Paid for Prime Video, Got Ads Instead? Australia Sues Amazon Over Streaming Changes

Amazon is facing fresh legal trouble after Australia's competition watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission , or ACCC , filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court accusing the company of unfairly introducing advertisements on Prime Video and then charging subscribers extra to remove them.

The ACCC alleges that between November 2023 and August 2025 , Amazon Australia's Prime subscription contracts contained terms allowing the company to alter the service, provided customers were notified of adverse changes. The regulator claims Amazon relied on these clauses to insert ads into Prime Video and subsequently demand A$2.99 per month extra for ad free viewing , despite subscribers having already paid A$79 upfront for an annual membership.

More than 850,000 Australians had prepaid for their annual subscription when the changes rolled out in July 2024 , leaving them with what the ACCC describes as a downgraded service unless they paid the additional fee. The regulator also alleges Amazon relied on five unfair contract terms that let it make major changes to Prime services without offering refunds or adequate compensation, and claims Amazon.com Services LLC helped draft the contracts and knowingly participated in the conduct.

ACCC Chair Gina Cass Gottlieb said the watchdog alleges Amazon included multiple unfair terms in its agreements with Australian annual subscribers and used them to introduce ads on the platform. The investigation followed a wave of consumer complaints after ads first appeared, given Prime Video is Australia's second most popular streaming service, trailing only Netflix .

The Australian case adds to mounting global scrutiny of Amazon's advertising rollout. In Germany , a class action lawsuit has gathered more than 200,000 consumers demanding reimbursement of 3 euros for every month since ads began appearing in early 2024, a case that could cost Amazon over 1.8 billion euros . A Munich court had earlier ruled against the company in December, though Amazon plans to appeal.

In the United States , a similar consolidated class action was dismissed by a Washington federal judge , who ruled subscribers had merely purchased access to Prime Video subject to changes Amazon was contractually authorised to make, though plaintiffs were given 30 days to refile.

Amazon's model, charging 2.99 dollars or euros monthly to stay ad free within its standard plan, differs from rivals such as Netflix , Disney Plus and HBO Max , which introduced advertising through separate, cheaper ad supported tiers rather than altering existing subscriptions, a distinction increasingly central to the legal challenges piling up against the company worldwide.