Did Amazon dupe Prime Video subscribers by adding commercials to the formerly ad-free streaming service? Yes, it did, argues the plaintiff behind a recently filed federal lawsuit.
The proposed class-action lawsuit, which was filed last week in California federal court, accuses Amazon of pulling a bait-and-switch when it abruptly announced it would inject ads into Prime Video, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The suit names Prime Video subscriber Wilbert Napoleon as the plaintiff, along with a proposed class of other Prime Video users who had signed up prior to December 28, 2023.
According to the lawsuit, Napoleon renewed his annual membership back in June 2023, believing it would offer “ad-free streaming of TV shows and movies for the price of the Prime annual subscription.”
When Amazon began charging $2.99 a month extra for ad-free Prime Video streaming in the middle of Napoleon’s annual subscription, Amazon “breached its contract,” the lawsuit argues.
The lawsuit seeks at least $5 million in damages, The Hollywood Reporter notes, as well as an injunction prohibiting Amazon’s “deceptive conduct.”
Amazon announced last September that it would begin showing ads on Prime Video, but it didn’t give an exact date until December 27, 2023. The actual rollout for Prime Video ads began in the U.S. on January 29, 2024.
As it turns out, the arrival of ads isn’t the only thing that changed for existing Prime Video subscribers, with both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos support disappearing unless you pony up for premium ad-free streaming.
The lawsuit raises interesting questions for those of us who signed up for annual Prime memberships before Amazon’s Prime Video bombshell.
Speaking for myself, I reupped for a year of Prime last April, several months before Amazon dropped its news about putting ads on Prime Video. (It’s worth noting that Thursday Night Football and other live sporting events on Prime Video already had commercial breaks). Now, I have to pay $2.99 a month extra to get the streaming experience I originally expected.
Of course, Amazon could have chosen to grandfather annual Prime members into the new ad-free tier for the remainder of our year-long subscriptions.
But it didn’t, and here we are.
Author: Ben Patterson, Senior Writer
Ben has been writing about technology and consumer electronics for more than 20 years. A PCWorld contributor since 2014, Ben joined TechHive in 2019, where he covers smart speakers, soundbars, and other smart and home-theater devices. You can follow Ben on Twitter.