Amazon Prime Video lets people ‘pre-order’ controversial ad upgrade

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Amazon is now letting customers “pre-order” its controversial new Prime Video upgrade.

This week, Amazon announced that films and TV shows on Prime Video would now include advertising.

It claimed that doing so would help it invest in new films and TV shows, claiming it “will allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time”. It also promised that it would “aim to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers”.

But customers have reacted to the plans with outrage. Some customers said the decision could be the “last straw” and that they would consider leaving the platform.

The only way to avoid the new advertising is to pay an upgrade fee. It will cost $2.99 per month in the US, where it will be introduced at the end of January, and £2.99 in the UK when it is introduced on 5 February.

Customers are now able to sign up for that service, thanks to a new page on Amazon’s website. It can be accessed through the local version of Amazon, and customers will be required to sign in before volunteering to pay for the ad-free upgrade.

Users do not gain anything by signing up early, apart from ensuring that they will not be part of the introduction of ads. The company is not offering any discount for signing up early, for instance.

It also notes that even those who pay will continue to see some ads. “Live events, such as sports, and content offered through Amazon Freevee will continue to include advertising,” it warns on its site.