Remember the streaming dream we were sold of unlimited ad-free movies and TV shows compared to the commercial-stuffed days of cable?
I’m starting to feel like we bought a lemon, because it appears that Amazon's Prime Video has quietly increased the number of ads on its content.
According to a report by Adweek, Prime Video has almost doubled the number of ads on its platform from three-and-a-half minutes per hour to six minutes of commercials in the average 60 minutes of watchtime. That’s a big jump.
The report sources conversations with ad buyers and documentation seen by Adweek, but has not been officially confirmed by Amazon.
In the report, Kendra Tang, programmatic supervisor at Rain the Growth Agency, said, “[Amazon] told us the ad load would be increasing. That’s been confirmed recently when we noticed more avails in the system.”
Ads are becoming the norm when streaming
I haven't noticed an uptick in the number of ads while streaming on Prime Video. However, this could be due to a slower rollout, or it may be region-specific, with the U.S experiencing a higher frequency and places like the U.K., where I live, spared from what is effectively a user-experience downgrade.
Prime Video introduced ads to its previously ad-free platform in January 2024. Rather than creating a cheaper ad-supported plan like some rival services, Amazon opted to include ads on its standard tier and offer users the option of paying an additional $2.99 a month to remove them.
The majority of the best streaming services now run ads on at least one of their tiers, including Netflix, Hulu, Peacock and Paramount Plus.
Free streaming services like Tubi also use ads, but in those cases, it feels like a fair trade-off considering you’re getting access to loads of movies and shows without paying a cent. Coughing up a subscription fee and tolerating commercial breaks feels significantly less appealing, but this is now streaming in 2025.
Currently, a Prime Video subscription costs $14.99 per month, or $139, though this is for the larger suite of benefits included with Amazon Prime.
These perks range from free shipping (on Amazon-sold items), and access to services such as Prime Gaming, Amazon Music Unlimited, Amazon Photos and Gruhhub Plus. It’s certainly not a bad deal overall.
Nevertheless, more ads on Prime Video are hardly welcome, and the cynic in me does have to wonder whether that six-minute per hour ratio will increase further in the months or years to come.
If you’re looking for something to watch on Prime Video, here’s a guide to everything new on the service in June 2025. Unfortunately, you probably will have to tolerate more ads when watching any of these movies or TV shows.
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