ONLINE MEGA-MERCHANT Amazon.com recently began a beta test of a self-service platform that matches product search-results pages with relevant text ads sold at keyword auctions.
Called the Clickriver Ad network, the trial was created by Amazon search engine subsidiary A9.com. It's intended to give advertisers more control over the delivery of sponsored links to the tens of millions of shoppers who buy or browse the site.
Amazon.com currently displays ads from a number of third-party networks on its product detail and results pages. It will continue to run outside ads during the Clickriver test, which is scheduled to last until February.
Admission to the pilot program is by invitation only, and the company says in its FAQ that the network will look for businesses that advertise products and services that complement the offerings found on Amazon.
“We welcome services of all types — in travel, finance and investment, training and education, entertainment, insurance, news, healthcare and physical fitness centers, IT assistance and consulting, photo printing and more,” the company's post reads.
Advertisers accepted for the beta test can bid to place their pay-per-click ads on both the results pages for keyword searches within Amazon.com and on specific product pages. It's not yet clear whether competitors will be able to buy PPC ads on product pages, but that seems unlikely.
Amazon unveiled its A9 search platform about two years ago amid widespread speculation that it eventually would introduce Google-style performance advertising. But A9 hasn't caught on with the online public and has never broken into the ranks of the top-10 engines.
Amazon recently scaled back the platform, eliminating many personalization features and such high-profile amenities as its street-level photos in local maps.
