Report: Amazon’s IMDb is ready to be your Hulu alternative

For years, there have been whispers about Amazon’s advertising ambitions. As the internet has matured, Google and Facebook have become the dominant players for online ads–much to the detriment of independent online media. But there’s always been the specter of Amazon; Though it hasn’t dominated just yet, so many people use its services–and Amazon is known for its ability to dominate myriad industries–that it was only a matter of time before it became an advertising superpower.

We’re now beginning to see the company attempt to do just this. Over the last few years, Amazon’s ad revenue–which was made mostly via people using Amazon.com to search for products–has grown into a multibillion-dollar endeavor.

Now CNBC reports that Amazon-owned IMDb is planning to launch a new TV streaming service on Fire TV this week. It will reportedly be available for all users (meaning not just Prime), and will provide a way for the company to break into television advertising. The service will feature both TV shows and movies, according to the anonymous sources CNBC spoke with.

By offering free, ad-supported video content, Amazon will be able to become even more enticing to digital marketers. The report adds that the company will give marketers “access to its proprietary data to help target video advertising for the first time on Fire TV.”

Amazon is currently the third largest digital advertiser, trailing both Facebook and Google, but it only has 4% of the marketshare. Creating new ways for advertisers to both tap into Amazon’s data, as well as serve video ads to the company’s streaming content, will surely catch marketers’ eyes.

I reached out to Amazon and will update if I hear back. This service has been hinted at for months–now CNBC claims it will be unveiled in the coming days. We’ll have to see how the duopoly responds.