Amazon to Allow Kindle Fire Users to Pay to Block Ads

Amazon, in an apparent switch in its pricing policy, said over the weekend that it would allow buyers of its new Kindle Fire tablet to pay $15 extra to turn off advertisements that are built into the devices.

The change came after Amazon unveiled larger Kindle Fire tablets, priced from $159 to $599, to challenge Apple’s dominant iPad on price and additional digital content. Amazon had said the tablets would come with ads known as “special offers” that appear when screens are locked and in the corner of the home screen, helping to keep prices down. But criticism of the company mounted in online forums after reports that Amazon would not allow buyers to pay to block the ads as it had done with earlier tablets.