As an end-of-year gift, Amazon confirms the arrival of advertising on Prime Video

The American giant had warned that it would follow a path similar to that of the competition, and things are suddenly starting to materialize.

The year 2023 will have been eventful for SVOD services, but also and above all for their users who are experiencing either price increases or the loss of some advantages that we thought had been acquired.

The arrival of advertising is one of these latter cases. There are few companies that have not yet used it, and they will be even more so from the start of next year.

A bad start to the year for Prime subscribers

We have known for several months that Amazon will integrate ads into the programs broadcast on Prime Video. If the French market could be affected as early as next spring, the Americans will be a little earlier, as the company confirms.

In fact, it is by email that it informs its subscribers that from January 29, 2024, they will have to checkout to benefit from an ad-free experience. Unlike Netflix or Disney+, Prime Video will not change its price list, and will simply offer an additional option costing $2.99 ​​per month to be able to get rid of ads.

So, in addition to the monthly or annual subscription to Prime Video or Amazon Prime, you will have to pay a little extra to have peace of mind. However, the firm wants to be reassuring, and specifies that each program concerned will not have more than three and a half minutes of advertising page. “ Our goal is to have significantly fewer advertisements than linear TV and other SVOD providers », Explains the firm in its message. It remains to be seen whether this will be worth the extra three dollars per month in the eyes of subscribers.

The return of ads in our viewing habits

For Amazon, the stakes are high: adding advertising pages could quickly prove lucrative. Indeed, Netflix has had great success with this approach, and it is not for nothing that the industry is following suit.

However, to soften morals, the company led by Jeff Bezos claims that this “ will allow us to continue investing in engaging content and increase this investment over a long period of time “. Amazon has committed a lot of money to some of its original programs, and we suspect that additional revenue will not be too much, even if this is an argument also invoked by the competition.

It is nevertheless important to note that Prime Video remains as attractive, if not more, in terms of price than some of its competitors. And, it will obviously remain much less expensive than Netflix for viewing without ads.

In the category of large American platforms, Apple TV+ will therefore be the last SVOD service not yet to broadcast advertising from third-party advertisers. It remains to be seen how long this will last. After increasing its prices a few months ago, it would be logical to see Apple follow this new trend. And, this would not fail to fuel another trend which is gaining momentum: illegal downloading.

Source : The Verge