Amazon's New Footer a Reminder of Amazon's Focus on Verticalization & Digital Avenues

Amazon has been rolling out a redesign over the last couple months. I have discussed the homepage's new navigation and promotional units. One small, interesting note is their new footer (shown below). Notice how many properties - and how diverse they are - are part of Amazon. If the header signifies a shift from product to digital (as discussed here), the footer signifies both that (Askville, Audible, CreateSpace, DPRreview, IMDB, etc) and a focus on verticalized experiences (ie Wag, Soap, Diapers, Woot, Yo-yo, Shopbop, Zappos, etc).