There’s only one week left to watch ad-free on Amazon Prime Video.
Ads will finally appear on Amazon Prime starting next week, and users who want to avoid them will be hit with extra fees.
From February 5, Amazon Prime Video subscribers in the UK will start seeing ads as part of their streaming service.
Those who don’t want ads to interrupt their chosen content will have to pay an extra £2.99 per month.
Subscribers have already branded the measure as ‘greedy’ on social media, with many even threatening to cancel their accounts over the change.
Amazon Prime Video users will soon have to put up with ads in shows and movies unless they subscribe to an ad-free tier at a higher cost
Amazon announced the decision to place ads on its streaming platform in September, but did not reveal the dates until December last year.
Amazon Prime Video is one of the products customers get when they subscribe to Amazon Prime, the tech giant’s paid subscription service.
Amazon said it won’t make any changes to Prime’s current price, so customers who don’t mind seeing ads when they watch Prime Video won’t have to pay more money.
However, customers who do not want to see ads will have to pay an additional fee: £2.99 per month.
Social media users have already reacted with outrage to the change, branding the decision as “greedy” on social media.
One commenter wrote: ‘Prime video now has ads? Why are you so greedy?’
“I’m disappointed to hear that Amazon Prime Video is introducing advertising. It is a paid subscription service, and I expect and include free experience,” wrote another.
While another irate commenter wrote: ‘What is the ******* point of @amazon prime if they’re going to include ads?!
“Now do we have to pay extra money to get it back the way it was?”
On X, formerly Twitter, Amazon Prime subscribers have reacted angrily to the change, labeling it as ‘greedy’
With ads set to roll out on the paid subscription service, some social media users began to wonder why it was worth paying for.
This led one to ask, “What’s so important about that?”
Other subscribers have gone even further, saying on social media that they would cancel their subscriptions rather than see ads.
‘It’s happening! Amazon Prime Video nickel and dim. Time to cancel,” one commenter wrote on X.
Another wrote, “Instead of paying an extra $36 a year to get rid of them (ads), I’m going to watch less Prime Video. Good job, Amazon’.
One social media user even said they would “make it a point to boycott any product that interrupts my viewing pleasure.”
Some Amazon Prime Video subscribers were so outraged by the decision that they took to social media to say they would cancel their subscriptions and called on others to do the same.
Amazon announced the changes would happen in an email sent to existing Amazon Prime Video subscribers.
But the date in the email depended on where the recipient was located: January 29 for US users and February 5 for UK users.
In the email, the company wrote, “Prime Video movies and TV shows will have limited advertising.”
“This will allow us to continue to invest in engaging content and continue to increase that investment over a long period of time.
‘We aim to have significantly fewer advertisements than linear TV and other streaming TV providers.
“No action is required from you and there will be no change to the current price of your Prime membership.”
Ads will appear on Amazon Prime Video in other countries later in 2024, including France, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Australia.
With Amazon Prime Video set to roll out ads next week, some subscribers are starting to wonder why it’s worth paying for the service
Amazon’s move follows rivals Netflix and Disney+, both of which have rolled out ads to their cheapest subscription options in the past year
Amazon is just one company trying to maximize revenue from its video streaming service, as both Netflix and Disney+ recently introduced ads, which bring in millions of dollars to advertisers.
Netflix’s ad-supported tier – ‘Basic with Ads’ – launched in November 2022 and was originally an alternative option to the existing ‘Basic’ tier for £6.99.
However, earlier this year, Netflix removed this Basic tier – which didn’t show ads – in an attempt to push users towards the ad option.
Disney+ followed suit by introducing an ad tier, first for US users in December 2022, and then in November in the UK and eight other European countries.
Disney+ also announced a crackdown on password sharing, following a similar move by Netflix.
Ads on Netflix and Disney+ last an average of four minutes per hour, so the fact that Amazon is promising “significantly fewer ads” suggests this will be less on Prime Video.