Ads on Alexa+? Amazon’s CEO is already mulling the idea

What is another way for Amazon to earn money on Alexa + in addition to paid subscription plans? You guessed it: advertising. And the Amazon CEO already offers the idea of sprinkling advertisements in the Alexa + experience once again the lightest.

Speaking Thursday at a conference calling with investors following the report on Amazon’s second quarter results, CEO Andy Jassy boasted that users of about a million of the Alexa + Early program seen “really like experience” and “recognize how better it was.” (My own Alexa + experience was a little more nuanced.)

Asked about the possibility that Amazon “draws from … advertising” with Alexa +, Jassy noted that Alexa + offers a “delicious shopping experience” and that there will be opportunities like people are committed [in] More multiple conversations so that advertising plays a role in helping people find discovery and also as a lever to generate income. »»

Then, Jassy went a little further, adding that “over time … while we continue to add features that there could be a kind of subscription element beyond what is today.”

So what is Jassy here? Is there a possibility that in the future, Alexa + could give a “sponsored” answer to a question, similar to the sponsored results that you see at the top of the search results?

And this leads to another possibility in terms of “the subscription element beyond what there is today”. Could there finally be a level without advertising for Alexa +, and if so, would it put main subscribers in the position of having to pay more for an Alexa + without advertisements, similar to what is happening now with Prime Video? (It is Techcrunch which raised the spectrum from an Alexa + level without advertising.)

Now Jassy did Note that a new “subscription element” for Alexa + could come “as we continue to add features”. So, maybe it means a more expensive Alexa + level would simply offer more advanced features, similar to Chatgpt Pro? Or a new “pro” level would it have better features And be without advertising?

I asked these questions to Amazon, and I will update this story when I heard.

For the moment, no one pays anything for Alexa +, which is still in a period of limited early access. Finally, Alexa + will be free for the premium subscribers and $ 20 per month for everyone.

Regarding the possibility of announcements on Alexa +, the idea is not so surprising. After all, Amazon echo screens are riddled with advertisements; This morning, my Echo Show 8 displayed a USB hub for sale on Amazon, which is almost certainly a sponsored placement. And don’t forget the readers of Amazon Kindle with advertisements on locking screens.

And when it comes to paying an supplement for an Alexa + without advertising, who can forget that Amazon puts announcements in the first -rate video, then asking the first -rate members to pay an additional version for an advertising version of the streaming service? Many main users are always steamed about it.

Now, will Alexa + advertisements and / or an Alexa + level without advertising really occur? After all, I just torn off a few isolated quotes from Andy Jassy in a long conference call, and Jassey’s comments were quite vague. But it is fair to say that he is thinking at least about the idea, and tightening the advertising revenues of Alexa + is something that Amazon investors certainly want.

The big question is how advertisements on Alexa + would work and how boring they could be. With hindsight, I had a Kindle with locking screen advertisements, that this advertising experience did not bother me at all. Amazon advertisements on my Echo Show 8? Not a giant affair, but yes, they bother me. Alexa + stopping in the middle of the sentence to present me a sponsored product or give me sponsored results in response to my requests? I hope not.