Amazon plans to increase the number of ads on Prime Video in 2025 after not seeing a sharp drop in subscribers since adding advertisements in January 2024
here's why Parker Herren / Ad Age : How streaming TV pricing and transparency issues are impacting advertisers William Hughes / AV Club : Excited Prime Video exec announces even more ads are coming Hadlee Simons / Android Authority : Uh oh: More ads are coming to Prime Video (Update: Amazon statement) Chris Thomas / Android Police : Your Amazon Prime Video binge will soon get even more ads Alap Naik Desai / Android Headlines : Amazon Prime to get even more ads next year, claims report Austin Blake / iPhone in Canada Blog : Amazon Says Prime Video is Getting More Ads Soon PYMNTS.com : Amazon Gears Up for More Ads on Prime Video Bradly Shankar / MobileSyrup : Amazon will bring more ads to Prime Video in 2025 Bruce Gil / Quartz : Expect more ads on Amazon Prime Video Andrew Tarantola / How-To Geek : Amazon Prime Video Is Piling on Even More Ads Johanna Romero / PhoneArena : Get ready to watch even more ads on the Amazon Prime Video subscription you already pay for Bluesky: Jenn Cutter / @jenncutter.bsky.social : I refuse to look it up, but surely someone somewhere has a patent for force pausing and playing ads over my DVDs or played over VLC. — Cannot wait to root my ‘smart’ tv the second I find a good hack, too (see: roku apparently looking at playing ads over paused content of any type over HDMI) [embedded post] X: Sam Bad / @sambad57 : $AMZN Amazon said they will increase the number of ads on Prime Video. Advertising Revenue TTM is growing 24.2% and quarter 19.5% YoY. This will bump up sales for a high margin business. Long $AMZN [image] Brad Stephenson / @shuttlecock : Amazon Prime is such good value that I barely care that they added ads to Prime Video. [image] Ray Douglas / @raydouglasuk : Amazon to increase number of advertisements on Prime Video, writes @DanielThomasLDN Revenues from its digital advertising business rose a fifth year on year to $12.8bn during the second quarter of 2024 FT https://www.ft.com/... Forums: Hacker News : Amazon to increase number of advertisements on Prime Video r/technews : Amazon will “ramp up” Prime Video ads in 2025 r/technology : Amazon will “ramp up” Prime Video ads in 2025 r/wallstreetbets : Amazon to increase number of advertisements on Prime Video r/television : Amazon to increase number of advertisements on Prime Video Ars OpenForum : Amazon Prime Video is getting more ads next year See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
Amazon initially positioned advertising as a limited default experience across major Prime Video markets, while offering a paid ad-free option. The January 2024 rollout followed that earlier plan to make ads the default Prime Video experience.
The lack of a sharp subscriber decline gives Amazon evidence that the service’s bundle can absorb more commercial inventory. Later coverage documented a rise in Prime Video ad load to 4–6 minutes an hour, making this announcement an early step in that escalation.
First-order effects
- Prime Video viewers face a higher advertising load in 2025, unless they use the paid ad-free option where available.
- Amazon gains more video-ad inventory to sell while preserving subscription access as the default Prime Video experience.
Second-order effects
- Advertisers gain access to additional Prime Video placements, but a larger supply of inventory raises the importance of clear measurement and pricing to sustain demand.
- Other streaming services must weigh whether to increase ad loads or protect a lighter viewing experience, especially where ad-free upgrades are a meaningful part of their pricing design.
Third-order effects
- Streaming bundles are increasingly treating advertising as a core monetization layer rather than a separate low-price tier; the durable constraint will be how much ad load audiences tolerate before retention or upgrade behavior changes.
- The model shifts competition toward the value of integrated audience data, ad sales and commerce relationships—not only exclusive programming—if platforms can add inventory without material subscriber losses.
The trend: Prime Video’s move is part of streaming’s broader conversion from subscription-only viewing to bundled subscription, advertising and paid ad-removal economics.