WHY IS AMAZON ALEXA GIVING ME ADS EVERY TIME I ASK A QUESTION?

Some people with an Amazon Alexa have found that their device has been answering their queries with brands and many want to know: why is Amazon Alexa giving me ads every time I ask a question?

This is all thanks to Amazon’s newest capability, Customers Ask Alexa, which allows brands to provide answers to commonly asked questions from customers.

The new feature was announced in September at Accelerate, Amazon’s annual seller conference.

WHY IS AMAZON ALEXA GIVING ME ADS?

Your questions to Alexa could soon be answered with ads, thanks to Amazon’s new capability called Customers Ask Alexa which allows brands to answer common questions.

When customers ask Alexa a question, including queries “related to a product’s features or compatibilities,” Alexa responds with helpful answers provided by brands.

For example, if you were to ask Alexa “how can I remove pet hair from my carpet?” a brand will be able to provide you with an answer, as well as links to its Amazon store.

HOW DOES AMAZON ALEXA WORK WITH BRANDS TO ANSWER QUESTIONS?

Brands registered with Amazon Brand Registry will be able to see the new feature in Seller Central. Here, they can discover and answer frequently asked customer questions using self-service tools.

The capability became available for a select group of brands in October 2022 as an invite-only program and will become available to all eligible brands in the US in 2023.

According to Amazon’s blog post, all answers will go through Alexa’s content moderation and quality checks before Alexa selects the most relevant answer to share with customers.

WHY IS AMAZON WORKING WITH BRANDS TO ANSWER QUESTIONS?

General manager of Alexa Shopping at Amazon, Rajiv Mehta, explained that Amazon “recognizes brands as experts on their products.”

Therefore, the new feature makes it easier for brands to “connect with customers” and help answer common questions they may have.

The Customers Ask Alexa capability also helps to “better inform” customers’ purchase decisions.