After Amazon announced to customers in September that advertisements will become a part of the Amazon Prime Video experience in 2024, the online retail giant finally put a date on that promise in a new email sent to customers, causing a spark of outrage.
“Starting January 29, Prime Video movies and TV shows will include limited advertisements. This will allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time,” read the email. “We aim to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers.”
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Amazon also indicated in the email that there will be no change to the price of Prime membership, but for an extra $2.99 a month, customers can sign up for an ad-free subscription.
Many users on X took to the social media platform to air their frustrations with Amazon on the new change, with some users claiming that they will jump ship from Amazon Prime altogether.
I guess @amazon needs the money. Starting end of January, it’ll cost you an extra $2.99 a month to watch your Prime Video movies/TV without ads. Really shameful, considering the recent yearly big price hike to subscribe overall.
— Terri Corigliano (@TerriOnTVPlus) December 27, 2023
Unfortunately, their advertisements will probably be more entertaining than the stale movies and shows you get on Amazon prime.
— 🌲Andy 👣from 👣Oregon🌲 (@AndrewFmOregon) December 27, 2023
I just got an email from Prime Video saying the ad free service I’M ALEADY PAYING FOR will no longer be ad free unless I give them an additional $3.00 per month.
— sixfootcandy (@sixfootcandy) December 27, 2023
You greedy little f**kers. I just canceled my service. pic.twitter.com/qwXJuINNBJ
The move from Amazon comes after it pushed a price hike in May this year for its Prime subscription service. The price increased from $6.99 a month to $9.99 monthly due to the company claiming that it expanded Prime member benefits.
“For new Prime members, the price change will go into effect on 24 May, 2023, and for current Prime members, the new price will apply from 28 June, 2023, on the date of their next renewal,” wrote Amazon in an email sent to customers on May 2.
As Amazon plans to start implementing ads into Prime Video service next year, the online retail giant has recently seen an increase in ad revenue from third parties and other programs, which it reported in its third-quarter earnings this year.
The company brought in $12.06 billion in ad revenue during this year's third-quarter, which is an increase of 26% compared to the same time period last year. It also reported that it generated a total of $143.1 billion from net sales during the third-quarter, which is a 13% increase from what it brought in during the same quarter in 2022.
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