Amazon seems to have found a way to make streaming feel even more like cable TV, and not in a good way.
At its 2025 unBoxed conference, Amazon Ads unveiled location-based interactive video ads for Prime Video, a feature that tailors ads according to where you live. In theory, it’s “personalization.” In practice, it’s another reminder that the viewer is now the product.
Brands can now show you regional discounts, local dealership offers, or restaurant promotions, all embedded within your Prime Video experience. You can even respond to the ad using your TV remote, after which Amazon conveniently sends a link to your device or inbox. It’s sleek, it’s smart, and it’s disturbingly intrusive.
This comes shortly after Amazon announced that its ad-supported Prime Video tier now reaches 315 million monthly viewers, a number the company touts as a milestone. But when you consider that these ads were added by default, not by choice, that figure starts to look less like growth and more like entrapment.
Prime Video once promised an ad-free alternative to traditional television. Now, it’s reintroducing everything streaming was supposed to replace, targeted commercials, upsells, and constant nudges to engage.
Amazon calls it innovation. Viewers might call it surveillance with better lighting…ironically. The more “personal” these ads become, the less personal streaming feels.
Yes, it’ll increase the numbers, the ad revenue will skyrocket as well. But, the viewers will feel watched, and no one likes that.
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