Exclusive: Amazon Doubles Ad Load on Prime Video

When Amazon introduced ads on Prime Video in January 2024, it said it aimed to have meaningfully fewer ads than rivals—reportedly, just two to three-and-a-half minutes per hour. Less than 18 months later, that number has quietly doubled.

According to six ad buyers and documents reviewed by ADWEEK, the current ad load on Prime Video now ranges from four to six minutes per hour. And while that could bring down CPMs, buyers will be watching whether this impacts user experience.

“Prime Video ad load has gradually increased to four to six minutes per hour,” an Amazon representative wrote to an ad buyer in an email obtained by ADWEEK. The exchange occurred earlier this month.

The increase, which Amazon had telegraphed to investors but has not publicly acknowledged to consumers, gives the company significantly more inventory to sell across its rapidly expanding streaming business.

“They told us the ad load would be increasing,” said Kendra Tang, programmatic supervisor at Rain the Growth Agency. “That’s been confirmed recently when we noticed more avails in the system.”

The uptick in commercials is the latest sign of maturation from the streaming service, which in recent months has debuted a slew of new products designed to make it more appealing to marketers. Its show-level data, private auction deals, and forthcoming contextual offerings have all sought to separate Prime Video from its competitive set. 

Amazon did not respond to specific questions about increasing its ad load, but in a statement referred to its broader ad strategy.

“Our commitment is to improving ad experiences rather than simply increasing the number of ads shown,” said an Amazon Ads spokesperson. “While demand continues to grow, our commitment is to improving ad experiences rather than simply increasing the number of ads shown.”

Why ad load increased

When Prime Video launched its ad tier, Amazon made commercials the default for all Prime subscribers, prompting backlash from some consumers but giving the company an immediate footprint of over 150 million monthly ad-supported viewers.