Oh sure, it’s the same experience as a book, it’s just like reading a book, it’s really the same as a book, except that now it’s more like a billboard, if you bought billboards: Yep, Amazon has announced that Kindles will feature advertising.

As a San Francisco Chronicle story reports, the company …

… will start shipping a new edition next month that is supported by advertising.

The new Kindle with Special Offers will sell for $114, or $25 cheaper than the $139 Kindle, and will ship on May 3.

The ads and special offers will show up as full-screen screensavers on the Kindle device and as small banner ads at the bottom of the Kindle home screen.

According to a New York Times report,

The ads are the latest step in Amazon’s transition from e-commerce retailer to full-fledged digital media company. By selling ads that will show up next to digital content, Amazon is competing against Apple and Google in yet another way, and laying the groundwork that would enable it to someday sell tablet computers.

Well, could be, but meanwhile something else may be going on, says a Business Insider report by Dan Frommer. He notes that Amazon has recently announced the formation of an in-house “Ad Products” group, and has been posting lots of job openings related to advertising lately, and making grand claims such as “Display Ads is one of the hottest tech sectors… Amazon is uniquely positioned to leverage our culture of customer obsession…and change the industry.”

“And now it looks like Amazon is going to try to become an important online advertising company, too,” Frommer says. “Look out, Google.”