Amazon to become the third largest digital ad platform in the U.S.

Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, -1.28% is poised to become the number three digital ad platform in the U.S., according to eMarketer data, moving past Oath and Microsoft Corp. MSFT, -1.46% The top two platforms are Facebook Inc. FB, +1.52% and Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG, +0.70% GOOGL, +0.46% Google. Facebook will capture 20.6% of the spend and Google, 37.1%. EMarketer estimates that Amazon's U.S. digital ad revenue will double this year, with advertisers spending $4.61 billion on the platform, equal to 4.1% of all digital ad spending in the country. Emarketer's previous forecast was for Amazon's digital ad business to surpass $2 billion for the first time this year. Amazon's ad business has been aided by its Prime program. Advertisers can use the data collected about consumers to better target its market. Amazon shares have jumped more than 64% for 2018 to date, while the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.11% has gained 8.8% for the period.

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