Starting in January, Amazon Prime Video viewers will have to pay an extra $2.99 a month to avoid seeing advertisements. This new fee was announced to take effect at the beginning of the year and is expected to be implemented across all territories that currently have access to Amazon Prime Video. The new $2.99 fee will give subscribers an ad-free experience. For those who don’t mind ads, an expanded selection of content will become available for no additional cost. This is a way for Amazon to entice people to stay subscribed to the service. Many streaming services have taken this same route and adopted an ad-supported option for viewers. Hulu, for example, offers a free tier for viewers to watch current shows with commercials or an ad-free option for a few extra dollars per month. Netflix, on the other hand, forgoes ads completely and instead charges for a monthly subscription. The new $2.99 fee for ad-free Amazon Prime Video viewing is relatively cheap and puts Amazon in line with the rest of its streaming competitors. Unlike Netflix and Hulu, Amazon Prime Video already comes bundled with Amazon Prime and therefore can charge a smaller price for its ad-free option. This is a great deal for those who don’t want to be inundated with ads while streaming. Overall, the new fee for ad-free streaming from Amazon Prime Video gives viewers more control over what they watch and how they watch it. This is great news for those who prefer their streaming experience ad-free. For the rest, they can still access content without incurring extra charges.