Amazon is about to let brands pay to ask recent buyers for a rating. The headline claim is 3x more reviews per week. The question worth asking is how many of those reviews you would have got anyway.
What Review Requests is
Review Requests is a new Amazon Ads campaign type, announced at unBoxed 2026. It shows an ad to people who recently bought your product while they browse busy pages like the homepage. They can leave a star rating with one tap, or add a written review, photos or video.
Here is what Amazon has confirmed, and what is still open.
| Detail | What we know |
|---|---|
| Launch | US open beta, late October to November 2026 (Amazon’s two announcements give different months) |
| Markets | US only. More marketplaces are planned, with no dates |
| Eligibility | Products under 1,000 total ratings and reviews, checked at setup and while running |
| Cap | Campaigns pause automatically when the product hits 1,000 |
| Who sees it | Verified buyers. Third-party coverage says they must have received the item at least a week earlier |
| Review type | Normal verified-purchase reviews, shown on the product page like any other |
| Controls | Same bidding and budget controls as other campaigns. No new creative needed |
| Reported result | Around 3x more ratings and reviews per week, from a closed beta run 3–21 June 2026 |
| Pricing | Not confirmed by Amazon. Third-party coverage says you pay only when a shopper submits a review |
That 3x figure deserves a second look. It is Amazon’s own data, from a three-week test, comparing the same products before and during the test. There was no control group.
Cost per review is the easy number
If you only pay when a review is submitted, your cost per review is roughly your bid. That part is simple. The harder number is the cost per extra review.
Some of the people who see the ad were going to leave a review anyway. Amazon already emails buyers asking for feedback. If a buyer would have rated you next week through that email, the ad just moved the review forward and charged you for it.
So the maths looks like this:
- Cost per extra review = total spend divided by the reviews you would not have got otherwise
- If half the reviews would have come anyway, your real cost per review is double your bid
Amazon’s reporting is unlikely to separate these out for you. The best check is your own baseline: note your weekly review rate for four weeks before you switch it on, and compare.
It is also worth remembering that Amazon is steadily turning more of the shopping experience into paid placements. We covered a similar shift when AI shopping prompts became billable. Asking for a rating could easily have been a free, built-in prompt. Instead, it is an ad.
When it pays off, and when it backfires
The value of one more review is not flat. Going from 5 reviews to 50 changes how shoppers see a listing. Going from 600 to 650 barely registers. That means the 1,000 cap is generous: most of the benefit is gone well before you reach it.
It is most likely to pay off when:
- The product is new, under roughly 100 reviews, and sits next to competitors with thousands
- Your star rating is already strong, so more reviews reinforce it
- Your conversion rate is visibly held back by low review count
It can backfire when:
- The product has a quality or listing problem. You are paying to collect honest negative reviews faster
- Your rating is borderline, around 3.8 to 4.1 stars, where a few low ratings drop the displayed score
- You already have a few hundred reviews and the extra ones change little
Fix the product and the listing first. If your detail page is the weak link, start with tightening up your listing. And check how reviews are shared across your variations, because Amazon’s review-sharing rules have changed. Then pay to show it off.
Use the free options first
Review Requests is a paid layer on top of tools most sellers underuse.
- Request a Review button. Free in Seller Central, usable between 5 and 30 days after delivery, once per order. Many sellers automate it for every order. If you are not doing this, start here.
- Amazon Vine. Gets early reviews from trusted reviewers on products with fewer than 30 reviews. In the US, enrolment is free for up to 2 units, $75 for up to 10 and $200 for up to 30 per parent product, with fees varying by marketplace. It fills the 0 to 30 review gap that matters most.
- Amazon’s own follow-up emails. These go out regardless, which is exactly why some paid reviews will not be extra.
If you have maxed out the free route and still sit far behind competitors, that is when a paid campaign makes sense.
UK and Australian sellers: not yet
The beta is US only. Amazon says more marketplaces will follow but has given no dates. If you sell on amazon.co.uk or amazon.com.au, nothing changes this quarter.
Use the wait. Start tracking your weekly review rate per product now. When the feature reaches your marketplace, you will have the baseline you need to tell real lift from reviews that were coming anyway.
How to set your max bid
Work backwards from what the extra reviews are worth in sales, then discount for the ones you would have got anyway. Here is a worked example with illustrative numbers.
| Step | Example |
|---|---|
| Monthly units today | 300 |
| Profit per unit, after fees and ad cost | $10 |
| Expected conversion lift from 40 extra reviews | 10% to 11%, so +30 units a month |
| Extra profit over 6 months | 30 x $10 x 6 = $1,800 |
| Value per extra review | $1,800 / 40 = $45 |
| Share of paid reviews that are truly extra | 50% |
| Max bid per submitted review | $45 x 50% = $22.50 |
The conversion lift is the guess that drives everything. Be honest with it, and be stricter the more reviews you already have.
Overview
This is a useful tool for new products with a good rating and a big review gap. It is not a fix for a weak product, and it is not worth much once you are past a few hundred reviews. Run the free options first, measure a baseline, then test it with a capped budget.
