0/5

Netflix testing streaming ads

Netflix is trialling promos to run before and after users watch content in select US markets.

2015-06-03_1710

Lovin’ your Netflix without ads? Better hope this doesn’t come to pass.

Netflix is trialling promos to run before and after users watch content, with trailers for Orange Is the New Black and House of Cards in select US markets.

“We are running a test to show some of our original programming,” a Netflix spokesperson told Motherboard. “As with any Netflix product test, this may never come to all our members.”

That’s despite Netflix chief product officer Neil Hunt saying last year, “Internet TV is divorced of the need of advertising revenue because we can develop direct relationships with the consumer.”

Another spokesperson added,  “We do not and will not be adding third-party ads.”

So are promos just as annoying as third-party ads, or are they less intrusive given they are for the same service?

9 Responses

  1. Netflix has got a lot of free publicity in the media for its original content because SVOD is new and exciting. As their shows cease to newsworthy just for existing, streaming services will need to find new ways to ensure that their subscribers know about all the cool stuff they could watch and spread information about by word of mouth.

    iView is showing promos too.

  2. The thin end of the wedge! The transformation into Foxtel begins. What’s good for Netflix is good for Stan, Presto et al. I’m waiting to read “Circumstances have changed.”

  3. This is no different to what Foxtel Go does usually (but I must emphasize “usually” as lately Suits has been a recording of the live telecast which includes all the intermittent ads which is very annoying). It’s the perfect way to show viewers what other content is available, given streaming services can’t use advertising like onscreen graphics which are used by live tv it seems like a reasonable compromise.

  4. I have no problems with preroll promos on Netflix (My Netflix US account doesn’t seem to show them). DVDs and Videos have had preroll previews of other titles for decades. ABC also do this on their iView service. I’ve lost count the number of times I saw the preview of The Weekly in the weeks before it launched.

    1. That’s why I stopped buying DVDs. Those annoying 10-15 min previews that can’t be skipped, before you got to the main menu to watch the movie. And the problem is that excessive promos of shows, tend to put me off watching it.

      I tend to be on the cynical side of things, and what starts as promos will eventually turn into ads.

      Maybe commentators were right, when they said that Netflix’s pricing was not sustainable and new streams of revenue need to be found, for their catalog and own created shows.

      1. U do know u can skip those ads on DVDs? U can’t fast forward them but u can jump to the main menu.

        For me the end of a netflix show be ok to put an ad for another show, but not every time, breaks the flow of binge watching

Leave a Reply