Threadwatch points to this Sitepoint article that suggests that Amazon will attempt to roll out its own contextual advertising network that will compete directly with Google. Chris Beasley notes in the article:

On the phone last night it was explained to me that this is more or less an Adsense clone, meaning third party sponsored links, not Amazon links.

If you're looking to break into a new market, and if there is a dominant player in that market, you cannot compete with them directly along their strength. It's a suicidal strategy. The contextual ad network is prime for disruption, but whoever disrupts it is going to be a firm that can find a way of connecting publishers and advertisers in a new way -- one that is not dependent upon algorithmic contextual relevancy. Because once you start making that your core strength, you set yourself up to be in a position to compete with Google on almost all of their strengths, which is not a wise move.

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