Last week, Amazon launched a major update to its lineup Echo smart speakers and displays with Alexa support. Redesign – under the leadership of the former Microsoft Design Director Ralf Groenwhom Amazon Devices & Services head Panos Panay talked into retirement—included two new Echo Show smart displays. According to Panay, these new models are the first step towards creating “products that customers love.”
But there's one big obstacle to getting customers to love their Echo Show: advertising.
The Echo Show became a rotating billboard in my office.
In recent months, full-screen ads tagged “sponsored” have begun appearing on current Echo Shows. users are unhappy. They just started appearing on my device this week, and they're very intrusive, appearing between photos when the Show option is set to Photo Frame mode, or between content when it's set to show different categories (e.g. music, recipes, news).
While I'm typing Echo Show Latest Generation 8 On my desk was an advertisement for herbal supplements between a photo of my daughter dancing at her aunt's wedding and a childhood photo of my son. The ad appeared again two photos later and then again. And again.
Although advertising has been a part of Alexa on Echo devices for some time in the form Alexa's “By the Way” featurecategory “Shopping” (which you can turn it off), and random product advertising, it has never been so obvious.
As these new “sponsored” ads become more common, it feels like a bait and switch. There was no indication on the packaging that you were purchasing a promotionally supported product. If you purchase an Echo Show with advertising, you won't get the discount that you get with Kindles. And because these ads are present almost constantly, they are more intrusive than a voice assistant suggesting a service or product you might need after you just interacted with it. (Don't get me wrong, it's annoying, but it's worse.)
On top of that, Alexa Plus – the company's big update for the voice assistant – now available Also inserting full-screen advertising of your own services. The Echo Show became a rotating billboard in my office.
While the adware seems limited at this time—they haven't appeared on any other Show devices I have, and some Reddit users have reported that they can't see them at all—it's clear that they're coming. I first heard about full screen advertising appeared in the wild a few months ago from a reader who sent me photos of their show 15 showing one of them. Then last month Alexa subreddit burst out with complaints against them. Many report that they have pulled the plug on their shows, and some claim to have successfully done so. received a refund from Amazon after a complaint about advertising.
At Amazon's hardware event last month, I asked Panay how advertising fits into his mission to create products that customers love. He said that if it's relevant, it's not advertising, “it's an add-on.” “There are times in a product where advertising is not always bad,” he told me, explaining that if a customer is looking for something specific and advertising gets them there faster, that can be a good thing. However, he admitted that some of the “randomness” of the current advertising experience isn't all that great. “It's about how to elegantly deliver the level of information the customer needs.”
My experience with this ad has not been that it is an “add-on”. They are intrusive and annoying, showing me products that I'm not even slightly interested in, like elderberry herbal supplements, Quest sports chips, and tabletop photo frames. (Well, the latter option may be possible if I delete Show from my desk.) And unlike some previous ads on Show, they can't be turned off.
“If customers don’t like an offer, they can swipe to move to the next screen card.”
I asked Amazon if they could be turned off, and spokeswoman Lauren Ramhild responded via email: “Ads are a small part of the experience and help customers discover new content and products that may interest them. If customers don't like the offer, they can swipe to move to the next on-screen card or directly provide feedback by tapping the Info icon or tapping the screen.”
I tried this, selected an “irrelevant ad” from the list of suggested reviews, and received a message saying it had “paused the ad.” But this did not stop another advertisement from appearing. Echo Show users have tried all sorts of workarounds, from switching to Canadian English (the ads aren't in Canada yet) to turning on Kids Mode. But ultimately, if you need to hamper the device to make it usable, why use it at all?
I believe that the smart home has great potential, but the current situation is increasingly looking like a set of compromises. Amazon has a very good voice assistant, but it's constantly trying to sell you something. Google sometimes reminds itself that it there is a smart home unitbut my faith in its continued existence is small. Apple Home is the best option, but it's expensive, locked down, and, well, Siri-free. Yes, there are other solutions – Home assistantSmartThings – but they require more work than most people are willing to put in, and they voice control capabilities limited compared to competitors.
WITH Alexa Pluslong promised ambient smart home finally within reach. It's time for Amazon to focus on providing real value and stop trying to sell us out.
