With Ads on Home Page, Screen Savers From Publishers Lunch.
Amazon announced Monday that it will issue a "new" edition of its wi-fi Kindle priced at $114, $25 less than the going rate for the current wireless edition. The catch -- or hook, depending on your vantage point -- is that this edition, which ships starting on May 3, will feature Special Offers, the retailer's preferred name for ads that will run on the e-reader's home page and screen savers. Among the deals on offer for the first few weeks include discounted Amazon gift cards, discounts on other Amazon products like jeans and swimsuits, and free gifts for signing up for an Amazon Rewards Visa credit card. Visa, as well as Buick and Oil of Olay, are sponsoring the first wave of screensaver ads as well. A second part of the initiative in a new app and website called AdMash that will give everyone the fun of "previewing" screensaver ads and selecting preferred ones, "to display sponsored screensavers that you want to see." Owners of the new Kindle can also selected among screensaver preferences that include "literary references," so book ads on Kindle screens may not be far behind.
4 comments:
Ew!
Does that mean the author of the book you are reading gets a cut of the advertising revenue?!!!
I doubt it! It would be interesting to see if they pick and choose the adverts to match the content -- pirate party hats for Captain Blood, mint juleps for Gone With the Wind, knives and guns for murder mysteries ...
Next step: product placements inserted in the text. So when my characters sit down to have a cup of tea, it's [brand] tea. Buggies and gigs get replaced by the latest model cars. The kids all wear t-shirts with slogans.
I'm kidding. I hope. :-)
Didn't the James Bond books start that trend? You know, the spy who was a snob, and wore a fancy brand watch etc. etc. They should have fun with the Kindle editions of Ian Fleming!
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