'Six ad breaks an hour' viewers complain Amazon Prime deluge of adverts

Amazon Prime customers have complained that they’re seeing as many as six ad breaks an hour. Given that people pay a subscription one user wondered why they felt there were more breaks that on terrestrial television services like ITV.

People complained the number seems to have dramatically been ramped up in the last few weeks - with more - and longer breaks. One user said on X this week: “i just got a three minute ad on amazon prime. on PRIME. three. f******. minutes. in my entire life, from ios 4 to spotify free version to youtube, i have never seen an ad this ******* long. get the pitchforks twinks NYEOW.”

One user told the Express: “I just couldn’t believed it and I actually wrote down the ad times over the course of an hour - there were six breaks - some were just four minutes apart. It’s a terrible user experience and let’s not forget we actually pay money for this.”

Another user took to X: “Amazon Prime adding adverts is honestly one of the most annoying things they’ve ever done”. One referred to the Jeff Bezos extravagant wedding recently: “#Amazon so you want MORE money if we don’t want adverts on prime !? All the while Jeff Bezos hires out the city of Venice!! **** off. You dont need the money you ******* greedy ********.”

David said “@primevideouk So, customers pay for the privilege of Amazon Prime Video with “some” adverts only for these adverts to play every 4 or so minutes during a program. Yet a US judge rules that you haven’t implemented a stealth pay increase. I call BS

Kate added: “It’s not even worth paying for no ads on Amazon Prime Video because if you watch more than 4 sets of 2 min ads in a day, you only get 10s ones afterwards. And on more unpopular movies and shows, you rarely even get adverts.”

Last year the Financial Times reported Amazon Prime Video was planning to roll out an increased number of advert slots. Prime Video International vice president Kelly Day said there would be an increasing number of ad slots for brands to target in 2025.

Amazon Prime joined fellow streamers Netflix and Disney in introducing a tiered service last year. The move required Amazon Prime customers in the UK and Germany to pay an additional £2.99 to avoid seeing adverts.

Sources told AdWeek that the number of ads has gradually increased to four to six minutes per hour. A spokesperson for Amazon responded to the publication, saying “Our commitment is to improving ad experiences rather than simply increasing the number of ads shown.

An Amazon spokesperson told the Express: “We are very thoughtful in our approach to when, where and for how long ad breaks occur. We want to ensure the best viewing experience for our customers and our commitment is to improving ad experiences rather than simply increasing the numbers of ads shown.”

The streamer said the ad experience varies from title to title with a mix of ad breaks before and during programming and emphasised they offer an ad-free option for customers ‘who prefer that experience for an additional £2.99 per month’.