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Ask YC: Instead of online ads, wouldn't seamless website embedding work better?

4 points by amichail ↗ HN
For example, instead of an online ad for amazon.com, why not allow people to use amazon to buy books from other sites such as acm.org. It would look like it was designed for acm.org all along with no obvious indication that this is coming from another site.

Taking it further, one might even restrict the selection of books to those that would interest acm.org visitors.

One problem though is that of handling accounts. Requiring people to register on acm.org to buy a book when they already have an amazon.com account is questionable -- though doing so would preserve the illusion that this is all acm.org.

Another problem is that seamless embedding requires an amazon.com UI that fits in with the rest of acm.org. Trying to automate this would present some interesting research problems.

9 comments

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utnick
this already exists. its called an affiliate program
amichail
How is that seamless embedding? Do you have examples?

I think only casual games sites have seamless embedding.

izaidi
Would what you're describing really be much easier than a "Buy this book at Amazon" link?

There's also the issue of trust: people know Amazon. They might not be as willing to buy a book from a random website.

amichail
The issue is that many people hate ads/affiliate programs. With this method, these issues go away.

Yes trust is an issue, but most companies that need to advertise would benefit from being on a more trusted site anyway.

menloparkbum
People don't hate affiliate programs so much as they are weary of people trying to sell them something all the time. For this reason any sort of embedded sales link is not much different than an affiliate program.
menloparkbum
Various startups have tried various versions of this idea already. I forget their names; they all seem to have failed.
medwards
I agree with izaidi. I would rather have a link to amazon. I may value your opinion and so if you present the link to amazon as a recommendation instead of an ad, I will likely click through and check it out. But just because I'm on your site and value your opinion, doesn't mean I want you as a third party in my purchase and I already shop on amazon anyways.
JacobAldridge
I note that most of the rebuttal of this concept focuses on the Amazon example rather than the concept itself.

As an opportunity for a start-up or less well-known product company to secure distribution through other sites, this may be a beneficial point of differentiation.

The flip-side is that this new company would be choosing not to position its brand with the end consumer, as Amazon does, but rather with the various website hosts, like whatever company provides Store-Brand sugar and flour for your supermarket. This isn't a bad thing, though it means the business runs the risk of being overtaken by a company that builds its brand with end consumers through the affiliate route.