Here Comes Another Button: “Send To Kindle”

The new “send to Kindle” button may not be just another button to put on your site or blog. Because of Amazon’s brand and Kindle’s reach (both hardware and software) it could, if publishers comply, see meaningful adoption by consumers.

In Q3 last year Amazon created a Send to Kindle Chrome browser extension. (There’s no data on how that performed.) But now Amazon seeks to expand Send to Kindle to Firefox, Android devices, email and the PC or Mac desktop. It also works on any device with Kindle software (i.e., iPhone, iPad):

The Send to Kindle Button lets you easily send that content to your Kindle to read later, at your convenience. Just send once and read everywhere on any of your Kindle devices or free Kindle reading apps for iPhone, iPad and Android phones or tablets. No more hunting around for that website or blog that caught your eye — just open your Kindle and all the content you sent is right there. The Send to Kindle Button is also great for those who want to collect content from the web to use in work projects, school assignments, or hobbies.

Amazon provides simple instructions for publishers and bloggers to add the new button to their sites.

In short Amazon wants to create the “save” or “read later” button for content on the internet. There are a number of existing “read it later” apps or tools available, including Apple’s own Reading List. There’s also Pocket, Readability and Instapaper. None of these are as comprehensive, across platforms, as the Send to Kindle button.

There are several examples of implementations referenced by Amazon in its blog post, including Time. Here’s what the process looks like from a consumer perspective:

Because the button isn’t about sharing or additional exposure (at this point) it’s not clear how many publishers will rush to implement it.