Introducing in-book advertising

Online retail giant Amazon has applied for a new patent that will allow it to distribute in-book advertising through its Kindle e-reader devices.

While the patent is not likely to refer to advertisements seen in books purchased from the retailer at full price, the retailer may be preparing advertisements in order to lower the cost price of e-books offered on the site.

The Kindle e-reader has been fairly successful, but the company could broaden its reach by allowing users to download free content, or at least content at a reduced price that includes advertising.

The patent application also includes the language, “in response to a consumer request for content”. Devin Coldewey at TechCrunch writes that this language could be interpreted as referring to content that has already been purchased, but could fit into “dynamically generated” content such as breaking news.

While the advertisements are not likely to appear in the Kindle devices for some time, Australians interested in the device should take heart, as the gadget is not even available Down Under just yet.