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Audible is Testing Ad-Supported Access To Select Titles For Non-Members (techcrunch.com) 21

Audible is testing ad-supported access to select titles for non-members, the Amazon-owned audiobook company revealed on a help page on its website. From a report: The company confirmed to TechCrunch that the test is very limited and does not apply to paid members. The move indicates that the company may be exploring the possibility of an ad-based membership option. Audible declined to comment on any specific plans. The test includes audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals. Audible says the test applies to a limited subsection of titles on its platform. Content providers were informed of the change and given the chance to opt out of ads. Users who are part of the test will hear a total of eight ads within a 24-hour period. Audible says it has taken additional measures to make sure that ads won't be heard too frequently within a short time span.
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Audible is Testing Ad-Supported Access To Select Titles For Non-Members

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  • I would totally stream audiobooks for free with ads.
    The radio has ads, web pages have ads, I look out my window and there are ads.
    I just don't bother to remember what they are for once I'm no longer seeing or hearing them.

    • Don't understand this ads, ads, ads malarkey.

      I'm 63 & I have never, ever, ever bought anything, not a single thing from an interwebs advertisement. Who are these company employees signing off money to Google etc. etc.?

      • by MBC1977 ( 978793 )

        Just curious, who do you expect to pay for the content? Obviously, you don't want to pay for a membership. Ok, cool.

        You don't want to give your personal data to be monetized. Ok, fair.

        Can I assume you think that a "for-profit" company should just incur that cost, for altruistic reasons? If so, please share the name of your dealer, cause I need some of whatever your taking, cause leaving reality must be nice...

        • I pay Channel4, The Telegraph & Amazon Prime to remove ads & I pay my BBC License fee, so BBC TV, iPlayer & myriad radio channels are completely Advertisement free.

          If it's worth it I'm happy to pay. Telegraph & C4 are good on their word, no ads. Looks like Amazon has sold me a pup with my Prime membership, Prime Video now has a "With ads" section, so I simply won't watch whatever it is & will probably not renew.

          My point wasn't "I want everything for free" it was that interweb adverts sim

        • I was an Audible member from 2016 until 2021. I paid every month but Audible still flashed ads on the home screen every time I opened the app. Okay, it is what it is, right?

          Then they started spamming my notifications screen with ads, even if I wasn't listening to Audible. Wtf? Just, no. I went to the notification control, and turns out you can only stop notification ads by also removing the player control from the lock screen. Turn off ads and you can no longer stop and start playback with the button o

  • Hi Audible. Your YouTube adspamapalooza means that I will never, ever buy any of your products. Nice work ad team!
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by EvilSS ( 557649 )

      Yep. Ads are infuriating unless they can be listened to ahead of time, or after to enjoy a separate product experience cleanly. If you have to eat a tiny turd to have a seat at the dinner table, most would prefer to enjoy the rest of their dinner turdless.

      So buy the audio books or pay for audible subscription so you don't get ads. Or is the truth really "being cheap drives people to piracy"

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
        • by EvilSS ( 557649 )

          Being frugal and resourceful in general benefits the person who practices it. That's a particular trait of some. But spite is universal. When people get mad enough, they will go out of their way to contribute to the failure of that which angers them. Especially when it turns out to be an object or conceptual artifact such as a commercial grouping given title. they don't feel bad at all. They get a rush and and it becomes a Cause.

          Let me get this straight: offering 3 ways to listen to audiobooks in a way where the authors get paid, including one new one where the user can pay no money but instead can choose to listen to some ads is going to make the masses angry and rise up? That’s a lot of bullshit to say you feel authors are not worth compensating.

      • "So buy the audio books or pay for audible subscription"

        comprehension failure, did you miss this little nugget:

        I was an Audible member from 2016 until 2021. I paid every month but Audible still flashed ads emphasis mine on the home screen every time I opened the app.

    • by Jhon ( 241832 )

      "Ads drive people to piracy."

      So you say.

      Who will it drive to piracy who's not already there? Subscribers who are already paying for monthly subscriptions? Nope.

      People who already pirate audio books will continue to do so. Some people who neither use Audible (because it's not free) nor pirate audio books (which is far more in sheer numbers) will listen with ads which will generate some revenue Audible currently isn't getting.

      So, I'm thinking there's no downside for Audible and only upside.

      • We know copyright, thanks to Disney, is fucked. Why should buying/reading a book by a long dead author enrich their great , sometimes an additional level of great, grandchildren?

        Money for nothing eh?

        Doesn't make sense to me, but I'm not from the US.

  • Put them on all the audio (music) streaming services.
  • It would BURGER KING be just EMIRATES great.

The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is the most likely to be correct. -- William of Occam

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