Amazon Prime Video to roll out adverts from February - with users forced to pay more for ad-free experience

27 December 2023, 20:02 | Updated: 27 December 2023, 20:11

Amazon Prime Video is rolling out adverts from February - and users who do not want them will be forced to pay more each month.

Prime Video users in the UK will begin seeing adverts from February 5, unless they pay £2.99 more a month to go ad-free.

It will come a week after the US, which is set to have ads introduced from January 29.

Amazon is following in the footsteps of rival streaming giants in a bid to generate more cash.

Netflix and Disney+ both introduced ad tiers and cracked down on password sharing this year.

In an email to Prime members, Amazon said the change would allow it to "continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time".

It said it aimed to have "meaningfully fewer ads than ad-supported TV channels and other streaming TV providers".

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The tech giant confirmed earlier this year that it would begin rolling out advertising on Prime Video in several countries, including the UK, US, Germany and Canada.

Users will not be required to take any action before the change kicks in and there will be no change to the current price of a user's membership - unless they choose to sign up for the ad-free option.

Amazon Prime currently costs £8.99 a month in the UK for services including next-day and same-day delivery on millions of items on the marketplace, ad-free listening on its music streaming platform, and access to original TV series and films on Prime Video.

The company said that price will not be changing in 2024.