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David Limp, senior vice president of devices and services at Amazon.com Inc., showcases the Amazon Echo Dot smart speaker at an unveiling event at the Spheres corporate headquarters in Seattle, Washington, USA, Thursday, September 20, 2018.
Andrew Burton | Bloomberg | Getty Images
In a discussion thread on Reddit this weekend, some Amazon Echo owners complained about unwanted commercial messages from Alexa. Sometimes if you ask Alexa for the weather, for example, it might give you the weather and then ask if you want any ideas for things to buy.
It happened on my Echo too. When I tested it by asking Alexa for the time, Alexa told me the time and then added, “By the way, I can help you celebrate birthdays. Would you like to hear some theme ideas from? anniversary?” It didn’t happen all the time, just sporadically.
However, it happens enough that people talk about it.
It is these kinds of unwanted ads that seem to annoy some people. I’ll show you how to turn them off, but first, remember why they probably exist in the first place: Amazon may price its Echo speakers lower than some competitors by using it to trick you into buying more products. on Amazon.
It’s similar to how Amazon can sell affordable Kindle readers and Fire tablets. By selling at cost or below cost, Amazon brings you into its ecosystem of services and products, in the hope that you will buy more through Amazon with this gadget.
Tired of those extra ads? Here’s how you can turn them off.
How to stop Alexa from asking you to buy things
You can prevent Alexa from asking if you want ideas for things to buy by changing some of the notification settings in the Alexa app on your phone. This is what you do:
- Open the Alexa app on your iPhone or Android phone.
- Choose Settings.
- Tap Notifications.
- Select Amazon Shopping.
- Disable the option “receive recommendations and personalized offers based on your purchasing activity”.
- Also turn off “requests for reviews of products you have purchased” if you do not wish to receive these messages either.
- Turn off the option to receive notifications for “Order Updates (Inc. Subscribe & Save.)” If you don’t want messages about saving money by subscribing to monthly shipments.
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