Thaindian News

London, April 18 (ANI): Amazon’s most popular product Kindle may soon give you a very different reading experience as they will carry advertising for the first time.

In a move that has alarmed literary traditionalists, internet retailer Amazon is to launch a new cut-price Kindle e-reader next month which will display adverts for products including beauty creams, motor vehicles and credit cards as readers browse their favourite novels, reports the Scotsman.

The Kindle with Special Offers, which will sell for 25 dollars (15 pounds) less than the standard model as an incentive to purchasers, will only be available in the US at first, but technology observers predict it will arrive in the UK next year.

Advertising sources believe that Kindle could soon develop the concept to allow the industry to “profile” readers and tailor advertisements to individual users based on their book choices. But the new device has come under fire from literary experts who believe that readers should not face being targeted by companies trying to sell them products.

Vanessa Robertson, owner of The Edinburgh Bookshop in Bruntsfield, said she was against adverts on Kindles. “I just don’t think it is a good fit. You don’t want to read a book and see adverts flashing up at the same time. I think it would have to be much cheaper to make people accept adverts.”

Marion Sinclair, chief executive of the Scottish Publishing Forum, added: “Most ardent bibliophiles will not be happy with ads on their Kindle. People want to immerse themselves in their book and have a totally absorbing reading experience - not be constantly reminded that they can save a few pence on their next latte.”

The adverts will replace the screen saver page, which currently consists of historical pictures of authors such as Jane Austen. The device will also display adverts and special offers along the bottom of the home page, while readers will be able to rate their favourite adverts, choosing between, for example, a picture of a woman’s face advertising Olay beauty cream and a photograph of the product in a pot.

Firms already signed up to advertise their products on Kindles include General Motors’ Buick car marque, Procter and Gamble’s Olay cosmetics brand and payments processor JPMorgan Chase, which will advertise the Amazon.com Reward Visa Card.

Amazon’s Kindle director, Jay Marine, insists the company has designed the advertising platform so that commercials do not interfere with the customer’s reading experience. (ANI)