Amazon Prime putting in commercials

Posted by dpeterson on Friday August 19, 2016 @07:50PM
from the self-post dept.

Why is Amazon injecting commercials in their Prime content? I was just subjected to a Geico commercial. I pay for no commercials. That is the only reason I have it. Why is there not a firestorm about this online? I contacted customer support and they told me they are called "snippets" based on my viewing habits; "they aren't commercials". I will be cancelling if this does not change.

( 11 comments | 57 points | on HN )

Re:Amazon Prime putting in commercials by wodenokoto on Saturday August 20, 2016 @12:12PM (#12327169)

Write up a blog post with some screenshots of the ad and the absolutely ridiculous customer response, and I am sure you can reach the front page of reddit.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Amazon Prime putting in commercials by paulcole on Saturday August 20, 2016 @09:05PM (#12329003)

"I pay for no commercials."

Where does Amazon say this? I might be dense but I've never seen them promote their content as "commercial free."

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Re:Amazon Prime putting in commercials by sugarygrind on Friday August 19, 2016 @11:26PM (#12325018)

Wow.. I dint expect ads on Prime content! Amazon will charge for Video and Music subscription separately?. Ad supported for just prime?

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Re:Amazon Prime putting in commercials by DanBC on Saturday August 20, 2016 @09:11PM (#12329018)

Prime music is ad-free. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/prime/pipeline/landing?ie=UTF8&*...

> Prime Music

> Ad-free albums, playlists and stations with Prime Music. Prime Music gives you ad-free albums, playlists and stations. Listen to the music you love and find new music that fits your tastes.

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Re:Amazon Prime putting in commercials by SpikeDad on Saturday August 20, 2016 @02:38PM (#12327799)

What service were you using to watch Prime? I have to say that I have not seen any commercials using my Vizio Smart TV interface which I was watching 3 of the new pilots.

I would agree that any commercials on Prime and I would strongly consider cancelling. I cancelled Hulu for the same reason.

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Re:Amazon Prime putting in commercials by paulcole on Saturday August 20, 2016 @09:06PM (#12329006)

"I cancelled Hulu for the same reason."

Isn't Hulu pretty up-front about their commercials? What were you expecting vs. what you received?

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Re:Amazon Prime putting in commercials by dlhavema on Tuesday August 23, 2016 @07:17PM (#12348549)

Hulu was nice at first, until i realized that they couldn't handle slicing up a show to inject commercials to save their lives.

example:

  1. original scene change/comercial at 00:58
  2. show runs up until 01:00
  3. hulu then starts to buffer the commercial
  4. hulu then resumes show, but backs up to 00:55 showing the fade to black and some of the show again...

maybe they've gotten better, but this was an awful experience.

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Re:Amazon Prime putting in commercials by clintonb on Saturday August 20, 2016 @07:37AM (#12326106)

I recall seeing them on some pilots. The ad appeared once before the show for 15-30s. I don't recall any in-show commercials.

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Re:Amazon Prime putting in commercials by 0942v8653 on Saturday August 20, 2016 @07:13AM (#12326049)

Wow. How often do they show up? Are they skippable? This is pretty ridiculous, after making such a big deal of it being ad-free.

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Re:Amazon Prime putting in commercials by 0942v8653 on Saturday August 20, 2016 @04:19PM (#12328159)

Ok. It looks like it is just a single ad before the content of each of the pilots in the current promotion. Definitely a bit silly but not outrageous.

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Re:Amazon Prime putting in commercials by kasey_junk on Friday August 19, 2016 @10:18PM (#12324787)

Fight the power cuz.

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