If by announcing a search for a second headquarters Amazon intended to play one city against another and generate millions of dollars in free publicity, it has worked. Many observers believe Amazon has long known where it wants to be — or at least has never seriously considered more than two or three specific sites — since there are no more than a handful of cities that fit the requisite criteria.
Amazon may be huge, and the bounty for the winning city potentially life-changing. But when casting about for a second North American headquarters, what matters to Amazon are many of the same things that matter to many other companies.
