Amazon has applied for patents for On-Demand Generating E-Book Content with Advertising, apparently in an attempt to display ads that are relevant to your book’s content. As you can see from the diagram, Amazon’s proposal favors somewhat the layout that is present on many websites we use everyday.

Now, don’t roll your eyes right away. Here’s an excerpt from the patent:

Including advertising and/or related content with on-demand printed content may prove advantageous to a consumer. For example, a lower price may be offered to a consumer regarding a request for on-demand printed content if the consumer is willing to accept advertising in the printed content.

According to this, a discounted version of your book may be available if you’re willing to read around a few related and well-placed ads.

I’m not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, I’ve trained my mind and eyes to avert the majority of adverts that are presented to me on my favorite websites. On the other, I’m concerned that these ads might take me out of the story that I happen to be reading at the time.

Is this the equivalent of inserting audio ads into your favorite CDs? Would you want to be listening to Dark Side Of The Moon only to be interrupted by an audio ad for Prozac? Would you feel the same way if you were reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and then a Fandango ad appears showing you the upcoming showtimes for the latest Harry Potter movie?

From Slashdot.org.