Netflix Is Putting Ads Between TV Episodes To Slow Down Your Binge-Watch
Think of it as an algorithm-mandated breathing space to reconsider your life choices.
It’s all too easy to lose all sense of time, place and sensibility while binge-watching a show, especially on Netflix: as the next episode cuts through credits to auto-play, there’s a gleeful passivity to the whole thing.
But in their quest to disassociate streaming from the image of lonely 1am binges of Brooklyn 99 to fill an un-fillable void, Netflix has begun trialing ‘ads’ to give you breathing space.
Netflix isn’t calling them ads, though. Instead, they’re ‘recommendations’, short clips of other shows you could be streaming right now, if only you weren’t re-watching Queer Eye for the 86th time. Thankfully, it isn’t un-skippable: a clickable timer is in the corner, and you can always bypass the ads.
Still, the select users who have been subject to the ads are freaking out over on Reddit. Some users find the whole concept a little antithetical to binge-streaming’s appeal. Not that it’s completely left-of-centre: in the US, Hulu and HBO Go both intersperse ads for other shows between streams. At least it’s a lot less judgemental than the “Are You Still Watching?” pop-up that appears eight hours into re-watching Terrace House (which, for the record, we love).
Speaking to Junkee, a Netflix Australia representative couldn’t confirm whether the trial had reached our streaming shores, as providing that information would “compromise the efficacy of the test. That said, our tests are generally global.”
So, uh, that’s a yes.
The representative also confirmed that this was one of “hundreds” of tests Netflix conduct with users every year, and said the new test was based off the success of video previews on the homepage — you know, those very loud ads that start playing whenever you accidentally hover over Insatiable?
According to Netflix, those ads have “significantly cut” browsing time down, so they’re experimenting with more video previews as a way to help users find what they want, but stress they’re skippable. So skip away, if needs be.