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Amazon shies away from Alexa ads (AMZN)

Alexa, Amazon's voice assistant powering Echo smart speakers, will no longer play ads on third-party skills.

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The change comes after an update in the developer contract from VoiceLabs, the company that allows developers to build their own skills for Alexa.

VoiceLabs introduced ads on third-party skills last month, and the reversal impacts Sponsored Messages, or six-to-ten-second ads that appear at the start or finish of a user's interaction with a skill. VoiceLabs says a May 21 change in Amazon's policy made it very hard to serve ads that react to user's preferences, which was the company's aim with Sponsored Messages. The introduction of the ads was a means of monetization, which could impact developer revenue programs.

But though it's not ideal for developers, limiting ads will likely benefit Amazon overall. That's because it could improve the user experience, ultimately cementing the Echo's lead in the space:

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