[eMarketer] Amazon ad business is profitable, but it’s freezing hiring anyway

Amazon pulled in a record $9.48 billion in ad revenues last quarter, but the retail ecommerce giant is freezing hiring in its advertising business ahead of what it expects to be a tepid holiday shopping season. The company will fill vacant positions but will not create any new ones, Bloomberg reports.

Amazon’s stock has fallen sharply since it forecasted a sales growth slowdown for the holiday period. The company has seen signs of a consumer spending slowdown for some time, and is curbing hiring to eke out as much profit as possible in the year’s final quarter.

Still, even with a slower-than-usual holiday shopping season, it’s still surprising to see Amazon hit the pause button on its profitable, growing advertising business.

eMarketer posits that Amazon’s ad business isn’t going anywhere, but concerns about end-of-year spending and a general economic downturn are leading the company to slow its roll.

Fewer hires may mean that Amazon will take more time to launch new ad products and tools, but it also means that it can squeeze out more profits and won’t have to undertake a heavy course correction if the economy worsens.

Read the full eMarketer article here

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