Amazon has launched a new service called Amazon Connect that delivers posts by authors directly to customers. Amazon.com says that customers will only receive posts from authors whose books they have purchased or from authors they subscribe to. The posts will be displayed in reverse chronological order in each customers' personal blog -- or "plog" as Amazon is calling it. Customers can also respond to the posts and these comments can be seen by everyone on Amazon. The service also launched with some new author blogs like this blog from bestselling author James Patterson.
Authors can learn more about Amazon Connect here. And here is Amazon's explanation of "plogs" from the press release.
Amazon Connect posts will appear in Amazon customers' personal log or "Plog" in the center column of the Amazon.com home page. Each customer's Plog is different (hence the name), and just like a blog, Plog posts are sorted in reverse chronological order. Each post also gives customers the opportunity to provide feedback to the sender or to respond with their own comments. This feedback loop means that each customer's Plog becomes even more relevant and interesting over time. A Plog will appear only if the customer is logged on to Amazon.com, and if posts relevant to that customer's purchase history have been submitted. In the future, Plogs will also help customers discover products that have just been released, track changes to orders and much more.
Amazon is also claiming "Plog" as a trademark. It may be confusing to people because it is so similar to the word "blog" and many people have still not heard of blogs. Amazon has created a faq with answers to questions like "Who else can see my Plog?" and "What is a Permalink?" to help confused customers. The popularity of blogging has led many companies to embrace blogging and offer blog-related technologies. Amazon went with the plog idea while AT&T decided to simply claim to deliver blogging -- see this post about AT&T's "blogging delivered" campaign.
