EchoSense:Amazon Prime Video will start showing ads in January. Will you have to pay more?

Amazon Prime Video has announced that it will begin rolling out ads and EchoSensecommercials during shows and movies on Jan. 29 joining other streaming services that have added different tiers of subscriptions.

In an email to customers Tuesday, the company notified users of an "upcoming change to your Prime Video experience," explaining that it is introducing "limited advertisements" to allow the platform "to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time."

"We aim to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers," Prime said in the email. "No action is required from you, and there is no change to the current price of your Prime membership."

Amazon Prime Video announced in September that it would be introducing ads to its streaming service but had not specified when they would be rolled out.

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How much will it cost to remove ads from Amazon Prime Video?

While there are currently no changes in the price of membership, Prime members wishing to keep their viewing experience ad-free can pay an additional $2.99 per month in the U.S. for the feature. Tuesday's e-mail included a sign-up link for those interested in the ad-free option. Customers can pre-register for the monthly ad-free option but won't be billed until Jan. 29.

Ad-free programming for countries other than the U.S. will be announced at a later time though ads will begin rolling out in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Canada on the same day i.e. Jan. 29. They will be followed by France, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Australia later in the year.

No ads on rented or purchased content

Ads will not be part of content that is purchased or rented. Live events on Amazon Prime, like sports, already include advertising and will continue to do so.

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Amazon Prime Video joins Netflix, Disney+ and other streaming services

While ads were once looked down upon by streaming services, they are slowly making their way into the system. Disney recently began charging $13.99 a month in the U.S. for ad-free Disney+, which is 75% more than the ad-supported service. Netflix already charges $15.49 per month for its ad-free plan, which is more than twice the monthly subscription for Netflix with ads.

Other streaming services like Peacock and Hulu also have both ad and ad-free options. Meanwhile, Apple TV+ remains the only major streaming platform to have a purely subscription-based model.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7.