Report: Amazon considering adding Ads to Prime Video

Martin Brinkmann
Jun 8, 2023
Updated • Jun 8, 2023
Amazon
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Amazon is considering integrating advertisement into its Prime Video service, according to a Wallstreet Journal report. Amazon might introduce a new ad-powered tier to Prime Video or introduce advertisement to the current subscription plan, according to the report.

Amazon is already the third-biggest advertising company in terms of digital ad revenue in the United States after Google and Meta. The company hopes to increase advertising revenue further, but Amazon has yet to decide on a strategy to do so.

An ad-powered Amazon Prime tier would follow Netflix and Disney, two of Prime Video's main competitors. Both companies have introduced cheaper plans that push advertisement to subscribers.

Netflix announced last month that the subscriber count of the streaming service's ad tier has crossed the 5 million subscribers mark and that the plan is earning the company more revenue than the cheapest ad-free plan.

Amazon is considering two main scenarios: the first introduces a new ad-powered plan to Amazon Prime. This plan would be cheaper than the regular Amazon Prime subscription, but it would display advertisement to subscribers. Amazon Prime subscriptions include access to Prime Video. It costs $14.99 currently per month or $139 per year in the United States and less than that in other regions. Discounts are available for certain groups, including college students. There is also a Prime Video-only plan available for $8.99 per month in the United States.

The new ad-powered plan would be priced below $9. As a comparison, Netfllix's standard with ads plan is available for $6.99 in the United States, which is $3 less than the Basic plan and $9 less than the Standard plan. If Amazon follows Netflix's example, it could price Amazon Prime Video with ads at $6 per month.

The second scenario that Amazon is considering is adding advertisement to existing Prime Video subscriptions and adding a new ad-free plan that would cost more than the current plan. The Wallstreet Journal notes that Amazon might drop the plans altogether as well.

Closing Words

Amazon has launched a free advertisement-powered service called Freevee in certain regions recently. The company has also announced the upcoming launch of Fire TV Channels, another free ad-powered service that is exclusive to Fire TV products, such as the Fire TV 4K Max.

Depending on how Amazon integrates advertisement into Prime Video, it could either unlock a new option for some users, if a new ad-powered tier is added without changing existing plans, or irritate existing subscribers, if they suddenly start seeing ads and options to pay more to stop seeing these.

Advertising is coming to streaming services and it is almost certain that other streaming providers are watching the development carefully.

Now You: what is your take on all of this? Would you subscribe to ad-powered streaming plans?

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Report: Amazon considering adding Ads to Prime Video
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Report: Amazon considering adding Ads to Prime Video
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Amazon is considering integrating advertisement into its Prime Video service, according to a Wallstreet Journal report.
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Comments

  1. Joe Van Steenbergen said on June 12, 2023 at 2:32 am
    Reply

    Advertising destroys everything it touches; it was ever thus.

  2. jazzy said on June 10, 2023 at 1:38 pm
    Reply

    i have no inclination for watching adverts, for me if I’m paying for it and they want to push adverts I’ll vote with my wallet.

    plenty of choices out there or I’ll just go to torrents.

  3. Kirk said on June 10, 2023 at 6:37 am
    Reply

    One more reason not to use Prime Video. In either case, it decoded at 480p in Firefox on my Linux setup, so basically unusable. And now ads. What is even the point of streaming services then? First force the user to watch DRM restricted content in a web browser and now ads?

  4. Anonymous said on June 9, 2023 at 9:35 pm
    Reply

    Piracy

  5. VioletMoon said on June 9, 2023 at 4:11 pm
    Reply

    Crackdown on password sharing is next:

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/netflix-us-sign-ups-rise-by-most-in-over-4-years-after-password-sharing-crackdown-132739888.html

    NFLX may make for a good 3-5 year stock; however, the idea of an ad streaming tier by Netflix or Amazon or any streaming service reveals another factor at work: The streaming services can’t make enough by subscription based service alone. Or subscription based alone doesn’t please shareholders.

    Those who are willing to pay for an Ad-Tier rather than cancel altogether reveals something as well about viewers–addiction. Sort of like “sell me anything you have even if it’s cut with boric acid–something, anything to avoid looking at my empty life.”

    I’d much rather see the consumer begin a “silent boycott.” By “silent,” I mean, stop paying for a service that offers less content than what was being offered previously. Everyone stop streaming and watch The Board panic. Consumers are reacting exactly as expected. “Budgets are tight–offer ads like the good old days of television; the consumer will pay and more will consumer. Crackdown on password sharing; consumers will purchase their own subscription.”

    For me, the content value has dropped considerably. Over the last five years, I’ve consumed in moderation anything of lasting value. Everything else being offered is old or new, desperate imitations of the old.

    “Content.” How to deliver an endless stream of quality content to the masses without intervening advertisements that only distract from the overall process of actively engaging in a form of “art.”

    1. owl said on June 9, 2023 at 10:35 pm
      Reply

      I totally agree with your point!

  6. Graham said on June 9, 2023 at 6:50 am
    Reply

    I thought it already had ads. Every time I tried to watch something on Prime, I would be presented with an ad with a Skip button.

  7. Scroogled said on June 9, 2023 at 1:08 am
    Reply

    We anticipated this. Netflix’s greed will be imitated by all streaming businesses. When will the FTC become involved? There should be no advertisements at all if you are paying for the service. Its not 1999 anymore. Do you recall the 2016 Net neutrality chart that was circulated? Well, its starting to look exactly like that.

    1. basingstoke said on June 9, 2023 at 10:41 am
      Reply

      No FTC required, people just need to start making their feelings known using their wallets. Ask yourself, why is amazon doing this? They’ve done the calculation and they probably estimate that a very high percentage of users will just “suck it up” and deal with it.

      “There should be no advertisements at all if you are paying for the service” like it or not this is an opinion and really should not become enforceable law, even if I agree with you.

  8. Tachy said on June 8, 2023 at 5:12 pm
    Reply

    This is nothing new, it’s always been this way.

    When “cable tv” first spread across america with it’s promises (Your subscription fee replaces the advertisment revenue so we don’t need them, and you get crystal a clear picture all the time!) it already had ads.

    I remember because at the time, my job was inserting those ads into your programming.

    1. Frankel said on June 8, 2023 at 6:48 pm
      Reply

      Interesting, yet completely unrelated to the subject of on demand streaming. Linear media is a dead dinosaur nobody cares about.

  9. Donald Gregory said on June 8, 2023 at 4:15 pm
    Reply

    If Amazon adds ads to the video service that’s included in Amazon Prime, I will drop Amazon prime itself in a heartbeat. I will not watch anything that includes ads. I hate Freevie and I’ve never watched a single show on it or on IMDb before it.

  10. VioletMoon said on June 8, 2023 at 3:46 pm
    Reply

    Amazon Prime already offers an Ad-Tier streaming service named “Freevee.” I noticed that Amazon Prime Video moved all the popular or any “soon to be popular” series and movies to “Freevee.” Any item that proved valuable, they moved from Prime to Pay-in-Full for the one show/movie–or eliminated entirely.

    Amazon Prime shopping has become a farce. Now, one can order items and receive them one week later, sometimes longer. The free two-day shipping is a thing of the past. Returns require the buyer to find a UPS Drop Off point, which took the place of UPS retrieving returns on home turf. Price gouging mainstream because all that shipping does cost.

    A cheaper option and a much more reliable option is Walmart shopping with an Ad-Free Netflix account. Walmart truly ships to home in two days, returns are hassle-free with FedEx courier service, and Netflix provides an unparalleled streaming option.

    Home Depot is likewise superior when one needs hardware items.

  11. Juhat said on June 8, 2023 at 2:15 pm
    Reply

    I keep Prime video mainly because it is so cheap, $2,5 for me. I have no clue why I got it so cheap, especially since I took the subscription through iPhone.
    Sometimes there is actually something to watch there (no, I dont mean Wheels of time or Rings of power :D ) but if ads are coming in the regular subscription I will stop paying in a heart beat.

  12. Frankel said on June 8, 2023 at 1:19 pm
    Reply

    “So it goes.”
    — Kurt Vonnegut

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