If it feels like you spend a lot more time watching ads in Prime Video than you used to, that may not be a mistake. Amazon has increased the number of ads or “ad load” in Prime Video to four-to-six minutes of ads per hour, Adweek reports. Amazon’s plan to increase the amount of advertising in its streaming service was previously reported in October 2024.
Shifting to a max of six minutes of ads per hour is nearly double the up to three-and-a-half minutes of ads that could play when Amazon first converted its basic Prime Video subscription to an ad-supported tier. The company used to offer all of Prime Video’s features and an ad-free experience for the cost of Amazon Prime ($159 per year / $15 per month) or $9 per month, but announced at the end of 2023 that avoiding ads would cost an extra $3 every month. Besides inserting ads, Amazon’s basic plan also doesn’t support for features like Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision.
Engadget has reached out to Amazon to confirm the ad load changes and will update this article if we hear back.
Regardless of your tolerance for ads, cheaper ad-supported subscriptions have quickly become expected from most streaming services. Netflix, Max, Peacock and Paramount+ all offer subscriptions with ads. Even Apple, who could theoretically afford to lose money on subscriptions, reportedly started building a team to sell ads for a possible ad-supported tier of Apple TV+ in 2023.
While adding more interruptions to the Prime Video experience isn’t what anyone wants, Adweek does note that streaming services still insert far fewer ad breaks than broadcast TV. The ad load on traditional television “typically ranges from 13 to 16 minutes per hour.”
