At UnBoxed 2024, an event organized by Amazon’s advertising division Amazon Ads, the e-commerce giant announced on October 15 that it would expand the geographic reach of the ad-supported version of its streaming service Amazon Prime Video. The ad-based tier is to be introduced into Brazil, India, Japan, The Netherlands and New Zealand next year. Brazil will become the second Latin American country to offer this version of the OTT, given that in Mexico it has been available since April 2024.

In early 2024, Amazon Prime Video joined the trend towards offering lower priced ad-supported plans alreeady adopted by the main streaming platforms, such as Netflix, Disney+ and Max. Initially introduced in the United States, the ad-based option was soon made available in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Austria, France, Italy, Spain and Mexico.

According to a press release issued by Amazon, “The expansion of Prime Video ads will support the ongoing creation of compelling content over a long period of time and help brands of all sizes connect with new audiences in new countries.” Alan Moss, Vice President of Global Ad Sales at Amazon Ads, said: “Since we introduced Prime Video ads earlier this year, we have been able to help brands and advertisers achieve full-funnel business results thanks to the differentiated value we offer across our premium content, reach, first-party signals, and innovative ad tech.”

Upon launch in a new market, the ad-based plan is automatically applied to all those who have subscribed to the OTT service, without any change in the monthly fee. If the user prefers the ad-free option, an extra fee will be charged.

The expansion of the ad-based version is in line with the information revealed by Amazon Prime Video International Vice President Kelly Day a few days ago to British newspaper Financial Times. The executive said that in view of the good results they had been achieving, they would increase the number of spaces available for advertising in their ad-supported tier.