Choosing an AMC-capable agency: question catalogue for advertisers in DACH
In short: Before the start, ask an agency about access, ownership of the queries, handling of your data, reporting cadence and exit. According to Amazon multiple users and partners can access one AMC instance at the same time, so the instance need not sit with the agency. This catalogue is our recommendation, not an Amazon rule.
Access and ownership
- Who owns the AMC instance, and how is the agency's access arranged?
- Who owns the queries and workflows, and do you receive them as SQL at the end of the contract?
- Does the API connection run through your credentials or the agency's?
- Who creates schedules, and where do the results go (your S3 bucket or the agency's)?
Data and data protection
- Which of your data does the agency upload to AMC (advertiser data upload or AWS Clean Rooms), and on what legal basis?
- How are consent signals and country code supplied? Amazon requires them for users in the UK and EEA.
- Is there a data processing agreement, and is data passed to AI services?
Way of working and reports
- How often is reporting done, and which queries do the numbers come from? Ask for the SQL, not just the dashboard.
- How does the agency deal with aggregation thresholds when rows are missing?
- Which paid features does it consider necessary, and what do they cost? (Amazon 1P signals can be queried at no cost through December 31, 2026 according to Amazon.)
- How does the agency prove effect, not just attribution?
- Which certifications and practical references exist, for example the AMC certification of the Amazon Ads Academy?