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Your Amazon Alexa smart speaker may soon display ads when you ask it for answers to specific questions.
Amazon talked about the feature at its Accelerate 2022 conference and shared a subsequent blog post detailing the feature.
The tool, called ‘Customers Ask Alexa’, is aimed at brands that are growing their business while helping to answer common customer questions. “When customers ask Alexa questions, including queries related to a product’s features or compatibility, Alexa responds with helpful answers from brands from those product categories,” Amazon’s blog says.
For example, if an Alexa user asks the smart speaker, “How can I remove pet hair from my carpet?” the answer can be given by a brand that specializes in said category of cleaning, like iRobot or Dyson, for example. Alongside the answer, the brand can also provide links to its Amazon storefront, making it easier for the customer to find products related to the issue.
Amazon will provide brands with questions that Alexa identifies as relevant to the brand’s store. “If selected, your answers will appear at the top of Amazon Search. This feature can increase the visibility of your products, drive conversions and boost your reputation as a product expert,” says Amazon.
The feature will be available to a select group of brands in Seller Central starting in October 2022, with a wider rollout planned for some time in 2023 in the US. “Customers ask that Alexa will be available to customers via the Amazon search bar in late 2022 and via Echo devices in mid-2023,” the company writes.
The feature may be useful for users, but only in certain scenarios. More often, it will be an annoying feature that will require you to yell “Alexa, STOP” several times a day. Either way, it’s a win-win for Amazon and the brands. For the brands, it’s extra publicity, while for the retailer, the new feature will surely bring in more orders.
Image credit: Amazon
Source: Amazon
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