Do you have an ex that you hate? Are they still logged into your Netflix account? Well no fear, 2023 is your year for revenge.
Netflix has had a turbulent few years. From the streaming boom throughout the pandemic, then ratings nosediving after the addition of controversial specials or shows. Netflix has also been suffering for years due to their lack of ads.
Netflix has attempted to compensate for the lack of support provided from ads by gradually raising their prices, which resulted in many frustrated customers audibly objecting all over social media. Now with these shared account stipulations, it’s understandable that devoted customers are second guessing their loyalty to the streaming platform, especially when more reasonable rates and benefits are accessible by some of Netflix’s competitors.
The streaming service is one of the only platforms that does not have an ad-centered membership option. Other streaming services like Hulu make a decent profit with their most popular membership plan including ads. Hulu also offers “Hulu Premium,” which provides ad-free streaming and a larger variety of movies and shows to choose from, an option that composes a large portion of their profits and is one that their customers are thankful for.
Netflix has also been lacking the collaboration with other platforms in providing customers with a discounted streaming package. One example is Spotify Premium for students. The music streaming service offers Spotify Premium to college students for half the cost, with the add-ons of free Showtime and Hulu account access. Netflix, are you taking notes?
Netflix has been searching for solutions to draw in more profit for a few years. In the past year, in countries like Chile, Costa Rica and Peru Netflix has been trialing a paid password sharing system. Last week the streaming service mistakenly shared new global guidelines for password sharing.
Netflix will now be reporting on the sharing of accounts, and this is going to apply to millions of users. The new policy will require users to log into their account at least once a month from their primary residence.
There are many questions coming into play with these new guidelines. How would travel work? How will Netflix know your primary residence? The streaming service has been less than willing to help ease consumers’ minds.
These new sharing guidelines will be rolling out quicker than expected and have already taken effect in Canada and New Zealand. With these new policies Netflix has offered a solution. For an extra fee of less than 10 dollars, users can have a “sub account.”
These secondary accounts on the main account are only a few dollars cheaper than Netflix’s cheapest plan. These new guidelines were shared but there was no official date on when this rollout would occur.
Even though these rules have been taken down, Netflix has not made a statement on if and when this will be put into action. The only statement Netflix made is to confirm it will begin charging users for separate accounts.
Hopefully these new policies to the streaming service will allow the platform to provide higher budget originals. Prepare yourself to get a text from your ex about these new guidelines, maybe it will bring you two back together.