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Netflix Is Experimenting With Advertising
derekmead writes: Netflix is experimenting with pre-roll and post-roll advertisements for some of its users. For now, it's just pitching it's own original programming. However, many are concerned that they plan to serve third-party ads, but the company says they have no plans to do so. They told Mashable in a statement: "We are not planning to test or implement third-party advertising on the Netflix service. For some time, we've teased Netflix originals with short trailers after a member finishes watching a show. Some members in a limited test now are seeing teases before a show begins. We test hundreds of potential improvements to the service every year. Many never extend beyond that."
In other words, within a year or two we will be rolling out ads that you will be forced to watch before you can view the programming you pay a subscription fee for.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
to Amazon prime, who seem to have a better selection anyway (grass is always greener etc) I'd have gone allready if only their business practices weren't so shitty.
Fuck that. If I pay a fee, I don't want any ads. Don't treat me like shit if you want my money.
They can get away with it only because of the lack of competition.
Ah ... I remember when cable TV started putting ads in. Didn't turn out pretty.
Just, no. Slippery slope. It starts with ads for it's own stuff. Followed by ads from "selected" partners. I've paid my subscription fee. No ads.
...provided they don't show the same damn one every time. I find a lot of good shows through the "Recommended for You" category, if they teased one of those I'd be OK with it. But it's a slippery slope. You kids won't believe this, but used to be we didn't have to sit through half an hour of commercials in movie theaters, they even showed cartoons before the movie. And my lawn, get off it.
Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
To claim Netflix doesn't advertise omits a very background, but present form of advertising. It's called product placement, and it's where instead of buying some generic Cola or use a generic computer, or random cellphone, they clearly show it's a Coca-Cola, or an Apple iMac or a Samsung. If you ever wonder why they show closeups of a phone's screen or something, it's usually to show the logo for a second or two. Normally they'd just have the actor say it out loud (oh look, a call from Dad, etc), but if it's a product placement, you'll see a closeup on screen with "Dad" printed on it.
And really, I'd be surprised if Netflix's original shows aren't doing this - it's been generally marked as the least objectionable form of advertising because it adds realism (who drinks Cola? You know it's either a Coke or a Pepsi), and sometimes, the efforts of hiding logos is just plain silly.
And it's usually done during the writing stages where the show producers generally solicit sponsorship.
I know Netflix doesn't currently run normal commercials other than brief clips of other Netflix originals, but I'd be surprised if they aren't doing the product placement thing.
Google Play placed ads at the beginning of Archer episodes. It pissed by off considerably. I pay good money to NOT see commercials. Being force-fed ads when I paid for something (a movie ticket, a Google Play video, etc.) is about the surest way to get me to stop paying you money.
Seriously, fuck you Google. And if you do this, fuck you Netflix too.
Really Netflix? Even if it's for your "own stuff" it's still an ad. I don't want to see it if I'm paying. You start with your own ad and then you end up with "selected ad partners" only to end up showing us tampon ads. Slippery slope it is.
You can bet that there is an audience, certain type of clients, who would be very interesting to certain advertisers. Many sales departments are after the top strata of the society and their disposable income.
You can bet that if someone in a household with the income of $500K or more is watching a lot of netflix movies, then the revenues from advertisers would probably be more than enough to pay subscription fee and Netflix would probably even make a tidy profit.
Quite frankly, I am surprised that they have not rolled these type of memberships earlier.
There are... buyers of $4,000 tooth brush Reinast http://www.reinast.com/ , $1,200 shoes http://www.manoloblahnik.com/, and $1,500,000 cars http://www.bugatti.com/en/veyr... down there....
For the manufacturers of these goods targeted advertising on Netflix would open new avenues to increase their sales, a change from the traditional advertising done at Kentucky Derby, and old fashioned mail spamming, without actually wasting tons of advertising dollars for 95% of the non-targeted audience.
Clearly, Netflix is capable and probably will compete with Facebook after the advertising dollars, because many people spend a lot of time on Netflix only.
For these kind of clients Netflix not only will offer free membership, but will probably pay to watch it or would probably make available exclusive content.
And me??? I am waiting a job offer, or at least a spot award from Netflix for this idea...
But if they let this take root, it's their last for me.
We had better be able to skip these or NetFlix is in the trash.
We will HAPPILY PAY MORE MONEY if you explain your circumstances.
We do not want to watch ads. Full up.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
The Internet.
..don't panic
You may wonder how this happened. Well, the CEO of Netflix was in his usual bar. (You need to look for him under the table.) He said, "I'm tired of work!!! What can I do to sink the company?" All the other Netflix executives, also under the table (the ones not too drunk yet to talk) said, "Abuse the customers." The CEO said, "Right. That's what we'll do."
Okay, just guessing. What are YOUR theories for why they are following the Comcast and Microsoft business model?
Wait, so do they rip the DVD/BDs, add in some ads, then re-burn them?
;)
Of course, I still wouldn't see them, since I rip them before watching specifically to remove the ads and "unskippable" bullshit, but...
Oh! Wait - This only affects people already happily paying for a lower qual*BUFFERING*ity product. Never mind, then - Carry on with your paid inferior YouTube clone.
Advertising always worms its way into everything.
AC
A pox on both Netflix and the advertiser's houses, they have made worms meat of us.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
I received an advert on my Roku and was given the option to skip it.
Bye Netflix. It was fun while it lasted.
So the big 3 (CBS, ABC, NBC) pretty much ruled the airwaves for years through this model.
Who's to say netflix isn't offering a free, commercial laden version of their programming? Free with ads, $10@mo without.
.
Netflix is becoming part of the problem, not part of the solution.
How many times have companies told us that they do not plan to do something, only to do it a year or two later?
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
and a big fat No.
Does Netflix want a competitor to wipe them out? Cause this is how you get a competitor to wipe you out!
Video games. DVDs. On demand video. Audio books. Heck digital books if I'm willing to work for my entertainment :P. But There's lots and lots of content out there.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
I remember the 80s when the sales pitch for HBO was uninterrupted, uncut movies and no advertisements. Then somehow, "pay TV" also became filled with advertisements as well, even though you were still paying for it.
We test hundreds of potential improvements to the service every year.
Oh, do you hear that, guys? It's an improvement. Much fuss about nothing, then.
Well, no. Or is there a service I don't know of like netflix where it's completely free but with ads? It's not hulu, it has a rotten selection with limited time to be available. Not youtube, which is mostly user created junk with lower quality. Not amazon which is more expensive than netflix unless you're already in bed with them because you never leave the house and buy everything online. Not torrents which are illegal and we don't talk about them here on law abiding slashdot, not even during choir practice.
Hmm, lots. Let me try this model for myself.
"I do not plan on becoming independently wealthy with a trophy wife within the foreseeable future!"
Now I wait a year or two and see what happens.
If they can establish themselves and rise above competition they will put ads in there, and then they will raise the subscription fees.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
The quickest way to go bankrupt would be to screw over your customer base.
Everyone using Netflix does so because we've had it with the bullshit dished out by the big players. ( cable, satellite, uverse, etc )
We don't want the GD ads. Why is this so difficult to grasp ? The whole POINT of paying for content is so we don't get harassed with advertising every ten fucking minutes. It's so bad we now go out of our way to avoid or actively filter it. That alone should tell you something.
Believe me when I say your bandwidth / peering problems will go away almost overnight when you start putting in ads because you'll probably set a world record for customers lost in shortest amount of time.
Don't say we didn't warn you. . .
And if I start getting ads, I'm leaving.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
There are basically 3 segments that NetFlix streams to ... well in Canada at least: Kids TV Shows, Adult TV Shows and Movies. They could easily charge $8/m for each segment. They currently charge $8 for access to everything. No ads it why I watch it in the first place.
I'm okay with paying for an ad-free service and then having ads pushed at me. Said nobody ever.
If it helps expand their content roster, I could put up with 120 seconds of ad or less before a movie.
If they go mid-content ads, a'la Hulu? I'm fucking gone faster than John Moschita could say "Eat a dick."
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
If they start serving me ads, they will stop getting my money entirely. I absolutely despised cable for this. They make you pay ridiculous sums for tons of channels, most of which you'll never watch, and then cram ads down your throat as though the amount you just paid them wasn't good enough.
I like what netflix is doing right now with no ads, and I want them to keep on this trajectory. If they do, they'll have my business until I die.
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
I pay Netflix for NO ads. Now im paying netflix for ads? Why should I do that? I get ads for free from the rest of the internet!
Just sat down to watch a new episode of 'The Returned' and it threw an advert at me. I was honestly just so shocked by this that I actually paid no attention to the content of the advert at all. I actually backed out just to check I actually was using Netflix, and that I was actually logged in and so on...
Haven't seen another since, but I will be emailing a complaint if I do.
No way am I putting up with that shit.
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
The website didn't ask why, so I called them and told the customer rep why.
I urge all Netflix customers to do the same.
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
I mean you need things like computers, cellphones, beverages, etc in a show. I'm not bothered if those have logos, or if they don't. In fact, it can look more natural and realistic if they do. A Good example is Dell in V for Vendetta. Nothing in your face, the logos on the cop's monitors just aren't covered up. They are just part of the set. When it is done like that, I'm quite happy.
An example of it being done poorly that bothered me was in I Robot, when Will Smith puts on some brand new Converse shoes released in sync with the movie and talks about them. It was very clearly something shoehorned in there, not a fluid part of the script.
I watch a lot of stuff on Netflix. There are several shows that are on TV and Netflix, and I watch those on Netflix. Netflix has 2 things going for it. It has quite a bit of content that I like. AND IT HAS NO ADS!!!
I tried the free Hulu, and even for free it wasn't worth it. If NF wants to raise prices and stay ad-free, fine, it's worth quite a bit more than I'm currently paying. If they want to do ads, that will totally ruin them at any price, even free.
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
I was able to get into a live chat with someone at Netflix and give them this feedback.
Please do not even go down the rabbit hole of experimenting with advertising. I enjoy the ad-free experience that you currently offer. The world is literally polluted with ads, and we do not need more. Advertisers will mandate the placement of ads on the inside of our eyeballs once the technology becomes available. Instead, raise your prices if it is more money that you need to support and improve your already excellent service.
If this terrible idea must go forward (managers, executives, etc), then please offer a higher priced ad-free plan.
Decades ago, cable TV sold itself to the advertisers. It's like an addictive drug. It was argued back then, at first, to justify that you pay for cable tv, that it would be ad-free. We see how that worked out. Now cable tv spends more time on ads than it does on content. And the content has deteriorated to the point that it is literally un-watchable. Instead I watch online internet TV, such as Netflix and others. I hope that I don't eventually have to shift my viewing habits again because Netflix goes the way of cable TV.
Please, please do not open up this can of worms. You cannot re-can it once opened. Netflix will gradually deteriorate into more and more ads and less and less content. Ads will end up driving decisions, including eventually the content, until the disease of ads infect the content itself like a cancer. It is a gradual process that starts on a slippery slope at a watershed moment. A watershed is like the continental divide. There is a line through the US where if a drop of rain falls on one side of the line, it ends up eventually in the Atlantic ocean. If it falls only a few inches away on the other side of the line, it eventually ends up in the Pacific ocean. This advertising is like that. Netflix is at a watershed moment that will affect its destiny. Please don't make the wrong choice.
I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
Over the past couple of weeks, I have finished a few series on Netflix. Each time, after the last episode of the series, I'm treated to a 30-second trailer for the Netflix original Sense8.
Meh. Doesn't bug me at all. If this is all they do, I'm cool with it.
It may look like I'm doing nothing, but I'm actively waiting for my problems to go away.
--Scott Adams
But their spokesperson specifically said otherwise on Twitter just yesterday - "We have zero intention of putting ads on our platform; no change at all in policy." https://twitter.com/emilysteel...
Then you also remember when TBS/TNT started their programs at :05 and :35.
Which meant that when you changed channels to any other station, you missed the first 5 minutes of that program.
Turner did this solely because it gave the channel its own entry in TV Guide (which people paid for!).
I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it by not dying. - Woody Allen