Amazon applying for in-book advertisement patent for Kindle

[Kali Yuga]

Ugh, last thing I want is ads in my books. Hopefully Amazon or someone else won't actually develop this into something.

Originally Posted by kacir

People are not removing DRM at the moment, because there is no need. When the first ads infested books appear they would provide *lots* of people with justification to strip the DRM and clean up the books.

Motivation and rationalization yes, justification no.

I doubt most people will be willing or able to strip the DRM. It may seem simple, but there are a lot of people out there who can barely distinguish a CD tray from a cup-holder. It's not like hordes of people did it for iTunes, MSN or other digital audio files.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

I doubt most people will be willing or able to strip the DRM. It may seem simple, but there are a lot of people out there who can barely distinguish a CD tray from a cup-holder. It's not like hordes of people did it for iTunes, MSN or other digital audio files.

You underestimate the desire of readers to have their books permanently........

[Greg Anos]

Gee, I'm feeling frisky today. Let's play connect the dots.....

Dot 1. Whispernet.

Dot 2: Hardware by the same company as you connect with the whispernet.

Dot 3: Software from the same company as you connect with the whispernet.

Dot 4: A way to load current ads to the books you are currently reading.

Dot 5: A way to lock down the hardware to prevent unauthorized software from running in it, a la the Iphone.

1, 2, and 3 already exist. 4 is being patented. 5 exists already, but not yet in use by Amazon.

And the result is....The Swindle 6. For only $99, you can get a book reader with free(cheap) books. Every time you open a book, you get a new ad. This is a current ad, (via push technology - you have whispernet, remember), and every time you get a chapter break, a new ad. (Or maybe every 20 pages...)

And the publishers love it! Why? Because Amazon kicks back 50% of the revenue to the publisher. Shucks, even the writers will love it, as they will get 15% of the 50%. Suddenly, you're not a once only, sales based, business. You now have a permanent revenue stream. It's doesn't matter if the book is out-of-print, it doesn't matter if it's 50 years old, the act of reading generates eyeballs in front of ads. No TIVO! And if the peasants get frisky and try to cut out the ads, the device will brick just like an I-phone!

Last, but not least! They aren't static ads. GM goes broke, well, no more GM ads. You'll get Toyota ads. Amazon will be able to guarantee to the advertisers that the readers will get today's ads for today's products, not something embedded when the book was sold and is now obsolete, no matter how long ago the book was downloaded...

You think that won't sell to advertisers?

And if you're getting free books, why are you complaining? It's just like TV...

[Sporadic]

I think people are taking the word ad too literally.

First thing that popped into my mind when I read this was certain words becoming hyperlinks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IntelliTXT

The biggest problem with that is that it would be hard to tell the difference between a legit footnote and an ad.

Still, I wouldn't be happy to see it put into action. People can already wiki words and I don't want anything to take me out of the reading experience.

[kovidgoyal]

So now anyone that wants to insert adds into electronic publications will have to pay royalties to Amazon? Patents for digital technologies are a joke.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Gee, I'm feeling frisky today. Let's play connect the dots.....

We get it already. Amazon is evil and the Kindle is a bad product. Would you knock it off, please?

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

We get it already. Amazon is evil and the Kindle is a bad product. Would you knock it off, please?

My apologies, Nate. for voicing an annoying opinion. I've also been informed that Carnak the Magician want his empty milk jar returned as well..


(This apology has been brought to you by the good people at Apple, Amazon, and Adobe....)

[Kali Yuga]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

You underestimate the desire of readers to have their books permanently........

Oh, I don't underestimate their desire or expectations. I just recognize that a) many people lack the facility and/or knowledge and/or forethought to strip DRM; and b) unless Amazon forces ads into literally every book they sell, there won't be much motivation.

I can't tell you how many people don't do something as basic as back up the data on their computer (), let alone on all of their various portable devices. In fact, one of the beneficial aspects of the Kindle for those who are not technically inclined is that if they lose the device, they can typically re-download what they've purchased.


As to Ralph Sir Edward, I agree with a few aspects of your analysis, but not necessarily your tone or characterization -- even though I clearly despise the idea of putting dynamic ads into books.

Fortunately, the more I think about it, and at the risk of indulging in wishful thinking , the less likely Amazon is to actually use implement it, at least on a large scale. Why not?

• Revenues will be very low. If each ad got 50¢ per 1,000 impressions, each book would need 1,000 ads to generate that 50¢. They certainly aren't going to make $10 or $20 in ad revenue for each book.
• The ads would likely need to be static in design, which further reduces its value to advertisers and therefore revenue.
• Low revenues will discourage any sort of revenue sharing agreement, which is probably enough to make many publishers refuse to allow ads in their books (except, I presume, ads for their own publications).
• Web browsing isn't good enough on the Kindle to make click-through rates very high. (iPhone or other mobile devices will be better targets in this respect.)
• Advertising subsidies don't always work. Anyone remember Juno or NetZero?
• Most importantly, advertisers will demand data that Amazon has traditionally refused to divulge, such as book sales figures, numbers of Kindle Reader and application users, and demographic data. Advertisers won't tolerate black holes, and Amazon hates giving out exactly this kind of info.

It's still possible they may still inject ads into books, but it may not wind up being worse than what you currently get with paper books -- e.g. a few dynamic book ads at the end of a title.

[fugazied]

I like the sounds of cheap content with ads. After all I use websites packed with ads everyday, it doesn't bother me so much.

As long as they aren't too intrusive and don't take data about me back to some central server. I know ad companies LOVER user demographics, and companies like to spy.

[emellaich]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

• Revenues will be very low. If each ad got 50¢ per 1,000 impressions, each book would need 1,000 ads to generate that 50¢. They certainly aren't going to make $10 or $20 in ad revenue for each book.
[snip]
• Web browsing isn't good enough on the Kindle to make click-through rates very high. (iPhone or other mobile devices will be better targets in this respect.)

Good points!

I agree that it may not be realistic to defray most of the cost of a book via advertising. In order to have $5 to $10 per book you would have to have an incredible click through rate.

So, where could this go? What type of ads would users accept? Here is some wild speculation: What about ads for books?

If you enjoyed this book click here to buy the next book in this series and begin reading it within 60 seconds.

Disappointed that you finished the final volume of "War and Peace"? You might want to check out The Tales of Hanzel and Gretel. This book has been purchased by many others who have enjoyed the book you just completed. Click to read it within 60 seconds.

[dreams]

The below was added with an Edit to my original post.

Added 7-5-09 11:55 pm

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/07/...Ads-Into-Books

Patent application links are listed below..

theodp writes "Three Amazon inventors set out to correct what they felt was a real problem: that 'out-of-print or rare books ... typically do not include advertisements ... the content is fixed and, therefore, has not been adapted to modern marketing.' Their solution is spelled out in newly-disclosed Amazon patent applications for On-Demand Generating E-Book Content with Advertising (http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-P...DN/20090171751)and Incorporating Advertising in On-Demand Generated Content (http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-P...DN/20090171750
).
From the patent apps, here's what the future of reading may look like: 'For instance, if a restaurant is described on page 12, [then the advertising page], either on page 11 or page 13, may include advertisements about restaurants, wine, food, etc., which are related to restaurants and dining.' So, what would a delightfully-tacky-yet-unrefined Hooters ad do for your Hemingway experience?"

[Barcey]

The most important thing is for the device to disappear so that it's just you and the story.... oh and the annoying ads.

I'm sure that there will be a discount for books with the ads just like the discount I get at the movie theater when they started adding ads to the movies you already paid for.

[Teyrnon]

Originally Posted by dreams

The below was added with an Edit to my original post.

Added 7-5-09 11:55 pm

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/07/...Ads-Into-Books

Patent application links are listed below..

Hooboy, I was thinking relatively obtrusive ads appearing at the end of the book. Here it sounds like what's on the plate are ads that could potentially be every other page. Which would be like having commercial breaks in a movie every minute or so.

[poohbear_nc]

Could this be related in any way to either Amazon's attempt to lure newspapers & magazines onto the Kindle platform (add the ads now missing in digital editions - restoring the revenues to publishers & Amazon) or the upcoming textbook market - loading up required reading with ads for a younger audience already accustomed to seeing & ignoring ads in other electronic media?

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

We get it already. Amazon is evil and the Kindle is a bad product. Would you knock it off, please?

What he said made a lot of sense.