Amazon doubles Prime Video ad load to 4–6 minutes per hour
With four to six minutes of ads per hour, Prime Video now sits squarely in the industry’s “middle tier” alongside services like Hulu and Paramount+, far below traditional linear TV, where ad time often reaches 13–16 minutes per hour.
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Amazon has nearly doubled the ad load on Prime Video just 18 months after first introducing commercials on the platform, ADWEEK reported. As per the media report, Prime Video ad load has gradually increased to four to six minutes per hour.
While Amazon had previously hinted at a ramp-up in ad inventory to investors, the shift hasn’t been publicly acknowledged to consumers. The stealthy increase has sparked scrutiny among ad buyers, who say the change reflects Amazon’s broader ambitions to scale its streaming advertising business and compete more aggressively with other ad-supported platforms.
When Prime Video first rolled out ads, Amazon opted for a light approach to ease viewer backlash. The service, included by default for over 150 million Prime subscribers, initially offered one of the lowest ad loads in the streaming landscape. But by late 2024, Amazon had already signaled to Wall Street that it would begin “right-sizing” its ad inventory.
With four to six minutes of ads per hour, Prime Video now sits squarely in the industry’s “middle tier” alongside services like Hulu and Paramount+, far below traditional linear TV, where ad time often reaches 13–16 minutes per hour. Netflix still holds the lowest ad load among major streamers.
The growth in inventory could also help Amazon better serve niche verticals and make fuller use of its proprietary ad tech stack, including Amazon Marketing Cloud and its demand-side platform. But despite these advances, some advertisers remain cautious due to measurement limitations.
Amazon’s shift aligns with a larger push to evolve Prime Video into a full-scale ad platform. Alongside the expanded ad load, the company has introduced new tools for marketers, including show-level audience data, private auction capabilities and upcoming contextual targeting products.
