Yes, Your Amazon Echo Is an Ad Machine (gizmodo.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: CNBC reports that Amazon is in discussions with huge companies that want to promote their goods on Echo devices. Proctor & Gamble as well as Clorox are reportedly in talks for major advertising deals that would allow Alexa to suggest products for you to buy. CNBC uses the example of asking Alexa how to remove a stain, with Alexa in turn recommending a Clorox product. So far it's unclear how Amazon would identify promoted responses from Alexa, if at all. Here's the really wacky thing: Amazon has already been doing this sort of thing to some degree. Currently, paid promotions are built into Alexa responses, but maybe you just haven't noticed it. CNBC uses this example: "There are already some sponsorships on Alexa that aren't tied to a user's history. If a shopper asks Alexa to buy toothpaste, one response is, 'Okay, I can look for a brand, like Colgate. What would you like?'" So it seems like Amazon wants to get you coming and going. Not only does the company want to let you buy stuff with your voice. Jeff Bezos and friends also want to make money by suggesting what to buy and even by pushing those products higher up in the search results so that you're more likely to do it.

Comments

Amazon pays you if you can pull more ads

[Anonymous Coward]

If you can make new 'skills' for Amazon's gadget which result in more ads being delivered to users, Amazon will pay you

https://www.techspot.com/news/72465-here-what-people-behind-alexa-skills-get-paid.html

Everything from Amazon, Google, Facebook, is ad-related

You are not their customers, you are their product

Re:I always thought these were a great idea

[DogDude]

Perceived value. If you charge people more for stuff, they often think the stuff is worth more than it really is. If you gave them away for free, they'd be used as doorstops.