It’s barely been 4 months since Amazon placed ads in its Prime Video streaming service, however the retail large is already introducing extra annoying promotional techniques — comparable to displaying adverts each time somebody hits the pause button.
On Tuesday, Amazon announced it should roll out three new advert codecs for Prime Video later this yr to tempt subscribers to buy promoted objects whereas watching content material. Shoppable carousels will quickly seem throughout advert breaks in reveals and flicks that current viewers with a “sliding lineup” of merchandise they’ll purchase on Amazon. That basically makes this an advert inside one other advert, and it even “robotically pauses” if interacted with to present viewers time to browse.
TV reveals, motion pictures, and stay sports activities may also present interactive model trivia adverts that may present rewards “like Amazon buying credit” and pause adverts that deliver up a translucent overlay, permitting viewers to immediately add the promoted product to their Amazon carts. Amazon says this overlay will solely seem whereas the video is paused however does word that pause adverts “prolong the engagement alternative past a conventional advert break.”
Hulu launched an identical pause-activated promoting characteristic back in 2019, which is now catching on with different streamers like YouTube. Amazon hasn’t specified when it should roll out these new advert codecs, solely that they’ll be obtainable “within the upcoming broadcast yr” — which usually ends on August thirty first.
Prime Video customers who need an ad-free expertise should pay Amazon an extra $2.99 per 30 days on high of their present subscription for the privilege, however loads of individuals apparently aren’t doing that. Amazon says its cheaper ad-supported tier has a median month-to-month attain of over 200 million world clients. The corporate hasn’t disclosed what number of Prime Video subscribers it has, however Amazon mentioned it had 200 million world subscribers across its entire Prime membership program in 2021.