For Amazon PPC video requirements, identify the ad format first: this checklist covers Sponsored Brands video, not every Amazon video placement. Amazon’s official specification page lists a 6–45-second, 16:9 video in MP4 or MOV, no larger than 500MB, at one of its accepted resolutions (data checked 2026-11-10). Technical acceptance is only one pass: the creative also needs to work without sound, keep important information clear of the lower-right controls, and match the marketplace language.
Use the tables below as an export brief, then run the visual and localization checks before handing the file to the campaign operator. These are public-document requirements and an asset-review workflow—not a claim that a file was uploaded or approved in a live advertising account.
Amazon PPC Video Requirements: Confirm Sponsored Brands First
“PPC video” describes how someone is thinking about an ad, not a single export specification. Amazon’s Sponsored Brands video page describes cost-per-click ads and separates campaigns leading to a Product Detail Page from campaigns leading to a Brand Store (data checked 2026-11-10). This is the format covered here.
Record the intended destination before briefing the editor. A product demonstration and a brand introduction can use the same technical specification while needing different messages. If the objective is a product page visit, show the product and the reason to inspect it. If the destination is a Store, make the wider brand proposition understandable without trying to fit an entire catalog into the clip.
Do not transplant this specification into a different Amazon video product simply because its name contains “video.” Confirm the campaign type with the operator and use that product’s current documentation. In particular, a reusable source project is more useful than a supposedly universal final export: it lets the editor produce a different version when another placement has different requirements.
For campaign funding decisions, use the separate Sponsored Brands budget guide. This page is an asset acceptance checklist, not a budget or bidding tutorial.
Technical Export Specifications
The following values are copied from Amazon’s video and audio specifications, data checked 2026-11-10. Keep the distinction between an accepted range and a recommendation: a recommendation is not a different rejection threshold.
| Video field | Official specification | Export check |
|---|---|---|
| Duration | Between 6 and 45 seconds; 20 seconds or less highly recommended | Inspect the final file duration, including its end card |
| Dimensions | 1280×720, 1920×1080, or 3840×2160 pixels | Select one listed size, not an arbitrary widescreen canvas |
| Aspect ratio | 16:9, square pixels only | Confirm pixel aspect ratio as well as frame shape |
| File format | .MP4 or .MOV | Inspect the exported container |
| File size | 500MB or less | Check the final delivered file, not the source project |
| Video codec | H.264 or H.265 | Verify codec metadata after export |
| Video profile | Main or Baseline | Inspect the actual profile rather than assuming a default preset matches |
| Frame rate | 23.976, 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 29.98, or 30fps | Match one listed value |
| Video bit rate | Minimum 1 Mbps; 4 Mbps or higher recommended | Check the output bit rate and watch for compression damage |
| Scan type | Progressive | Confirm the export is not interlaced |
| Audio field | Official specification | Export check |
|---|---|---|
| Codec | PCM, AAC, or MP3 | Inspect the delivered audio stream |
| Format | Stereo or mono | Confirm channel format |
| Bit rate | Minimum 96 kbps | Check the encoded stream |
| Sample rate | Minimum 44.1 kHz | Check the output sample rate |
All values in both tables: Amazon Sponsored Brands video specifications, checked 2026-11-10.
A file extension does not establish codec, profile, frame rate, or audio encoding. Handing over a file named final.mp4 therefore does not complete the technical check. Use the editor’s export details or a media inspector to inspect the finished asset, and retain that information with the version sent for upload.
Check limits against the delivered file after every substantive re-export. An editor can shorten a scene but accidentally change the preset, or fix a subtitle while exporting a different frame rate. The review belongs to the file that will be uploaded, not an earlier version that happened to pass.
For the first review copy, choose a listed resolution and preserve a clean source project. If the file needs a smaller delivery size, adjust the export while keeping every listed minimum and format constraint intact. Reducing file size is not a reason to silently drop below the required video or audio bit rate.
Muted Playback: Make the Message Work Without Sound
Amazon states that Sponsored Brands videos start without audio. The mute toggle sits in the lower-right corner, and the video automatically plays when 50% of its pixels are on-screen (data checked 2026-11-10, ad-unit anatomy). Those behaviors make the silent review a separate creative check, not merely an audio-quality check.
Watch the export with sound disabled before reading the script. Can a viewer identify the product, see what happens, and understand why the demonstration matters? If the answer depends entirely on narration, revise the visuals or add concise on-screen language. Subtitles can support the message, but a dense transcript is not a substitute for a clear demonstration.
Build the opening around the product or an immediately interesting action. Amazon’s creative guidance recommends showing something compelling in the first few seconds and keeping the video brief and easy to understand; the same page recommends a brand end card (data checked 2026-11-10). That supports a simple sequence: recognizable product, useful demonstration, then a clear closing identity.
Next, restore the audio and check whether it supports the same claim. Listen for clipped words, an abrupt ending, or music that obscures narration. A silent-first edit can still have useful sound; it simply does not require sound to explain the essential message.
Amazon also says the mute toggle is not displayed for a silent video or one with no audio (data checked 2026-11-10). Do not add an unnecessary audio track merely to imitate an ad example. Review the version you intend to deliver on its own terms.
Safe Areas: Keep Critical Information Out of the Lower Right
Amazon’s specification page tells advertisers to avoid putting text and other important information in the video’s lower-right corner and links an official safe-area template (data checked 2026-11-10). Use that linked template during layout rather than estimating a fixed margin from memory.
The practical check is about more than subtitles. Examine benefit captions, product labels, demonstrations involving small controls, and the end card. If the key action occurs where the player controls sit, moving only the text will not solve the problem. Reframe the shot or change the composition so the essential information remains clear.
Overlay the template on the matching canvas in the editing project, review the important frames, and remove the overlay from the final export. Keep a review image with the asset handoff if another person needs to approve the layout. That review image is a production aid, not an additional element to burn into the ad.
The same official page instructs advertisers to avoid letterboxing or pillarboxing, including black, colored, or blurred horizontal or vertical bars (data checked 2026-11-10). Exporting a vertical clip inside a widescreen file does not fix that issue. Recompose or produce a genuine widescreen edit instead of filling unused space with bars.
Marketplace Language: Review the Actual Version Being Uploaded
Amazon says the featured language should match the marketplace where the ad is shown. Its examples specify English on-screen text or voiceover for English-speaking locales and Italian on-screen text or voiceover for Italy; it suggests subtitles or separate versions when selling in multiple marketplaces (data checked 2026-11-10, acceptance criteria).
Treat localization as a version-control task. Name the target marketplace in the brief, identify which language appears on screen, and record whether narration and subtitles have also been localized. An English source project with translated captions is not automatically the same asset as the file the operator eventually receives.
Check the entire sequence, including the opening label, demonstration captions, closing card, and any embedded text that was part of the original footage. Text baked into a shot is easy to overlook when only the subtitle track is reviewed. If it carries essential meaning, account for it in the localized edit.
Review readability after translation. A phrase that fits comfortably in the original language may wrap awkwardly or sit over the product in another version. Keep the message concise enough to read during playback, and repeat the safe-area check on each final export.
The product specification page also links creative acceptance policies. A technically conforming file still needs content acceptance. The technical table should therefore be one sign-off in the handoff, not a promise that Amazon has approved the creative.
A File-by-File Handoff Checklist
Use a separate record for each delivered language and marketplace version. Copying an approval from a different export hides the exact problem this workflow is meant to catch.
Campaign format: Sponsored Brands video
Intended destination: Product Detail Page / Brand Store
Marketplace and featured language:
Delivered filename and version:
Duration, dimensions, and pixel aspect ratio:
Container, codec, profile, frame rate, and scan type:
Video bit rate and final file size:
Audio codec, channels, bit rate, and sample rate:
Silent-playback review completed by:
Safe-area and no-bars review completed by:
Localized text, narration, and end card reviewed by:
Upload owner and feedback location:
Complete the handoff in three passes. First, inspect metadata against the technical tables. Second, watch the full asset silently and check composition against the safe-area template. Third, review the localized text and audio together, then assign the exact file to the upload owner.
If the operator receives feedback, classify it before asking for another export. A file-format problem belongs with export settings; an unreadable caption belongs with layout; an incorrect language belongs with localization. Changing every part of the asset at once makes it harder to establish whether the original issue was actually corrected.
If you use an automated creative tool, keep this same acceptance checklist after generation. The Amazon Ads Video Generator guide discusses that production route separately. A tool choice does not replace inspection of the finished file or establish acceptance for a particular ad format.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long can a Sponsored Brands video be?
Amazon lists 6–45 seconds and highly recommends 20 seconds or less, according to its specification page checked 2026-11-10. The shorter recommendation does not change the listed acceptance range.
Can I upload a square or vertical Sponsored Brands video?
The specification covered here lists 16:9 with square pixels only, checked 2026-11-10. Square pixels describe pixel shape, not a square frame. Do not read that wording as permission to export a 1:1 video.
Does Sponsored Brands video need audio?
Amazon describes silent videos and videos without audio, and says the mute toggle is not shown for those versions. It also states that playback starts without audio (data checked 2026-11-10). When audio is included, inspect it against the listed audio specifications.
Does meeting the file specification guarantee approval?
No. Amazon’s specification page separately requires compliance with creative acceptance policies, marketplace language, and content criteria (data checked 2026-11-10). A completed technical review establishes that export settings were checked; it is not an approval notice.
Source and Verification Scope
All platform specifications and playback statements were checked against Amazon’s Sponsored Brands video specifications on 2026-11-10. The safe-area link above is the template linked by that page. No live account upload, moderation result, or campaign performance test is claimed.