> Netflix has more than doubled the number of people watching its ad-supported tier over the last year. At its upfront presentation for advertisers on Wednesday, the company revealed that the $7.99 per month plan now reaches more than 94 million users around the world each month – a big increase from the 40 million it reported in May 2024 and the 70 million it revealed last November.
1/3 of Netflix users (the market) prefer ads over paying to avoid them.
A lot of "netflix users" are middle and high school age kids in third world countries using a borrowed account. User context matters a lot. If someone's friends-friends-friends uncle changes their password, it's no surprise those "netflix users" would switch to an ad-supported model. It's possible but unlikely the 12 year old kid watching anime on a shared/borderline stolen account has the resources necessary to buy an ad free account at US prices.
Maybe you shouldn't be. The ad-hating paranoid HN user is not representative of the general population. Probably the exact opposite, in fact.
My wife and mother love ads, they are always on the hunt for the latest good deals and love discount shopping. When I tried to remove the ads on their computers or in the postal mail, they protested. I think they are far more representative of the general population.
