Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Amazon Will Pay Developers With the Most Engaging Alexa Skills (venturebeat.com)

Posted by msmash on from the free-cash dept.

Amazon today announced a new program to bring revenue to developers of Alexa skills based on how much engagement their voice app is able to generate among users of Alexa-enabled devices. From a report: Amazon appears to be the first of the major tech companies with AI assistants and third-party integrations -- like Google, Samsung, Apple, and Microsoft -- with a program to compensate developers based on engagement created by their voice app. Metrics used to measure engagement of an Alexa skill include minutes of usage, new customers, customer ratings, and return visitors, an Amazon spokesperson told VentureBeat. Developers of Alexa skills in the U.S., U.K., and Germany are eligible to join. Developers with a skill active in all three countries will receive separate payments based on engagement in each country.

6 of 41 comments (clear)

  1. Turn Alexa into a phone sex voice bot... by cayenne8 · · Score: 4, Funny
    I would predict that if you could get Alexa to give a good phone sex experience, they'd have the winner developer there.

    Depending on how good the app was, the length of time of engagement might be short, but I"m guessing that would be made up by increased repeat business.

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  2. Alexa Skill Store is Shit and So is Amazon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I submitted a skill. They strung me along for about 4 months asking for pointless tweaks while changing the acceptable encryption schemes, etc. At the end of all that they finally said "Some skills will never be accepted" and ended it there. No way to follow up.

    Quick check of the dev forums and there are plenty of similar tales. The reason why? Whatever the skill was eventually became part of core functionality, or another large company released something identical shortly thereafter. My particular skill wound up in core.

    You know, I get it. Maybe you don't want to reveal your road map. But don't string people along for months knowing you have no intention of ever approving. I've had plenty of ideas for skills since, but I'm never going near it again. Fuck those guys.

  3. Calling it now by alvinrod · · Score: 2

    I'm calling it now. A sex chat program or something like it will actually win, but will be disqualified from the competition.

  4. I don't like voice interfaces. by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The voice interface, while looks good in science fiction as it is an easy way to push the plot along. However these devices such as Alexa, are often getting in my way of instant data. As someone who keep my phone silent and my PC on mute I find getting info from a keyboard, or with gestures on a good interface, is much better to get info. Plus other people don't have to hear me ask silly questions or bore listing to the answers.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    1. Re:I don't like voice interfaces. by timmyf2371 · · Score: 2

      It's all about different use cases.

      "Alexa, play songs by xyz band" is much easier than unlocking my phone, opening Spotify, searching for the band and then connecting to my speaker before actually playing the tunes.

      Likewise, "Hey Siri, wake me up at 6am" is easier than going into the app and manully configuring the alarm.

      However, looking up an actor or actress on IMDB is something more suited to a screen, allowing me to browse their previous movies at my leisure.

      I also find that any unusual words/phrases are wholly unsuited to dictation. Such as flight numbers or other combinations of characters. I recent had to send some commands to my dad to configure his Raspberry Pi - that was definitely a keyboard job!

      --

      Backup not found: (A)bort (R)etry (P)anic
  5. Finally a reason to write one. by Graydyn+Young · · Score: 2

    This is great news for anybody who uses these voice-based devices. The app ecosystem on these devices has been an absolute sewer, because only apps with a monetization strategy get published. There is a tonne of room for some very cool little applications that use voice inside the home for quick information requests and the like. But as is, nobody is going to build those apps because they cost money to run. Not very much money, but you still need to host a service somewhere. The worst case scenario for somebody up until now who was developing an Alexa Skill was to have it blow up in popularity, and then get stuck with a large hosting bill.