26 FEATURE
MARKETING 2019marketingmag.com.au“The internet and the continued growth of online shopping
gives us the ability to experiment with the algorithmic study
‘at pace’ of people, behaviour, reputation, geography and
many other metrics, which all allow a narrow AI system to
make assumptions or even real-time changes to tip the scales
in their favour – to engage with consumers in the right way,
at the right time with the right price in order to increase the
chances of a sale. A good algorithm can mean the diff erence
between a buyer or a browser.”
Accenture Interactive ANZ managing director Michael
Buckley agrees the increasing use of algorithms has
changed the game substantially for marketers and that
many customers have removed conventional online retail
and bricks and mortar stores from their paths to purchase.
Buckley says tech giants Google and Amazon – through
their all pervasive AI powered voice-activated assistants
Google Home and Alexa – have worked hard at positioning
themselves as our personal shoppers as much as our
personal assistants. This erodes competing brands’ access
to consumers to exacerbate Google and Amazon’s market
dominance in many categories.
“Amazon is entrenched in the way people shop,
particularly in Europe and the US. What people are doing
when they search for something is only using Amazon as
the search engine. As a result, Amazon has created a whole
advertising marketplace, because there’s so much traffi c on
search results. A lot of marketers are now not just trying to
include their products as part of the Amazon marketplace
but they’re actually advertising them [on Amazon].”
The claim is backed up by fi ndings of ecommerce data
fi rm Jumpshot, the research of which shows that Amazon
in the US now owns more than 90 percent market share
across fi ve diff erent product categories. These include
home improvement tools (93 percent), skin care (91
percent), batteries (97 percent), golf (92 percent) and
kitchen and dining accessories (94 percent). In addition, Q1
2018 fi gures show Amazon was also eating up market share
across other categories, including men’s athletic shoes (74
percent) and cleaning supplies (88 percent).
It seems this is just the tip of the iceberg when you think
about the all-important personal data that fi rms like
Amazon can exponentially glean from their users. Earlier
this year Amazon fi led for a patent that included an
algorithm that would allow an Amazon device, such as
its Echo smart speaker, to listen to a conversation and
analyse it for certain words. Referred to as a ‘voice sniff er
algorithm’, the technology works by building a personality
profi le on the user. The algorithm uses positive trigger
words such as ‘liked’ or ‘loved’, ‘prefer’ and ‘bought’ or
negative trigger words such as ‘hate’ or ‘disliked’.
The device can then capture additional audio that can
then be analysed for keywords, gauging interest levels in
various products. The patent application states that the
“identifi ed keywords can be stored and/or transmitted
to an appropriate location accessible to entities such as
advertisers or content providers, who can use the keywords
to attempt to select or customise content that is likely
relevant to the user”. If the patent is approved, Amazon
could then off er “personalised off ers on products, encourage
[a user] to take action or better persuade someone to buy a
product”. The data could also be made available to friends
of the user for gift buying, according to the patent. It has not
yet been approved by the US Patent and Trademark Offi ce.
Those interested in the technology say the move
to analyse conversations as a means to discern users’
interests may amplify Alexa’s intelligence and that this
algorithm could eventually feed from Alexa into the rest
of the Amazon consumer product off erings. The belief is
that it could ultimately help “drive purchasing and buying
behaviour of [Amazon] Prime members”. Those against
the move argue the patent may also allow video cameras
on devices to capture image information to attempt to
determine which user is speaking – the ultimate data
capture or privacy invasion depending upon which side
of the fence you sit. Amazon argues that there is provision
in the patent that a user “can have the option of activating
or deactivating the sniffi ng or voice capture processes,
for purposes such as privacy and data security”. It also
states that users must indicate a “willingness to have voice
content analysed” for the trigger word algorithms to work.
“We take privacy seriously and have built multiple
layers of privacy into our devices. We do not use customers’
voice recordings for targeted advertising.”
Google has submitted patents for a similar technology,
but has defended its position to US media outlets by stating
that “all devices that come with the Google Assistant,The challenge now is how
marketers can somehow get their
brands to supersede the Amazon
and Google marketplace.