Netflix has just revealed they have teamed up with Microsoft to offer a cheap subscription plan to customers that will show adverts (BBC). The streaming giants explained this is an added service to existing plans, which will continue to follow the ad-free model. But how does this affect consumers? Will we have to pay an added premium for future ad-free use? Is user-experience going to be heavily affected? Or will we stop using Netflix? The news comes in a time of doubt for the worldwide video service, after recently reporting masses of subscriber losses, after predicting huge gains at the start of the year. Despite this being very early days for the potential new service, there are already massive doubts in consumer minds. We explored this.
Using our recent Video Diaries Pool to explore the possibilities of Netflix promoting advertisement, we asked people across the UK, ‘If Netflix had advertising, would it affect how you use it?’ A topic which is now becoming very real! Check out the insight below and see what audiences had to say.
Discussion varied across a range of topics, but there was a clear negative outlook on the introduction of advertisement to Netflix. Asking, isn’t this what we are already paying for? Participants explained their annoyance at advertisement and how it often retracts from any user-experience, such as when compared to other popular platforms like YouTube. One of the key benefits of paid streaming sites just like Netflix is the benefit of ad-free content, so it feels like the platform is losing a piece of its identity, and for sure a key selling point.
