Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is best known as the king of e-commerce, accounting for more than a third of all U.S. e-commerce sales, a staggering lead. As for Amazon's own business, e-commerce accounts for about 67% of total sales. Online store sales increased 9% year over year in the 2023 fourth quarter, and third-party sales rose 20%.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is Amazon's second-largest segment, accounting for 14% of the total, and AWS sales increased 13% year over year in the fourth quarter. But advertising has emerged as Amazon's third-largest segment, and it's also its fastest growing. Let's consider its potential and what it could mean for investors.

At $14 billion, advertising accounts for around 8% of sales. But ad sales increased 27% year over year in the fourth quarter, and it's been the fastest-growing segment for several quarters. Amazon only began to report it as a separate segment at the end of 2021.

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Source Fool.com