Amazon prepares to break into ad industry

Amazon is making a serious effort to break into the digital advertising business, an arena dominated by its fellow behemoth competitors, Google and Facebook.

The company is opening a new office in New York City, which it says will bring more than 2,000 jobs.

The new space will also bring it closer to New York’s advertising agencies. Media agency executives have already told Digiday that they have been increasingly contacted by Amazon representatives trying to sell them and their clients ad space.

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Amazon has already begun to beef up its ad sales team and enhance its programmatic advertising business.

The company is reportedly interested in branching out its advertising to companies that don’t sell products on its website. The move could help Amazon access new profits from businesses that wouldn’t normally use its platform like restaurants, airlines and luxury brands.

Amazon is trying to find a spot in a market that is already dominated by Facebook and Google.

The two tech giants took in the overwhelming majority of all new digital advertising growth in 2016. Google alone is projected to account for roughly 40 percent of all U.S. digital ad revenues in 2017.

Amazon already has a hand in advertising, so the company isn’t starting from scratch. The digital ad revenue space is also growing quickly, potentially leaving space for others to jump in. Digital ad revenue increased by 20 percent industrywide last year.