If people will actually pay for stuff (food, clothing, flights, whatever) through this agent or operator, I see no reason Amazon etc would continue to block them.
I was buying plenty of stuff through Amazon before they blocked Operator. Now I sometimes buy through other sites that allow it.
The most useful for me was: "here's a picture of a thing I need a new one of, find the best deal and order it for me. Check coupon websites to make sure any relevant discounts are applied."
To be honest, if Amazon continues to block "Agent Mode" and Walmart or another competitor allows it, I will be canceling Prime and moving to that competitor.
Right but there were so few people using operator to buy stuff that it's easier to just block ~ all data center ip addresses. If this becomes a "thing" (remains to be seen, for sure) then that becomes a significant revenue stream you're giving up on. Companies don't block bots because they're Speciesist, it's bec usually bots cost them money - if that changes, I assume they'll allow known chatgpt-agent ip addrs
The AI isn't going notice the latest and greatest hot new deals that are slathered on every page. It's just going to put the thing you asked for in the shopping-cart.
Possibly in part because bots will not fall for the same tricks as humans (recommended items, as well as other things which amazon does to try and get the most money possible)
