37 
After confirmations to the contrary yesterday, Amazon has now come out and said that users will be able to opt-out of ads on the new Kindle Fire models for a one-time fee of about £10.
An Amazon spokesperson reached out to us by email with the following statement:
I wanted to let you know that with Kindle Fire HD there will be a special offers opt-out option for $15 (£10-odd). We know from our Kindle reader line that customers love our special offers and very few people choose to opt out. We’re happy to offer customers the choice.
Amazon Deletes User's Account and Kindle Data Without Explanation
Amazon Discontinuing the Kindle Touch
Amazon Quietly Discontinuing the Kindle DX
£10 one time fee? Readers love our special offers? Really?
Are we to assume from this that $15 is the average of what they expect to make from advertising (either CPC or CPI) over the devices lifetime?
I doubt that would be the only consideration. I would imagine it is also based on research that indicates that $15 is the key mark where most people think it is too much to spend just to avoid ads, but those vehemently against the ads don’t feel like they are getting screwed over too much so are still happy to buy the product.
Good and insightful points as usual my friend.
They should make it a free option and somehow reward the ones who allow advertising, maybe with Amazon vouchers.
But giving vouchers would cost Amazon money and they get no extra revenue from those opting out. This way they get the benefit of ad revenues as well as getting extra money from those who opt out – it is a win-win.
Would it really cost them money If I bought something with £5 off that I wouldn’t have bought otherwise? I’m sure there’s a balance there with how often a voucher is given and the money lost/made. I mean they offer specialised discounts based on stuff you like anyway don’t they?
I know what you mean, but this way Amazon guarantees the revenues because with the opt-out Kindles, they can sell the ad space to companies for guaranteed money and get more if the offers are taken up. Therefore Amazon would make money on every ad-allowing Kindle sold irrespective of whether you bought any Amazon content. They then get more money from people who opt out.
If they offered an opt-in service with voucher rewards rather than an opt-out for a fee, Amazon would not only lose out on the guaranteed revenue from the ads because they can’t guarantee the number of units running ads, but they also have to provide users with vouchers making admin more costly. Additionally because they can’t easily retrict what you can spend the voucher on, they cannot ensure you will spend with kindle ad partners so could not charge as much of the ads on the opt-ins.
Plus opt-in schemes usually have lower subscription that opt-out because in the former, people want higher compensation or can’t be bothered opting in, and in the latter, people don’t want to put the time or money into opting out if it doesn’t impact them.