免費試用裝的背後，是個人信息泄露

It’s a known and perhaps depressing fact that Amazon knows a lot about us. The company’s many tentacles have become a ubiquitous part of our lives. 

亞馬遜非常瞭解我們，這一點現在可謂是衆所周知，而且可能有點兒讓人抑鬱。這家公司的無數觸手已經遍佈了我們的生活。

And the Jeff Bezos-founded company is only trying to become bigger. Digital advertising is one of the burgeoning businesses Amazon is pushing hard for. 

而且傑夫·貝佐斯創立的這家公司還想變得更大。電子廣告就是亞馬遜正在大力拓展的一個蓬勃業務。

Already, it’s become a multibillion-dollar business, but it’s still nowhere near as powerful as Google and Facebook. Amazon, however, has an idea about how to convince more brands to use its ad offerings: free samples.

這在亞馬遜已經是個百萬美元級的生意了，不過比起谷歌和Facebook還差得遠。而亞馬遜現在想出了個新點子來說服品牌們使用它的廣告服務：免費試用。

According to Axios, Amazon has been partnering with select brands and letting them send people free samples. 

根據Axios的報道，亞馬遜一直在與一些品牌合作，派發免費的試用產品。

Essentially, Amazon’s robust data on its users is figuring out who would be more likely to buy a certain product. If someone fits that mold, they may end up randomly receiving a package from Amazon showcasing the item. 

一開始，亞馬遜會用他們的海量用戶數據，找出那些更有可能買特定產品的人。如果一個用戶符合這個模型，他們就可能被亞馬遜隨機抽中然後寄送試用產品。

The program works like this, according to Axios: “Samples of new products are sent to customers selected using machine learning based on Amazon’s data about consumer habits.”

根據Axios的說法，這個項目是這樣運作的：“亞馬遜會用機器學習技術研究消費者行爲數據，然後選出一部分消費者來寄送產品樣品。”

Amazon on its website describes samples as “like Amazon’s product recommendations, but real, so you can try, smell, feel, and taste the latest products.” 

亞馬遜官網上對這些樣品的描述是“就像亞馬遜的商品推薦一樣，不過是真的，你可以試用、聞、觸摸、品嚐這些最新產品。”

While it’s fun to get a free sample from Costco, this certainly raises some privacy red flags. Though the packages come from Amazon, the program works by matching brands with unknowing users’ data. 

雖然像這樣收到一份樂購的樣品是挺有趣的，但這顯然會引起一些隱私方面的疑慮。雖然包裹是來自亞馬遜的，但項目本身卻是把品牌和不知情的消費者的數據進行配對。

There is a way to opt out on the Amazon site from receiving samples; this latest report, however, notes that new users are automatically opted in.

用戶可以選擇停止這項服務，不再接受亞馬遜寄送的樣品；但最新的報告顯示，新用戶是默認接受這項服務的。

Though small, this is one way for Amazon to prove to advertisers it has an edge on Google and Facebook. And if any company has the capital to pilot a free sample program at scale, it’s Amazon. 

雖然這也只是一個小優勢，對亞馬遜來說，但這卻是一個向廣告主們證明自己能和谷歌以及Facebook抗衡的機會。而如果有哪個公司有財力支撐這麼大規模的免費試用，那也只能是亞馬遜了。

Still, the past year has proven that ad platforms running rampant can produce unfavorable outcomes. Free samples may be the lead up, but when the triopoly happens, what’s next?

不過，過去幾年已經證明，廣告平臺肆意妄爲是會帶來不好的後果的。免費試用或許是個好事，但當三方壟斷問題出現的時候，又會有什麼後果呢？

翻譯：能貓