Category targets
Access from: Advertising → Campaigns
Category targets are a way to segment Sponsored Products campaigns without needing to know specific ASINs. Instead of pasting a list of competitor products, you pick a whole Amazon category (for example "Routers", "Office Supplies" or "Baby") and Amazon shows your ad on any product in that category.
They map to CATEGORY_SAME_AS in the official Amazon Advertising API.
When to use categories vs. ASINs
| Scenario | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| You know exact competitors and want to appear next to their listings | ASIN targets (ASIN_SAME_AS / ASIN_EXPANDED_FROM) |
| You want broad coverage in a niche without managing long ASIN lists | Category targets |
| New product with no competitor history | Category targets (discovery) |
| You want to narrow the category to a price / brand / rating range | Refined category targets |
Where to add them
Categories are added from the same target picker you use for ASINs:
- New SP campaign wizard — "Targets" step → "Products" tab
- New ad group wizard inside an existing campaign — same step
- "Add targets" inside an already published ad group
Inside the Products tab you'll see a "Mode" selector with three options:
- From catalog — your own products (ASIN_SAME_AS / EXPANDED)
- By external ASIN — competitor ASINs you type
- By category — official Amazon tree
Select "By category" to open the picker.
Category picker
The full Amazon category tree is downloaded the first time you open the tab. Each node is expandable: root categories (e.g. "Electronics", "Office Supplies") contain sub-categories which contain sub-sub-categories.
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Search | "Search category" field — filters by text contained in the name |
| Expand a node | Click the arrow on the left side |
| Select | Checkbox to the left of the name |
| Multi-select | Check several boxes and press "Add categories" |
Note: selecting a parent category does not automatically add its children. Each level is treated as an independent target.
Once added to the batch (right panel of the wizard) you can edit the bid or delete individually.
Refining a category
Categories are broad by default. To narrow down to a specific brand, price range, rating or Prime availability, refine the category:
- Add the category to the batch (right panel)
- Click the "Refine" button on the row
- A modal appears with five optional axes:
| Refinement | What it does |
|---|---|
| Brand | Only shows ads on products of that brand within the category |
| Age range | Filters by age group declared in Amazon (typical for toys and baby) |
| Price range | Only products whose price is between min and max |
| Star rating | Only products with a rating between min and max stars |
| Prime shipping | All (no filter) / Prime only / Non-Prime only |
The available options vary by category — Amazon returns a dynamic list of brands and age ranges specific to each category. The modal shows a spinner while refinements load and then fills the selects automatically.
After saving, the summary appears below the category name in the batch, e.g.:
Office SuppliesBrand: Bic · Price: 0-10 · Rating: 4-5 · Shipping: PRIME
Rules and limits
- Categories can only be added as positive targets. Amazon SP does not support negative category targets.
- Categories share the cap of 10,000 product targets per ad group with ASIN targets.
- An ad group with positive keyword targets does not accept positive categories (and vice versa). It does allow mixing negative keyword + product in any ad group.
- The brand declared in the refinement must exist in the Amazon catalog — Epinium only shows valid brands for the selected category.
End-to-end flow
Verification after creation
After submit, Epinium publishes the targets to Amazon Advertising. In the Segmentations tab of the ad group:
- "Segmentation type" column → shows the category name
- "Match" column → shows "Category equals"
- If the category has refinements, a small line appears below the name with the summary (Brand / Price / Rating / Shipping)
If Amazon rejects any target (e.g. invalid category) a toast appears with the error detail.
Things that CANNOT be done (yet)
- Brands as direct target (
BRAND_SAME_AS) — not supported in Epinium. If you want to target a brand, use "Category" with brand refinement. - Suggested categories (Amazon-recommended based on product) — available only from Smart Campaigns, not from the direct SP wizard.
- Negative categories — Amazon does not support this at API level.