Amazon Prime Video ads are about to get more intrusive

[Coventina]

It’s barely been four months since Amazon placed ads in its Prime Video streaming service, but the retail giant is already introducing more annoying promotional tactics — such as displaying ads whenever someone hits the pause button.

On Tuesday, Amazon announced it will roll out three new ad formats for Prime Video later this year to tempt subscribers to purchase promoted items while watching content. Shoppable carousels will soon appear during ad breaks in shows and movies that present viewers with a “sliding lineup” of products they can buy on Amazon. That essentially makes this an ad within another ad, and it even “automatically pauses” if interacted with to give viewers time to browse.

TV shows, movies, and live sports will also show interactive brand trivia ads that can provide rewards “like Amazon shopping credits” and pause ads that bring up a translucent overlay, allowing viewers to directly add the promoted product to their Amazon carts. Amazon says this overlay will only appear while the video is paused but does note that pause ads “extend the engagement opportunity beyond a traditional ad break.”

Hulu introduced a similar pause-activated advertising feature back in 2019, which is now catching on with other streamers like YouTube. Amazon hasn’t specified when it will roll out these new ad formats, only that they’ll be available “in the upcoming broadcast year” — which typically ends on August 31st.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/8/24151951/amazon-prime-video-pause-trivia-ads-announcement

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Hooray.

[grumpyduck]

1. I gave up on amazon video some time back.

We're already paying for the service, so getting ads on top of it is not acceptable.

[Faux pas]

2. ASSHOLES

that is all.

[Raven123]

3. Yep. I watch rarely.

[hlthe2b]

4. I'm well "trained" to get up and move around, use the bathroom, grab a drink, load laundry in dryer....

or whatever else can be done in the time allotment of a typical commercial and if I overshoot, then I just rewind.

So, while the streaming time may get extended, it is like old school tv to me--so Amazon will be getting no additional $$ for the privilege of avoiding their ads--at least from me.

[NCDem47]

5. Marketers ruin everything.

Literally, EVEYTHING. There's just no GD break from an advert. If you can see or hear something, it's for sale to an advertiser.

[hunter]

6. "No advertising" is the only reason I stream.

If that goes away as an affordable option, I go away. I quit advertising supported television a long time ago.

I can always read a book or watch a DVD.

[birdographer]

10. We pay for Paramount+

and there is a long ad for one of their shows before nearly everything we watch, without the option to "skip." We don't watch anything they push down our throats like that. Might have if we came across it normally, but no thanks.

[BComplex]

7. Because Jeff Bezos really needs the money.

What a prick.

[Voltaire2]

8. Has anyone mentioned what an ASSHOLE move this is?

The reason I use streaming is because I HATE FUCKING ADS.

[birdographer]

9. As soon as they started ads, we stopped with all Prime shows and videos

One woman posted (Reddit? Somewhere) her receipt for a move she paid $3.99 to rent, and she said there were ads all through it. So I won't even pay to rent on there. The whole video aspect of Prime is out.