Amazon.com Inc. plans to offer video advertising space on its smartphone shopping app later in 2019, Bloomberg News reported March 21, citing people familiar with the matter.

The short video ads will appear in response to search results on the app, presenting valuable space for advertisers because people looking for a product are said to have a higher tendency to buy than those browsing through social media sites, the newswire said.

Market research company eMarketer earlier projected that mobile video ad spending in the U.S. will be close to $16 billion this year and reach almost $25 billion in 2022.

According to the report, the Seattle company has testing the ad feature on Apple Inc.'s iOS platform for several months. It reportedly plans to run similar tests for Google LLC's Android platform later in the year.

Amazon and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The news came after it was reported that Amazon has been blocking ads for poor-selling items in a bid to reduce costs and boost profitability.