For years, newspapers have been able to keep the price of their products relatively low in part by inserting advertisements throughout its pages.
Fig. 3B, as shown in The Register, is a pictorial diagram of an illustrative page image including margins suitable for printing advertisement and other content.
Now, it seems, Amazon may be developing a similar strategy for its e-book reader, the Kindle, as well as paperbacks purchased through its book publishing service.
The Register, a British tech Web site, reports that the retail giant filed two U.S. patent applications July 2 potentially setting the stage for customer-tailored advertisements:
“While on-demand printing hasn’t yet ‘adapted to modern marketing,’ the patent states, many ‘free’ internet sites are able to operate at a profit by serving up ads along with their content.”
“The patent applications explain that embedded ads could be contextually sensitive. For example, Ann of Green Gables could include pitches from the Cavendish tourism board, or the ending of The Great Gatsby advertisements to local automotive repair shops. Alternatively, the ads could be targeted to a customer’s general interest based on their Amazon user profile.”
However, one of the two patents states that the introduction of advertisements would benefit customers, stating:
“Including advertising and/or related content with on-demand printed content may prove advantageous to a consumer. For example, a lower price may be offered to a consumer regarding a request for on-demand printed content if the consumer is willing to accept advertising in the printed content. … Additionally, a consumer may benefit from content-related information that is not part of the requested content, such as supplemental reference material, relevant footnotes, illustrations, and the like. Content-related information, as well as advertisements may be included in the form of appendixes or in-line with the requested printed content.”
You can check out the second patent here.
While I initially hesitated at the idea of inserting advertisements in books, I have come to the opinion that it would actually be a good thing. Not only would it likely reduce the cost of printed books, and potentially lead Amazon to eventually offer a free ad-supported e-book for every printed copy purchased as the MediaPost hypothesized, it could offer the reader relevant suggestions and ideas as to what else he or she might enjoy.
What do you think?
