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Amazon owns a lot, check these alternatives
I bet you used Amazon today. Maybe you picked up chicken soup ingredients from Whole Foods, streamed “Fast Car” on Amazon Music or went old-school and bought a book on Amazon.com — naturally, with your Prime Rewards Visa card.
Before you say, “Got ya, Kim! I didn’t do any of that,” you probably used Amazon today anyway. Let me explain.
Welcome to the Amazon universe
You’d be surprised to learn just how many companies are owned by Amazon. Here are some examples: PillPack, Zappos, One Medical, MGM Studios, Ring, Eero, Fabric.com, Wondery, Solimo, Wag, Blink, Happy Belly, Zoox, University Esports, Graphiq, Shopbop and Twitch.
And you might be worried about one company having access to this much personal data. What does it mean that Amazon knows what we eat, buy and listen to? (And Amazon definitely knows a lot about you. FYI, I share how to request your data here.)
Trading digital spaces
If you’re worried about Amazon knowing too much about you, you can downgrade its role in your life and data. I did the research to find surprising Amazon-owned companies (the ones to the left of the arrow), and my picks for non-Amazon alternatives (Yup, the ones to the right of the arrow):
Audible ➡️ Libro.fm
Amazon bought audiobook leader Audible in 2008. A great alternative is Libro.fm — love that you can send a portion of the purchase price of each book to a local bookstore. (Want free? The app Libby is my favorite option for borrowing from the local library.)
Goodreads ➡️ StoryGraph
Goodreads, the social book-reviewing site, joined the Amazon fam in 2013. For an alternative, try StoryGraph. Folks say importing Goodreads data is easy, and the personal metrics and automated recommendations are spot on. I don’t use either one.
IMDb ➡️ TMDB
IMDb was one of Amazon’s first acquisitions, selling for a whopping $55 million in 1998. People loved the site for its forums and personal watchlists left for TMDB, which I can also report is good for a quick game of, “Where do I recognize that actor from?”
AbeBooks ➡️ Thriftbooks
In 2008, Amazon bought beloved UK-based bookseller The Book Depository … which they shut down in 2023. Used-book lovers headed to AbeBooks instead, but wouldn’t you know it? That’s also been owned by Amazon since 2008! Thriftbooks is a solid alternative.
Woot! ➡️ Meh.
Once upon a time, Woot! was a daily deals site that featured one deeply discounted product a day until it was sold out. That’s it. Amazon bought it in 2010 and turned it into a traditional discount shopping site. Get that original magic with Meh., from the original Woot! creators.
The AWS wrinkle
There’s one other way you likely interact with Amazon nearly every day: Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS is the internet’s largest cloud provider. Netflix, McDonald’s and even NASA use AWS to host their websites, services or data.
Want to check out if AWS hosts your favorite sites? Type the URL into Security Trails and take a gander. If you see Amazon or AWS in any of the records, they’re using AWS in some capacity.
Look up Komando.com and you’ll see we use Google for hosting, not AWS. But there is a Komando.com and Amazon connection; I have eBooks for sale on Amazon and I’m an Amazon Affiliate, meaning if you buy something through a link from my site or newsletter, I get a teeny-tiny commission — never, ever at any cost to you or your data.
☂️ I was browsing deals on Amazon this morning and asked Alexa for the weather forecast. She said it was overcast with a 50% chance of my making it rain for Jeff Bezos.
We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.
Tags: Amazon, Google, internet, security
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