Buyer beware: Amazon is sneaking ads into baby registries

Yup, Amazon just can’t help making itself unpalatable to everybody, including parents-to-be.  The online retail behemoth is apparently sneaking ads into expectant parents’ baby registries. And the ads look so similar to actual products requested by parents that many of them have ended up buying the products that Amazon put on their list.

It works like this: The Wall Street Journal investigated the problem and found that Amazon charges $500,000 for registry ad placements, and sells three of them every quarter. Right now, the brands seem to be Playtex Diaper Genie, Huggies Snug & Dry diapers, and Aveeno bath products. The idea seems to be to suggest products to parents and the people buying them gifts. But thanks to the poor design of the registry, people can’t tell what is an ad, and this is leaving consumers feel like they have been duped into buying something they never wanted to buy.

This latest problem is only adding to a growing resentment toward Amazon that is bubbling on the internet. Over the last few weeks, people have been canceling their Amazon Prime memberships, and persuading other people to do so as well.