SEATTLE, Jul 16, 2002 -- Today Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) launched its first version of "Amazon.com Web Services," a platform for creating innovative Web solutions and services designed specifically for developers and web site owners.
By using Amazon.com Web Services (www.amazon.com/webservices) developers can build applications and tools that will allow them to incorporate many of the unique features of Amazon.com into their web sites -- free of charge.
"We're putting out a welcome mat for developers -- this is an important beginning and new direction for us," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "Developers can now incorporate Amazon.com content and features directly onto their own websites. We can't wait to see how they're going to surprise us."
Among its many features, Amazon.com's Web Services will allow third party sites to search and display products from Amazon.com's web site, and enable visitors to those sites to add items to their Amazon.com shopping carts. Developers can access AWS through two industry standards: XML and SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol).
"Amazon.com's Web Services harnesses the vast array of product information already available on its web site and turns it into a resource for developers as well as users," said Tim O'Reilly, CEO of O'Reilly & Associates. "This is a significant leap forward in the next-generation programmable internet."
Amazon.com Web Services is available free of charge. It is also integrated with the Amazon.com Associates Program (http://www.amazon.com/associates) which allows web sites to earn referral fees from purchases made at Amazon.com via links on their web sites. The powerful combination of Amazon.com Web Services and the Associates Program will allow developers to incorporate more Amazon.com features onto their web sites, ultimately driving more traffic and more referral fees as a result.
About Amazon.com Associates Program:
Launched in 1996, the Amazon.com Associates Program is the world's leading online affiliate marketing program. Web sites that are part of the Amazon Associates Program can earn up to 15 per cent for sales generated by referred visitors on thousands of new and used qualifying items. Currently, over 800,000 sites have enrolled in the Associates Program worldwide.
About Amazon.com:
Amazon.com, a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com seeks to be the world's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online. Amazon.com and sellers list millions of unique new and used items in categories such as electronics, computers, kitchen and housewares, books, music, DVDs, videos, camera and photo items, toys, baby and baby registry, software, computer and video games, cell phones and service, tools and hardware, travel services, magazine subscriptions and outdoor living items. Through Amazon Marketplace, zShops and Auctions, any business or individual can sell virtually anything to Amazon.com's millions of customers, and with Amazon.com Payments, sellers can accept credit card transactions, avoiding the hassles of offline payments.
Amazon.com operates five international Web sites: www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.fr, and www.amazon.co.jp It also operates the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the Web's comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more than 300,000 movies and entertainment titles and 1 million cast and crew members dating from the birth of film.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to potential future losses, significant amount of indebtedness, competition, strategic alliances and business combinations, seasonality, potential fluctuations in operating results and rate of growth, foreign currency exchange rates, management of potential growth, system interruption, international expansion, consumer trends, fulfillment center optimization, inventory, limited operating history, government regulation and taxation, fraud and Amazon.com Payments, and new business areas. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2001 and all subsequent filings.