Streaming giant Amazon is set to introduce ads to its Prime Video streaming service as the company seeks to increase its revenue from the service.
The company said it would begin adding advertising to Prime Video from early next year, with the US, UK, Germany and Canada first on the list. Amazon said France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and Australia would follow later in the year.
Amazon said it was introducing the advertising to continue investing in its content, and did not plan to increase the cost of Prime membership in 2024. However, US users will be able to pay an additional fee - just under $3 a month - to remove the ads. The company has yet to announce pricing for other markets.
Prime members in the affected markets will be emailed to inform them of the advertising several weeks before ads are introduced into Prime Video.
Amazon originally introduced Prime in 2005 as a shipping service, offering faster delivery to customers for a fee on 1 million items in its store. The company has since expanded the Prime benefits to include 300 million items, same or one-day delivery on some goods, and streaming video, music and podcasts.
The company’s introduction of advertising follows similar moves in selected markets by rival services Netflix and Disney+.
