Amazon Prime Video will start showing ads on January 29th

At the beginning of the year, Amazon declared that they would introduce advertisements into movies and TV shows viewed on their Prime Video service. Recently, the company stated the precise date when these ads will start popping up: January 29th. In an email to their customers, Amazon explained that this change will permit them to maintain the investment in creating interesting content and enhance the investment over a prolonged period. They also mentioned that the advertisements will be limited.

Our goal is to have significantly less advertisement content compared to traditional television and other streaming services. You don't need to do anything and your Prime membership fee will remain the same. Customers also have the choice to pay an extra $2.99 each month to remain ad-free.

The remaining parts of the email outline the several advantages of subscribing to Prime - probably an effort to deter customers from discontinuing the service due to this verdict. The initial announcement made in September did not sit well with Verge readers.

Right now, Amazon Prime costs $14.99 per month or $139 per year. (If you only want Prime Video, it's $8.99/month.) But if you want to watch without ads, a new fee would bring the cost of Prime up to almost $18 per month. And if you only have Prime Video, this change would make it cost just under $12 per month.

Amazon also runs Freevee, which is a streaming service that is absolutely free, but supported by advertisements. The email sent out by the company makes it clear that live events like sports, as well as anything that can be watched on Amazon Freevee, will always contain some form of advertising.

Many other streaming services are increasing their prices recently, so Amazon Prime has decided to make a move as well. While the monthly fee for Prime will remain the same, if you want to keep using all the current features and services, you will need to pay extra from January 29th onwards.