Negotiation with several household product sellers indicate that Amazon may be bringing paid advertising to Echo devices, possibly as soon as this year. According to CNBC, insiders have revealed that negotiations between companies like Proctor & Gamble and Clorox include discussions of preferential product placement in searches.
Amazon responded to the CNBC report on January 3 with a statement via email that they have “no plans to add advertising to Alexa,” according to Slate.
So far, ads and promotions on Echo and related devices have been restricted to the third-party skills. Streaming music services have ads between songs, or when you get a daily news roundup. If you order a pizza, Alexa may tell you what promotions are currently available. Other than these rare occasions, Amazon doesn’t allow any advertising at all.
If implemented, the marketing would involve inobtrusive product placement via targeted suggestions, like promoted search results on websites. With Alexa’s voice output, however, these top-line search results could be more effective, as consumers have gotten savvier and often simply scroll past the promoted results on a Google search.
Another approach would utilize the user’s history to suggest specific products. For instance, a consumer who recently purchased a particular brand of toothpaste may get a suggestion to try the mouthwash from the same manufacturer.
The smart speaker market is a new frontier for advertisers, and it will be a dominant household presence in years to come. Business Insider projects that Amazon will sell more than 70 million smart speakers by 2025. One thing that won’t happen is unprompted or irrelevant ads blaring from the speaker without interaction, as Amazon knows that emulating cable TV or terrestrial radio would just alienate its growing consumer base
Amazon is a dominant force and currently enjoys a 71 percent share of the smart speaker market, and brands will have to devise new ways to showcase their products in the non-visual interactive medium.
Doug Rozen of the media agency OMD told CNBC that advertisers will be walking a fine line between informative and intrusive. “We have to come up with the right monetization opportunity,” he said. “But it can’t get in the way of what we are trying to use these devices for.”
Few things ruin a quiet evening faster than a robot vacuum roaring through the living room. Most of us end up pausing the cleaning run, which defeats the whole purpose of owning one. Matic thinks it has the answer with its new Serene robot vacuum, and the big selling point is how little noise it makes.
The Matic Serene runs at 52 decibels even when cleaning at full power. To put that in perspective, Matic compares it to the hum of your refrigerator. It is available now for $1,695, which is $200 more than the original Matic’s current price.
Outdoor security cameras are not always practical if you live in an apartment or rental. Drilling into an exterior wall may be off-limits, while pointing a regular indoor camera through a window can create another problem once reflections start showing up after dark.
Baseus is trying to solve both issues with the new PrimeSentinel W1, a $69.99 security camera designed specifically to monitor the outdoors through glass. It mounts directly to a window without drilling and uses a 4K Starlight sensor with an F1.0 aperture for full-color monitoring during the day and at night.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
Technology evolves every day, transforming how we live and work. Our devices are becoming more than tools we use. They are increasingly capable companions that help streamline day-to-day routines and spark creative ideas. If you have been waiting for the right moment to upgrade your tech setup, the Discover Samsung Shopping Event offers an opportunity to explore what connected, AI-powered living can look like.