Facepalm: Amazon maintains that it will "continue to evolve" its advertising experiences based on customer feedback. However, a recent wave of ads has blurred the line between helpful assistant and persistent marketer for many Echo Show owners, raising questions about what kind of smart home users will be living in if their devices keep trying to sell them something.
Reports are mounting from Amazon Echo Show owners who say the smart display has begun showing more advertisements, with many calling the experience intrusive and frustrating. Across Reddit, dozens of users have documented a surge in full-screen ads appearing on Echo Show home screens – even when set to display personal photos – sparking debate about Amazon's growing reliance on advertising across its devices.
The Echo Show has previously featured advertising in limited forms, such as product recommendations and Alexa skill promotions. Recently, users have noticed that "sponsored" messages are appearing much more frequently, sometimes interrupting photo slideshows with marketing for products like herbal supplements, snack foods, or Amazon services.
The Verge's Jennifer Pattison Tuohy wrote that one of her Echo Shows began displaying ads for consumer goods directly between her personal images, while other units in her home did not. Numerous Reddit posts report similar experiences, with some users saying the ads now appear so often that they plan to unplug or return their devices entirely.
Amazon has also begun displaying promotions for Alexa+, the upcoming generative AI version of its voice assistant, still in early access. These full-screen messages urge users to subscribe to the new service, which Amazon describes as a more conversational, proactive version of Alexa. Several users have called the Alexa+ ads "invasive" and disruptive, noting that they sometimes play audio and cannot be disabled.
Amazon has long struggled to make a profit from its Devices & Services division, which includes Echo smart speakers, Fire tablets, and Kindle hardware. Internal reports and previous earnings calls reveal that the business lost more than $25 billion between 2020 and 2024. As a result, the company has increasingly relied on advertising to help make up for shortfalls. That shift accelerated after Amazon launched Alexa Native Ads in late 2023, a program that allowed brands to buy placement across Alexa-enabled devices.
Over the summer, Amazon expanded the device's capabilities with a Home Screen Display Ad Program, introducing sponsored placements on Echo Show screens, particularly on units running software connected to Alexa+. Under this initiative, advertisers can target Echo Show users with display content based on user proximity. When the device detects someone standing more than four feet away, a full-screen ad rotates among widgets such as weather or headlines. When a user is closer, the ad appears in the first tile of the home screen grid. To Amazon, these are not ads – they are "discovery experiences."
"Advertising is a small part of the experience, and it helps customers discover new content and products they may be interested in," a company spokesperson told Ars Technica. "Customers who don't like a suggestion can swipe to skip or give feedback through the on-screen information icon."
The company declined to say whether the frequency of ads has increased.
Responses from Echo Show owners have been less forgiving. On the Alexa subreddit, threads with thousands of comments reflect frustration at how persistent the ads have become. Some describe audio promotions for Alexa+ playing immediately after alarms, while others report ads appearing in "photo frame" mode, which had previously been a quiet, ad-free option. Some users say they were able to obtain refunds from Amazon after complaining, while others have resorted to workarounds such as switching language settings or enabling Kids Mode to hide ads.
Reviewers note that, unlike discounted "ad-supported" Kindles, Amazon sells Echo Show devices at full price with no indication of on-screen advertising. The company currently offers no toggle to disable the ads. They also differ from Alexa's earlier "By the Way" voice prompts – contextual product suggestions delivered after a conversation – by being visual, frequent, and persistent.
The controversy coincides with a noteworthy refresh of Amazon's Echo lineup unveiled in September. The redesign, overseen by new design leader Ralf Groene and Devices chief Panos Panay, introduced two next-generation Echo Show models billed as more intuitive and expressive. Panay has said his goal is to build "products customers love," but the growing ad presence may complicate those ambitions.
"If it's relevant, it's not an ad – it's an add-on," he quipped at a recent event, though he did acknowledge that the "randomness" of some ads needs refinement.
Image credit: The Verge