Earlier this year, the Amazon Prime Video platform started showing ads. Next year, Amazon will cram in more ads in Prime Video content. Subscribers will have to pay over and above their Amazon Prime membership to get rid of the ads.
Amazon Prime Video content to have more ads than before
Back in 2023, Amazon Prime Video was one of the rare services that was completely free of ads. The platform streamed content without promotional messages to anyone who had an Amazon Prime Subscription.
Amazon Prime Video is not available without an Amazon Prime subscription. Moreover, this subscription offers one of the best perks while buying online. Hence, hundreds of thousands of Amazon Prime subscribers swallowed the bitter pill of ads to continue enjoying the service’s free two-day or same-day shipping.
Back in December 2023, Amazon started sending out emails to Prime subscribers that the streaming platform would start showing ads from January 2024. If subscribers wanted to enjoy content without ads, they would have to pay an additional $2.99 fee.
According to a Financial Times report, Amazon is adding even more ads to Prime Video. Amazon had recently admitted that ads were bringing a lot more revenue than anticipated.
When will Amazon start serving more ads to Prime subscribers?
Advertising has become one of the best and most reliable sources of revenue for big tech companies. Streaming companies including Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, and others have been serving ads to pad their revenue. Subscribers have to opt for a plan costing a few dollars more to enjoy content without ads.
At a recent event, Amazon confirmed it earned more than $1.8 billion in advertising commitments. According to Engadget, this exceeded the company’s targets.
Amazon mentioned about 19 million people have opted for the Amazon Prime subscription with ads in the UK alone. In the US, this number is far higher. According to Amazon, more than 100 million people are considered Monthly Active Users (MAU) of the service.
Amazon will increase the number of ads next year. The e-commerce giant hasn’t indicated the exact timeframe, presumably to test how many more ads it can serve before users either cancel their subscriptions, pay more to get rid of ads or fight back.
