Amazon Prime Video Will Soon Show Ads When Users Hit Pause

Amazon recently started showing ads on Prime Video unless users accept to pay $2.99/month to keep the previous ad-free experience. Unfortunately, Amazon is planning to degrade the Prime Video experience even more with new ad formats, including ads that play when users pause the content they’re watching.

Yesterday, Amazon announced no less than three new interactive ad formats for Prime Video that are “seamlessly shoppable and help advertisers meaningfully connect with customers,” said Alan Moss, VP of global ad sales for Amazon Ads. Here’s what you can expect to see on Prime Video in addition to the existing ad breaks:

Interactive pause ads: These translucent ads will be shown when users hit the pause button, and they will display “Add to Cart” and “Learn More” buttons allowing users to add the product to their Amazon cart or get more information via email.

Shoppable carousel ads: These new ad breaks will let users browse and shop multiple products, and they will automatically pause when users start interacting with them.

Interactive brand trivia ads: This new ad format is designed to be more engaging with factoids about brands and the ability for viewers to unlock Amazon shopping credits and other rewards when purchasing eligible items.

With an average monthly ad-supported reach of over 200 million customers on Prime Video, Amazon aims to “transform streaming advertising through our differentiated combination of reach, first-party signals, and ad tech,” the Amazon Ads exec said. If you want none of that reimagined streaming TV experience, you can still pay $2.99/month to get rid of ads on Prime Video, which does have some exclusive quality content such as the recent Fallout TV show.