Amazon Underground – are you game?
Amazon Underground is a new initiative that is set up to give away tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of free apps.
Set up for the Android platform, Amazon Underground is taking on Google Play for the Android app market, and has many people puzzled about what’s in it for Amazon.
But whatever is in it, the fact is that for users, it means free access to hundreds and hundreds of apps that you’d normally be paying for.
Amazon Underground for Developers
Amazon is marketing this effort to app developers as a new way to get paid. Basically, they pay developers for every minute that someone is using that developer’s app. So, as you might guess, there’s a lot of tracking involved. (If that’s something you shy away from, you may want to shy away from Amazon Underground as well.)
Amazon Underground for Users
Basically, what’s in it for users is … lots of free apps! As most on-line entrepreneurs and small business owners know, giving away useful, free products is an excellent way to create new customers. So it may be that Amazon is simply following that tried and true formula. Here’s a quick overview of what’s being offered, from a story on the ABC News site:
Many popular Android titles including everything from premium services such as PhotoSuite 4 and OfficeSuite Professional 8 are available via Amazon Underground, along with a slew of games that may otherwise have in-app purchases, including Angry Birds Slingshot Stella and Frozen Free Fall.
But many are puzzled about how, exactly, this works to Amazon’s advantage – how they will monetize it. Here’s Amazon’s ‘letter’ to customers about this new service, where they note, “The Amazon Underground app is a long-term program rather than a one-off promotion. Over time, we’ll continue to invent and add more benefits to Underground. For now, enjoy some actually free apps and games!”
So, aside from the tracking involved — a necessity in order to pay developers — it’s hard to see where the strings are attached here. Perhaps Amazon is simply looking to attract more users-who-may-eventually-become-customers at this point. That in and of itself is not an unusual strategy, as noted by the Android Police on their recent post about this.
Whatever their ultimate goal, if you’re an Android user it certainly seems that Amazon Underground is a platform worth exploring at this point.
Will you be taking a look? If you do (or if you don’t), I’d love to hear what do you think. 😉
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have no material connection with Amazon and have not received any compensation for writing this content.
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