Ads are coming to Amazon Prime Video starting January 2024

You'll have to pay an additional $3 per month to stop the ads

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Summary

• Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ have raised prices and introduced ads to deliver better content.
• Amazon Prime Video will now include limited advertisements starting January 29, but the number of ads is not specified.
• To avoid ads, Prime Video subscribers must pay an extra $3 per month, but this does not apply to Prime Video Channel subscriptions.

The best streaming services have become much more expensive in the last few years. Since COVID, Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ have announced multiple price hikes to deliver better content to users and even introduced an ad-supported tier. Amazon has been relatively better in this regard, with Prime membership getting costlier by 15% in February 2022, four years after the last hike. The bump jacked Prime's yearly price to $139. Given the benefits a Prime subscription gets you, though, the bump was relatively modest. But things are changing now, with Amazon introducing ads to Prime Video. And if you want to avoid them, you must pay an additional $3 a month.

In an email to Prime subscribers, Amazon says, "Starting January 29, Prime Video movies and TV shows will include limited advertisements." The ads will allow the company to invest in "compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time." Amazon promises to show fewer ads than traditional TV and other streaming services. However, it did not mention how many advertisements you can expect to see while watching your favorite TV show or movie.

For now, only Prime Video subscribers in the US, UK, Germany, and Canada will start getting ads while streaming content. However, based on Amazon's press release from earlier this year, the ads should expand to more countries like Spain, Australia, France, Mexico, and Italy later in 2024. The ads could expand to other regions where Prime Video is available later in the year.

Ads will not appear in content rented or purchased through the Prime Video store. Additionally, this change won't affect any of your Prime Video Channel subscriptions.

If you don't want ads to ruin your Prime Video experience, you can pay an additional $3 per month to stop them. You'll have to sign up for this new Prime Video tier, as it is not included in your yearly or monthly Prime subscription. But note that even if you pay the extra $3 monthly, you will still get ads in Freevee, where Amazon streams live sports and other ad-supported content.

An Amazon Prime subscription costs $139 yearly or $15 per month. The additional $3 will bump that to $175 annually or $18 monthly. This makes the membership quite expensive, though it is still cheaper than Netflix's Premium plan, which costs $23 per month. Plus, with Amazon Prime, you get a host of other benefits, including free one-day delivery, early access to Prime deals, access to Amazon Music, and more.

You can individually subscribe to Prime Video for $9/month, though this plan will also show ads from January 2024. If you are not too happy about ads coming to Prime Video and don't use the service much, consider canceling your Prime membership.

Thanks: Armando R!