AMAZON Prime is set to introduce adverts to UK subscribers today, which has left customers fuming.
The company had been warning customers of the introduction of adverts and a new ad-free subscription tier earlier this week.
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Prime customers in the UK will have to pay an additional £2.99 per month to retain their ad-free experience from 5 January onwards.
Customers in the US will also undergo a similar transition on January 29, when Amazon ushers in a new ad-free option for an additional $2.99 per month.
Amazon has described these as “limited advertisement”, so they’ll likely appear as before, after and perhaps during streamable content.
“This will allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time,” Amazon said in a message to customers.
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“We aim to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers.”
No action is required from customers, and no money will be automatically taken from their accounts.
Customers will have to manually switch to the ad-free tier for an extra £2.99/ $2.99 per month.
Despite Amazon’s email warnings, many Prime customers are shocked by the news, and have taken to social media with their complaints.
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Onlookers have said that with the recent cost of living squeeze, streaming companies like Prime, Netflix and Disney – which have all raised rates in the past year – have made “budgeting decisions too easy”.
“Slowly, but surely, we’re going right back to cable,” another wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Others have called out Amazon for it’s “greed” in raising prices, considering the company’s turnover.
“‘We’re the richest company in the world, lets make more,'” another onlooker wrote satirically.
