Amazon already plans to put ads in Alexa+ conversations

Which would you rather have: an AI-powered Alexa+ that advertises to you, or an AI-lacking Siri that doesn’t? Hopefully Apple can sort out its AI struggles and users never have to face that decision. But if you’re an Alexa+ user, it sounds like more ads are definitely in your future.

Amazon CEO touts opportunities for advertising through Alexa+

Amazon reported its quarterly earnings this week, and the AI-powered Alexa+ unsurprisingly came up.

What perhaps was a surprise is how fast Amazon CEO Andy Jassy was to tout the upgraded assistant’s potential as a tool for advertising.

Maxwell Zeff writes at TechCrunch:

“People are excited about the devices that they can buy from us that has Alexa+ enabled in it. People do a lot of shopping [with Alexa+]; it’s a delightful shopping experience that will keep getting better,” said Jassy on the call with investors and Wall Street analysts. “I think over time, there will be opportunities, as people are engaging in more multi-turn conversations, to have advertising play a role to help people find discovery, and also as a lever to drive revenue.”

Speaking to investors, the potential for additional revenue will always be a winning topic.

But Amazon has staked a lot on Alexa+ being a hit, and in-conversation ads probably isn’t the best tactic to spur user adoption.

Apple certainly has its own issues in the realm of advertising, with the recent F1 notification from the Wallet app being one of the most controversial.

The day that Siri starts promoting Apple’s latest movies, though, will be a sad one indeed.

What do you think of Amazon’s plans to push ads through Alexa+ conversations? Let us know in the comments.

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