Brace Yourself for Enhanced Ad Interruptions on Fallout Streaming via Amazon Prime Video
Amazon is about to ramp up its advertising game on Prime Video, introducing additional ads to leverage your Prime subscription and push more sales. This move comes after Amazon recently starting to bombard Prime Video subscribers with ads unless they fork over an extra $3 a month.
We already have start-of-show ads, but soon, you'll seepause ads, carousel ads, and trivia ads all centering around Prime shopping. Amazon's blog post explains that these pages will let users add items to their cart without leaving Prime Video. Pause ads, in particular, will be constantly present whenever you pause your content, with a transparent banner promoting products you can add to your cart. Hulu introduced pause ads back in 2019, and now YouTube is jumping on the bandwagon with its service.
Pause ads will be ubiquitous, but at least you can more easily ignore them compared to the carousel and trivia ads. Shoppable carousel ads will appear during Prime's regular commercial breaks, allowing users to click through these products using their mouse or remote. Trivia ads will also appear during breaks, testing your knowledge, explaining a product, and offering an option to add to cart.
These ads are supposed to start rolling out throughout 2024, scaling up as time goes on. In essence, Amazon is trying to fully integrate its digital retail empire with its streaming service. Other services have experimented with QR codes, but now viewers on Prime won't just have to deal with the subtle manipulation of sponsorships or advertisements, but direct calls to action to buy, buy, buy.
In advance of Amazon's big Upfront conference on May 14, the company is clearly trying to sell advertisers on the benefits of pushing their products and services on Amazon. The real question is whether Amazon will use its first-party data for targeted advertising on Prime Video. Based on Amazon Ad's VP of Global Ad Sales, Alan Moss's statements, it seems likes the company is planning to "transform streaming advertising through our differentiated combination of reach, first-party signals, and ad tech."
Remember when Amazon forced ads on Prime Video subscribers in January for those paying $15 for the video service alone each month or $139 a year for Prime? You had to pay an extra $3 a month to skip ads. After a few months, it's clear the introduction of ads has unquestionably worsened the service. There aren't nearly as many ads on Prime Video as on streaming services like Hulu or even Netflix, but they still interrupt the viewing experience.
In a way, Amazon isn't so different from any other streaming platform. Streaming prices have soared, and the last time Amazon increased its Prime subscription price was in 2022. However, the way Amazon implemented its ad offering feels worse than how Netflix introduced its cheaper streaming tier last year, even though it will soon eliminate the Netflix Basic subscription tier. Amazon is facing a potential class-action lawsuit claiming the company "deceived" users on its once-ad-less streaming service.
Using its first-party data for targeted advertising offers Amazon several advantages over third-party cookie-based advertising. For instance, Amazon collects direct data from users' purchase behavior, browsing habits, and search history on its platform, providing more precise targeting. Furthermore, advertisers can leverage this data to target users in a seamless environment where viewers can easily transition from watching an ad to purchasing products. Lastly, Amazon's ad placements are on premium platforms like Prime Video, ensuring brand safety and effective reach.
- Amazon's upcoming move involves integrating more ads into Prime Video, specifically pause ads, carousel ads, and trivia ads, all centered around Prime shopping.
- Pause ads will persistently appear on your screen whenever you pause your content, serving as a constant reminder for potential purchases.
- Amazon seems to be planning to exploit its first-party data for targeted advertising on Prime Video to enhance the effectiveness of its ads.
- In the future, viewing experiences on Prime Video may be disrupted more significantly as ad offerings scale up, raising concerns about user experience and potential lawsuits.
