For years, getting early reviews on a new ASIN has meant an email request, a bit of luck, and crossed fingers that enough buyers bother to leave a star rating before your listing sinks past page three. Amazon just changed that math. On September 29, Amazon Ads announced a new ad product called Review Requests, and it is about as blunt as the name suggests: you pay to put a review prompt in front of verified buyers on some of Amazon’s highest traffic pages, including the homepage.
If you sell on Amazon, this is worth understanding now, not after the open beta fills up in late October. Here is what Amazon has actually said, who qualifies, and how it stacks up against the review tools you are probably already using.
What Amazon Actually Announced
Review Requests is an advertising product, not a Seller Central feature. It runs through the same infrastructure as other Amazon ad types: campaigns are built in Amazon Ads Agent or managed through the Unified Campaign Management API, and they come with the same bidding and budget controls sellers already use for Sponsored Products.
Here is the mechanic. A shopper who recently bought your product sees a Review Requests ad while browsing a high traffic Amazon page. They can leave a one tap star rating on the spot, and if they want to say more, they can add a written review with photos or video. Amazon says products in its internal closed beta, run from June 3 to June 21, 2026, picked up roughly three times as many ratings and reviews per week compared to their normal pace.
That stat is worth a healthy dose of skepticism. Amazon has not published the number of products tested, the ad spend involved, the bids used, or whether there was a proper control group. It is a comparison against each product’s own prior review velocity, not an independently verified lift. Treat it as a directional signal, not a guarantee.
Who Actually Qualifies
- Review count ceiling. Your product needs fewer than 1,000 total ratings and reviews combined. Amazon checks this at campaign creation and keeps checking while the campaign runs. Once you cross 1,000, the campaign pauses automatically.
- Account standing. You need an advertising console account in good standing, meaning no active policy violations. If you have had recent account health issues, sort those first.
- Geography. The beta is US only at launch, with no stated timeline yet for other marketplaces.
- Timing. The open beta begins in late October 2026, so most sellers reading this will be able to test it within weeks, not months.
In practice, this makes Review Requests a tool for newer or recently launched ASINs, not your flagship bestseller that already has 4,000 reviews. If you are running new product launches regularly, this is squarely built for you.
How It Stacks Up Against What You Are Already Doing
You already have two ways to ask for reviews: the free Request a Review button in Seller Central, which fires off Amazon’s standard review request email to a buyer after their order, and Vine, which seeds early reviews by giving free units to Vine voices in exchange for an honest review. Review Requests does not replace either one. It sits alongside them, and the rules and costs are different for each.
The Request a Review button costs nothing but relies on a buyer opening an email and following through, which is a low conversion ask. Vine gets you reviews fast but requires giving away inventory and only works for enrolled products under Brand Registry. Review Requests is paid media: you are buying a shot at the buyer’s attention on a page they are already looking at, not buying a guaranteed positive review. Amazon is explicit about that distinction, and it matters for compliance. Nothing about this product changes Amazon’s policy against incentivizing positive reviews specifically, so treat it as a traffic and attention play, not a review manipulation shortcut.
One more thing worth flagging if PPC is part of your ad mix already: Amazon also announced Branded Conversations at the same event, the next step up from Sponsored Brands prompts inside Alexa for Shopping conversations, where brands can feed in product expertise so Alexa can answer detailed shopper questions on their behalf. That one does not launch until January 2027, but it is a sign of where Amazon’s ad inventory is heading: less banner, more conversation.
What This Means for Your Budget and Launch Playbook
Amazon has not published a minimum bid, a pricing benchmark, or an expected cost per review, so nobody outside Amazon’s beta group actually knows what this will cost per incremental rating yet. That uncertainty is exactly why you should not pour a big chunk of your Q4 ad budget into it on day one.
A more sensible approach for the first 60 to 90 days:
- Pick one or two new ASINs under the 1,000 review ceiling, ideally ones already converting reasonably well on Sponsored Products, and run Review Requests with a capped daily budget.
- Track incremental ratings against your own baseline weekly velocity before you turn the campaign on, not against Amazon’s published three times figure, which came from their test conditions, not yours.
- Watch your return rate alongside your review rate. A spike in both at once usually means you are getting more attention from buyers who were lukewarm on the purchase in the first place, not a free lunch.
- Keep this separate from your acquisition campaigns in your reporting so you can actually tell whether it is moving conversion rate on the listing, which is the real reason reviews matter in the first place.
If you manage inventory under 1,000 reviews across a broad catalog, Review Requests could become a standing line item in your launch checklist right next to your initial PPC ramp. If most of your catalog is mature and past that threshold, this one simply is not for you yet, and that is fine. Not every new Amazon ad product needs a seat at your table on day one.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Amazon Review Requests become available?
It enters open beta in the United States in late October 2026. Amazon announced the product on September 29, 2026.
Which products are eligible for Review Requests campaigns?
Any product with fewer than 1,000 combined ratings and reviews, advertised through an ad console account in good standing. Amazon automatically pauses a campaign once the product crosses 1,000 reviews.
Does Review Requests guarantee positive reviews?
No. Amazon is explicit that you are paying to put a review prompt in front of a verified recent buyer, not buying a favorable outcome. The buyer can leave any star rating they choose.
How much does Review Requests cost?
Amazon has not published pricing, minimum bids, or a cost per review benchmark. Campaigns use the same bidding and budget structure as other Amazon ad products, so cost will depend on competition for placements once the beta is live.
Is Review Requests different from the free Request a Review button?
Yes. The Request a Review button in Seller Central is free and sends a standard post purchase email. Review Requests is a paid ad placement shown to recent buyers on high traffic Amazon pages, with different eligibility rules and no cost overlap between the two.
If you are trying to figure out where something like Review Requests fits into your PPC budget, your launch sequencing, or your broader Amazon and multichannel strategy, that is exactly the kind of thing Depu helps sellers work through as a freelance Amazon FBA and e-commerce growth consultant. Feel free to reach out if you want a second set of eyes on your account.
Sources:
Amazon Advertising, “Introducing Branded Conversations and Review Requests” (advertising.amazon.com)
EcomCrew, “Amazon Is Turning Review Requests Into a Paid Ad Product” (ecomcrew.com)