Max Quietly Updates Help Page, Boosts Commercial Breaks and Doubles Ad Time

Max, the streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, has quietly increased the number of ads it shows to viewers on its lower-cost, ad-supported plan.

Recently, the company updated its help page to say that users on the “Basic with Ads” tier will now see up to six minutes of ads per hour. This is a significant jump from the previous limit of four minutes, which was listed just earlier this year, according to records from the Wayback Machine.

When HBO Max introduced this cheaper plan back in 2021, it promised viewers fewer ads and no commercials during HBO original shows. That promise no longer holds true. Some users have noticed multiple ad breaks even during popular HBO series like The Last of Us, including ads before the episode starts. The streaming service, which is soon to be renamed back to HBO Max, has quietly dropped its original ad-free claims.

Max isn’t the only streaming platform adding more commercials. Amazon Prime Video recently doubled the length of its ad breaks, according to AdWeek. Other services like Disney+, Hulu, Discovery+, Peacock, and Netflix have also increased ad times in recent years.

What makes Max’s change stand out is how openly it has gone back on its earlier commitments. At one point, the company said it was dedicated to offering “the lowest commercial ad load in the streaming industry.” Now, it’s near the top for ad quantity compared to other subscription-based streaming services.

This pattern of adding more ads over time isn’t new. Many streaming services start with promises of fewer commercials to attract viewers. Hulu’s CEO Jason Kilar said back in 2008 that showing fewer ads made them more effective. “The notion that less is more is absolutely playing out on Hulu,” he told The New York Times. But Hulu quickly changed its approach. By 2010, it was adding more ads, and by 2023, it averaged over seven minutes of commercials per hour—more than any other major streamer, according to data from MediaRadar shared with Insider.

Disney+ followed a similar path. When it launched an ad-supported option in 2022, the company said it would keep ads to about four minutes per hour. However, less than a year later, that number had risen to over five minutes per hour, based on the same MediaRadar data.

Amazon entered the ad-supported market in 2023 with a promise to keep ads lower than traditional TV, aiming for between two and 3.5 minutes per hour, The Wall Street Journal reported. But AdWeek says the actual ad time on Prime Video is now between four and six minutes per hour.

It’s worth noting that traditional cable TV still has the most ads. Wurl data shows that standard TV broadcasts run about 15 to 18 minutes of commercials every hour. Even free streaming services like Pluto TV and Tubi typically show around nine minutes of ads per hour. However, the trend of increasing ads on paid streaming services is making some subscribers question if their subscriptions are still good value.

As traditional TV audiences shrink, streaming platforms seem to be making up for lost revenue by increasing ad time. This means viewers not only face rising subscription prices but also longer ad breaks.

From my point of view, it’s frustrating to see streaming services break promises about ad limits. Many people signed up expecting fewer ads, especially on premium plans. It’s one thing to raise subscription costs openly, but quietly adding more commercials without warning feels like a breach of trust. What do you think? Are you okay with more ads if it keeps prices lower, or does this change cross a line for you? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.