Advertising on Prime Video
That’s changing with Amazon’s streaming service
Amazon Prime Video is one of the most popular streaming apps.
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Amazon charges a fee for ad-free films and series. Why customers are suing and what that means for film and series fans.
Instagram, Facebook, Netflix, Disney+ and now Amazon Prime Video: All of these providers have introduced an ad-free subscription in the last few weeks and months. So if you don’t want to see advertising, you have to pay (more). The most recent example is Amazon, which will in future charge three euros more than the standard price for ad-free streaming on Prime Video. Customers should know this.
Existing Amazon Prime customers who do not change their subscription will in future see advertising when streaming their series, films, documentaries and sporting events. The shipping giant says this is necessary to “continue to invest in top entertainment and live sports content and increase this investment over the long term.” Amazon’s goal is to “show significantly less advertising than traditional television channels and other video streaming providers.” Like the Wall Street Journal Cited from internal Amazon papers, it should be about up to three and a half minutes of advertising per hour.
In order to continue to be ad-free on Prime Video, the company will charge an additional charge of 2.99 per month from February 5th. The regular price for Amazon Prime is 8.99 euros per month. In total, you have to pay 10.98 euros per month in order to be able to stream on Amazon Videos without advertising. However, anyone who uses Amazon Prime exclusively to have free shipping packages sent to them will not be affected by the change.
Will the courts overturn Amazon’s approach?
Customers in the USA, where the ad-free option was introduced last summer, are dissatisfied by the fact that despite the additional payment, advertising continues to be seen before and after films and videos. According to user reports, this cannot be skipped or fast-forwarded, as has been the case with advertising for Amazon’s own productions Industry portal “Golem” reports.
The final word on whether this change will last in Germany has not yet been spoken. This is the case, for example Stiftung Warentest thinks sothat Amazon’s approach is a unilateral price increase for which the company did not obtain the consent of its customers.
Amazon’s actions are therefore unlawful and at least one lawsuit against it has already been filed with the Berlin-Neukölln district court. After all, if you want to cancel your subscription because of the change, you will receive a refund of any subscription fees that were not used before the cancellation.