Update, 22 August: Netflix South Africa’s PR has told Memeburn that there’s “no confirmation that Netflix will be rolling out the previews in our market”.
See the additional statement by Netflix in full below:
No ad to show here.
At Netflix, we conduct hundreds of tests every year so we can better understand what helps members more easily find something great to watch. 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. Since then, we have been experimenting even more with video based on personalized recommendations for shows and movies on the service or coming shortly, and continue to learn from our members.
In this particular case, we are testing whether surfacing recommendations between episodes helps members discover stories they will enjoy faster. It is important to note that a member is able to skip a video preview at any time if they are not interested.
Original article: Netflix is now showing unskippable advertisements of its other content between episodes, the company confirmed this weekend.
Users on Reddit’s r/Netflix sub noticed the change, which seemingly affected users watching the service through the app on their smart TVs.
Users from the UK, Australia and Germany all confirmed that they’ve experienced something similar.
Netflix confirmed to Arstechnica that it is “testing whether surfacing recommendations between episodes helps members discover stories they will enjoy faster”.
While the ads may improve the streaming service’s ability to serve new content to users, those same users aren’t too excited by the prospect of ads.
Another thread, now boasting over 56 000 positive karma, is pretty clear: “Netflix, the day I see an ad while watching a movie or TV, I will unsubscribe”.
Some have already cancelled their subscription.
It’s not clear if the service will be rolling out the test to a wider audience or if anyone in South Africa has experienced the tweak.
We’ve reached out to the company’s local team for further clarification.
Feature image: Netflix
