Amazon.com Inc. appears to have a penchant for jumping into untested markets recently, for example with the launch of their Cloud Player, which has attracted more than a cursory glance from the music industry. Now the online retail giant is looking to shake things up again by offering a new, cheaper Kindle with build-in ads.
Due to retail for $114 – $25 dollars less than the current asking price – the new device is being pushed by Amazon.com as “Kindle with special offers!,” which seems to be somewhat putting lipstick on a pig.
The good news here is that you won’t be subjected to ads while reading. There will be a banner ad along the bottom of the home screen, and full-screen ads will act as a screensaver. Currently on board to advertise are Amazon.com themselves, Visa, Buick and Olay, with more sure to follow.
What could differentiate this new advertising model is if advertisers are allowed to target specific demographics. For example (and I’m generalising here) Olay could advertise to everyone who has purchased “Eat, Pray, Love,” or Buick ads will only appear on the devices of people who have subscriptions to car magazines. Amazon.com is moving somewhat in this direction, allowing users to specific what kind of screensaver (read: ad) they would like to see, but it’s unclear if the ad men can target narrow demographics from their end.
As well as straight-out ads, there will also be the aforementioned “Special offers,” most of them offering discounts on Amazon.com purchases – but there are some gems in there, such as 50% off a Roku box and six Audible books for $1 each.
For our money $25 doesn’t seem a big enough discount to make up for having to suffer through ads – the indignity of which is amplified by the fact that you still have to shell out over $100 for the device. We’re sure Amazon.com has run the numbers, but if we’re being advertised to then we want a truly knock-down price, not just a small discount.
The new model is available for pre-order on Amazon.com right now, with a release date of May 3.
