is a senior reviewer focused on smart home and connected tech, with over twenty years of experience. She has written previously for Wirecutter, Wired, Dwell, BBC, and US News.
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Last week, Amazon launched a major update of its line of Alexa-enabled Echo smart speakers and displays. The redesign — led by former Microsoft design chief Ralf Groene, whom Amazon Devices & Services head Panos Panay coaxed out of retirement — included two new Echo Show smart displays. According to Panay, these new models are the first step on a road to building “products that customers love.”
But there’s one big barrier to customers loving their Echo Shows: ads.
The Echo Show has become a rotating billboard in my office
In recent months, full-screen display ads with the tag “sponsored” have been appearing on current Echo Shows, and users are not happy. These ads are new and very intrusive, appearing between photos when the Show is set to Photo Frame mode or between content if it’s set to show different categories (such as music, recipes, news).
As I type, the last-gen Echo Show 8 on my desk just showed an ad for an herbal supplement between a snapshot of my daughter dancing at her aunt’s wedding and a baby picture of my son. The ad reappeared two photos later, and then again. And again.
This ad appeared while my Show 8 was set to Photo Frame. Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge I long-pressed on it, clicked the thumbs-down button, and got the option to provide feedback. Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
While advertising has been part of Alexa on Echo devices for a while, in the form of Alexa’s “By the way” feature, the Show’s Shopping category (which you can disable), and the occasional product ad, it’s never been so blatant.
As these new “sponsored” ads become more pervasive, it feels like a bait and switch. There was no indication on the packaging that you were buying an ad-supported product. There’s no discount for buying an Echo Show with ads, as there is with Kindles. And, because these ads are there almost constantly, they’re more intrusive than the voice assistant suggesting a service or product you might want after you just engaged with it. (Don’t get me wrong, that’s annoying, but this is worse.)
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