Amazon’s New CTV Formats: A Glimpse at the Future of Streaming Ads?

At its Upfronts in New York this week (May 12, 2025), Amazon revealed three new AI-powered ad formats for Prime Video. It’s an ambitious step that blends ecommerce, machine learning, and Connected TV — and while it’s early days, the implications are worth watching.

The standout is the Contextual Pause Ad — using AI to analyse paused scenes and serve creative that fits the moment. Alongside this are Shoppable Ads featuring real-time pricing and delivery info from Amazon, and new Off-Amazon CTAs allowing users to book appointments or subscribe directly from the ad.

What makes this interesting isn’t just the tech — it’s the context. With over 130 million monthly users in the US and 19 million in the UK on Prime Video’s ad-supported tier, Amazon is positioning itself as a serious player in CTV media, with the scale & innovation to challenge for future leadership.

For advertisers, this opens up new creative and commercial possibilities. But it’s still early. Adoption, user receptivity, and measurable outcomes will ultimately determine whether this becomes a niche experiment or a new standard.

Still, the direction is clear: Amazon is testing what happens when content, commerce, and context collide — and the results could reshape how we think about streaming ads.