# Paperwhite: Ads vs. no ads?



## Marie Long (Jan 11, 2014)

Which PW version do you have? The ones with ads/special offers or the ones without them? 

I'm considering getting the cheaper ones with ads, but I'm wondering:
-Are the ads obtrusive and annoying? Like do you suddenly get pop-up ads while you're reading a book? Are there banner ads while you're reading a book?
-Are these ads usually Google ads or something spammy? Or are they strictly Amazon ads?
-Are the ads tailored to what you are reading or what you recently bought? (example: if I read a lot of mystery books, will I get a bunch of mystery genre-related ads that show up?)

For the Paperwhites without ads, is there anything else special about these devices other than the fact they don't have ads?


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Marie Long said:


> Which PW version do you have? The ones with ads/special offers or the ones without them?
> 
> I'm considering getting the cheaper ones with ads, but I'm wondering:
> -Are the ads obtrusive and annoying? Like do you suddenly get pop-up ads while you're reading a book? Are there banner ads while you're reading a book?


This is subjective but I say, no. They only appear on the lock screen and as a small banner at the bottom of the home page. You don't see them at all while reading.



> -Are these ads usually Google ads or something spammy? Or are they strictly Amazon ads?


Again, subjective. I don't find them spammy. They're ads for all sorts of things -- movies, books, products. They're always G rated and for G rated items. Periodically they'll run specials on covers and you have to buy through the ad to get the special price.



> -Are the ads tailored to what you are reading or what you recently bought? (example: if I read a lot of mystery books, will I get a bunch of mystery genre-related ads that show up?)


Not that I've noticed. Like I really really do NOT like romance novels, but lately they've been showing up frequently. They're very easy to ignore if you're not interested, and sometimes you'll see something that catches your eye and you can check it out further.



> For the Paperwhites without ads, is there anything else special about these devices other than the fact they don't have ads?


They're exactly the same. In fact, if you get the one with the ads -- Amazon calls them 'special offers' -- and subsequently decide you don't want them, you can buy out for the difference in price. And if you get one without ads and decide you want them -- because something comes up that you are interested in and you need to buy through the offer to get the special price -- you can turn 'em back on. Once you've paid for 'no special offers' you can turn them on and off as you wish.


----------



## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Not that I've noticed. Like I really really do NOT like romance novels, but lately they've been showing up frequently.


That is so funny in a way. Here I am, reading and loving romances and all I get are baby ads and thrillers and such. I haven't seen a romance ad in a long time it seems. Maybe I keep missing the rotation. That darn baby ad though keeps sticking around. 

But like Ann said, you can always take the ads off later. When I bought my first ad supported device, can't recall now if that was the fire or the PW1, I figured if it bothers me, I can always pay later. I now have a PW1, Fire and a basic with ads and never bothered to take them off. They just don't bother me at all. 
I used that money on books instead.


----------



## Speaker-To-Animals (Feb 21, 2012)

Most of the time mine are a generic "continue reading on your phone and tablet" which is the "ad" they put on when your wireless has been off for so long it's run out of ads to show you.

But to the question, they're not at all a problem. You barely notice them on the "home" screen.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Atunah said:


> That is so funny in a way. Here I am, reading and loving romances and all I get are baby ads and thrillers and such. I haven't seen a romance ad in a long time it seems. Maybe I keep missing the rotation. That darn baby ad though keeps sticking around.
> 
> But like Ann said, you can always take the ads off later. When I bought my first ad supported device, can't recall now if that was the fire or the PW1, I figured if it bothers me, I can always pay later. I now have a PW1, Fire and a basic with ads and never bothered to take them off. They just don't bother me at all.
> I used that money on books instead.


Maybe there aren't really that many, but I notice when there are because I am not at all interested. 

Looking at offers on my PW'13, everything is either a book or magazine, or a kindle accessory, or an amazon ad for daily deals or kindle apps.

It used to be there was a setting at MYK where you could specify what sorts of ads you preferred. It was a targeting thing. It wasn't that you didn't get ads for the same stuff, but you could say what sort of ads didn't appeal to you and they'd send something different. So, for example, I told them ads with people in then generally didn't appeal to me at all. So if they were trying to sell me soap, I saw pictures of the soap packaging or a nature view, rather than pictures of people using the soap.

But I can't find, now, where to set that. 

There also used to be an active content item called 'admash' where it would show you alternative images and you picked the one you liked best. Again, a way to tailor things so they're using ads that are most likely to appeal to you. But that doesn't work on my PW or either Fire -- only on my basic kindle from 2011.


----------



## Marie Long (Jan 11, 2014)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Maybe there aren't really that many, but I notice when there are because I am not at all interested.
> 
> Looking at offers on my PW'13, everything is either a book or magazine, or a kindle accessory, or an amazon ad for daily deals or kindle apps.
> 
> ...


Thanks! I'm going to look for something like that on my account. I really don't mind ads at all if they were relevant to my interests. If there's a way to manage the types of ads that are shown to you, that would be really great.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Well, I honestly think they took it away.  But if you find it let people know. 

Even when they're not relevant, they are really _really_ easy to ignore. You kind of get in the habit of opening the cover and swiping almost without registering the image that's there.


----------



## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

The ad on my touch right now is the kindle daily deal.  Looked and the ad on the homescreen is 9/16th of an inch high. Mine is at the bottom of the screen.


----------



## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I remember doing those settings. But I can't find them anymore. I know I set it for no people, no family oriented stuff and so on. I think that was after I kept getting pampers ads. 

Right now the only ad I get is the New York times book review. Its there no matter how many times my kindle basic goes to sleep. It has been on wifi today and yesterday. But I just hit the button anyway as I pick up the kindle and then it goes away. On the PW of course I still have to swipe after hitting the button, but I really just put my thumb in that spot at the bottom and it does the same. No big deal. I don't use the magnetic cover anymore on the PW, so I have to hit the button. I mostly use my basic now anyway. 
I just don't do babies. Its like clowns to me. Don't want to see it.  

I don't even notice the ad strip at the bottom of the home screen anymore. I think it would be more annoying if it was in color for some reason, but in black and white it just blends in. 


eta: Oh this is funny. I just went to turn on wifi on my PW1 since its been off for a while and I haven't touched it in a week. And what is there? The pampers baby ad. Argggggg


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I had the NYT Book review and decided to click and get the free trial. . .Got the first two issues immediately, and actually read a review of a book that I decided to wishlist.  Not sure how long I'll keep the subscription but it's nice that you can cancel any time with no further obligation. 

I haven't seen adds for anything but books, magazines, or movies for a LONG time . . . . though, again, I mostly don't pay a LOT of attention.  I see more on my Fire.

I think, Atunah, I might contact Kindle CS and ask what's the deal.  I mean, it's not like you've been buying baby stuff from Amazon, why do they think you'd want it? And why is what you're seeing so different to what I'm seeing? I've got 2 pages of offers, 10 altogether, when I click 'view offers' on the menu, and no babies.  (Though I haven't checked my basic one lately-- maybe the ads are different there.)

If you're using a basic, maybe you can use the admash thingy to make them stop?


----------



## GBear (Apr 23, 2009)

I'm one who really dislikes ads and was happy to pay extra to skip them. Even though they are not intrusive while reading, another factor is that the Amazon Paperwhite cover will open directly to your book where you left off. If you have "special offers," it's an extra swipe to get to your book. I'd just as soon jump directly into the book.

But you can always buy out of them, so it's not a big deal to try the special offers to see if they bother you before spending more money.


----------



## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

It shows me 4 ads available on my basic. Pampers, Daily deal which I haven't seen yet, Book Review and the "continue reading on your phone and bla bla black screen thingy"

That is it. 

and I just turned of wifi on the PW1 and I now have the six romance books for valentines. But none of them really look like romance to me. Most look depressing and bland or like non fiction. Weird picks. 

I have 10 offers on my PW1 and the first one again is the darn Pampers ad. 3 deal type offers, book review, A kindle singles, 2 thrilers, the continue to read bla bla and one chick lit. 
And holy moly is my house dusty. Even in the cover my PW is covered in fuzz.  

Going to look for the ad mash thingy.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

O.K. I've got the baby one on my basic, too. 

The rest of the offers are pretty much the same as the PW. doing a sync . . . nope, no change on the basic.

And none on the PW . . . . the _difference_ is on the PW there's an ad for a waterproof case that's specifically for the PW. On the basic, instead, I've got pampers.

Maybe they are pretty much the same as yours.


----------



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I barely notice the ads on my PW(v1) any more. Maybe once a month one actually grabs my attention, and I click on it for the details.


----------



## Scarlet-Fire (Nov 9, 2012)

No ads for me. In fact, I would not purchase a Kindle that had ads. There is enough advertising inundating almost every moment of my day-to-day life that I find the ad free Kindle a nice respite.


----------



## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

I don't find the ads annoying. Ten seconds after I open the Kindle I couldn't tell you what the ad was. And you always have the ability to buy out of the ads if you decide you just loathe them. Once in a great while there is and is a special deal or something that is worthwhile. Though that is really rare for one that is of value.

Buy the Kindle with special offers and Pay to get rid of the ads if you just hate them.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

The Hooded Claw said:


> Buy the Kindle with special offers and Pay to get rid of the ads if you just hate them.


Exactly. 

FWIW, I got my first PW without the ads. Just was in a splurging mood. I had actually put them on my back up kindle at the time -- a keyboard model purchased when we still called it the K3 (it doesn't cost to do that) -- so I did have access to the special offers. When I got my current PW I just got them with the ads because I had, by then, decided that they were no big deal and, occasionally, worth clicking through. And totally easy to ignore when not something I was interested in or when I was in a hurry to get to my book.

Now, on the Fire, if you have special offers, they've been doing some really good ones. They're limited time offers and are sometimes 80% or 90% off regular price of things you might actually want to have. When they go live, they only last a few minutes because of the value of the deal and the fact that they'll sell only a limited number at that price. It's kind of like a "woot off" but only one item up. You have to buy the item from the Fire -- you can see it on the web page but won't get the special price that way.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Like others, I've had the SOs on my Kindles since offered.  They're totally unobtrusive. It's just something to swipe to get to the book. I don't much care about the opening right to the book...it's a matter of a tap or a swipe.  (I think of it as removing the bookmark. )  Every now and then I think about paying to remove the ads, but then I think about the books I can buy with that money and I change my mind.

I think it's great though, that Amazon does give the option to remove them--so some of us get the benefit of the cheaper price and others can buy without ads or get rid of them later.

Betsy


----------



## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Here is one way to look at ads.  The advertisers are paying someone to showcase their products.  This means that I can watch something free or cheaper than it cost to make and air the show.  Ads on internet sites means that I can play there just for what my internet costs.
To me ads are just other people wanting me to get things cheaper.

Now if you want to make me mad, try telling me that the ads you are supposed to deliver to me are free and I shouldn't worry abou it.  Several someones pay you very good money for you to deliver them to my house.  This is the grocery ads.


----------



## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

GBear said:


> I'm one who really dislikes ads and was happy to pay extra to skip them. Even though they are not intrusive while reading, another factor is that the Amazon Paperwhite cover will open directly to your book where you left off. If you have "special offers," it's an extra swipe to get to your book. I'd just as soon jump directly into the book.
> 
> But you can always buy out of them, so it's not a big deal to try the special offers to see if they bother you before spending more money.


^^^This sums it up for me. I tried ads with the Touch & made it about three days before I bought out of them. I really hate ads, I DO find them obtrusive and distracting, and they're never for anything I want. In the early days (and apparently still on the Fire), there were some fabulous deals available only if you had the ads enabled. But it's not that way now, and it's not worth the fairly meager savings to me. I'd rather just get to my book.


----------



## booklover888 (May 20, 2012)

I bought out of ads on my Paperwhites, because when you have the cover that wakes and sleeps the reader, you go right to your book without having to tap anything. It was well worth the extra payment! I just figured the cost as $139. That's reasonable.


----------



## QuantumIguana (Dec 29, 2010)

I have the Paperwhite with the ads. Thus far it hasn't bothered me sufficiently to pay to have them removed. They don't tend to have ads for things that I want, I think I must confuse Amazon's algorithms. I did take them off my daughter's Kindle Touch. I avoid ads, we watch Netflix rather than commercial TV. When we were visiting my parents, my daughter saw an add for an ear vacuum for sucking wax from the ear. She wanted one. She's not used to ads, so they can be pretty seductive. She saw an ad for a waterproof case for a Kindle, and wanted that. A seven year old with a waterproof case sounds like a bad idea: I can just see her thinking it would be a good bath toy.


----------



## Cardinal (Feb 24, 2010)

I have special offers on my Kindle Keyboard and on my basic Kindle.  I don't mind the pictures of the ads instead of Amazon's screensavers, but I'm not a fan of anything taking up space on the homescreen.  I didn't get special offers on my Paperwhites because I didn't want the clutter on the homescreen.  Also, there is the additional step of swiping.


----------



## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

^ ^ Yes, and we all know how tiring that extra swiping can be.


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

HappyGuy said:


> ^ ^ Yes, and we all know how tiring that extra swiping can be.


Well . . . . but . . . it _is_ kind of cool to open the cover and have the words _right there_ just as you would with old fashioned paper based technology. 

I know Betsy likens the swipe to removing the bookmark, and I admit I've gotten to where I open and swipe more or less in one motion . . . but it's o.k to prefer _not_ to.


----------



## Cardinal (Feb 24, 2010)

HappyGuy said:


> ^ ^ Yes, and we all know how tiring that extra swiping can be.


Actually, I don't because I never got Special Offers on my Paperwhite, but I read someone else posting about how they didn't like it.


----------



## HappyGuy (Nov 3, 2008)

"but it's o.k to prefer not to."
Yes, it is.


----------

