A Disturbing Email from Amazon

Jules said:

Wonder what the difference is that some don’t pay any extra to avoid ads.

Click to expand...

this is what Chatgpt says


Amazon doesn’t really have a simple “pay to remove ads everywhere” model, so the difference you’re noticing usually comes down to how ads are targeted and where you’re seeing them.


Here are the main reasons some people see fewer (or no) ads:


1. Personalisation and tracking settings
On Amazon, ads are heavily personalised. If someone has:

• turned off ad personalisation
• limited tracking (via browser settings, VPNs, or device privacy controls)
  they may still get ads, but they’ll be much less noticeable or relevant—sometimes looking like normal listings rather than “ads.”

2. Account activity (or lack of it)
Amazon’s ad system relies on browsing and purchase history. If someone:

• rarely uses Amazon
• clears cookies often
• uses private browsing
  there’s less data to target them, so fewer ads get shown.

3. Ad blockers or browser setups
Some people use:

• browser extensions (like uBlock Origin)
• privacy-focused browsers
  These can hide sponsored placements on Amazon pages, especially on desktop.

4. Placement differences (what you’re calling “ads”)
Amazon ads are often just:

• “Sponsored” product listings in search results
• promoted items on product pages

Some users don’t recognise these as ads, or their layout differs slightly by device/app, making them less obvious.


5. Region and experiments
Amazon constantly runs A/B tests. Depending on:

• country
• device (app vs desktop)
• account group
  some users simply get fewer ad slots.

6. Prime doesn’t remove shopping ads
Amazon Prime doesn’t remove ads from shopping results. It only affects things like shipping, video, etc. (and even Prime Video now has ads unless you pay extra in some regions).

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If you’re seeing way more ads than others, it’s usually a mix of:

• highly active browsing history
• ad personalisation being fully enabled
• no ad blocker in use

If you want, tell me what device/app you’re using (phone app, desktop browser, etc.), and I can explain exactly where those ads are coming from and how to reduce them.

I joined Amazon a long time ago, when it first started. The funny thing is, it had absolutely nothing to do with Prime or movie watching. I was a book seller back then, and advertised on Amazon, then shipped the books to the buyers. Somewhere along the line, I started getting emails from Amazon advertising the latest movies on their station. My reaction: Huh? I didn't know anything about it. My Amazon membership saved me a fortune in postage fees for my little book selling business. (Shipping is free for the seller.)

So I took a peek at Prime on TV and got hooked. It was like an extra bonus that I didn't even expect. I had been using other channels until then, probably HBO and Netflix (don't remember any more).

My Prime movies and series are free to me; I refuse to pay anyone for any movie, figuring that I'm already paying enough for my membership. I find it very annoying that all of a sudden Netflix is charging for almost any movie, not a lot, usually $3.95 but still. I just refuse to pay it.