I thought the big idea behind Amazon’s marketplace was to encourage product purchases so sellers make money from sales and Amazon makes money from referral fees (and a ton of other fees).
I thought another big idea was consumer first – whatever consumers want they get.
I thought a third big idea was to have a huge affiliate program driving sales from third parties recommending purchases.
Enter AI. Buyers can use Perplexity’s Comet AI Browser to make purchases on their behalf. For example, I need X please purchase the best product for my needs on Amazon – and the browser makes the purchase.
Amazon has sued to stop these sales. Sued to reduce sales. Sued to reduce sellers income – money used to put food on the table and a roof overhead.
Bottom line: IMHO it appears Amazon doesn’t want agentic browsers bypassing the zillion ads making the marketplace a craphole for buyers because it is apparently more profitable to make money from ad clicks than actual sales.
Example: My friend could ask me, Hey Brian, can you buy X for me on Amazon. But she can’t tell her AI assistant to make the same purchase.
Prediction: Every reason Amazon gives for its stance disappears if Amazon can get an additional payment from Perplexity for each sale its AI participates in.
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