Amazon opens Alexa responses to advertisers
At UnBoxed in San Francisco, Amazon introduced Branded Conversations — a format that lets brands control the dialogue with shoppers inside Alexa for Shopping.
Amazon has for the first time given advertisers the ability to directly influence what its voice assistant Alexa tells shoppers. The company unveiled the new Branded Conversations ad format at its annual UnBoxed conference in San Francisco, dedicated to advertising technology.
The format works within the Alexa for Shopping service. When a consumer taps a prompt that Alexa suggests during the shopping process, the brand gains the ability to control the content of the subsequent dialogue. The advertiser can shape the user experience that unfolds after the prompt is clicked. Amazon calls these "branded conversations": the advertising company effectively becomes a co-author of the interaction script with the shopper.
Until now, the logic was different. Alexa for Shopping gathered information for its answers automatically — from the advertiser's product catalog and its brand store on Amazon's platform. Brands had no tools to intervene directly in the dialogue: the assistant interpreted the store's data on its own. The Branded Conversations format changes the distribution of control. Now the brand itself determines what and how things will be said in response to user actions within the new interface.
The new offering is a natural continuation of the assistant's major overhaul. In May, Amazon moved its AI solution to a new architecture, launching Alexa for Shopping and an updated version of the assistant, Alexa+. Both products are built on generative artificial intelligence and are more deeply integrated into the purchasing process. It was this modernization that created the technical foundation for ad scenarios within voice shopping: advertisers gained the ability to work with a new, AI-driven user experience.
The announcement came at UnBoxed — Amazon's flagship industry event, where the company traditionally presents developments for the advertising market. For marketers, the significance of the step is clear: the voice assistant is no longer a neutral search tool and is turning into a platform where brands can build a controlled dialogue with the consumer at the moment when they are closest to making a purchase.
Amazon's decision reflects a broader trend in e-commerce. As shoppers increasingly begin their path to purchase with a query to an AI assistant rather than with search or a feed, ad formats are migrating there as well. Control over the assistant's answer is a new type of ad inventory, and Amazon is the first among major marketplaces to package it as a standalone product.
For brands, the format also brings new responsibilities. By steering the dialogue with the shopper, the advertiser is accountable for the content and quality of the interaction — Amazon hands over a substantial part of control over the user's impression. The format's success will depend on how delicately brands weave advertising messages into the conversational script.
The arrival of Branded Conversations marks a shift in the monetization model for voice assistants. Whereas advertising in Alexa used to be limited to separate placements, now the dialogue with the assistant itself becomes an advertising surface. Amazon, which controls both the Alexa+ technology and the largest marketplace, is combining these assets into a single system where the advertiser pays for participation in a conversation leading to a purchase.
Source: Adweek
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