{"id":341081,"date":"2017-05-17T00:30:42","date_gmt":"2017-05-16T16:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1491273"},"modified":"2017-05-17T00:30:42","modified_gmt":"2017-05-16T16:30:42","slug":"amazon-begins-rewarding-top-performing-alexa-skill-developers-with-direct-payments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/amazon-begins-rewarding-top-performing-alexa-skill-developers-with-direct-payments\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon begins rewarding top performing Alexa Skill developers with direct payments"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Amazon has quietly launched a new program that will directly pay\u00a0developers building high quality Alexa skills \u2013 the voice-activated apps for Alexa-powered devices like the Amazon\u00a0Echo speaker and related\u00a0products. This is the first time Amazon has offered a means for Alexa developers to monetize their skills on its app store.<\/p>\n

Developers are\u00a0reporting\u00a0having received emails from Amazon (see screenshot below), which explains how the program operates.<\/p>\n

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The email begins by congratulating the selected developer for having one of the top-performing game skills on the platform. It then notes that Amazon is \u201cexploring new ways to reward our developers\u201d by offering compensation in the form of payments for their skills based on customer usage.<\/p>\n

A Q&A on Amazon\u2019s site<\/a> further confirms the program\u2019s details, but doesn\u2019t offer a lot of specifics in terms of how usage is measured of what sort of payment scale is being utilized here. Instead, it simply explains that usage \u201ccould\u00a0be\u201d measured through a variety of metrics, like minutes the skill is used, the number of new customers being added and other measures of engagement.<\/p>\n

As for payments, Amazon only vaguely states that those will be\u00a0based on the Skill\u2019s usage.<\/p>\n

The program begins this month, and developers will be alerted by an email from the Alexa team if their skill qualifies for inclusion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not sure how many people are getting [the email], but I know a few are,\u201d says Kevin Marshall, CTO of adtech company Veritonic, who developed the\u00a0Math Mania Skill in his down time. \u201cNo one shared their amounts yet, so it\u2019s not clear where on the scale my [payment of] $133.84 falls,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

As more developers join the program and find out how much they\u2019re earning, it will be easier to figure out what sort of scale Amazon is using to determine its payouts.<\/p>\n

While the obvious motivation behind compensating developers directly is to help seed the Alexa\u00a0Skill Store with high quality content consumers will like, Amazon spells this out in its FAQ<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are starting by rewarding game skill developers because game skills are not only fun and delightful but also represent some of the most engaging experiences on Alexa for our customers,\u201d the site says.<\/p>\n

Initially, only game developers are being compensated, but the above statement hints that the program may expand to other categories in the future.<\/p>\n

Today, however, Amazon is selecting\u00a0skills from those voice apps categorized in the \u201cGames, Trivia, & Accessories\u201d category only.<\/p>\n

Though this is the first time Amazon has rewarded developers for their skills in the form of direct payments, Amazon has incentivized developers to build for its Alexa platform prior to now by offering them AWS credits to those who have a skill in production.<\/p>\n

Amazon has not yet returned requests for comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\" Amazon has quietly launched a new program that will directly pay\u00a0developers building high quality Alexa skills – the voice-activated apps for Alexa-powered devices like the Amazon\u00a0Echo speaker and related\u00a0products. This is the first time Amazon has offered a means for Alexa developers to monetize their skills on its app store. Developers are\u00a0reporting\u00a0having received emails from… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

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