Amazon is doubling down on ads, with plans to add more commercials to Prime Video in 2025.
The news comes from the head of Prime Video International Kelly Day, who told the Financial Times that ads on the streaming platform would “ramp up a little bit more into 2025” as part of the company’s shift into ad-supported streaming.
Prime Video started showing viewers adverts on January 29, 2024, requiring anyone that didn’t want to see them to sign up for a new, more expensive ($2.99 in the US and £2.99 in the UK), ad-free tier – much like what Netflix did earlier this year when it kicked subscribers off its old cheap ad-free plan.
At the time, many, including myself, thought that introducing ads to one of the best streaming services would cause subscriber backlash. But that hasn’t proved to be the case, according to Day, with its userbase remaining steady.
That’s surprising considering Prime Video reportedly has more than 200 million monthly active users, but then this isn’t the first time that the incumbent streaming services have proven us wrong – even Netflix’s password sharing crackdown led to a subscriptions spike.
“We know it was a bit of a contrarian approach to take to things from us. But . . . it’s actually gone much better than we even anticipated,” Day said, adding that cancellations had “been much, much less than we anticipated . . . we haven’t really seen a groundswell of people churning out or cancelling.”
If you were annoyed by Prime Video forcing ads on you, then you’ll really be annoyed when next year rolls round because there are three new types of adverts being added to the service, including carousel ads, pause ads and trivia ads – and your Fire TV will not be spared.
How to get rid of ads on Prime Video
With more ads on the way to Prime Video next year, you might be wondering if there is a way to avoid them and fortunately there is. But it involves you either having to pay more – whether that’s to upgrade your account or to buy an ad blocker – or cancel your subscription. If you’re considering this, here’s what’s involved:
1. Upgrade your account to go ad-free
(Image: © Amazon)
Unfortunately, the best way to stop ads interrupting the best Prime Video shows and best Prime Video movies is to pay more. If you’re already subscribed to Prime Video, then you can upgrade your account to be ‘Ad Free’ on the Prime Video website by going to ‘Account & Settings’, selecting ‘Your Account’, then ‘Go Ad Free’, followed by ‘Start Subscription’. You can also upgrade your account in the Prime Video app by navigating to ‘Settings’. However, you’ll still see promotional trailers on some content.
2. Install an ad blocker
(Image: © Pinone Pantone / Shutterstock)
This option isn’t entirely reliable but it can be an effective way to block ads on Prime Video if you stream movies and shows from a device rather than your TV. Unfortunately, we haven’t tested all of the best ad blockers with Prime Video to see which work best but there are plenty to choose from.
3. Cancel your Prime Video subscription
(Image: © Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Getty Images)
While we don’t yet know the exact date that Amazon will start introducing more ads to Prime Video in 2025, if the time comes and you’d rather cancel your subscription then the process is quick and easy enough. To cancel your Prime Video subscription, go to ‘Account & Settings’, then under ‘Your Account’ tab either choose ‘End Subscription’ or if your subscription is included with your Amazon Prime Membership select ‘Edit’.
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