Tl;dr (took me a while to get to the potential “why” which was my first question)
Market analysts propose five theories for Amazon's strategic withdrawal:
First, the move serves as an incrementality stress test, similar to Amazon's 2020 experiment to determine which traffic requires paid search investment.
Second, it represents a post-Prime Day detox strategy, eliminating external advertising spend while maintaining pristine return on advertising spend metrics during back-to-school demand periods.
Third, the withdrawal constitutes a margin optimization play. By eliminating payments to Google, Amazon keeps customer acquisition costs internal while directing shoppers to its own platform.
Fourth, the move demonstrates negotiation leverage, potentially pressuring Google to reduce advertising fees through the withdrawal of substantial advertising spend estimated at hundreds of millions of euros.
Fifth, the removal reflects Amazon's broader strategy in search competition. With Rufus AI assistant and generative search answers expanding globally, Amazon seeks full-funnel customer control before Google's Performance Max campaigns further penetrate e-commerce territory.