BENTONVILLE. Ark. — Wal­mart Media Group, the retailer’s advertising unit, has introduced an auction-based marketplace that aims to give advertisers more transparency and control of their sponsored product ­campaigns.

“Brands will now be able to increase visibility with Walmart’s diverse, sizable audience of shoppers,” Lex Josephs, vice president of sales and media partnerships at Walmart Media Group, wrote in a January 3 post on the company’s website.

“With 90% of America shopping at Walmart every year and nearly 160 million visitors to our stores and website every week, Walmart Media Group enables brands to reach more customers at scale and measure advertising effectiveness across the entire shopping journey,” Josephs said in describing the new Walmart Advertising Partners program.

The program promises new automation capabilities that streamline advertisers’ ability to reach customers in a timely manner with targeted ads. The new capabilities also offer enhanced access to data about the online and offline shopping behaviors of Walmart customers.

“Now, brands can tap into Walmart’s shopper footprint to get the right sponsored ad experience to the right shopper at the right moment through partners Flywheel Digital, Kenshoo, Pacvue and Teikametrics,” according to Josephs.