility to stay ahead of surges
• Scale with DTC, retail, or cold chain as needed—same day

It’s time to use Amazon PPC to launch supply chain dominance

Most Amazon sellers treat ads and logistics as separate battles.

The elite? They weaponize one to accelerate the other.

Let’s talk about the flywheel effect that happens when you align PPC strategy with logistics execution and how brands are using it to self-fund their growth, steal market share, and build operational moats Amazon can’t copy.

Step 1: Go All-In on Top of Search

As we covered in Part 1 & 2, Top of Search (TOS) ads have:

• The best conversion rates (15–18%)
• Lowest ACOS (23–26%)
• A direct link to organic rank improvements

When you dominate TOS, you’re driving ROAS and buying visibility, velocity, and repeatability.

This is the ignition point.

Step 2: Use Profit From Efficient Ads to Fuel Logistics

Most sellers treat PPC as an expense.

Winners treat PPC margin as a reinvestment engine.

Here’s how brands are reinvesting PPC returns to build logistics leverage:

PPC-Driven Margin	Logistics Investments
High CVR, Low ACOS	Cross-docking and carton forwarding to avoid long-term storage fees
Ranking gains	Pre-staging inventory near key fulfillment centers and FBA zones
Demand surge detection	Preparing cold chain or DTC operations to expand SKUs
Add-to-cart insights	Launching kitted SKUs or bundles that increase AOV

Step 3: Scale the Flywheel

Every dollar you save or earn through PPC efficiency goes back into faster, smarter, more responsive logistics. That creates:

• Shorter lead times
• Faster restocks
• Less stockout risk
• Better reviews and repeat buyers

This all feeds back into better ad performance (lower CPC, stronger CTR, more budget flexibility).

This is the compound interest model of eCommerce.

The MyFBAPrep Advantage: We Build the Engine While You Hit the Gas

We’ve seen this flywheel play out with dozens of brands—here’s what they all have in common:

• TOS-optimized campaigns creating surges in demand
• Agile logistics, built on a nationwide warehouse network, keeping FBA stocked and customers happy
• Unified ops strategy across FBA, DTC, and retail

We power that backend so your ad dollars go further, stay profitable, and scale without bottlenecks.

Ready to Build the Flywheel?

You don’t need more ad spend.

You need smarter allocation + scalable logistics.

Let’s talk about how MyFBAPrep can support your next breakout campaign—with the infrastructure to match.

→ Schedule a call with our strategy team.