Get ready, Prime Video viewers: just when you thought advert breaks couldn’t get any more intrusive, Amazon has unveiled a new lineup of interactive and shoppable ad formats that will soon show up on our TV screens.
From “shoppable carousel ads” that allow you to browse and purchase products during ad breaks, to “entertaining”, interactive trivia adverts that display brand messaging and “Add to Cart” options when you hit pause, these new ad types are set to take the Prime Video viewing experience to a whole new level of marketing.
The introduction of these new ad formats follows Amazon’s recent decision to introduce ad breaks on Prime Video in the UK and other countries, with the ad-free experience now costing extra.
Adverts On Prime Video: The Road So Far
Earlier this year, Amazon introduced ad breaks on Prime Video in the UK (and other countries), a significant change for viewers who were accustomed to an ad-free streaming experience.
Now, subscribers have to pay an extra £2.99/month to avoid these adverts, or endure multiple ad breaks when they’re watching films or TV shows on Prime Video.
When adverts were first introduced to the service, the breaks were quite minimal – but recently, it seems more and more adverts are being added, with multiple breaks of more than one minute in a single show (Though, granted, that’s still quite short compared to some of the never-ending ad breaks on Channel 4 and ITV).
Movies, on the other hand, sometimes take a slightly different approach. Some remain ad-free, while others feature a single pre-roll ad break or multiple breaks.
The total cost of an ad-free Prime Video experience now stands at approximately £130 per year, compared to the previous £95 per year for Amazon Prime (or £72 per year for the standalone Prime Video option, which is quite hard to find these days).
As expected, this change was met with anger, especially from existing subscribers. The addition of even more ad-types, will likely not be met with cheers either.
New Ad Types Coming To Prime Video
This week, Amazon unveiled several new interactive and “shoppable” ad formats for Prime Video on living room devices (i.e., on your TV via the Prime Video app, not on your mobile phone).
Shoppable Carousel Ads
One of Amazon’s new ad formats is “shoppable carousel ads.”
These will allow brands to present a sliding lineup of their products during ad breaks, which viewers can explore and add to their Amazon cart using their living room remotes.
So, let’s say you’re watching an advert and are eager to buy from the advertiser. The ad will then automatically pause while you browse products and resume when you’re done.
In other words, we’re now going to have ads that contain more ads and products, and the original ad will pause to allow you to interact with the secondary ads without missing any content from the original ad. Good luck remembering what you were actually watching.
Interactive Pause Ads
These types of adverts are already well known to UK viewers, as they’re already present on Channel 4’s streaming app, for example.
When you press pause on your remote, you’ll see a translucent ad featuring brand messaging and imagery, along with “Add to Cart” and “Learn More” options.
These ads will remain on your screen for as long as your content is paused.
Interactive Brand Trivia Ads
These ads will feature factoids about brands while giving viewers the opportunity to shop on Amazon, learn more about products and services, and even unlock rewards like Amazon shopping credits.
According to Amazon, with these ads, advertisers will be able to “entertain” their customers. It’s also a way for Amazon to gamify advertising and make it seem more engaging.
It’s worth noting that usually, these types of new ad formats start in the US (where Amazon made the announcement) – and then start trickling to our side of the pond.
Amazon Is Not Alone With Interactive Adverts
Amazon isn’t the only streaming service ramping up its advertising efforts. As mentioned, Channel 4 already have full-screen pause adverts on their streaming app.
Also, as we recently reported, ITVX is also planning to introduce new ad formats, including “pause ads” that will display advertisements when viewers pause their content (unless you pay for ITVX Premium).
In addition to this format, ITV is saying 2024 will also bring with it to ITVX new “short form advertising opportunities, even more sponsorship opportunities, and regionalised news”, which would let advertisers target a smaller, more localised audience.
Up until a couple of years ago, streaming services used to be known for their ad-free experience. Slowly but surely, those days are going away.
As more streaming services adopt these intrusive ad formats, viewers who value an uninterrupted viewing experience may find themselves with fewer – or more expensive – options.
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“ofcom need to get a grip”
If they are anything like Ofgem and Ofwat than there’s no hope.
Is television a form of education and entertainment or a means for advertising, and is it me are adverts becoming more intrusive more ridiculous and annoying some are I consider an insult to my intelligence and the number of add breaks is definitely increasing, my guess is, subscriptions cover service costs,adverts are just the jam on top, so the service provider is creaming it, ofcom need to get a grip.
Streaming is dying. There seems to be no thought about the experience for the customer anymore. I watch a program to watch it not do my shopping. If ad free is to expensive and with ads is to intrusive there are other things to do than watch tv.