Amazon Prime Video users, beware! Amazon is planning to increase the amount of advertising on the platform in an attempt to maximize profits. The company will be testing the limits of how much advertising viewers are willing to tolerate before they take action, such as canceling their subscriptions.
Currently, Prime Video users are subjected to an average of 2 to 3.5 minutes of ads per hour. However, Amazon’s Vice President of Prime Video International, Kelly Day, revealed that the company will be offering more ad slots to advertisers starting in 2025. This means that viewers may start seeing ads in the middle of content, a change from the current ad placement strategy.
While Amazon is trying to downplay the impact of the increased ads on the viewing experience, stating that they will still have fewer ads compared to traditional TV and other streaming services, the addition of “shoppable ads” like carousel ads and brand quiz ads is concerning. These ads are designed to target a wider audience through innovative advertising methods.
In addition to the increased ads, Amazon has also made changes to the Prime Video subscription plan. Some features that were previously included in the standard plan are now only available through a paid upgrade, which costs an extra $2.99 per month. Despite these changes, Amazon claims that the number of Prime Video subscribers has not significantly decreased, with only a small fraction opting for the ad-free subscription.
The decision to add more ads to Prime Video may be influenced by the success of Netflix’s ad-supported plan, which has shown that viewers are willing to tolerate a certain level of advertising in exchange for access to content. However, the question remains: how much advertising is too much? With the cost of streaming services on the rise, viewers may soon reach a breaking point where they are no longer willing to pay for a service that bombards them with ads.
As the streaming landscape continues to evolve, it is important for viewers to weigh the cost of subscription services against the value they receive. With more ads infiltrating platforms like Prime Video, it may be time to reevaluate which services are worth the investment and which are simply adding to the noise of advertising in the digital age.
