Twitch Taps Amazon Exec to Boost Ad Business

Amazon is bringing in a new leader to Twitch to boost its advertising business, deepening the ties between the livestreaming service and its powerful parent. 

In a reorganization of Twitch’s ad business, Amazon is forming a new ad sales and product group for Twitch under the leadership of executive Viral Thacker. Thacker’s team will work “across all ad products, countries and customer segments,” according to a recent memo I viewed. Thacker will report directly to Alan Moss, the vice president who leads Amazon’s ad sales globally. 

The group solidifies a process that's been underway since 2020, when Amazon began folding Twitch's ad teams into its broader advertising division. Thacker played a role combining the two teams when he was on Amazon’s corporate development arm in 2020, according to the memo. In 2021, Thacker moved to a new role overseeing Amazon ads’ worldwide emerging businesses team, where he worked on new projects including ads sold to local businesses.