Amazon's new Accelerator program to raise revenue share for Alexa Skill devs
In an effort to help current developers and attract new creators, Amazon revealed the Alexa Skill Developer Accelerator Program. This effort will increase the revenue share for developers making less than $1 million per year and will provide other forms of assistance and benefits to all participants.
Beginning in the second quarter of 2022, all eligible developers will receive a base cut of 80% of the revenue generated by their Alexa Skills. This includes revenue derived from In-Skill purchasing, subscriptions, and the initial sale of all Paid Skills. On a default basis, Amazon will take the other 20% cut.
Launching alongside this new revenue sharing model will be a series of added benefits the company plans to provide to developers. They'll include incentive programs, personalized feedback on skill experiences, and access to best practices for user experience and customer satisfaction optimization. Amazon also intends to offer participants help with identifying untapped monetization opportunities for their skills.
As an incentive to make use of these offered benefits, developers will be able to earn up to an additional 10% in revenue shares by utilizing them, making it possible for them to retain up to 90% of the total income for their Alexa Skills' sales.
The online retail giant noted that this latest announcement is part of a larger, ongoing effort to expand the community of Alexa Skill developers. The Skill Developer Accelerator Program launch follows the initial introduction of Paid Skills, international expansions of monetized Alexa experiences to India and Canada, and the launch of Alexa Shopping Actions to help devs directly sell products via the company's voice assistant.
Amazon expects to have more to share about the program in the coming months. In the meantime, potential participants can visit the company's dev console to see if they will be eligible when it launches.