GigaOM
trending topics
Close Box

Our news

Yes, it’s true: We are joining GigaOM...


Amazon To Sell Ad-Supported Kindle For $25 Discount

  • Comments Comments (View)
  • Text Size: A A

Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) will sell its Kindle e-reader for $25 less than the lowest list price currently available—if customers are willing see ads and other types of sponsored content.

SEE ALSO: Amazon Does The Kindle Limbo But Is $114 Low Enough?

Most of the valuable real estate on Amazon.com’s homepage is currently covered by a promotion for the “Kindle with special offers,” as it’s being dubbed, and the full press release has more details. For $114, Amazon will sell a Kindle that comes with ads, special deals, and the ability to choose the ads you’d like to see through a technology called AdMash. It’s basically the same Kindle as the $139 version, but with promoted content from launch partners Buick, Chase, Olay, and Visa that will appear on either the screen saver or the bottom of the home page: Amazon promised the experience would not interrupt reading.

AdMash will allow Kindle owners to help choose which ads are shown on the Kindle, Amazon said. It’s going to be both an an app and a website where Kindle owners can rate potential screensaver ads, with the implication that the screensavers with the most votes from AdMash users will get to grace the Kindle. It doesn’t sound like you’ll be able to minimize the frequency at which ads are shown (obviously), but you will be able to set preferences for the types of screensaver or home page ads you’d like to see, such as opting for more landscape images, or fewer architectural images.

Getting in on the “special offers” Kindle will also entitle the user to receive, well, special offers such as $20 Amazon gift cards for $10, a $1 album from Amazon’s music store, or half off a Roku box. Those offers will be sent to the Kindle over the first couple of weeks it’s on sale, and Amazon also said it would maintain a list of all available deals.

The new ad-supported model is available for preordering in the U.S., and Amazon’s ordering page says it will be released on May 3rd.

Apr 11, 2011 5:55 PM ET

Kindle Ads


Posted In: Gadgets, Mobile, Companies, Amazon, Kindle

(Page 1 of 1)


The Bestsellers

From iTunes and YouTube to Facebook and Kindle, the most popular content on the web, free and paid.

iTunes Songs iTunes Songs
1. Part of Me
2. We Are Young (feat. Janelle Monáe)
3. Set Fire to the Rain
4. Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)
5. I Will Always Love You
See The Other Bestsellers »

Jobs RSS Job Listings

Social Standing

Which media brands are getting a lift from Tweeters and bloggers right now -- and which are getting panned?

"Sentiment" Scores for All the Companies »

Sponsors

Staff