Amazon announces lower-priced Kindle ereader subsidized by ads no comments
Amazon has just announced a new lower priced Kindle ereader option. 
You can now get the Kindle with Special Offers for $114. This is the Kindle 3 Wi-Fi that is regularly priced at $139, but with sponsored screensavers as well as advertising and special offers at the bottom of the home screen.
The first set of sponsored screensavers are from Buick, Olay (Proctor & Gamble), Visa and the Amazon.com Reward Visa Card (from Chase). Some of the initial Special Offers include:
- $10 for $20 Amazon.com Gift Card
- $6 for 6 Audible Books (normally $68)
- $1 for an album in the Amazon MP3 Store (choose from over 1 million albums)
- $10 for $30 of products in the Amazon Denim Shop or Amazon Swim Shop
- Free $100 Amazon.com Gift Card when you get an Amazon Rewards Visa Card (normally $30)
- Buy one of 30 Kindle bestsellers with your Visa card and get $10 Amazon.com credit
- 50% off Roku Streaming Player (normally $99)
Amazon will be launching “AdMash” — a free Kindle app and website where customers can vote for sponsored screensavers. Screensavers with the most votes qualify to appear on user’s Kindles. You can see previews of some of the ads here.
At first glance I’m not sure if saving $25 is worth having ads on my ereader, but as long as the ads don’t invade the actual ebooks themselves it seems innocuous enough. It’s not like I’ve never seen an ad in something I’ve been reading before, and some of the Special Offers do look good. I wonder if Amazon will offer existing Kindle owners some sort of credit or other incentive to take the advertising.
