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Amazon Plans to Advertise Products on Prime Video Pause Screens

Three new interactive ad formats are set to be unveiled this year.

Aaron Pruner
Aaron Pruner is a writer at CNET. He covers what's exciting and new in the world of home entertainment and streaming TV. Previously, he wrote about entertainment for places like Rotten Tomatoes, Inverse, TheWrap, and The Hollywood Reporter. Aaron is also an actor and stay-at-home dad, which means coffee is his friend.
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Aaron Pruner
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Prime Video viewers will soon be able to purchase Amazon products via commercials on the streaming service. Ahead of its debut Upfront presentation, Amazon announced on Tuesday the plan to roll out three new interactive ad formats to its Prime Video streaming platform later this year. Once live, the new ads will appear during Prime Video TV shows, movies and live sporting events.

The interactive ad formats are divided into three types: shoppable carousel ads, interactive pause ads and interactive brand trivia ads. 

The shoppable carousel ad format offers a variety of products. When users engage with it, the ad will automatically pause, allowing users to browse and add products to their Amazon shopping cart. Once they're finished, the commercial will continue playing. Interactive pause ads will appear when viewers hit the pause button on the Prime Video content they're watching. They'll appear translucent on screen with "Add to Cart" and "Learn More" overlay buttons. The interactive brand trivia ad format lets companies share details and tidbits about their brand with viewers and allows viewers to add products to their cart, learn about services, and claim rewards.

Related story: Streaming Prime Video With Ads Is Light Work

"Amazon Ads continues to reimagine the streaming TV experience with interactive ad formats that are seamlessly shoppable and help advertisers meaningfully connect with customers," Alan Moss, vice president of global ad sales for Amazon Ads, said in a statement.

Amazon didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Amazon introduced ads on Prime Video in early 2024, joining the ranks of streaming competitors that also offer ad-supported tiers. If you're accessing Prime Video through an Amazon Prime membership ($15 a month or $139 a year) or a $9 monthly standalone Prime Video membership and you'd like to enjoy your favorite movies and TV shows without ads, you can do so for an additional $3 per month. Note that live sports and events programming will still include commercials, and trailers will appear before on-demand content.

To keep up with Prime Video's latest content offerings, check out our rundown of the streamer's best TV shows to watch and its lineup of sci-fi programming.