Aside from maybe having access to Prime Day deals and free shipping, Prime Video is one of the biggest perks of the Amazon Prime experience.
But, in my opinion, that started to change in January 2024, when Amazon replaced their cheapest plan with an ad-supported Prime Video tier and asked users to stump up an extra $3/month to get rid of them. If you've hated those ads as much as we have, your Prime Video viewing experience is about to get even worse.
That's because Kelly Day, Amazon's Vice President for Prime Video International, has confirmed to the Financial Times that the streaming service will indeed be increasing the number of ads you'll see, with Day commenting that Amazon's advertising "load" would "ramp up a little bit more into 2025".
Day didn't get much more specific than that, so we can't confirm exactly when this change will occur, which territories it will roll out in first, or, crucially, exactly how much more intrusive the ads will be getting. Though we do at least know some new the rumored new ad formats are on their way (more on that in just a second).
In Day's words, Prime Video with Ads was given a "very light ad load" at launch, providing subscribers with a "gentle entry into advertising that has exceeded customers' expectations in terms of what the ad experience would be like". That's based on the fact that subscriber churn in response to the big change was "much, much less than we anticipated." And that's a revelation I'm not too surprised by.
I fundamentally didn't agree with the way Prime Video with Ads was rolled out; Amazon should have followed the example set by some of the best streaming services with ad-supported plans and instead introduced cheaper plans.
That said, even though I was frustrated by the change... I've still kept paying for that same plan because I've wanted to stream some of the best Prime Video shows, and I'd wager I'm not the only user with that same mindset. But maybe I'll change my mind amid all these incoming changes?
Okay, what are those new Prime Video ad formats going to look like?
The FT has also confirmed that Amazon would be rolling out some new ad formats to Prime Video, which isn't a surprise: we've known that shoppable Prime Video ads were coming to the service at some point since May. These new ad formats are designed with "shoppability" in mind, i.e. they're all meant to help Amazon find new ways to get users to add products to their carts.
If you weren't aware, the three new formats Amazon's going to introduce take the form of shoppable carousel ads, interactive pause screens, and trivia ads. An Ars Technica report from May went into greater detail about what these new experiences would look like.
Those carousel ads will show slideshows of products from sponsors during Prime Video commercial breaks. Amazon claims the ads will automatically pause when customers are browsing, and resume play "when ad interaction has stopped".
The interactive pause ads will appear in Prime Video TV shows, movies, and live sports, and give the streamer the option to bring up ads beyond scheduled commercial breaks. When users pause a program, the service will throw up a translucent ad featuring brand messaging and imagery, and the option to add items to your cart.
Apparently, advertisers can also use these ads to acquire voluntary viewers' email addresses, so they can reach out to interested customers and provide them with extra product info.
Finally, those interactive brand trivia ads will provide facts about the brands/products shown. These trivia ads will also try to sell things by offering customer rewards like Amazon shopping credits.
