SNS message filtering lets each subscriber receive only the messages it cares about, using filter policies on message attributes — so you don’t send every message to every subscriber.
Why it matters
Without filtering, every subscriber to a topic gets every message and must discard the irrelevant ones. A filter policy makes SNS deliver only matching messages to each subscription — cleaner and cheaper. The tell is “route only certain messages to certain subscribers from one topic.”
Test yourself
From one SNS topic, only ‘order-cancelled’ events should reach a particular SQS queue, while other events should not. What achieves this without extra code?
- A separate topic per event type
- An SNS subscription filter policy on message attributes
- A Lambda that inspects and forwards
- A dead-letter queue
👉 Click to reveal the answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. A subscription filter policy makes SNS deliver only matching messages to that subscriber — no code. Separate topics per event (A) add management overhead; a forwarding Lambda (C) adds code and cost; a DLQ (D) handles failed deliveries, not filtering.
Related topics
Amazon SNS · Amazon SQS · SQS vs SNS
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