Amazon Sued in Australia Over Prime Video Ads
Australia's consumer watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, has launched legal action against Amazon Australia over its decision to add advertisements to Prime Video and charge subscribers extra to keep watching ad-free.
What the ACCC Alleges
The regulator claims Amazon used unfair contract terms that allowed it to:
Change Prime Video from an ad-free service to an ad-supported one.
Do so after customers had already paid for annual Prime memberships.
Require subscribers to pay an additional fee to restore the ad-free experience.
Make significant service changes without providing refunds or compensation.
According to the ACCC, more than one million Australian Prime subscribers may have been affected between November 2023 and August 2025.
The Core Issue
Many customers had prepaid A$79 annually for Prime membership, which included ad-free Prime Video.
When Amazon introduced ads in 2024:
Existing subscribers began receiving an ad-supported version of Prime Video.
To continue watching without ads, they reportedly had to pay an extra A$2.99 per month.
More than 850,000 subscribers had already paid for annual memberships when the change was implemented.
The ACCC argues that these users effectively received a reduced version of the service they had already purchased unless they paid more.
What the Regulator Is Seeking
The ACCC is asking the Federal Court for:
Financial penalties
Consumer compensation or redress
Court declarations
Legal costs
Other corrective orders
Amazon's Response
Amazon said it is reviewing the lawsuit and noted that it has cooperated with the ACCC throughout the investigation.
Why This Case Matters
The lawsuit could become an important test of whether subscription companies can:
Change key features of prepaid services mid-contract,
Introduce advertisements to previously ad-free products,
And rely on broad contractual terms to justify those changes.
The outcome may have implications not only for streaming services but also for subscription-based businesses worldwide, as regulators increasingly scrutinize how companies alter services after customers have already paid.
