Wired Magazine recently declared that Amazon "owns" the internet. Good to see the owners of the internet turning to print to rally last minute holiday sales:

 Full story from PaidContent.org here

Amazon Includes Circular In Weekend Newspapers

The front page of the circular says “Last Minute Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List.” (Excuse the not-great cell phone picture.) The inside pages feature products that are eligible for free one-day shipping, including DVDs, electronics, video games, music and Kindles. A box on page 5 explains what Amazon Prime is and offers a free trial by visiting amazon.com/primeholiday.

Each item featured in the circular includes its list price, which is crossed out, then “Our Price: ? Check latest price at Amazon.com.” Each item is also accompanied by its star rating and reviews on Amazon.

Books are not included in the circular or in the free one-day shipping promotion.

Amazon recently ran a price check promotion that made many people very mad, but that I believe was more of an effort to compete against big box stores than independent bookstores. This circular seems to be part of that same strategy.

The Christian Science Monitor recently reported on Amazon's efforts to file patents around advertising on the Kindle. Full story here.

Although most of this story is about the potential of having ads placed within the pages of books read on a Kindle device, newspapers and magazines should take note. This is big because if you believe (as I do) that any electronic delivery of content must be controlled by those who create it (as opposed to giving it away for free on website), the ability to further monetize that content through the selling of ads could cement personal readers, like the Kindle, as the best electronic hope for print publications.

Side note: Instead of telling their members about how to build better websites, newspaper and magazine associations, like the Newspaper Association of America, should be leading the charge on this, working with Amazon and Sony to define a revenue sharing agreement on ads in exchange for the content. But don't hold your breath on that one.