Amazon blocked Muse and Instinct from its site. And now, it's selling ads inside
By Matthew L Chen · November 3, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
Amazon blocked Muse and Instinct from its site. And now, it's selling ads inside its own shopping agent. Here's why this matters to brands:
Amazon wants to own the place where your customers decide what to buy. If that decision moves into someone else’s agent, Amazon could still fulfill the order while someone else earns the advertising revenue.
So Amazon is building that experience itself. Alexa for Shopping, formerly Rufus, already includes Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands in conversations. Existing campaigns are automatically eligible to appear there.
It's early now, but soon agents and chatbots will become a major advertising channel alongside search and social, potentially even overtaking them as the new form factor for contextual recommendations.
The economics point in that direction, too. Agents cost a lot of money to run. Charging every user a subscription creates friction, and consumers have shown apprehension to pay monthly for LLMs.
Brands, meanwhile, will pay to reach someone actively deciding what to buy, especially when the customer data is richer. "Find me a jacket for a November trip to London, under $200” gives an advertiser a lot more context than “men’s jackets."
An agent can help narrow the options, answer questions, and complete the purchase. That creates a valuable place for a brand to be considered.
For brands, that means they have another place to compete for the customer’s next purchase. Search. Social. Agents.
This increase in complexity increases the level of rigor and granularity required for brands to win in e-commerce.