By India McCarty
Amazon Prime Video is planning to start showing ads in between its shows and movies — here’s how to get rid of them.
“Our commitment is to improving ad experiences rather than simply increasing the number of ads shown,” an Amazon Ads spokesperson said in response to questions about the uptick in advertisements. “While demand continues to grow, our commitment is to improving ad experiences rather than simply increasing the number of ads shown.”
While some viewers are fine with seeing a few commercials during their binge-watches, others want to get rid of the ads.
There’s a simple fix: subscribe to an ad-free plan from Amazon Prime.
Go to the “Your Account” menu on the website, then select “Go Ad Free,” and press the “Start Subscription” button. After doing so, you will no longer see advertisements on Amazon Prime content.
However, the promotional trailers Amazon Prime runs before movies and shows cannot be avoided, even after subscribing to the ad-free plan.
Amazon has been quietly ramping up the amount of ads subscribers are seeing. In a report obtained by AdWeek, Prime Video told an ad buyer that the streamer’s “ad load has gradually increased to four to six minutes per hour.”
While some subscribers can’t stand the commercials, others are indifferent, which has led to an increased number of subscribers to Amazon’s ad-supported plan.
Related: Amazon Prime Video’s Ads to Become More Invasive
“Our ad formats are proven to drive measurable action on and off Amazon,” said Alan Moss, vice president of global ads sales for Amazon Ads, sharing that Amazon Prime’s streaming service ads reach over 130 million U.S. customers.
Prime Video isn’t the only streaming service that is quietly amassing a large ad-supported subscriber base. Netflix’s ad tier recently hit 94 million monthly users, up from 70 million last November. Engagement on those user accounts is at an average of 41 hours a month.
“When you compare us to our competitors, attention starts higher and ends much higher,” Amy Reinhard, Netflix’s President of Advertising, told Deadline. “And even more impressive, members pay as much attention to mid-roll ads as they do to the shows and movies themselves.”
She continued, “The foundation of our business is in place. From here, the pace of progress is going to be even faster.”
Many users have come to streaming to avoid commercials, but as platforms work to increase profits amid flatlining user bases, it looks like ads are officially taking over streaming.
Read Next: Prime Video Users Frustrated by Ads: ‘Won’t Be Using the Service’
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