Giant Amazon ads have ruined the Echo Show

Last week, Amazon launched a major update to its product line Alexa-enabled Echo smart speakers and displays. Redesign – led by the former Microsoft chief design officer Ralph Groenewhich Panos Panai, Amazon’s head of devices and services, coaxed out of retirement — included two new smart displays for the Echo Show. According to Panay, these new models are the first step towards building “products that customers love.”

But there’s a big hurdle for customers who love their Echo offers: ads.

In recent months, full-screen display ads labeled “Sponsored” have appeared in existing Echo Shows, and Users are not happy. These ads are new and very intrusive, and appear between images when the display is set to picture frame mode or between content if it is set to show different categories (such as music, recipes, and news).

While writing, Latest generation echo display 8 I just displayed on my desk an ad for an herbal supplement between a shot of my daughter dancing at her aunt’s wedding and a photo of my son as a baby. The ad reappeared two more images later, and then again. And again.

While ads have been a part of Alexa on Echo devices for a while, in the form of… Alexa’s “By the Way” featurethe exhibition’s shopping category (which You can disable), and the occasional product ad, it’s never been so honest.

As these new “sponsored” ads become more widespread, they seem like a bait-and-switch. There was nothing on the packaging to indicate that you were purchasing an ad-supported product. There’s no discount when you buy an Echo Show with ads, as there is with Kindles. Because these ads are almost always present, they are more intrusive than a voice assistant that suggests a service or product you might like after interacting with it. (Don’t get me wrong, it’s annoying, but this is worse.)

Moreover, Alexa Plus – the company’s big update to its voice assistant – is out now also Show full screen ads for their own services. The Echo Show has become a rotating billboard in my office.

Although ad programming currently seems limited — they haven’t shown up on any other monitor I own, and some Reddit users have reported that they don’t see them at all — it’s clearly coming. First time heard about Full screen ads It popped up in the wild several months ago from a reader who sent me photos of their Show 15 displaying one. Then, last month, alexa reddit I exploded with complaints about them. Many have reported that they have split their offers, and some claim that they have succeeded in doing so Refunds received from Amazon Based on it.

At Amazon’s hardware event last month, I asked Panay how the ads fit with its mission to create products customers love. If it’s relevant, it’s not an ad, “it’s an add-on,” he said. “There are moments in a product where ads aren’t always bad,” Lee said, explaining that if a customer is looking for something specific, and the ad gets them there faster, that can be a good thing. However, he acknowledged that some of the “randomness” in current advertising experiments is not significant. “It’s about how we elegantly ensure we elevate the information the customer needs.”

My experience with these ads wasn’t just an “add-on.” They’re intrusive and annoying, and show me products I don’t even care about, like elderberry herbal supplements, Quest sports chips, and tabletop picture frames. (Well, the latter might be an option if I remove the display from my desk.) And unlike some previous advertising experiments with the display, it can’t be turned off.

Amazon asked if it could be disabled, and spokeswoman Lauren Raemhild responded via email: “Advertising is a small part of the experience, and helps customers discover new content and products they might be interested in. If customers don’t like a suggestion, they can swipe to go to the next screen card, or provide feedback directly by tapping the information icon or tapping on the screen.”

I tried this, selected ‘Irrelevant ad’ from the list of suggested comments, and got a message saying ‘Ad has been paused’. But that did not prevent another ad from appearing. Echo Show users have tried all sorts of workarounds — from switching to Canadian English (the ads aren’t in Canada — yet) to enabling Kids Mode. But in the end, if you have to limit a device to make it usable, why use it at all?

I think the smart home has a lot of potential, but the current landscape increasingly looks like a bunch of compromises. Amazon has a pretty good voice assistant, but it can’t stop trying to sell you stuff. Google sometimes reminds itself of this It has a smart home sectionBut my faith in its continued existence is weak. Apple Home is the best experience, but it’s expensive and locked, as well as Siri. Yes, there are other solutions available – Home helperSmartThings — but they require more work than most people are willing to do, and their voice control options are limited compared to the competition.

With Alexa Plus and The long-promised ambient smart home Finally in hand, it’s time for Amazon to focus on providing real value — and stop trying to sell us out.