Amazon plans to increase the number of advertisements on its Prime Video subscription service starting in 2025. Kelly Day, Vice President of Prime Video International, confirmed there will be more ad slots available to advertisers next year. In 2024, Amazon introduced a “very light ad load” for Prime Video, showing subscribers an average of two to three-and-a-half minutes of ads per hour.
Day said the initial ad load provided a gentle entry into advertising for subscribers and exceeded customer expectations. Prime Video with ads currently does not interrupt content with commercials, but this could change next year. New ad formats, including carousel ads, pause ads, and brand trivia ads, will be introduced.
Subscriber response to ads has been more positive than anticipated. Day said subscriber churn in response to the ads has been minimal. Amazon reports having 200 million monthly viewers for Prime Video, with only a small number opting to pay for an ad-free experience.
Amazon increasing Prime Video ads
Despite this, Prime Video is not yet a major part of Amazon’s diverse ad business, which relies heavily on ads displayed on its e-commerce platform. Amazon’s CFO Brian Olsavsky reported that ad sales did not meet expectations in the first quarter after ads were introduced on Prime Video.
Advertising remains one of Amazon’s highest-margin businesses, and the company intends to further develop this sector. Amazon has already exceeded its ad-spending commitment goal for Prime Video for 2025 and has been competitive in ad pricing. As Amazon’s ad business grows, the company will research how many more ads subscribers are willing to tolerate.
While some Prime Video users might be open to additional ads, others might feel they already encounter too many. Subscription fatigue could reduce the effectiveness of ads if pushed too far. For now, ad-supported subscriptions remain a viable business model for streaming providers aiming for profitability.
With Amazon’s planned increase in ad loads, other streaming services might follow suit to test their customers’ tolerance for advertisements.
