Tag: ads

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Mobile Syrup

Netflix boosts ad tier with 1080p quality, two simultaneous streams in Canada

Netflix rolled out its cheaper, ad-supported ‘Standard with ads’ tier roughly five months ago. Now the streaming giant is making some significant changes that will improve the value of the plan.

As spotted by The Verge, Netflix laid out the changes in its Q1 2023 letter to investors. The streamer will bump video quality on the ad tier from 720p to 1080p. Moreover, it will let subscribers watch two streams at once. The letter notes the changes will go into effect in Canada and Spain immediately and will eventually come to all 12 markets where it offers the ad tier later this month.

The Netflix website already lists the video quality change to Standard with ads tier on the plan comparison page. Interestingly, this makes Standard with ads a significantly better option than Netflix’s $9.99 ‘Basic’ tier that still locks content to 720p. Basic does offer some features that Standard with ads doesn’t, like the ability to download content to watch offline.

Along with the changes to Standard with ads, Netflix said it was “pleased” with the performance of its “per-member advertising economics” and notes that engagement on the ads tier is “above our initial expectations.”

So far, Netflix says it hasn’t seen many people switching from Standard or Premium to ad plans. Moreover, the company says Standard with ads now has, on average, roughly 95 percent content parity globally with ads-free plans. Netflix says its ads plan already has a total average revenue per membership (ARM) — from subscriptions and ads combined — that’s “greater than our standard plan,” which is part of why it’s increasing the video quality.

During the Q1 2023 earnings results, Netflix also said it was “pleased with the results” of paid sharing in Canada and other markets and will expand the program to the U.S. in June. Read more about that here.

Source: Netflix Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Netflix says new ad-supported tier is doing well so far

Netflix claims its lower-cost, ad-supported membership has been performing well so far.

Speaking to Variety during the just-wrapped CES 2023 in Las Vegas, Jeremi Gorman, Netflix’s president of worldwide advertising, spoke more about how the ‘Basic with Ads’ subscription has fared since its November 2022 launch.

According to Gorman, Netflix is “pleased with the growth we’re seeing” in regards to Basic with Ads. For $5.99 CAD/month, the membership plays around four to five minutes of ads per hour across the majority of movies and shows.

Per December Antenna data, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, only nine percent of U.S. Netflix sign-ups in November were for Basic with Ads, making it the least popular option. The company was also said to have failed to meet its minimum viewership guarantee to advertisers, leading it to have to return money to them.

Basic with Ads launched in many countries beyond the U.S., including Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Japan. Therefore, assuming the Antenna data is accurate, it does only cover one market, and in the first month, no less. That said, without Gorman providing any actual data, it’s hard to see through the marketing speak. (At one point, she simply told Variety “You would be able to see if I was a concerned human [regarding Basic with Ads’ performance] — I wear it on my face.”)

In any case, Basic with Ads came amid an indisputably rough patch for Netflix in which it saw first-ever subscriber losses and increasingly stiff competition from the likes of Disney+ and HBO Max. The company has also developed a reputation for cancelling shows, which has only further alienated some consumers. Therefore, Basic with Ads is intended to help drive growth by bringing in new members.

Netflix’s next quarterly earnings report is set for January 19th, so it’s possible the streamer may talk more about the ad-supported tier then.

Source: Variety

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Mobile Syrup

Ads from brands appeared on white nationalist Twitter pages

While some companies, like Apple and Amazon, have started advertising on Twitter again, others have raised concerns after their ads appeared on the pages of white nationalists.

The Washington Post (via The Verge) reported that some 40 high-profile brands and organizations have complained, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Amazon, Uber, Snap, GoDaddy, USA Today and Morning Brew.

Ads for some of these organizations were spotted on the Twitter profiles of Andrew Anglin, the editor of neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer, and Patrick Casey, who previously led the white nationalist group Identity Evropa, later rebranded as the American Identity Movement. Bother Anglin and Casey had their accounts banned from Twitter in 2013 and 2019, respectively. However, after Elon Musk took over Twitter and granted a “general amnesty,” both returned to the platform.

Moreover, The Washington Post reported seeing ads alongside white supremacist posts on Twitter pages with names like “No White Guilt Clips” and “White Power Ranger.”

Image credit: The Washington Post

It’s worth noting that the ads no longer appear on Anglin’s or Casey’s accounts. A Twitter employee told The Washington Post that Twitter pages must be flagged to prevent advertising from appearing on them. Twitter didn’t respond to requests for comment from The Verge or The Washington Post, but that might have something to do with Musk reportedly firing most of the company’s press team.

Speaking of layoffs, if Twitter relies on a system of flagging accounts to prevent advertising from appearing on them, it’s highly likely Anglin, Casey, and others slipped through the cracks. With Musk’s general amnesty allowing thousands of accounts to return to the platform and Twitter operating with a skeleton crew, there just might not be enough people flagging problematic accounts.

The HHS told The Washington Post that it would pull ads from Twitter since “having [ads] appear on hateful Twitter channels is inconsistent with [its] values.” Similarly, USA Today said it would contact Twitter because the content “obviously does not align with [its] values or mission.”

Ultimately, it seems like those who have resumed ads on Twitter (or who never stopped advertising in the first place) may be running into the problems that led several brands and advertising agencies to pull out of Twitter in the first place. After Musk’s takeover, he tweeted that Twitter’s ad revenue had fallen and blamed activists for it. Later, ad agencies labelled Twitter “high risk” as they bailed on the platform. Musk, however, continued blaming activists for the consequences of his own actions.

You can follow the ongoing Twitter saga here.

Source: The Washington Post Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Apple’s pursuit of App Store ad revenue is frustrating

Whether it’s YouTube, MobileSyrup, or your favourite podcast, advertising is the cornerstone to making the digital economy a viable place for people to make their careers.

While ads aren’t the prettiest way to earn revenue, they’re the reason so much amazing content can be brought to us for free.

People who don’t enjoy ads have premium subscription options such as YouTube Premium or Patreon memberships, and even Netflix now offers a lower-tier, ad-supported subscription.

However, what happens when you force ads on users even when they paid for something? What about when users have no alternative? You might feel as though that’s a money grab.

Apple’s headline for the App Store is “The apps you love. From a place you can trust.” Yet, it seems less and less like the App Store is a well-curated, safe, and secure experience for finding apps. Instead, it’s the company’s attempt to maximize revenue and never leave a dollar on the table despite the cost to user experience.

Apple recently expanded the ads placements on the iOS app store. App Store ads enrage me more than any other type of advertisement, and by the end of this article, you’ll likely feel the same.

App Store Ads

Modern Apple is a revenue-generating machine, constantly pushing to show growth to please the stock market. Today’s Apple is very different than the cash-strapped company Steve Jobs had to save from the brink of bankruptcy. As an Apple user, I’m willing to defend just about any decision the company makes in most respects. However, App Store ads are a bridge too far.

Users turn to the Apple platform because they feel it’s more private and offers a premium user experience. After all, you’re paying a lot of money for that logo. Compare an Apple TV to an Amazon Fire Stick. The Apple TV starts at $179, whereas Fire Sticks begin at $49 when not on sale. A Roku streaming stick starts at $39. These manufacturers offer insanely low prices because the platforms are subsidized by user data collection that drives ads.

Apple, a company worth several trillion, makes the vast majority of its revenue from hardware sales. Because of this, it doesn’t require advertisements to fund its business. Yet, the Cupertino, California company seems to think tainting the user experience is worth it in exchange for another billion on its already annual hundred-billion dollar pile.

When you launch the App Store, you’ll first see a homepage ad, likely for a high-profile app with a hefty marketing budget to spend. Next, you search for an app where you’ll see an ad before you tap the search bar right above your actual search result.

These ads are likely for apps of mixed quality. It could be Amazon trying to show up above Netflix or smaller, more random apps trying to get a few accidental downloads. Finally, and most recently, there are now even ads that show up on an app’s information page. An experience once held dear by individual developers now shows completely random ads in the mistakenly titled “you also might like” section.

Problem 1: Greed

Some may consider the App Store a free service, but I don’t. I pay for many apps, in-app purchases, and App Store subscriptions yearly. Meaning Apple is earning between 15 to 30 percent of the likely hundreds of dollars I spend on the App Store alone per year. Which begs the question, why does the App Store needs ads?

YouTube’s whole business model is advertising, allowing videos to be accessible to viewers. YouTube then splits its ad revenue 55 percent for the creator and 45 percent for itself. One can argue if that split is fair or not. But for the context of this piece, revenue sharing is positive regardless.

Now, we have Apple placing ads around an App Store that doesn’t need the supporting revenue to survive. The App Store is already grossly profitable and faces some very concerning anti-trust allegations. Yet, Apple wants to go further by placing (sometimes poorly chosen) ads on developer’s app pages. On October 25th, Apple began placing ads under the “You Also Might Like” section.

What followed was developers reporting ads for apps they disagreed with appearing on their discovery pages, such as gambling, sketchy games, and data apps. It was noticed that at least one gambling recovery app had an ad placed on it for a gambling app. Not a great first day. Two days later, Apple said it paused advertising of gambling apps, among a few other categories, at least temporarily.

With Apple already taking 15 to 30 percent of any app revenue, it hardly seems fair the company is double dipping revenue generation with the App Store. Ads certainly ruin what is otherwise a premium experience. The preference would be for Apple to remove ads altogether. However, if the tech giant wanted to keep App Store ads, it should split that revenue with developers. If you’re a developer of a super popular app, your discovery page is more than likely to be a prime place for an ad. Yet, you’d see none of that benefit.

Problem 2: Misleading

Thinking back to my days working at the Apple Store, I remember how irritating App Store search ads were. You’d have a senior first-time iPad user go to the App Store to download Netflix, and the first thing she saw wasn’t Netflix. It was probably some Netflix knock-off. But, of course, she didn’t know that. She trusted that her Apple device would make the first result, the correct result.

Over the past few years, as Apple has refined the App Store experience, the company has worked hard to turn the ‘Today’ tab into a place for quality app recommendations. Yet, the company is now taking that trust to place a prominent ad right on the front of the App Store.

Lastly, there’s the ‘You Might Also Like’ section which someone would assume shows related apps that were downloaded along with the initially searched app. But, of course, Apple placed an ad there too.

While App Store ads may have a small ‘ad’ tag on them, it’s far from actually noticeable. It sucks having to explain to someone who spent hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a new tablet that they need to avoid the App Store ads.

Apple has long communicated that it’s a company of quality. Yet, App Store ads don’t support that claim one bit. The value that digital advertisements typically provide is relevance. Instead, these ads feel random and misplaced. The relevancy of these once-targeted sections is ruined, and the user experience is cheapened. All because Apple sold some of its influence in the App Store.

Problem 3: Anti-Competitive

The App Store is rife with anti-competitive challenges ranging from companies like Spotify and Epic Games to government bodies like the European Union (EU). Leaving my personal opinion on App Store monopolization aside, it should be noted that these ads don’t help Apple’s position.

The App Store is already a highly profitable line of business, now tainted with ads that worsen the user experience and developer relations. Apple is creating a second marketplace. Developers already give Apple massive commissions on app revenues. Yet, Apple is also selling the app’s best search phrases to deep-pocketed competitors.

This leaves indie developers in a tough spot. Should they want to maintain their results in the App Store, they’ll need to buy their placement. Indie developers are forced to give Apple more money while venture-backed apps peddling mediocre products continue along.

While App Store ads are vastly more user privacy-focused than any traditional advertising platform and give app developers a way to grow their audiences, there is no clear end to where Apple will stop placing more ads in the App Store. These ads continue to chip away at the trust user’s place in Apple.

The Future of Apple’s Ads Business

If you’re like me and think App Store ads are wrong, then you wait. It may get a lot worse. It’s rumoured that Apple will soon expand its advertising ambitions to Apple Maps, Books and Podcasts.

On the one hand, if you don’t like ads in either of those two apps, you can download an alternative, unlike the App Store. However, these ads will undoubtedly ruin the positive experience many of us have with these apps.

I consider Maps and Podcasts, among others, as part of my iPhone, not as separate services that need ads to support their existence. They’re apps that provide value to buying Apple’s smartphone.

Even if Apple’s ads are more private than the rest of the industry, that doesn’t change the fact that no ads are the best when creating a premium user experience.

Advertising is a business model that many companies need to survive. Apple is not one of those. We pay a lot of money for these devices, and Apple’s ad ambitions are ruining that experience.

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Mobile Syrup

Netflix’s Basic with Ads tier now available in Canada — here’s what you need to know

Netflix’s ad-supported membership is now available in Canada.

Officially called ‘Netflix Basic with Ads,’ the tier is the streamer’s lowest-priced offering to date and, notably, is launching first in Canada and Mexico. Naturally, there are a lot of questions about the subscription option, especially since it’s a novel one among the big players in the Canadian streaming market.

Here’s everything you need to know about the service.

Price

Netflix Basic with Ads costs $5.99/month. Since Netflix no longer offers free trials, this is the most affordable entry-poin to the service besides sharing your account.

How do ads work?

Of course, Netflix is knocking down the cost of the membership in exchange for implementing ads. These ads will be run during both movies and TV shows at an average rate of four to five minutes per hour, and they’ll last for 15 or 30 seconds.

What kinds of ads will be shown?

In partnership with Microsoft, Netflix is opening up ads to a variety of companies, with one example shown so far being for L’Oréal. That said, the streamer has outlined some restrictions on ads. For example, it won’t allow political ads, nor those that promote guns or smoking. Ads will also vary depending on country, genre and user, but none will be shown on Kid’s Profiles.

Basic with Ads features

Besides the ads, Basic with Ads does offer some other limitations.

To start, streams are capped at 720p. Additionally, you won’t have the ability to download content for offline viewing, while “a limited number of movies and TV shows won’t be available due to licensing restrictions.” In a press briefing, Netflix COO Greg Peters clarified that the exact number of excluded titles will vary by country due to licensing agreements, but it will generally be in the “five to ten percent range.”

That said, the rest of the Netflix catalogue will remain accessible, as well as the entire Netflix Games platform. No ads will be shown through Netflix Games. You also will only be able to stream on one screen at a time.

How does Basic with Ads compare to Netflix’s other tiers?

Netflix offers three other membership options. For context, here’s a breakdown of them:

  • Netflix Basic — $9.99/month, up to 720p (the new standard resolution for Basic, up from 480p), can only stream on one screen at the same time
  • Netflix Standard — $16.49/month, up to 1080p, can stream on up to two screens at the same time
  • Netflix Premium — $20.99/month, up to Ultra HD (4K HDR), can stream on up to four screens at the same time

What data is Netflix collecting with Basic with Ads?

Privacy is obviously a big concern for many people. According to Netflix, only the birth date and gender you provided upon sign-up, as well as “general location information based on your IP address,” will be collected. The company says this will “help tailor the advertising and improve the product offering.” The company’s privacy policy can be found here

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Mobile Syrup

Netflix’s ad tier costs $5.99/month, launches November 1 in Canada

Netflix’s ad-supported membership tier, ‘Basic with Ads,’ will launch in Canada and Mexico at 9am PT/12pm ET, two days before it rolls out to the U.S. and other countries.

At a cost of $5.99, Basic with Ads offers access to the majority of the Netflix catalogue, although Netflix says “a limited number of movies and TV shows won’t be available due to licensing restrictions.” In a press briefing, Netflix COO Greg Peters said the exact number of excluded titles will vary by country, per licensing agreements, but it will generally be in the “five to ten percent range.” Peters added that Netflix is working with companies to make more of these titles available through Basic with Ads.

Ads, meanwhile, will run every four to five minutes per hour on average, both before and during a movie or TV show. They’ll last for 15 or 30 seconds.

Here’s an example of what an ad on Netflix will look like:

Netflix ad example

In addition to ads, the new low-cost membership only supports up to 720p (HD) streaming quality, and there will be no option to download content. You’ll be able to stream on one screen at the same time, just like the current entry-level ‘Basic’ subscription. For context, here’s how Basic with Ads stacks up to Netflix’s other memberships in Canada:

  • Netflix Basic — $9.99/month, up to 720p (this is now the standard quality for Basic, up from 480p), can only stream on one screen at the same time
  • Netflix Standard — $16.49/month, up to 1080p, can stream on up to two screens at the same time
  • Netflix Premium — $20.99/month, up to Ultra HD (4K HDR), can stream on up to four screens at the same time

Netflix has been working on ads over the past six months, with Microsoft helping to power the ad-subscription technology. The streamer says advertisers will have “broad targeting capabilities” by country and genre, as well as the ability to prevent ads from running on titles that may be “inconsistent” with their values (i.e. due to sex or graphic violence). Netflix adds that it won’t run any political ads or those that promote smoking or guns.

Netflix is looking at ads as a key way to address declining business. In April, the company reported a loss of 200,000 subscribers, its first quarterly decrease in over 10 years. In the subsequent quarter, Netflix lost over one million more subscribers.

In addition to ads, Netflix has been testing a paywall on password sharing in a few international markets, estimating that more than 100 million additional households are sharing passwords, including 30 million in the U.S. and Canada. However, the company has not yet confirmed if and when this paywall will launch in Canada.

Ads are relatively new in the Canadian streaming market. While U.S. streamers like Hulu, HBO Max and Peacock all have ad options, Canada’s major streaming platforms have traditionally not offered these. Whether people will adopt Netflix Basic with Ads remains to be seen, but the company is reportedly expecting to hit 40 million unique viewers by Q3 2023.

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Mobile Syrup

Microsoft expanding ads in Outlook for iOS, Android

Microsoft is ramping up ads in Outlook for iOS and Android.

The company confirmed to The Verge that it would start displaying ads in the single inbox view. Previously, the company would display ads in the ‘Other’ inbox for users with the ‘Focused inbox’ feature enabled. Focused inbox attempts to sort emails based on importance, allowing users to filter out the noise by sticking in the Focused inbox tab.

“For free users of Outlook, ads are shown in their inbox and they can choose to enable the ‘Focused inbox’ feature if they would like to see ads only in the ‘Other’ inbox,” says Microsoft spokesperson Caitlin Roulston in a statement given to The Verge.

Frustratingly, Microsoft designed the ads in Outlook to look like emails, and they appear at the top of users’ inboxes. While they do have a little ‘ad’ icon in the right corner, it’s easy enough to miss.

Naturally, Microsoft isn’t the only company that puts email-like ads into its free email tool. Google does so with Gmail, although ads only appear in the ‘Promotions’ tab with the default inbox setup.

Unsurprisingly, frustrated users have started leaving one-star reviews for Outlook on the Apple App Store, while others have hopped on social media to express their dissatisfaction with the change.

How ads appear in Gmail

It’s a bit of a bummer, given that Microsoft’s Outlook mobile app is actually pretty good and a Focused inbox is a feature I wish more email apps would offer (I’ve managed to somewhat Frankenstein my Gmail into a Focused inbox-like setup, but it feels like it’s always one email away from collapsing in on itself).

For Outlook users desperate to avoid ads, the only options now will be either downloading another email app, or forking out for a Microsoft 365 subscription.

Source: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Netflix reportedly won’t put ads in kids shows or new movies

Netflix’s planned lower-cost, ad-supported subscription tier will reportedly keep ads off of kids programming and new movies.

Bloomberg cites “people familiar with the plans” in a report detailing what Netflix programming will (and won’t) have ads. It’s the latest development in the ongoing saga of Netflix’s ad-supported subscription tier. Per Bloomberg’s sources, Netflix has told partners it won’t run ads during original kids programs. Moreover, some studios that license Netflix the rights to kids programs won’t allow the company to run ads on those programs.

As for movies, Netflix reportedly decided that original moves should stay ad-free, at least for a period of time. This would ease concerns from top filmmakers, who apparently were concerned about ads disrupting the viewing experience.

However, Netflix is still finalizing its plans for the ad-supported subscription. That means details could change before launch, which could be early next year, according to Bloomberg.

Based on what we know so far, Netflix’s ad-supported tier will cost less than its current subscription options but will inject ads into content. Netflix indicated it wants the ad-tier to be an option for cost-conscious customers and it doesn’t want to put ads into its other subscription tiers. Microsoft is slated to handle the ad technology for Netflix.

Moreover, Netflix has said not all content will be available on its ad-supported tier. This largely comes down to licensing, with Netflix not having the rights to show commercials on some content. Other reports indicated Netflix would remove the ability to download content for offline viewing for the ad-supported tier.

Netflix isn’t the only company working on an ad-supported streaming subscription. Disney is also developing one for Disney+, although it’s unclear if or when it will come to Canada.

Source: Bloomberg

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Mobile Syrup

Apple reportedly testing putting ads in Maps, Books, and Podcasts

Apple may expand its advertising to more of its apps and services, including pre-installed iPhone apps like Maps, Books, and Podcasts.

Bloomberg’s reliable Mark Gurman detailed in a recent newsletter that the Cupertino, California-based company has internally tested some expanded ad ideas, including search ads in Maps. These search ads would work similarly to the App Store, where developers can pay to have their apps show up in higher rankings for certain search terms.

It’s less clear how Apple would serve ads in Podcasts or Books, but it may work similarly to search ads in the App Store. For example, publishers could pay to have their podcast or book placed higher in search results, or there could be dedicated places in these apps to place ads.

Apple TV+ could also see expanded advertising. Gurman notes that Apple put ads for its ‘Friday Night Baseball‘ deal with Major League Baseball (MLB) on TV+ — that could be the first of many ads on the platform. Gurman goes so far as to suggest Apple could launch an ad-supported tier of TV+, similar to Disney+ and Netflix.

Currently, Apple shows ads inside of the App Store, News app, and Stocks app across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The majority of Apple’s apps and services remain ad-free, which has long been a point in Apple’s favour compared to other companies. Notably, Samsung eventually caved and removed ads from its pre-installed apps after tons of complaints from users and the media.

Expanding ads at odds with Apple’s privacy message

However, expanding its ads business could drum up issues for Apple. Users could complain about how Apple, generally considered a ‘premium’ brand, is filling its $1,000+ devices with ads. However, a more difficult thing for the company to navigate will be its self-imposed reputation for privacy, features like App Tracking Transparency (ATT), and how to reconcile all of that with expanding its own advertising network.

ATT, for those unfamiliar with the feature, forces apps to ask for users’ permission to collect and sell data tied to their personal advertising identity. Typically the first time someone launches an app, they’ll see a pop-up asking if they’re okay being tracked. Social networks like Facebook (Meta) claimed ATT cost them billions in advertising. While most people probably don’t care if Meta loses money over ATT, it’s worth noting that the feature could also hurt smaller developers and companies.

But, this all ignores the fact that ATT doesn’t actually do much for user privacy, since tapping the ‘Ask app not to track’ button only stops it from using the Apple-supplied advertising ID for tracking users across apps and websites. But this doesn’t stop companies from tracking stuff in their app, or across a suite of apps they control — for example, Meta can use data collected from Instagram to target ads in Facebook. Moreover, it doesn’t stop apps from tracking users with other metrics, with studies finding that some apps collect a ton of information about users’ devices to create a digital fingerprint of them and track them that way.

Apple’s apps don’t need to ask for permission to track users

ATT issues aside, critics have noted Apple doesn’t show the ATT pop-up in its own apps. The company claims this is because its system doesn’t follow users across apps and websites, which is what ATT is intended to prevent.

However, Gurman pointed out that Apple uses data collected from its other services and from users’ Apple accounts to help decide which ads to serve. Technically, users can opt out of this by going to the Settings app > Privacy & Security > and disabling ad personalization, but Apple will still collect some data about users for ads.

It’ll be interesting to see how this advertising push plays out for Apple. There may be pushback from customers who buy Apple devices expecting a premium or privacy-respecting experience, but will now have to deal with ads. I could also see companies like Meta raising potential anti-trust issues with Apple implementing a system that effectively reduces the effectiveness of competing advertisers while simultaneously ramping up its own ads network.

Source: Bloomberg

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Mobile Syrup

Netflix CEO confirms plans to launch cheaper subscription with ads

Following reports that Netflix was considering a lower-cost, ad-supported subscription tier, co-CEO Ted Sarandos confirmed the company’s plans.

According to The Hollywood Reporter (via The Verge), Sarandos confirmed the plans during an interview at the Cannes Lion advertising festival.

“We’ve left a big customer segment off the table, which is people who say: ‘Hey, Netflix is too expensive for me and I don’t mind advertising.’ We [are] adding an ad tier; we’re not adding ads to Netflix as you know it today. We’re adding an ad tier for folks who say, ‘Hey, I want a lower price and I’ll watch ads,’” Sarandos said in the interview.

The news doesn’t exactly come as a surprise. Netflix has been expected to launch an ad-supported subscription tier for a while, due in part to the company’s other co-CEO, Reed Hastings, saying he was open to the idea in April.

Moreover, Sarandos’ comments come on the heels of Netflix losing subscribers for the first time in over a decade. In Q1 2022, Netflix lost 200,000 subscribers compared to Q4 2021. Although Netflix remains the largest streaming platform with 222 million subscribers, the subscriber loss clearly has the company thinking about ways to bring new people in. Whether offering a cheap, ad-supported tier is the way to do that remains to be seen (maybe a better idea would be reversing any of the numerous recent price hikes).

There are also questions around which company Netflix would partner with on ads. A Wall Street Journal report said Google and NBCUniversal were top contenders, but Sarandos wouldn’t give any details when pressed during the interview. Instead, Sarandos said the company might use a partnership in the interim while it builds out its own ad business.

Finally, it’s worth noting that Netflix isn’t the only streaming service considering an ad-supported tier. Disney has detailed plans to bring ads to Disney+ starting in the U.S. this year and to international markets in 2023, although it’s unclear if that includes Canada. Disney plans to run an average of four minutes of ads or less per hour, with no political or alcohol ads and no ads on shows aimed at pre-school audiences.

It remains to be seen if people are willing to pay for ad-supported streaming. From what I’ve seen, the general consensus online is that people are willing to have ads, or willing to pay for an ad-free experience, but not both.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter Via: The Verge