Amazon says the ad-supported streaming plan of its Prime Video service now reaches more than 130 million American consumers, and the company is rolling out new technology to help marketers deliver their spots to TV, film and sports fans within its connected TV app.
The affirmation was made during the company’s UpFront presentation on Monday. Amazon releases data on the number of people watching content on its ad-supported plan of Prime Video, which was introduced nearly two years ago.
Prime Video is included with a membership to Prime, which costs $15 per month and includes other perks like free one-day or two-day shipping on most retail items sold, streaming music, online photo storage and more. A standalone subscription to Prime Video is also available for around $9 per month.
Amazon used to offer most of its Prime Video shows and movies without advertisements, but introduced the ad-supported plan by default; it now charges streamers an extra $3 per month if they want to remove commercials from on-demand content. Prime Video is the most-used subscription streaming service in the U.S., according to data from Parks Associates.
Advertising is becoming a bigger part of Amazon’s overall business, with ad buys accounting for more than $17 billion in Amazon’s overall revenue during the fourth quarter (Q4) of last year.
On Monday, Amazon told prospective advertisers that most of its Prime Video users — nearly nine out of 10 streamers — also shop for things on Amazon’s online store. Moving forward, Amazon plans to launch new technology that further integrates the two platforms, including AI-powered contextual ad spots with automatically-generated, “hyper-relevant ad copy to make ads feel like natural extensions of what viewers are watching,” Amazon said.
“Our ad formats are proven to drive measurable action on and off Amazon,” said Alan Moss, the Vice President of Global Ad Sales at Amazon, said in a statement. “Based on Amazon’s signals and fully addressable and authenticated audiences, we are uniquely positioned to offer viewers scene-aware ads as extensions of the entertainment experience, not interruptions.”
Moss continued: “Starting this year, we are introducing a contextual advertising experience that dynamically aligns the ad message with the content viewers are watching, creating a natural and relevant connection. Based on Amazon’s signals and fully addressable and authenticated audiences, we are uniquely positioned to offer viewers scene-aware ads as extensions of the entertainment experience, not interruptions.”
The first of those spots will involve Amazon’s “pause ads” feature, which overlays brand messaging when content is briefly stopped within Prime Video. Another feature will allow Prime members to add items to their Amazon shopping carts when they see an ad for a product or service.
