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Advertising Television

Amazon Doubles Prime Video Ads to 6 Minutes Per Hour 73

Posted by BeauHD from the less-show-more-sell dept.
Amazon has quietly doubled the ad load on Prime Video to 4-6 minutes per hour, up from the 2-3.5 minutes initially discussed when ads launched in 2024. AdWeek reports: According to six ad buyers and documents reviewed by ADWEEK, the current ad load on Prime Video now ranges from four to six minutes per hour. And while that could bring down CPMs, buyers will be watching whether this impacts user experience. "Prime Video ad load has gradually increased to four to six minutes per hour," an Amazon representative wrote to an ad buyer in an email obtained by ADWEEK. The exchange occurred earlier this month.

The increase, which Amazon had telegraphed to investors but has not publicly acknowledged to consumers, gives the company significantly more inventory to sell across its rapidly expanding streaming business. "They told us the ad load would be increasing," said Kendra Tang, programmatic supervisor at Rain the Growth Agency. "That's been confirmed recently when we noticed more avails in the system."

Amazon Doubles Prime Video Ads to 6 Minutes Per Hour More | Reply

Amazon Doubles Prime Video Ads to 6 Minutes Per Hour

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  • The beatings will continue- (Score:4)

    by locater16 ( 2326718 ) on Thursday June 12, 2025 @06:53PM (#65446017)
    -until the stock price stops going up.

    • Remember? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 12, 2025 @07:08PM (#65446051)

      Remember when Cable TV offered an ad-free television viewing experience, for a monthly subscription fee?

      Then the premium channels that you had to pay extra for on top of your monthly cable bill, in order to get an ad-free television viewing experience, because "regular" cable TV started showing ads?

      Oops those show ads now too.

      Same shit different decade different tech.

      • Remember when Cable TV offered an ad-free television viewing experience, for a monthly subscription fee?

        No. Remind me.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by whitroth ( 9367 )

          In the eighties, cable companies advertised, literally, "you'll never have to watch commercials again", and for some years, that was the case.

          Until they started putting in ads.

          Btw, in the seventies, where there was *only* broadcast tv, the FCC regulated it to something like five or seven minutes per HOUR. As opposed to whatever you watch now, where you get about 20min of commercials per hour.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by nonBORG ( 5254161 )
        We used to joke that TV would be all ads one day as they kept on loading up on ads. The problem is (By my guess) a group of managers sit around and say what can we do to increase our profits and basically more ads was the answer. And in another 2 years they will have the same meeting and I am guessing the same answer. There are lots of areas of improvement they might make to improve their service and offerings and capture more market share but those don't seem like such a sure and easy path as just adding m

      • Remember when Cable TV offered an ad-free television viewing experience, for a monthly subscription fee?

        Pepperidge Farms remembers.

        • Really? When was that? The only ones I remember were the special premiums like HBO.

          • Originally there were two tiers of cable channels: the "bundled" ones like ESPN, CNN, etc (those have pretty much always had commercials, they were just like additional tv stations), and "premium" channels like HBO and Showtime, which you specifically had to pay an additional monthly fee for. Those premium channels were free of external commercials (ie they would promo their own shows, etc but this was confined to between shows, never within them) until at least what the mid 90s? Later?

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Hadlock ( 143607 )

              I recall there was "premium" cable and that was HBO, Showtime, Cinemax and probably a handful of has-beens and regional ones that got bought out. I recall regular cable being ~$32/mo and with premium cable (HBO) it jumped up to ~$75 but they only had a few shows and movies would rotate, not too different from how it is now except it's streaming over the internet.

  • Oh goody (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Jeremi ( 14640 ) on Thursday June 12, 2025 @06:53PM (#65446019) Homepage

    Soon it will be just like over-the-air TV, except you're paying Amazon $180/year for the privilege of watching their ads.

    • OTA and linear cable ad load is approximately 15min per hour.

      • Re:Oh goody (Score:4, Interesting)

        by RitchCraft ( 6454710 ) on Thursday June 12, 2025 @07:19PM (#65446077)

        That's why TV in my world went bye-bye 25 years go. I didn't want my kids bombarded with that shit. We chose what we watched, when we wanted to watch it, all ad free.

      • There is decent commercial skip technology nowadays that brings the 15 minutes down to near zero with my DVR and OTA tuner. With Plex media server for example. Or Jriver MC with comskip. I mainly watch OTA and torrents as I'm not willing to put up with ads.

        • The old TiVos had this 15 years ago. Those things where great, well at least until they where abandoned (at least in australia, I heard somewhere they still exist in the US?) and we discovered for the first time why the cloud sucks.

        • Oh, I used to have this with Windows Media Center on a custom HTPC with a Ceton CableCARD. Those were the good days. Everything recorded on a local single PVR, streamed to anywhere in the house, just one app, extremely responsive, zero ads in the UI, no cloud bullshit. I might still be using that system today if MS hadn't killed WMC.

      • Re: Oh goody (Score:5, Insightful)

        by devslash0 ( 4203435 ) on Thursday June 12, 2025 @07:33PM (#65446093)

        Don't you worry. They'll get to 15 soon enough. It's all a part of the plan.

      • OTA and linear cable ad load is approximately 15min per hour.

        You're not counting product placement in the "program" - which to my mind has become simply the primary ad of a endless stream of ads. Keeping in mind that I stopped watching any mainstream "entertainment" 25 years ago because of the damn ads, not just on OTA, but premium and 'exclusive' premium products. (I'm not counting being forced to go see a movie as a work 'team building' exercise). If there's a way to extract another dollar from any situation, you may be sure that the end stage capitalism we are in

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rossdee ( 243626 )

      I watch stuff thats ON-NOW and when ads come on I switch to another channel.
      I also subscribe to add-on channels like BritBox and Acorn and they dont show in-show ads there.

    • I'm not paying any company that forces ads on me jack shit. I really don't understand why anyone would pay for that - the only reason to pay for Prime right now is the fast delivery, not the TV service. If you're paying for TV from Amazon, and not the delivery thing, you're being ripped off. You are literally subsidizing advertising. Not just directly, but also by helping fund content that's been blessed by our corporate overlords and preventing content from being made that isn't.

      FWLIW, the only streaming s

    • Soon it will be just like over-the-air TV, except you're paying Amazon $180/year for the privilege of watching their ads.

      One of the reasons Prime Video Ads hastened my departure from Amazon Prime is that I was having an issue with them ... finding my apartment. I live in a pre-WW2 building and for reasons I still cannot figure out they can get their packages here but not groceries. It is not fun scooping up a bunch of bags of groceries from in front of the wrong apartment and lugging them all the way up to mine. Unfortunately for Amazon a broken foot enflamed it into a big issue.

      What's that have to do with ads on Prime?

  • I'm sure.... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by skam240 ( 789197 ) on Thursday June 12, 2025 @06:56PM (#65446025)

    I'm sure this they'll use all this extra revenue to produce even more original content too https://cordcuttersnews.com/am... [cordcuttersnews.com] .

  • This is why I pirate Amazon content. (Score:5, Informative)

    by EllisDees ( 268037 ) on Thursday June 12, 2025 @06:57PM (#65446027)

    Even though I have a subscription. I cannot stand having to sit through ads anymore.

    • It's fucking bullshit. Either take my money and no ads or make it free and cram it full of ads. None of this we're taking this service you've been paying for, going to make you keep paying for it but we're going to start cramming ads in as well.

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by Petersko ( 564140 )

        You know, you can give them your money and have ad free streaming. It's under "accounts and settings", "ad free". That would fall under the first option in your either/or. Since that fulfills your demand I'll wait while you go sign up. :)

        The introduction of ads for the reduced tier is long done. While the frequency is changing they aren't starting anything new.

        If your complaint extends all the way back to the change in the service as thrown in with prime delivery... well, I get it... but why stop there? I'm

      • It's a bit messed up and purely psychological, but if they had raised the price of Prime but kept it commercial free while adding an ad-supported tier at the old price, I would have accepted the price increase. Yet I f-ing refuse to pay an extra fee to not have ads.

        What I will do is pirate copies of Amazon shows I want to see so I don't have to put up with the ads. And I won't feel bad about it because I'm already paying for them.

    • This is exactly what happened with cable. It started off as the "ad free" alternative to over the air, and since you paid for it, it helped offset the ads. Then they started sneaking them in little bit little and upping them.

      We've come full circle.

    • I just don't watch their stuff any longer. In truth, there wasn't a whole lot on there that was actually good. I quite liked Reacher as a pass-time, but I haven't bothered with the second series because it's got ads (I got as far as clicking on it, the ads started, and then I gave up - didn't even get through one whole ad). There was something else that came up on the home screen which looked like it might be okay too, but it too fell by the wayside.

      All the telemetry they're getting from me says "Started Am

  • Saw an ad after paying for ad free (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Tyr07 ( 8900565 ) on Thursday June 12, 2025 @07:04PM (#65446043)

    Dropped the ad free sub and just stopped watching prime video entirely.

    • I have a PC right next to me in my TV room. When an ad comes on from any source, I mute the sound, and read Slashdot or any other tech site I like to visit. Been doing this for years. I watch very few ad's unless they are funny.

      • Shhhhhhhh!
        Assholes at Amazon will find a way to detect TV on mute and...turn it off, or pause the ad.

        So far, my analog ad blocker has mostly worked; haven't heard or seen an ad except a brand name on accident. But it wastes my time and ruins viewing. Eventually Assholes at Amazon will eliminate the ad timer in the corner.

    • I would pay, even though I fucking hate Bezos, to watch Fallout without ads.

      But since that's not an option, I will not pay. Whether I watch the series is irrelevant... to Amazon, anyway, since they will not derive any revenue from the activity either way.

      Fuck them, and fuck anyone who gives them money to be shown ads, fucking class traitors. They are literally paying for the enshittification of society.

    • This is the reason I refuse to use Hulu; they showed ads after I had paid for an ad-free tier. That was > 5 years ago, and I will still never use them because of it. I'm currently paying for ad-free with Amazon. If I am presented with an ad when I've been paying for ad-free, I will cancel immediately.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Tyr07 ( 8900565 )

        Yeah that's what did it for me. Was just once, I don't know if it would keep happening or not, but the level of fuck that when I even paid for them not the fucking do it. I'm likely done with their service for good.

  • Suit yourself, Amazon (Score:5, Interesting)

    by RUs1729 ( 10049396 ) on Thursday June 12, 2025 @07:13PM (#65446065)
    I ditched Prime once it became clear that Bezos is a coward, and I can't remember the last time I bought anything from Amazon. Eff you.

  • Don't worry, there is a limit (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ukoda ( 537183 ) on Thursday June 12, 2025 @07:47PM (#65446119) Homepage

    Prime Video ad load has gradually increased to four to six minutes per hour

    Fear not, they will stop increasing the minutes per hour when they hit 60. Not sure if they will also stop increasing the subscription cost then too.

  • Whew! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Ogive17 ( 691899 ) on Thursday June 12, 2025 @08:33PM (#65446205)
    I was worried, for a second I thought Amazon wasn't going to make enough money this year!

    So glad they got this figured out and make the experience worse!

  • When are advertisers going to learn that too many ads run people away from their product. That has been a great deal of technical market research that proves that. The bottom line after increases in ad spend also proves it. I guess the people buying ads haven't collectively figured out that the only people who are falling for the ad agency's BS is the ad buyers, not the end customers. There is plenty of data showing only 2 commercials in a typical sitcom work which is the 1st one past the end and the on

    • I'm thinking along the lines that Amazon can theoretically book 2x as much ad revenue with the snap of a finger. Pretty tempting to just give it a shot incase it works. Screwing customers is popular these days, you can always settle halfway and spin that as a victory for the little guy. People seem to adjust to abuse rather then look for alternatives aka lazy. Amazon will probably come out ahead either way.

    • I wonder if anyone has ever done studies of ad effectiveness vs frequency. If they had half the ads which were twice as effective, they could charge twice as much and have the same revenue and happier customers. There must be some sort of Laffer curve. No ads == no revenue but more watchers. 100% ads == no watchers and no revenue. Where is the sweet spot? Some old TV shows were 55 minutes long with 5 minutes of ads, then they switched to 50 minutes and 10 minutes, so they have to chop out 5 minutes to

    • I suspect there are a LOT of us out here who, if a commercial is too stupid, or too repetitive or is just too f-ing annoying (like those ENDLESS drug commercials), we make sure we NEVER buy their product/use their service... My mute control gets a real workout when I watch tv..

  • When they first bundled video with Prime, I figured it wouldn't be too long before it went south. It did. Series would include the first season only, they dropped a few I was in the middle of watching, they shifted some shows to Britbox and others which had been included.

    Then they announced the ads, and I stopped watching. You're going to charge me for something I didn't ask for and can't get a reduction for not using, AND you're going to interrupt it with ads? No thanks. Stopped watching. Well, I was

  • 27 posts (so far), and nobody...

  • Ad free is 2.99 per month. Worth it. (Score:4, Informative)

    by mamba-mamba ( 445365 ) on Thursday June 12, 2025 @11:05PM (#65446397)

    Ad free is 2.99 per month. As long as there is an ad-free tier and it is not too terribly expensive, I don't really care if Amazon uses ads on their "Included with Prime" tier. When I first subscribed to Amazon Prime they didn't even have a streaming business. So I still kind of feel like the Included With Prime streaming is "free" in some sense.

    What irritates me is Freevee. Last time I checked, even though Freevee is an Amazon streaming service, there is no way to use it ad free. So far I have not watched anything on Freevee for that reason.

  • Because this is how you get pirates. If you need money, maybe start making something people want and not high-cost/low-effort shit like RoP.

  • Shitty interface, ho-hum programming.

    I advise rip and cancel tactics.

  • Yet another example of the Race to the Bottom, exemplified by Jack Welch running GE into the ground.

    Take great brands that people trust, and slowly erode quality to increase profits until you've sucked up all the money and you're left with a dried-up husk of a company.

  • YT has also increased their "ad load" on users -- yes yes i know, use an adblocker and i do. but sometimes its too convenient to put it on an ipad and move around with it, at which point you realize, HOLY FUCK this is unbearable.

    • Yeah YouTube is unwatchable without an ad blocker. Absolutely full of ads

    • We signed up for youtube add free about 6 months ago. The whole family watches YT only an we cancelled all other streaming services. YT adds so much new high quality user content every day no one else could keep up with this rate. Of course this only works if there is no interesting movies/TV shows on the streaming services and this is true for us. Best move we ever made.

  • "Why is piracy so popular!!" laments the clueless executive.

    You don't suppose it's because people don't like having to subscribe to 5 different services to view the content that they want AND need to suffer through ads on top of it as well, do you? How often do you see a preview for something or are searching for a specific movie/show, only to realize that it's not on the service you're paying for?

  • I counter greed with ad blockers.

  • Good for them. I stopped watching before, so I don't care.

  • When you sail the 7 seas. Arg... Too many way to get all of the content for free, without the ads. The arr suite of tools, NTTP, torrent, and several other processes and protocols.
  • I gave up on Prime/Netflix et al many years ago. Last few years, the TV has only been connected to the PC.
    I wouldn't mind seeing adverts: I like beer/babes/bikes/bacon - flood me with ads!!

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