Amazon recently launched a new program for Android devices, Amazon Underground.  This program replaces the "Free App of the Day", but offers an enormous selection of apps and games at no cost (there are ads at times, though).  Even the In-App Purchase prices are waived, according to the description.  

What do you think of this program?  Do you think it will likely stay in effect for long?

I think it will likely will be billed by many sites as THE reason to own an Android.

It can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1003016361&ref_=mas_surl_undrgrnd

supernerd117 : I think that this is one of the most genius ideas to come from Amazon. Apps, games, and in-app purchases for free? That's amazing. I think that this idea will last a very very long time, and should be one of the reasons to own an Android device.

Now I'm even more proud to own an Android phone! I think this program is so cool and it should increase in popularity very quickly!

I think this program will stay in effect for a couple years at the least.

This looks very interesting. If it can somehow stay funded, it should last for as long as Android devices are popular. I do question how long it can stay funded. I could maybe see them giving you a credit value for each ad you look at and allowing you to cash those in on items etc. but otherwise I'm not sure how they could afford this. If the link tells, then my apologies, but my browser cuts off everything after the beginning of the description.

This actually gives me some ideas too. lol Thanks for sharing.

Eirinn : No problem!  Glad you got some ideas out of it.  My understanding is this: All (or at least most.  Some apps may not give free IAPs) revenue is tied to ads.  An ad will play the first time you use a game/app, and some other times afterwards when you start it up again.  I didn't see it explained there, but on Reddit, this was the explanation I inferred from the comments.

Updated info: It seems a lot of the IAPs are locked behind a cool-down timer or limited, or even not available at all.  That is unfortunate, but understandable.

The ad revenue alone would more than pay for whatever small initial fee the developers would be out.

Honestly I'm not that excited about this program. I mean it's cool and everything, but there's enough free apps on the Google play store to keep me interested. I might check it out for a few mins, but honestly most mobile games don't keep me interested for more than very short periods of time.

IDK maybe I'll get more into it after checking it out.

It does look cool, but there are probably more than enough other ways to get legit free games so it isn't really something outrageous. Having in app prices waived is really cool though, depending on the game, lots of people could take advantage of that and make it worth it.

Considering I do buy things from Amazon, I took a look at this to see what you mean. It would had been pretty cool if that were to happened. But after what supernerd said I am not so sure now. :/

Underground is the best thing ever to happen, got the Gameloft MLP game through it, and it actually makes it good.

So this will finally do something about the rampant Free-To-Play plague? It's a great idea. Now, you can actually play these games without having to pay money every five minutes! I honestly don't see a downside to using this feature.

There's a saying that goes like this: "If something seems too good to be true, it probably is." Besides, free mobile apps/games with ads are already a thing, and in my opinion, most paid benefits aren't worth a dime. If that program got rid of the ads of F2P games, that'd be another thing, but as I see it, it's just a marketing ploy for a new "F2P Games" category.

Arctic Wolf (SS82) : I actually believe that this offer is not to good to be true, and I'll explain why below.

When I first saw Amazon Underground, I thought for many days on how this would make them money. Let's be honest, nobody does anything free (Though I strongly believe Amazon has always offered generous deals). So, after many different theories, I think I've finally landed at what their game plan is.

The Amazon Underground app contains the Amazon store within it. So, they pay a few cents for you to play your F2P game without ads, but then in turn they get to show you the ultimate ad: Amazon's recommended items based on what you Purchased/Viewed/Liked/Etc. So, in a sense, they switch the annoying in-game advertisement for a one-off Amazon ad before you start the game. (I personally use a Fire Phone, so I had to check my old Galaxy to see what it looked like).

So yeah, this to me actually seems like a smart business move! They pay a few cents for you to play, and they showcase what Amazon has to offer! Win/Win in my opinion.

Skilledtree : That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for explaining the details.

Amazon is being so very bold lately and I think it's great. This idea, if marketed well enough, can really boost Android users, and Amazon users. It's a great idea, in my opinion; they just have to make sure they get the word out and explaining easily so people know what it is.