1 week ago
Amazon Ads Study Shows AI Boosting Indian SMB Advertising
Artificial intelligence is helping small businesses in India advertise more easily.
Many can now use channels such as streaming TV that once seemed too expensive or complicated.
Three out of four surveyed businesses said AI-supported advertising helped their growth.
AI also helped businesses create more marketing ideas and reach customers in other countries.
Some businesses said AI made it easier to launch new product categories.
AI can help find customers faster and improve advertising campaigns.
However, people still make most important decisions.
Only 2% of businesses let AI decide everything without human review.
A study of 300 Indian SMB marketing decision-makers found that 87% gained access to previously unreachable advertising channels through AI.
Seventy-five percent said AI-enabled advertising supported business growth, while 68% reported greater marketing creativity.
Among SMBs interested in streaming TV, 62% cited reaching new audiences, 59% cited brand awareness, and 48% cited improved credibility.
AI made cross-border campaigns more accessible for 56% of previously excluded respondents; 59% said it supported expansion into new countries.
AI adoption remains human-led: business owners were the final decision-makers for 40% of respondents, while only 2% used fully automated decisions without review.
- Who
- Amazon Ads and a study of 300 B2C marketing decision-makers from Indian small and medium-sized businesses.
- What
- The study examined how AI-powered advertising tools are expanding access, supporting growth, improving creativity, and enabling international campaigns.
- Where
- India; the research formed part of a wider study across 14 countries.
- When
- The findings include comparisons with advertising access three years earlier and advertiser data from Q1 2026 compared with the previous year.
- Why
- AI tools are reducing barriers involving advertising cost, minimum spending, planning complexity, creative development, and cross-border campaign management.
AI-Enabled Advertising Expansion
Human-Led Adoption and Limits
Access to advanced channels
AI-Enabled Advertising Expansion
AI-powered tools are helping SMBs overcome cost, minimum-spend, and planning barriers and access formats such as streaming TV.
Human-Led Adoption and Limits
The findings describe improved access, but businesses still rely on human judgment to decide how and where AI-supported advertising is used.
Growth and competition
AI-Enabled Advertising Expansion
Respondents said AI supported growth, faster optimisation, quicker customer discovery, international expansion, and competition with larger brands.
Human-Led Adoption and Limits
The reported outcomes are based on survey responses, and the study shows that most businesses use AI to assist rather than independently determine advertising strategy.
Automation versus oversight
AI-Enabled Advertising Expansion
AI tools can generate creative assets, support strategic planning, and provide recommendations for campaign execution and expansion.
Human-Led Adoption and Limits
Business owners or marketing leaders remained central decision-makers, and only 2% reported making decisions entirely through AI without human review.
Key facts
- Indian respondents
- 300 B2C marketing decision-makers from small and medium-sized businesses
- Expanded advertising access
- 87% said AI enabled access to channels, audiences, or formats that previously felt out of reach
- Business growth
- 75% said AI-enabled advertising activity or strategy supported growth
- Creative development
- 68% said AI unlocked greater creativity; 88% said they were likely to use AI to create advertising assets
- Streaming TV benefits
- Among interested SMBs, 62% cited reaching new audiences, 59% cited brand awareness, and 48% cited credibility
- International expansion
- 59% said AI supported expansion into new countries, while 56% of previously excluded respondents said cross-border campaigns were now more accessible
- Amazon Ads growth
- Indian advertisers using AI-powered tools grew 77% year over year, and AI-assisted ad-creative production rose 62% in Q1 2026
- Human oversight
- Business owners remained final decision-makers for 40%; AI tools with human review accounted for 32%; only 2% reported fully automated decisions
Quotes
Kapil Sharma
Director of Amazon Ads India
“Today, AI-powered tools are opening up channels like streaming TV that once felt reserved for big brands with big budgets.”
rediff.com
“We are seeing Indian SMBs approach advertising with a confidence we have not seen before.”
rediff.com
Sources
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