I find it a little ironic that MadMad used his Amazon associate name in this link to that book. (What's this?) ;)

Regarding your questions: yes, I buy it. I think it's okay as long as it's text and generally unobtrusive, which those links appear to be. And as far as I know, they've reported profit twice.

Posted by: Joshua Kaufman on April 14, 2003 02:22 PM

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Er, it's MadMan, Joshua. ;)

Why is it ironic? If John had posted this link, he would have used his associates ID. I don't expect to make any money from this, fwiw.

And as far as I know, they've reported profit twice.

I should've been more precise. Can they make sustained profits?

They've reported profits for two quarters so far. For a company that does billions of dollars in sales and has been in business for, gosh, 8 years (32 quarters), I find it a bit of an underperforming company.

Posted by: MadMan on April 14, 2003 02:37 PM

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Woops, my apologies for the typo, MadMan.

It's ironic because you're talking about sponsored links on Amazon indicated by really tiny type, and you're using your associate name (which has the potential to generate money, albeit not much) along with the link to Amazon, literally indicated by really tiny type.

Posted by: Joshua Kaufman on April 14, 2003 04:33 PM

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That's weird, MadMan, I didn't see the section you were talking about. Could they have removed it, or maybe they only show it to certain users?

I am fine with sponsored links when they are clearly labeled. I don't tend to be swayed by the "people also purchased" section anyway, so I'm only likely to click through if that sort of relational link interests me. It's not obtrusive or invasive, so I don't mind.

I like Amazon just fine, but I don't know how they stay in business. It seems like everytime they get a bit of money, they take on a new type of product to sell, and so on.

Posted by: Lydia on April 14, 2003 04:51 PM

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I could not see the small type either.

I am happy with Amazon doing this as long as they are up front about it. Does it transfer into them offering lower prices...I doubt it, but if that is the story they want to spin, then so be it.

I must admit I am finding that their prices for electronics are not as competitive as they used to be. a LCD TV on their site was 800 more than on a cnet comparison listing...ouch!…especially when it was meant to be one of those ‘add it to your cart to see the price because it is so special’ kind of deals.

Posted by: JB on April 14, 2003 07:07 PM

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I remember reading somewhere that Amazon somtimes soft-launch new features with a random (but persistent) sample of users. That way they can directly compare click thrus on the "new" vs "olde" pages.

Hence, perhaps some people are getting the new sponsored links, and the rest of use aren't.

How about a screenshot, MadMan?

Posted by: Che Tamahori on April 14, 2003 10:28 PM

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Anyone else getting this on their product pages?

"Answer the following question correctly and we'll put a nickel in your Amazon account."

Yeah, that held my interest for one whole question. Give me 25 cents a pop and I'll look up answers to dumb vendor product questions all day long.

Posted by: J.J. Jefferson McKay on April 15, 2003 12:56 AM

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I've added a screenshot link to the entry.

Posted by: MadMan on April 15, 2003 02:23 AM

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Now it is clear to me.

They have to do this by law. No different to Yahoo, MSN or Google placing paid placements before the free search results. They are not doing this for any other reason, but at least they are putting a slightly more interesting marketing spin on it.

Posted by: JB on April 15, 2003 12:21 PM

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I've been seeing the sponsored links for a few days now, on different machines. What's wierd is that a friend of mine found his site in the sponsored links, but he's paid no money to amazon (tho he has been running a google ad....)

Posted by: glassBruce on April 17, 2003 04:07 AM

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