According to a Bloomberg report, Amazon’s $1.7 billion acquisition of iRobot is primarily about mapping users home data.<\/p>\n
While Amazon will make money selling devices made by iRobot, a vacuum-cleaner robot company, the real value lies in the data it will reap, as the acquisition will allow the e-commerce giant to get a data collection machine.<\/p>\n
Other smart home devices feed only on the data they receive, but do not know details inside a room. With Intel provided by iRobot, Amazon can learn more about a home, what is available and what is needed.<\/p>\n
The deal looks like a snip for the retailer, which had $61 billion in cash at the end of June. The $1.7 billion deal represents a 22% premium to iRobot’s share price before the deal was announced.<\/p>\n
Tech companies need user data for several reasons, especially for targeted ads. Access to user data and other information allows tech companies to better tailor their advertising to users’ needs.<\/p>\n
Although user data continues to be important to the way technology companies make money from advertisers, they have been accused of using it without users’ consent.<\/p>\n