Prime Video quietly doubled the variety of advertisements on their lowest tier

Abstract

In 2024, Amazon launched advertisements on Prime Video, charging viewers $3 a month to go ad-free.
Amazon is reportedly doubling the quantity of advertisements on Prime Video, going from 2 to three.5 minutes per hour, to 4 to six minutes per hour.
Amazon is probably going doing this to extend its income from advertisements and to encourage extra individuals to pay its $3 payment to go ad-free.

Lately, a notable development in streaming has been the emergence of ad-supported tiers. Virtually all main streaming platforms, together with Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and Max, now supply an ad-supported tier that usually prices just a few {dollars} lower than an ad-free one.

In early 2024, Amazon adopted the lead of different streaming providers and launched advertisements on Prime Video, charging viewers $3 monthly to decide out of them. Understandably, this upset many individuals who have been already paying $15 a month for Amazon Prime, solely to have a number of advert breaks throughout their TV present or film.

One small silver lining Prime Video had with their preliminary implementation of advertisements is that they solely had about two to three-and-a-half minutes of advertisements per hour, which meant they have been much less disruptive than a number of the advertisements seen on different streaming providers. Nevertheless, that not appears to be the case.

In line with Adweek, Amazon has quietly elevated the variety of advertisements on Prime Video, from two to three-and-a-half minutes per hour, to 4 to 6 minutes per hour. Adweek cites an electronic mail it obtained from an Amazon consultant to an advert purchaser, which says: “Prime Video advert load has steadily elevated to 4 to 6 minutes per hour.”

So, in case you’ve been noticing extra advertisements on Prime Video currently, it is totally intentional, because it appears Amazon is making an attempt to promote firms extra advertisements to run on Prime Video.

Simultaneous streams: 3
# of profiles: 6
Originals: Sure
Stay TV: Restricted (some add-on channels supply dwell TV)

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Is Amazon making an attempt to persuade extra individuals to go ad-free?

Extra advertisements will undoubtedly negatively impression the viewing expertise

Amazon/Pocket-lint

Since Amazon launched advertisements on Prime Video in 2024, I’ve largely resisted the urge to pay the $3 month-to-month payment to go ad-free. More often than not, after I watched an hour-long present, I solely obtained about three advertisements, and I did not thoughts it because it often gave me a second to seize a drink or test my telephone anyway, they usually did not interrupt the viewing expertise too badly. Nevertheless, doubling that might simply ruin the experience.

Amazon has not publicly introduced any plans to double advertisements for shoppers. Nonetheless, Adweek stories that it instructed buyers it might enhance the stock of advertisements obtainable on the market on Prime Video to develop its streaming enterprise additional.

For me and anybody else on the market who often watches Prime Video, this merely sucks.

Adweek additionally spoke to Kendra Tang, a programmatic supervisor at Rain the Development Company, who stated Amazon instructed them “the advert load could be rising” and that it is “been confirmed just lately after we seen extra avails within the system.” In an announcement from Amazon, it prevented saying whether or not it has elevated its advert load, as a substitute stating it is targeted on “enhancing advert experiences.”

“Our dedication is to enhancing advert experiences relatively than merely rising the variety of advertisements proven,” stated an Amazon Advertisements spokesperson to Adweek. “Whereas demand continues to develop, our dedication is to enhancing advert experiences relatively than merely rising the variety of advertisements proven.”

The rationale Amazon would enhance the advert load is a two-pronged reply. One: to extend income and promote extra advertisements to firms. Two: to persuade extra individuals to pay $3 for the ad-free possibility. Prime Video presently prices $9 a month by itself, or $15 a month in case you have it included with Amazon Prime. Including the ad-free tier, the service prices $12 a month with out Prime and $18 a month with it.

For me and anybody else on the market who often watches Prime Video, this merely sucks. It signifies that something you watch on the service from Amazon might be interrupted by extra advertisements, resulting in extra disruptions throughout vital moments in what you are watching.