Subscriber sues Amazon for adding ads to Prime Video

Amazon is being sued in the US after it started showing ads on Prime Video in January. As reported by Variation Last Wednesday (14) the plaintiff accused big tech of misleading advertising by charging extra for not running ads.

Subscriber of the streaming platform Wilbert Napoleon, the company’s violated Washington and California state consumer protection laws that prohibit unfair competition as well as deceptive business practices and practices, while collecting the additional amount. The lawsuit was filed in Eastvale, California.

“For years, people have purchased and renewed Amazon Prime subscriptions believing that they would include ad-free streaming,” Napoleon says in the lawsuit. For him, Former subscribers are already paying for the ad-free version that has been available since the service’s launch, so the tech giant couldn’t charge such people more..

According to the author, Amazon’s conduct in this change was “immoral, unethical, oppressive, unscrupulous, and grossly harmful to consumers.” HE footAsk a US court to block extra fees and is seeking damages of an undisclosed amount.

This type of process is not uncommon and has even occurred in Brazil. At the end of last year, a decision of the São Paulo Court of Justice was made public, condemning Globoplay’s display of advertising even to those who had paid for the subscription.

Billion dollar revenue from ads

The target of this lawsuit, filed in a court in California last week, is that advertising on Amazon Prime Video is expected to generate billions of dollars in revenue for the e-commerce giant. Analysts believe the company can take This measure will generate $3 billion in revenue in 2024equivalent to almost R$15 billion at the day’s exchange rate.

It launched in the US and Canada on January 29. Ads on Prime Video will soon reach more countriesThe company is following the same strategy adopted by its rivals such as Netflix and Disney+. Subscribers who want to continue watching content without ads must pay an additional fee of US$ 2.99 (approximately R$ 14.86 at current exchange rate).

Amazon chose not to take a position on surcharge appeal process. “We cannot comment on pending litigation,” a platform representative said in an email to the publication. Variation.