If you are an Amazon Prime member, you probably already know all the fantastic features the service offers. For a low monthly price, you can enjoy thousands of movies, TV shows, and books for free, as well as discounts and other offerings.
You may be wondering why you are seeing ads on Amazon Prime Video when you’ve already paid for the service. Isn’t it supposed to be ad-free then?
Why Are There Commercials On Amazon Prime?
In order for Amazon Prime to be able to offer thousands of free movie and TV titles, they need to work with other streaming sites such as FreeVee, Twitch, and others. By collaborating with these sites, Amazon Prime has to show commercials to offer their services for free.
Most users don’t love this response from Amazon and say that the billion-dollar conglomerate could offer commercial-free videos if they really wanted to and simply pay a higher price point to the third-party streaming services. Amazon Prime has been a competitive streaming site in the past, but the new advertisements are significantly lowering its customer satisfaction rating.
In this article, we are going to discuss the ins and outs of commercials on Amazon Prime, including whether or not you can get rid of them and if ad blockers will work. So keep reading, we have everything you need to know right here.
What Commercials Are Shown On Amazon Prime?
As you have most certainly noticed, Amazon Prime videos now show quite a few ads. Before 2020, Amazon Prime movies and TV shows were ad-free, just like other streaming services such as Netflix. However, overnight, Amazon Prime users started seeing commercials as they tried to enjoy their entertainment.
As you now know, Amazon claims that the reason Prime members now have to sit through commercials either at the beginning or throughout their programs is because of the third-party streaming sites they work with, but there is a bit of a discrepancy here.
There are essentially two types of commercials you will now see on Amazon Prime:
- Amazon’s Pre-Program Commercials. If Amazon is streaming the movie or show directly from their library, you will see a snippet before it begins promoting Amazon Prime or some facet of Amazon itself. Of course, there is really no excuse for these commercials, as Amazon could very easily cut them out.
- FreeVee Commercials. FreeVee, which was once called IMDbTV, is a third-party streaming site that Amazon claims require commercials in order to receive their thousands of titles. When watching a movie or show from FreeVee, the description usually warns the user that it is “free with ads,” and quite often, throughout the program, it will stop to show thirty-second to one-minute commercials. Interestingly, Amazon has owned IMDb, or FreeVee, for decades, so once again, it seems likely that they could put a stop to the ads if they really wanted to.
Now that you understand why there are commercials on Amazon Prime, even if the answer seems a little perfunctory, you’re probably wondering what you can do to get rid of them!
Can I Get Rid of Commercials on Amazon Prime?
Here comes the bad news: you cannot get rid of commercials on Amazon Prime. Many users have complained, and yet Amazon has done nothing to decrease the number of commercials on their, or the third-party sites, streaming entertainment.
One option is to opt for Amazon-provided movies and shows that only show commercials at the beginning instead of throughout the program. This can be slightly annoying as you will have to select your choice first and read in the description; if you see the phrase “free with ads,” you should expect to see commercials at regular intervals.
The only other way to avoid commercials on Amazon Prime is to select the “more purchase options” at the bottom of the screen and actually pay for the program to enjoy it without ads.
How to Avoid Commercials on Amazon Prime
Although there is no way to completely avoid commercials on Amazon Prime free videos, some users have reported that by opting to remove ads on their Amazon Prime account, they see fewer commercials when they are watching their favorite movies or television shows.
This is not a guaranteed fix, but if you want to give it a try and attempt to at least minimize the commercials while you are enjoying Amazon Prime, here’s what you need to do:
- Sign into your Amazon Prime on a web browser.
- Navigate to Manage Your Content.
- Click Remove Offers.
- Click Update Account.
It’s important to note that by removing offers from your Amazon Prime video, you are also removing them from your entire Amazon Prime account. For better or for worse, you will no longer see promotional content while you are shopping online with Amazon.
Do Ad Blockers Work on Amazon Prime Ads?
Ad blockers are fairly popular these days and as a web browser extension that is easily downloadable, they may seem like the perfect option for getting rid of those unwanted ads from Amazon Prime.
Unfortunately, ad blockers will only disable ads from Amazon.com, not from your Prime video entertainment.
Would You Rather Want Ads or Fewer Movies On Amazon Prime?
With the many complaints from Amazon Prime users, Amazon has a question for its members: Would you rather want ads or fewer movies on Amazon Prime?
Their point is that in order for Prime to be able to offer such a wide selection of movies and television shows for free, they need to show the ads to be able to pay the third-party streaming sites.
As you now know, many Amazon Prime members aren’t totally buying it, but Amazon seems to be sticking to its story. If you want a large variety of free entertainment, you will have to watch a few commercials.
Conclusion
Amazon claims that the commercials on Amazon Prime are a necessity in order for Amazon to be able to offer thousands of free movies and TV shows from third-party streaming sites such as FreeVee and Twitch. However, many customers are questioning this reasoning.