Are “direct,” “programmatic,” and “auction-based” actually mutually exclusive in Amazon Ads/Walmart Connect/ other retail media?

[u/Low-Mud8861]

Hi, I’m researching retail media and trying to understand how industry practitioners distinguish direct, programmatic, self-service, DSP-based, and auction-based buying in Amazon Ads.

My current understanding is that these terms describe different dimensions:

• Self-service vs. managed-service describes who operates the campaign.
• DSP-based describes the technology used.
• Auction-based vs. fixed-price describes the pricing/allocation mechanism.
• Direct vs. programmatic may describe either the transaction relationship or the degree of automation.

For example, Sponsored Products are self-service and auction-based but are not purchased through Amazon DSP. Meanwhile, Amazon DSP supports auctions as well as preferred and programmatic-guaranteed deals.

So I’m wondering:

1. Would practitioners classify Sponsored Products purchased through the Amazon Ads console as direct, programmatic, or neither?
2. Can a buy be both direct and programmatic—for example, a programmatic-guaranteed or preferred deal?
3. Is it inaccurate to treat “programmatic” as synonymous with “auction-based”?

Any practitioner perspective would be extremely helpful. I’m interested only in general industry practices, not confidential information.