Aside from Prime Day deals and free shipping, Prime Video is one of the biggest perks of the Amazon Prime experience

But I believe that began to change in January 2024 when Amazon changed its cheapest plan to Prime Video with ads and asked users to pay an additional $3 per month to eliminate the ads If you hate ads as much as we do, your Prime Video viewing experience is about to get even worse

That's because Kelly Day, Amazon's vice president of Prime Video International, admitted to the Financial Times that the streaming service actually increases the number of ads you see

Day did not say anything more specific than that, so we cannot confirm exactly when this change will happen, in which regions it will first roll out, or, importantly, how intrusive the ads will be Nevertheless, we can be sure that some of the rumored new ad formats will be introduced (more on that later)

In Day's words, Prime Video with Ads was given a “very light ad load” at launch, offering subscribers “a gentle entry into advertising that exceeds customer expectations in terms of what the ad experience is like This was based on the fact that subscriber churn for this major change was “much, much less than expected” And this is a fact that does not surprise me much [Amazon should have followed the example set by some of the better streaming services that offer ad-supported plans and introduced cheaper plans instead

Nevertheless, despite my frustration with this change Nevertheless, despite my frustration with the change, I have continued to pay for the same plan because I wanted to stream the best shows on Prime Video However, with all these changes happening, I may change my mind?

The FT also confirmed that Amazon will be rolling out several new ad formats to Prime Video These new ad formats are designed with “shoppability” in mind

In case you didn't know, the three new formats Amazon is introducing take the form of shoppable carousel ads, interactive pause screens, and trivia ads are more detailed in what they look like

These carousel ads show a slideshow of products from the sponsor in between Prime Video commercials; Amazon claims that the ads automatically pause while the customer is browsing and resume playing “when the ad interaction stops

It claims

Interactive paused ads appear on Prime Video TV shows, movies, and live sports, giving streamers the option to show ads beyond scheduled commercial breaks When a user pauses a program, a translucent ad featuring a brand message or image appears, with the option to add items to the cart

Apparently, advertisers can also use these ads to spontaneously obtain viewers' e-mail addresses, allowing them to contact interested customers and provide additional product information

Finally, these interactive brand trivia ads provide facts about the brand/product displayed These trivia ads also try to sell things by offering customer rewards like Amazon shopping credits