Netflix Has Started Testing Ads For Its Original Content
BANGKOK, THAILAND – 2018/07/30: The Netflix application seen displayed on a smartphone. (Photo by Guillaume Payen/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Netflix confirmed last week that it is testing promotions for its original content between TV episodes — and people are not happy.
“We are testing whether surfacing recommendations between episodes helps members discover stories they will enjoy faster,” Netflix told tech-websiteARS Technica on Friday.
The promos, which many are reading as commercial breaks, will be skippable.
“A couple of years ago, we introduced video previews to the TV experience, because we saw that it significantly cut the time members spend browsing and helped them find something they would enjoy watching even faster,” the streaming service explained.
According to Mashable, the testing has been limited so far, and it has yet to be rolled out to Netflix’s roughly 130 million subscribers.
But those who have seen the ads are not happy.
I hope it's not true that @netflix is introducing ads into its programming. I literally pay money to Netflix so that I don't have to see ads. I’d rather stop watching Netflix than have them run ads. Swear to god the first one I see I’m cancelling.
Netflix is doing some things that are pissing me off lately: 1) playing ads for shows I’m not interested in during the 15 second countdown between Office episodes 2) trying to push whatever “Insatiable” is on me
People getting mad about #netflix commercials, you pay less than 20 dollars a month. For a couple of minutes of ads, that’s nothing. Calm your tits down. You could be paying upwards of $100 or more for basic cable. #HBO does promos for all of its original content.
