Amazon “buys” user data, will sellers’ CPC advertising be a winner?

According to foreign media reports, some Amazon users can now earn $2 a month as long as they agree to share their traffic data with the retail giant.

Amazon's latest ad verification program shows that Amazon is tracking traffic information of invited users, mainly including what ads they saw every day, where they saw the ads, and when they saw these ads, including Amazon's own ads and third-party ads on the platform.

According to Amazon, it hopes to provide consumers with a more personalized advertising experience through this program, allowing consumers to find more products they like.

“Your participation will help brands provide better products and make Amazon’s advertising more personal,” Amazon wrote in its Shopper Panel FAQ.

An Amazon spokesperson said the $2 reward is only available to Amazon users who are invited to the program, while customers who are not invited can apply to join the waiting list. However, the spokesperson did not disclose how Amazon selects internal test users.

It is understood that the advertising verification program is currently limited to Amazon users in the United States and the United Kingdom . It is worth noting that this program was launched after relevant parties expressed concerns about Amazon's collection of sensitive user data.

Earlier this month, media reported that there was anxiety about how Amazon would handle the data it obtained through its healthcare company OneMedical. According to CNBC, there have long been concerns about how Amazon would use data from smart home devices such as Alexa and Ring.

When asked about privacy, an Amazon spokesperson pointed me to the Shopper Panel FAQ and Amazon's privacy statement. According to the FAQ, participants can opt out of the program at any time.

In fact, making money from user data is nothing new.

According to TechCrunch, in 2016, a US technology company launched a program that gave users aged 13 to 25 a $20 gift card every month if they installed their app. It was allegedly a VPN app that tracked users' online activities. However, due to privacy issues, the project was shut down in 2019.

It is not clear whether Amazon's project can continue to move forward. If it can be widely tested in the future, it is believed that it will significantly improve the conversion rate of sellers' CPC ads.

Amazon

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