Amazon is increasingly building out an advertising business that's powered by reams of valuable data across search, display, and video.The company made $2 billion in what it calls "other revenues" during the first quarter, largely from advertising.Marketers say they're looking for alternatives beyond the duopoly of Facebook and Google to spend their ad dollars with, and Amazon is emerging as a contender.Amazon may be one of the world's most mysterious brands, but advertisers are still enamored of the company's wealth of data and its potential ability to challenge Facebook and Google's dominance in online advertising.Amazon's ad placements span valuable search ads on its site that zero in on products that people are looking for, in video advertising and in a growing programmatic business that places targeted ads across the web ' all of which is powered by data on what consumers buy.Amazon also helps brands develop e-commerce strategies for the platform, including helping retailers create pages, merchandise, and set prices."In the first quarter, Amazon spend increased 96% year-over-year, and that's just on sponsored product ads, which are most similar to Google Shopping listings," Andy Taylor, an associate director of research at performance marketing shop Merkle, told Business Insider."Amazon also has another ad product called headline search ads, which are carousel banner ads that are shown at the very top of Amazon ' those increased 90% year-over-year in ad spend during Q1."Amazon made $2 billion in "other revenues" during the first quarter of this year, largely from advertising.Behind the scenes are advertising execs who rarely make public appearances but who agencies say are crucial in helping them navigate the ins and outs of Amazon.Here are six top advertising execs you should know:Seth Dallaire, Vice President of Global Advertising Sales and MarketingDallaire is responsible for overseeing Amazon's global sales teams and growing the company's ad business. He's the face of Amazon at industry conferences and events and is a liaison between advertisers and Amazon. Additionally, Dallaire is a director for the Interactive Advertising Bureau and The Advertising Council, two prominent trade organizations for the advertising industry.He is on his second tenure at Amazon. After working on the account management team in the early 2000s, Dallaire went on to work at Microsoft and Yahoo before rejoining Amazon in 2012.Tim Craycroft, VP of Multichannel AdvertisingCraycroft oversees Amazon's ad-tech business, including its publisher-services arm that aims to help publishers make money from ad placements on "PC, mobile, and connected devices." He is also responsible for Amazon's video-advertising business and incorporating video into how consumers shop online.For example, after inking a deal with the NFL last year to stream 'Thursday Night Football' games, Craycroft and his team worked with brands like Pepsi and Hyundai to package commercials into the broadcasts. The deal has since been renewed and Amazon will stream the games for the next two years beginning this fall.Colleen Aubrey, VP of Global Self-Service Performance AdvertisingLike Google's huge self-serve search business, Amazon provides technology to let marketers buy and manage their own ad spend on the platform. Aubrey's team is zeroed in on that side of the business and Amazon's cost-per-click advertising tools.One example of what Aubrey works on: Brands can select their own keywords to target ads towardlike a competitor or their own brand. When advertisers cherry-pick their own keywords in Amazon, they can use a feature called Bid+ that Amazon claims increases bids by up to 50%, making it more likely to appear at the top of search results.She revealed that stat along with best practices for marketers during Search Marketing Expo East, a search marketing conference last year.See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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