How Does "With Ads" Work in Ebooks?

There Are Two Types of "Ads" in Ebooks

Ads Inserted Within the Book Itself

A common format in manga apps and free web manga is displaying ads at the beginning or end of a chapter.

Recently, this became newsworthy as it appeared in Amazon’s Kindle books.
In this model, an ad page is shown for each chapter, so ads appear at certain fixed intervals. While this was not common in manga traditionally, magazines have long had ad pages, so this is essentially a digital adaptation.

The system works by the ebook platform displaying ads to generate advertising revenue, and based on that revenue, they offer a certain number of chapters or volumes for free distribution. In other words, free access to ebooks like manga is made possible through this ad-supported model.

Since ad pages inevitably appear, readers must see ads, but this is the tradeoff for enjoying free ebooks such as manga.

Ads Displayed on the Ebook Reader Device

This method is used by Amazon Kindle devices, where ads selected by Amazon appear on the screen when waking the device from sleep. The Kindle model with ads is priced around 15% lower than the ad-free model, reflecting the message "We lower the device price if you agree to see ads."

Unlike ads inserted inside the book, these ads only appear upon waking the device, so they do not interrupt reading. This is an advantage.

However, for users who frequently put their device to sleep, having to close ads upon waking can be cumbersome, leading some to choose the ad-free Kindle model.

Choosing between lower device cost or convenience depends on personal preference.

Many Reader Benefits from Ebook Ad Models

Thanks to the recent surge of manga apps and similar, there is a shift from selling ebooks simply like print books towards selling them in splits or offering campaigns like "free up to a certain volume."

The ad model aligns with this trend, allowing readers to access more free ebooks. Therefore, the ad-supported system also offers clear benefits to readers.