Beware of Amazon's Sneaky Sponsored Product Placement on Your Baby Registry

You’ve surfed the web and combed through tons of baby catalogues to carefully curate your baby registry. Now that the hard work is done, your family and friends are left with the simple task to “add to cart.” But due to Amazon’s ad placement on its registries, it may not be so easy-peasy for them to gift you with exactly what you want.

Recently, customers have complained the e-commerce giant is employing a rather sneaky method of ad placement to trick people into buying sponsored products instead of items actually on someone’s baby registry, The Wall Street Journal reports. Tons of people say they have unintentionally purchased these sponsored products and gifted their friends and family with unwanted items.

These customers are not to blame for their mixup. The ads are strategically placed next to products people have included, making them seem like they were chosen for the registry. The only signal parents-to-be haven’t selected them is a small sponsored tag on the top of the product.

The presence of these products is not in small amounts. About 60 percent of sponsored ads are included in registries, and as of right now, parents don’t have the option to remove them, according to the WSJ article. And the real kicker, it costs advertisers $500,000 to lock in one of these coveted spots on registries.

In response to the findings, Amazon told the WSJ that “we’re constantly experimenting with new ways to improve the shopping experiences for customers.”

A lot of thought goes into your baby registry must-haves. For now, family and friends will have to be cautious of these sneaky products while shopping newborn wish lists.