Amazon Launches Android Ad Platform To Grab Larger Slice Of Google-Dominated Mobile Advertising Market
Developers who participate in the program will be allowed to promote their apps on Android smartphones and tablets, and also Amazon-brand tablets that run custom versions of Android (Fire OS). Campaigns start at $100, and each time a user clicks on an add, Amazon would be paid.
As it stands, the mobile ad industry in the U.S. is valued at nearly $29 billion. Amazon's stake in mobile advertising is currently less than 1 percent, far less than Facebook at 17 percent and Google at 35 percent.
"We work with many developers to support merchandising and advertising across our platforms and devices," said Lyn Hart, a spokeswoman for Amazon. "We realized that many more developers would benefit from this advertising and merchandising."
This is a potential win-win for Amazon and developers, the latter of which would have a place to promote their apps on multiple platforms. They'd also have incentive to build apps specifically for Amazon devices.