Kindle "Special Offers"

QuantumIguana · 12-29-2014, 04:46 PM

My Kindle Keyboard has the special offers, I haven't seen anything advertised that I want, but it hasn't been worth the $20 to remove it. I see many romance novels advertised, and I've never once purchased a romance novel for my Kindle, nor do I intend to.

But today, I pick up my Kindle, and what do I see on the screen saver? Fifty Shades of Grey. Oh, Amazon, do you truly know me so poorly? We spent all this time together, and you think I might be interested in that book? I don't care if others want to read it, but it's not a book I would buy. All this data they could mine on me, and Amazon thinks I want Fifty Shades of Grey? It's like having Boris and Natasha from Bullwinkle spying on me. If only there was a "Hell, no!" option that would inform Amazon of my utter disinterest.

ashort · 12-29-2014, 06:38 PM

Guess the $20 are worth now.

twowheels · 12-29-2014, 07:16 PM

I miss the early days of special offers when they actually came close to paying for the Kindle itself.

My reader doesn't have SO (never has), but others in the house have and I used to make my daughter keep WiFi on and let me inspect it periodically for good offers. For the last few years I haven't seen a single one I cared about.

crane3 · 12-29-2014, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twowheels

I miss the early days of special offers when they actually came close to paying for the Kindle itself.

My reader doesn't have SO (never has), but others in the house have and I used to make my daughter keep WiFi on and let me inspect it periodically for good offers. For the last few years I haven't seen a single one I cared about.

The special offers are still there; can be enabled if you had paid the $10 for not to have the ads popping up. Then also you can just sign on to amazon & check "your" deals or general special offers at the top bar or something.

twowheels · 12-29-2014, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crane3

The special offers are still there; can be enabled if you had paid the $10 for not to have the ads popping up. Then also you can just sign on to amazon & check "your" deals or general special offers at the top bar or something.

Sure, but I still have access to Kindles that have it w/o turning it on for my Kindle.

The problem I was expressing was that the offers are nowhere near as good as they were when they first introduced the program and aren't worth even looking at anymore.

nynaevelan · 12-30-2014, 12:19 AM

I've had kindles with SOs for several years now and more than 75% of the ads were not for products which I was interested in nor ever purchased anything similar to them. In fact I never had the impression the ads were personalized to the user, so I am confused why you would think the FSoG ad is geared to you and you find so offensive. Just ignore it as I am sure you have ignored any of the others.

QuantumIguana · 12-30-2014, 08:38 AM

I never said I was offended by Fifty Shades of Grey. I just think it is rather ridiculous to advertise this to me when Amazon knows what I buy. Ads targeted at the interests of individuals would be considerably more effective than simply throwing the same ads at everyone. Perhaps the special offers are worth it just for the entertainment value.

shemsha · 12-30-2014, 10:58 AM

The thing that seems weird to me is that up until a few weeks ago, the special offers that I got were only ebooks.
That changed, and instead I keep getting special offers for various non ebook products, like running shoes

HarryT · 12-30-2014, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shemsha

The thing that seems weird to me is that up until a few weeks ago, the special offers that I got were only ebooks.
That changed, and instead I keep getting special offers for various non ebook products, like running shoes

That's odd. When I had my Kindle Touch with SO, virtually all the offers were for things other than ebooks.

QuantumIguana · 12-30-2014, 11:42 AM

At first, what I got was offers for books - books I wouldn't read, but still books. Today, I got an ad for Direct TV. Not unreasonable, Amazon doesn't know that I don't have cable or satellite, and if they did, I suppose offering me satellite wouldn't be unreasonable, after all, I might be persuaded to sign up for satellite. Not going to happen, but they don't know that. I got an ad for toilet paper today. Now, there's a product I use. I'm probably not ordering it from Amazon. There's an ad on my Kindle now for a household cleanser. I do clean now and then, but I've never ordered cleaning or bathroom supplies from Amazon, and I'm not likely to do so now. It just seems that with all the information Amazon has, ads could be targeted to things I might actually buy.

twowheels · 12-30-2014, 12:30 PM

Interesting... sounds like the SO are starting to be more varied again. Maybe I'll take a peek at what's out there now.

rcentros · 12-31-2014, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

I never said I was offended by Fifty Shades of Grey. I just think it is rather ridiculous to advertise this to me when Amazon knows what I buy. Ads targeted at the interests of individuals would be considerably more effective than simply throwing the same ads at everyone. Perhaps the special offers are worth it just for the entertainment value.

I don't think Amazon is targeting these ads at all. I think they're just selling billboard space to whomever wants to use it (including themselves). The reason I think that is because when I look at Kindles for sale on eBay, they almost always have the same ads that I saw on my Kindles. (Which is a handy way of knowing if the pictures taken by the sellers are recent or not.)

Glorfindel · 12-31-2014, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shemsha

The thing that seems weird to me is that up until a few weeks ago, the special offers that I got were only ebooks.
That changed, and instead I keep getting special offers for various non ebook products, like running shoes

running shoes, tv, dish soap, vitamin pills, headphones and earbuds, medical alert system... Ads have just gone crazy the last couple of weeks!

Glorfindel · 12-31-2014, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcentros

I don't think Amazon is targeting these ads at all. I think they're just selling billboard space to whomever wants to use it (including themselves). The reason I think that is because when I look at Kindles for sale on eBay, they almost always have the same ads that I saw on my Kindles. (Which is a handy way of knowing if the pictures taken by the sellers are recent or not.)

All ads come from amazons ab server, no personalization.

Xanthe · 12-31-2014, 07:44 PM

There is a setting for more personalized offers, isn't there? And one that will keep the more adult offerings off the screen? I seem to remember seeing that on the HDX.

I don't mind the offerings on the HDX, but I'm probably going to pay to remove them from the Paperwhite. I find those more annoying especially since they seem to be, as rcentros mentioned above, just selling billboard space rather than actually having any "special" offers.

12-29-2014, 04:46 PM	#1
QuantumIguana Philosopher Posts: 2,034 Karma: 18736532 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2 gen, Kindle Fire 1st Gen, Kindle Touch	Kindle "Special Offers" My Kindle Keyboard has the special offers, I haven't seen anything advertised that I want, but it hasn't been worth the $20 to remove it. I see many romance novels advertised, and I've never once purchased a romance novel for my Kindle, nor do I intend to. But today, I pick up my Kindle, and what do I see on the screen saver? Fifty Shades of Grey. Oh, Amazon, do you truly know me so poorly? We spent all this time together, and you think I might be interested in that book? I don't care if others want to read it, but it's not a book I would buy. All this data they could mine on me, and Amazon thinks I want Fifty Shades of Grey? It's like having Boris and Natasha from Bullwinkle spying on me. If only there was a "Hell, no!" option that would inform Amazon of my utter disinterest.

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12-29-2014, 06:38 PM	#2
ashort Connoisseur Posts: 68 Karma: 1997310 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: USA Device: PaperWhite 10th Gen	Guess the $20 are worth now.

12-29-2014, 07:16 PM	#3
twowheels Wizard Posts: 1,790 Karma: 13412766 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Kobo Clara HD, iPad Pro 10", iPhone 15 Pro	I miss the early days of special offers when they actually came close to paying for the Kindle itself. My reader doesn't have SO (never has), but others in the house have and I used to make my daughter keep WiFi on and let me inspect it periodically for good offers. For the last few years I haven't seen a single one I cared about.

12-30-2014, 12:19 AM	#6
nynaevelan eBook Junkie Posts: 1,526 Karma: 1464018 Join Date: May 2010 Location: USA Device: Kindle Fire 2020, Kindle PW2	I've had kindles with SOs for several years now and more than 75% of the ads were not for products which I was interested in nor ever purchased anything similar to them. In fact I never had the impression the ads were personalized to the user, so I am confused why you would think the FSoG ad is geared to you and you find so offensive. Just ignore it as I am sure you have ignored any of the others.

12-30-2014, 08:38 AM	#7
QuantumIguana Philosopher Posts: 2,034 Karma: 18736532 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2 gen, Kindle Fire 1st Gen, Kindle Touch	I never said I was offended by Fifty Shades of Grey. I just think it is rather ridiculous to advertise this to me when Amazon knows what I buy. Ads targeted at the interests of individuals would be considerably more effective than simply throwing the same ads at everyone. Perhaps the special offers are worth it just for the entertainment value.

12-30-2014, 10:58 AM	#8
shemsha Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 6666 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: none	The thing that seems weird to me is that up until a few weeks ago, the special offers that I got were only ebooks. That changed, and instead I keep getting special offers for various non ebook products, like running shoes

12-30-2014, 11:42 AM	#10
QuantumIguana Philosopher Posts: 2,034 Karma: 18736532 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2 gen, Kindle Fire 1st Gen, Kindle Touch	At first, what I got was offers for books - books I wouldn't read, but still books. Today, I got an ad for Direct TV. Not unreasonable, Amazon doesn't know that I don't have cable or satellite, and if they did, I suppose offering me satellite wouldn't be unreasonable, after all, I might be persuaded to sign up for satellite. Not going to happen, but they don't know that. I got an ad for toilet paper today. Now, there's a product I use. I'm probably not ordering it from Amazon. There's an ad on my Kindle now for a household cleanser. I do clean now and then, but I've never ordered cleaning or bathroom supplies from Amazon, and I'm not likely to do so now. It just seems that with all the information Amazon has, ads could be targeted to things I might actually buy.

12-30-2014, 12:30 PM	#11
twowheels Wizard Posts: 1,790 Karma: 13412766 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Kobo Clara HD, iPad Pro 10", iPhone 15 Pro	Interesting... sounds like the SO are starting to be more varied again. Maybe I'll take a peek at what's out there now.

12-31-2014, 07:44 PM	#15
Xanthe Plan B Is Now In Force Posts: 1,894 Karma: 8086979 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Surebleak Device: Aluratek,Sony 350/T1,Pandigital,eBM 911,Nook HD/HD+,Fire HDX 7/8.9,PW2	There is a setting for more personalized offers, isn't there? And one that will keep the more adult offerings off the screen? I seem to remember seeing that on the HDX. I don't mind the offerings on the HDX, but I'm probably going to pay to remove them from the Paperwhite. I find those more annoying especially since they seem to be, as rcentros mentioned above, just selling billboard space rather than actually having any "special" offers.

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