Amazon News: Online Shopping Social Network Amazon Spark Shuts Down

Amazon (AMZN) has decided to quietly close down its Instagram competitor and e-shopping discovery social network Amazon Spark.

The service, available to Amazon Prime members, featured a news feed where the user could like or comment on posts from other members showing off products that could be found on Amazon. Users could then buy the product on Amazon featured in the posts.

The service was launched in July 2017. The service has not only disappeared from Amazon's website but also from Amazon's mobile app.

Techcrunch says that the service "lacked Instagram's broader appeal."

"Your friends weren't there and there weren't any Instagram stories, for example. Everything felt too transactional," the website said.

Instagram launched a similar service this year called Instagram Checkout, where users can buy from brands that advertise on the network without leaving the app.

Amazon has recently been shutting down services that haven't taken off as the company would like. Earlier this week, Amazon announced that the company would shut down its Amazon Restaurants delivery service where users could order food from nearby restaurants to be sent to their homes.

The service didn't take off as expected due to tough competition in the food delivery industry, with major competitors such as Ubereats, Doordash and Grubhub dominating the market.