Amazon adding in-book ads to Kindle?

A pair of recent patent applications suggest Amazon.com is planning to introduce advertisements to content optimized for its Kindle ereader platform. United States Patent Application 20090171751 [1], detailing "On-Demand Generating E-Book Content with Advertising," outlines "a method of providing fixed computer-displayable content in response to a consumer request for content," while Patent Application 2009171750 [2], "Incorporating Advertising in On-Demand Generated Content," outlines a "system and a method of incorporating advertisements in on-demand printed content."

"While on-demand printing provides access to a wide variety of content, including out-of-print and/or rare documents, the content is fixed and, therefore, has not been adapted to modern marketing," the patents state. "In contrast, many Internet sites that publish content are able to do so profitably by displaying advertisements with the published content. Indeed, most content providers that host 'free' Internet sites are typically supported by advertisements. Of course, in regard to out-of-print or rare books, they typically do not include advertisements and, if they do, the advertisements are out of date and inapplicable... As part of printing documents in an on-demand fashion, the on-demand printed content provides the opportunity to incorporate advertisements, as well as other subject matter, in an on-demand printed document." However, that language is a little strange given that most books don't include advertisements, regardless of whether or not the title is in print.

For more on the Amazon patents:
- read this Slashdot article [3]

Related articles:
Amazon promises Kindle [4] content across more devices
Amazon to sell Kindle [5] ebooks via iPhone