Amazon increased Prime Video ad load to 4-6 minutes per hour, up from 2-3 minutes, to capitalize on its ad-supported audience, according to Adweek.
The ad volume on Prime Video now rivals Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max and is three times that of Netflix.
Amazon recently partnered with Roku to target 80 million U.S. households, aiming to dominate the connected TV ad market.
Approximately 11 million Prime Video users pay extra to avoid ads, reflecting a strategy similar to Amazon’s marketplace fee approach.
Amazon now runs between four and six minutes of ads per hour on Prime Video, a significant jump from the two to three minutes shown when commercials first debuted. The increase, as first reported by Adweek, allows the company to cash in on the massive ad-supported audience it created by defaulting all members into the ad-tier.
An offer you can’t refuse: By automatically switching its subscribers to the ad-supported plan, Amazon instantly gained one of the largest audiences in streaming. Analyst estimates show that around 130 million streamers in the U.S. watch Prime Video with ads.
Keeping up with the streamers: The new ad volume puts Prime Video nearly on par with Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max and is now roughly three times that of Netflix. This push extends far beyond just one service. Amazon recently inked a partnership with Roku to create a unified ad platform targeting a combined 80 million U.S. households, signaling its intent to build an advertising juggernaut across the connected TV landscape.
The bottom line: Amazon is aggressively monetizing its captive audiences, using its scale not just to compete with other streamers but to build a dominant position in the entire digital advertising ecosystem. While Amazon pushes more ads, about 11 million users are paying extra to avoid them. The strategy mirrors other moves by the company, which recently added small marketplace fees in some regions.
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