Earlier this month, I wrote a piece about how the evolution of a pay-to-play marketplace on Amazon is leading to the reconsolidation of publishing. Indicative of this trend is the emergence of advertising aggregator firms like AMSAdwerks.
It should be noted that Adwerks isn’t to “blame” for what is going on in publishing. But the presence of such a company is a good indication of which way the wind is blowing.
Russell Blake, a very successful indie author (and recent investor in Adwerks) has written another post about the state of advertising on Amazon.
As I did my due diligence on their model, I learned more than I ever cared to about the current state of the Amazon ad world, and came away somewhat surprised.
First off, I believe that over the next year or two, it’s going to get harder and harder to get organic visibility of any sort from Zon. Why? Because they have people lined up around the block to pay for the vis. So why give away what you can sell? That would be dumb.Russell Blake
Where that leaves most authors is a rock and a hard place. The indie business is now becoming very much like if you started a soda company. You’d have to pay to get your soda into the stores, and pay more for an end cap or a prominent area. That’s classic retail. Just the way it works. It’s lucrative for the store owner, but sucks for the vendors, especially if they don’t have really deep pockets and sufficient margin to take the hit.
I don’t disagree with Blake’s analysis. Amazon realizes that vendors are another source of revenue…just like customers.
(Read Russell Blake’s entire post here. )
