Slashdot Mirror
Netflix Will Now Interrupt Series Binges With Video Ads For Its Other Series (arstechnica.com)
Netflix has confirmed that it will start airing video ads for other Netflix series between episodes. These ads will reportedly only be for Netflix content, not outside products or content, and will, at least for now, only appear for a "segment" of Netflix's user base. Ars Technica reports: The news emerged via user reports, particularly on the primary Netflix Reddit community, in which users claimed that ads for entirely different series would play between episodes of a given show's binging. One initial claim said that "unskippable" ads for the AMC series Better Call Saul appeared between episodes of Rick & Morty, and that this ad appeared while using Netflix's smart TV app on an LG set in the UK. Replies to that thread included an allegation that a video ad for I Am A Killer (a Netflix-produced true-crime series) appeared between episodes of the animated comedy Bob's Burgers.
In a statement given to Ars Technica, Netflix described the change as follows: "We are testing whether surfacing recommendations between episodes helps members discover stories they will enjoy faster." The reasoning, Netflix's statement says, comes from its last controversial decision: to add auto-playing videos, complete with unmuteable audio, while browsing through Netflix content. Netflix offered one major rebuttal to at least one Reddit claim, pointing out that the ads for Netflix content are entirely skippable.
In a statement given to Ars Technica, Netflix described the change as follows: "We are testing whether surfacing recommendations between episodes helps members discover stories they will enjoy faster." The reasoning, Netflix's statement says, comes from its last controversial decision: to add auto-playing videos, complete with unmuteable audio, while browsing through Netflix content. Netflix offered one major rebuttal to at least one Reddit claim, pointing out that the ads for Netflix content are entirely skippable.
If actually skippable, I guess I am OK with it, though do not like it... but I can see why they want to do this as they have a lot of original content, and they have a point as to how people would find out about it otherwise.
On the other hand Amazon Prime Video does this at the start of watching anything as far as I can tell and I just skip so fast I don't think I've ever learned anything from it.
I think the Netflix featured show that appears when you enter the app (on the Apple TV anyway) is probably the best way to get exposure for something without seeming to interrupt whatever the user was doing.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
This is very likely just the beginning. You, as a company, cannot suddenly start filling everything with ads. You start with skippable ads for own content. And, you know, skippable ads are a pain in the neck. They get you out of the mood, they return you to reality and your problems. They break the viewing experience.
Then you broadcast skippable ads for other companies, but make your own content ads non-skippable. And you go on, and on, and on, only thinking of the next quarter profits to look good, giving you (the Netflix executive) time to jump to another company. You have seen it in cable companies, you have seen it in cinemas, and you are now seeing it in Netflix.
There is apparently a structural rule in the paid broadcasting business that says that, once you get enough people, you start degrading the service to get more money. I suppose that comes from marketing people not wanting to raise prices directly, as that's a trigger for the clients to quit. So they start giving less quality, putting ads, etc. Just slowly killing the reasons why you were successful in the first place. I see a business opportunity there.
Rome taught me patience and assiduous application to detail. Virtues which temper the boldness of great, general views.
web site, email to tell the user about shows they could consider.
Have a deep and wide suggestion part of the GUI thats full of news and different series.
Make it part of the GUI that a user has to select. For competitor services, this will make users like your brands more.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
I guess we all knew the honeymoon would end one day :-(
It will "work", so next step will be to apply Netflix ads to all users.
Next, it will be included before (not between) any video.
Next, it will be unskippable.
Next, it will include other recommendations outside Netflix relevant to their users, such as Coca-Cola, Apple or Nike.
I see Netfllix is starting to whip out the cable company bullshit.
... they have customers at all, it because there is no commercials in between anything. I see people will go downloading more again.
Bach says it all.
Yes, he is. He's paying for media content and the media being shown is an advert.
That someone else may have paid for that advert to be shown to him would merely mean Netflix are getting paid twice.
Remember when they stopped shipping DVDs but had almost no streamable content?
A) I still get DVD's to this day (BluRay, but still).
B) I always thought the streaming content was decent, even when they had to get rid of a lot of movies. It's not like movies made in the past decade are general that much of prize anyway.
I'll stay with them not because they own me, but because I really like the content. Netflix for whatever reason seems to have an HBO level eye to quality, but with much more diversity of content. HBO didn't bring back Voltron, Netflix did... and Netflix is breathing new life into all sorts of TV categories.
That said if they went too far with internal ads I would still drop it, just like any attempt to watch Hulu has been met with instant horror.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley