Amazon.com Tests Competitor Ads on Site

Seattle Amazon.com Inc. is testing a new paid advertising program that will drive shoppers away from products on its own Web site.

On some Amazon product detail pages, competing or complementary items and their prices now appear in a list of text-link ads under headings such as "Available at these other websites."

When shoppers click, Amazon makes money and the advertiser's site opens in a new window.

Razor-thin retail margins have prompted Amazon to look beyond directly selling and shipping merchandise to customers. To stay profitable despite money-losing promotions such as its unlimited free shipping program, the company opened Amazon.com to other merchants, letting them peddle their wares alongside its own and use its fulfillment system, for a more attractive cut than the margin Amazon ultimately clears on sales of its own goods.