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随着亚马逊在广告市场跟谷歌和Facebook短兵相接，Echo是不是会成为下一个广告平台？
测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
adverts abbr. 广告
blare out n. 咆哮
阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。
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Amazon wants you to know that adverts will not start blaring out from its Echo speakers anytime soon. Speakers may end up being one of the rare areas that advertised products are not available. Revenue from Amazon’s ads unit is fast turning into a crucial part of the $870bn company’s business.
Share prices fell 8 per cent in after-hours trading on Thursday after it reported the slowest quarterly revenue growth in a year as well as a more muted outlook for the fourth quarter. But slowing growth should not eclipse the company’s profitability.
Operating income hit $3.7bn in the third quarter — from just $350m in the same quarter last year. Amazon’s 7 per cent margin reflects two decisions taken by the company: tighten up spending and encourage growth in two lucrative businesses.
No prizes for guessing that one is the successful cloud computing business Amazon Web Services, where revenue rose by nearly half to $6.7bn. But advertising is coming up fast. The company’s “other” reporting line, most of which is advertising revenue, more than doubled to $2.5bn in the third quarter.
Digital marketing is a $200bn industry of which the US market accounts for more than half. For now Amazon’s estimated 2 per cent of global digital ad revenue trails a distant third behind Google and Facebook. But there is reason to think it can ramp up its share of the market quickly. Half of Americans look up items directly on Amazon’s website before they make a purchase. That means the company can offer clients all sorts of intriguing information. If Amazon doubles its business again next year then ad revenue will exceed AWS.
It is doing this without spending heavily either. Chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky was careful to note the ways in which the company is reducing costs, including slower hiring.
To flourish, Amazon just needs to be careful in navigating privacy concerns about the customer data that it collects. Best to keep ads away from home speakers for now.
请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：
A. Amazon's Echo has run adverts in the past.
B. Amazon's Echo will soon start to carry adverts.
C. Amazon's Echo does not serve adverts now.
D. Amzoon's Echo is supported by adverts.
答案 (1)
A. Cloud computing
B. E-commerce
C. Consulting
D. Advertising
答案 (2)
A. Because Amazon's technology is superior to Google's and Facebook's.
B. Because Amazon's Echo speaker is the next big thing.
C. Because Amazon already holds big influence to people's purchasing decision-making.
D. Because AWS has peaked, which forces Amazon to focus on advertising.
答案 (3)
A. Amazon should put all its resources to Echo.
B. Amazon should not sell ads on Echo.
C. Amazon should cut more cost.
D. Amazon should use data more aggressively in its advertising business
答案 (4)
(1) 答案：C解释：Amazon wants you to know that adverts will not start blaring out from its Echo speakers anytime soon.
(2) 答案：A解释：No prizes for guessing that one is the successful cloud computing business Amazon Web Services, where revenue rose by nearly half to $6.7bn. But advertising is coming up fast. The company’s “other” reporting line, most of which is advertising revenue, more than doubled to $2.5bn in the third quarter. 不用猜就知道亚马逊最赚钱的业务是AWS云计算，贡献了67亿美元的收入。
(3) 答案：C解释：But there is reason to think it can ramp up its share of the market quickly. Half of Americans look up items directly on Amazon’s website before they make a purchase. That means the company can offer clients all sorts of intriguing information. 超过一半的美国人在作出购买决策之前都会查询亚马逊。
(4) 答案：B解释：To flourish, Amazon just needs to be careful in navigating privacy concerns about the customer data that it collects. Best to keep ads away from home speakers for now.