Thursday, March 08, 2018

Could Amazon Overtake Google and Facebook in Digital Advertising?


In the latest episode of “Amazon’s on the Verge of Taking Over the World,” a Fast Company article suggests that Amazon has the potential to disrupt Google and Facebook’s longstanding digital advertising co-dominance. This is due to Amazon’s impressive digital advertising growth (a $2.8B business in 2017, according to JP Morgan), but more importantly to Amazon’s market leadership in Voice.

Multiple reports have posited that Voice is advertising’s future, and as devices like Amazon’s Echo are found in more homes they could become another channel for advertisers. Currently, if a user asks Alexa for household product recommendations Alexa will suggest strongly reviewed products available on Amazon for purchase. However, according to a recent CB Insights report cited in the article, if the Company created a similar “programmatic ad product for voice… Brands may willingly shell out to be the top Alexa recommendation.”   

In my personal opinion, this potential development is a bit scary. For one, I don’t need more advertisers infiltrating my home. Secondly, I would much rather be recommended products based on verified user reviews as Amazon (mostly) does now than to have a brand push their version directly to me, as I’m likely to miss out on a superior product.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see what Amazon does… you know, after it solves Alexa’s spontaneous giggle issue.


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