Amazon recently introduced ads to Prime Video so we decided to take a closer look to see just how bad the ads are. To cut to the chase, our testing found Prime Video to offer a very light ad load overall. So much so that we would not recommend upgrading to the ad-free plan just yet.
As a reminder, all existing Amazon Prime members and standalone Prime Video subscribers, as well as those signing up for the first time, now get access to the ad-supported plan. Instead of choosing between an ad-supported and ad-free tier, Amazon also now offers the option to upgrade an existing subscription to ad-free for an additional $2.99 a month.
Ads are not included in every title
One thing that’s worth making clear straight away is that ads are not currently shown on every title, and it’s too early to tell if this is intentional or part of the rollout. It was also unclear as to whether there was any logic in terms of which titles included ads and which didn’t.
The exception here is movies, as it was very difficult to find any movie that did contain ads. Of the six times we did encounter an ad when watching a movie, the ad was a pre-roll advertisement. Other than one ad lasting 32 seconds, all other movie pre-roll ads lasted 16 seconds. Following the pre-roll ads, and like every other movie we tested, the film was available to watch completely without ads.
When it comes to shows, ad breaks were a lot more prominent. Even then, however, not all shows contain ads, and shows that did include advertisements didn’t always show an before or during every episode.
Our testing indicates a very light ad load … so far
Here’s a closer look at the frequency and duration of ads we encountered when watching a variety of videos on Prime Video.
| Duration | Pre-roll | 1st ad | 2nd ad |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 mins | 30 secs (1 ad) | 15 secs (1 ad) | N/A |
| 22 mins | 30 secs (1 ad) | 30 secs (1 ad) | N/A |
| 24 mins | N/A | 16 secs (1 ad) | N/A |
| 28 mins | 16 secs (1 ad) | 32 secs (1 ad) | N/A |
| 36 mins | 16 secs (1 ad) | 32 secs (1 ad) | N/A |
| 40 mins | 31 secs (1 ad) | 16 secs (1 ad) | 30 secs (1 ad) |
| 41 mins | 32 secs (1 ad) | 15 secs (1 ad) | 32 secs (1 ad) |
| 44 mins | N/A | 30 secs (1 ad) | 16 secs (1 ad) |
| 44 mins | 32 secs (1 ad) | 15 secs (1 ad) | 15 secs (1 ad) |
| 45 mins | 8 secs (1 ad) | 16 secs (1 ad) | 16 secs (1 ad) |
| 46 mins | 16 secs (1 ad) | 16 secs (1 ad) | 16 secs (1 ad) |
| 51 mins | 15 secs (1 ad) | 30 secs (1 ad) | 30 secs (1 ad) |
| 58 mins | N/A | 15 secs (1 ad) | 15 secs (1 ad) |
| 61 mins | 16 secs (1 ad) | 30 secs (1 ad) | 32 secs (1 ad) |
| 64 mins | 32 secs (1 ad) | 16 secs (1 ad) | 15 secs (1 ad) |
You may have noticed that all of the videos we’ve highlighted in the table above were an hour or less in duration. This is due to longer videos, like movies, typically not including any ads. As mentioned in the previous section, it was unclear if this was intentional, or a result of the ads having not made their way to movies yet.
Overall, our testing indicated that Amazon has adopted a very light ad load so far, and especially compared to other streaming services. While we would expect the ad load to increase in time, we can say that we never encountered more than two ads during a video. This doesn’t include pre-roll ads (advertisements shown before the start of a video), so the very maximum number of ads we encountered when watching a video from start to finish was three.
In addition to the light frequency of ads, the duration of ad breaks was also very light. We never encountered an ad break that was 45 seconds or longer and, in most cases, ad breaks were less than 20 seconds. Most ad breaks also only included one ad, with two advertisements the maximum we encountered during any single ad break.
In terms of the ad experience, Amazon does show the timing of any ad breaks in the timeline, so it is possible to see how many ads are going to be shown, and when, after starting a video.
Also, each ad break lists the total duration and the total number of ads due to be shown during the break.
Should you upgrade to ad free?
No. Based on our initial testing, we would not recommend upgrading to Amazon’s ad-free Prime Video experience. While upgrading will remove the ads, we found the overall ad load to be extremely light and not problematic enough to consider paying more to remove them.
With that said, this is still a change that appears to be in the process of rolling out. Due to this, it is possible that Amazon may increase the frequency and/or the duration of ads in the near future. If we find that to be the case, we will update this guide accordingly.
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