After much hesitation, Netflix began offering its streaming service in a discounted version with commercial breaks in November 2022 – and ended up with it according to his own statements a great success. As the company recently announced, 70 million Netflix users worldwide use the ad-supported subscription. This corresponds to almost a quarter of all customers. New users in particular would be enthusiastic about this option. According to Netflix, every second person chooses the cheap tariff. Netflix understands from this development that customers really like the concept of low-cost subscriptions financed by advertising. However, this calculation may be a bit too simple. In fact, for some time now, Netflix has been giving price-conscious users no choice but to force themselves to be bombarded with advertising. The provider abolished the previous basic subscription for 7.99 euros per month in many regions, including Germany, over a year ago. At the same time, the US company has massively increased the prices for the remaining standard and premium tariffs. Aside from the advertising subscription, the cheapest Netflix option currently costs 13.99 euros per month. This contrasts with the advertising subscription with a price of 4.99 euros. It’s little wonder that beginners and occasional users in particular prefer to bite the bullet and have their streaming fun diminished by advertising. In addition, Netflix has been taking targeted action against so-called account sharing for some time several households share a subscription. Anyone caught doing this will have the opportunity to add additional sub-accounts for 4.99 euros per month. If those affected choose the ad-supported version introduced in September 2024, the additional account only costs 3.99 euros per month. Since people with shared accounts are more concerned about money, many may prefer the cheapest option. Accordingly, it doesn’t seem surprising that Netflix is loud Variety.com has recorded an increase of 30 million advertising subscriptions since May 2024 alone. In any case, the company sees its course confirmed and wants to continue to strongly promote advertising-financed streaming in the future through new advertising partnerships and technologies. This is no surprise, because as early as 2023, Netflix let it be known that an advertising subscription would bring the provider more money than a standard subscription.
