Sponsored Amazon Baby Registry Items
Rolfe Winkler and Laura Stevens (tweet):
Kima Nieves recently received two Aveeno bath-time sets and a box of Huggies diapers through her baby registry on Amazon. The only problem? The new mother didn’t ask for the products, or even want them.
Instead, Johnson & Johnson and Kimberly-Clark Corp. paid Amazon.com Inc. hefty sums to place those sponsored products onto Ms. Nieves’s and other consumers’ baby registries. The ads look identical to the rest of the listed products in the registry, except for a small gray “Sponsored” tag. Unsuspecting friends and family clicked on the ads and purchased the items, assuming Ms. Nieves had chosen them.
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Amazon’s sponsored ads have appeared in its baby registries for more than a year. Responding to a Wall Street Journal inquiry about the ads, an Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment on criticism that the ads are deceptive, but said the retailer is now phasing out the sponsored listings.
2 Comments RSS · Twitter
>The ads look identical to the rest of the listed products in the registry, except for a small gray “Sponsored” tag.
Wow, that's just plain evil.
My mom signed up for a free four months of Amazon Music promotion. Amazon of course gave her the customary free 30 days and promptly started billing her, well me, given we are a family Household. After letting Amazon know of their mistake, three different service minions gave me two different reasons why I was not eligible and it was all my fault. The last of these three told me they would make an "exception" and fix the problem on my account. Never mind it wasn't my account, I was just the billing contact, so I demanded someone call me to fix the problem.
Hour later it was fixed but apparently everyone who signed up for the promotion was hit by the rogue charges. Not evil maybe, but these "mistakes" add up to poor service experience that makes me wonder why I would continue paying for any Amazon services. Then they add sponsored items to a gift list? Bezos needs to get his house in order. This is just stupid. Great news, you have fully become Walmart!
