During my four years at Amazon Ads , one thing brands could never get enough of
By Jeffrey Cohen · April 18, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
During my four years at Amazon Ads, one thing brands could never get enough of was benchmark data. March 2026 just delivered a massive efficiency breakthrough: Google ROI surged +291% (from 4.23 to 16.55) while Walmart Connect Onsite Display ROI exploded by +166%. I can’t wait to see what the Q1 numbers look like.
Retail media continues to drive significant results, but performance is concentrated in a few top channels. The gap between these high-efficiency channels and where most teams are still allocating budget is widening.
Here's what the data is actually telling you:
Retail media has become the primary growth driver. In CPG and Food & Beverage, Amazon Search and Instacart conversion growth is running +30% to +100%+ YoY. Walmart Search is up +59%. This reflects a true structural shift, not outliers.
Reallocating budget is answer. Several channels in this benchmark show the same pattern: spend up, clicks up, conversions flat or down. This indicates low ROI despite higher engagement.. The brands winning right now are moving budget toward proven efficiency breakout channels, not simply adding investment across the board.
Last year’s channel mix is already wrong. If you're still running the same allocation you built in 2025, the data says you're behind. Google (16.55 ROI), Walmart Onsite Display (19.34 ROI), and MSN (10.50 ROI) are pulling away. Low-ROI, high-click-volume channels are pulling in the opposite direction.
Three things worth acting on now:
Scale what's working. Double down on Google and ADSP. Google’s 291% ROI surge shows massive intent momentum, while ADSP CPCs improved by 55%, proving offsite efficiency is scaling.
Cut the false growth. Social media is currently the False Growth trap, as CPCs dropped 20%, but ROI remained flat at 0.43. It's efficiency without effectiveness.
Capitalize on the Local explosion. Local channel ROI grew from 1.73 to 90.07 this month. If your brand has a physical footprint, the window to move efficiently is now.
Join Josh Dreller (Skai) and Kelly Gerrard (Marshall Associates) on April 23 for an in-depth look at Q1 digital advertising performance, featuring our exclusive data on retail media, paid search, social, and GenAI-powered marketing.