Last month, Netflix introduced a new ad-based plan to get more subscribers as this tier is slightly cheaper than the others. And the company seems really determined to get users to watch ads or spend more to get rid of them, as the cheapest ad-free plan was hidden on its website.
Netflix wants to push subscribers to more expensive plans
As noted by Tecnoblog, the Netflix website is no longer showing the basic ad-free plan for some users when they try to subscribe to Netflix. Instead, only the Basic with Ads, Standard, and Premium options are available. 9to5Mac can also confirm that Netflix is indeed hiding the cheapest ad-free plan on its website.
But that doesn't mean Netflix has stopped working with the basic ad-free plan. There is still a way to select this tier, but it's now hidden in a very small link on the Netflix subscription page. Some users are still able to see the four plans listed without clicking any links, so it looks like the company is doing some sort of A/B testing.
Tecnoblog explains that Netflix is likely using dark template methods so that users can choose between a less profitable option and other, more expensive ones.
This can be considered a dark template, the name given to the practice of luring the user into less interesting or profitable options. The intent seems to be to push those who don't want an ad-supported plan to a much more expensive plan.
In the US, the basic plan with ads costs $6.99 per month, while the same plan without ads costs $9.99. The Standard plan costs $15.49 per month, which is $8.50 more than the cheapest plan currently available. There is also a Premium plan that costs $19.99 per month, allowing subscribers to upgrade to $13 more than the cheapest tier.
The basic Netflix plan only allows you to stream on one device. in 720p resolution. The Standard plan works with two devices at the same time at 1080p resolution, while the Premium plan allows you to use up to four devices at the same time at 4K resolution. At this point, it's unclear if Netflix plans to drop the ad-free base tier.
Netflix's ad-based plan still doesn't work on Apple TV
When Netflix introduced its basic ad-based plan, the company also revealed that the new, cheaper plan would not be available to Apple TV users. A month later, the situation is the same. Those who want to watch Netflix on Apple TV must subscribe to one of the more expensive ad-free plans.
The company has yet to explain why the new ad-based plan is not available on the Netflix app for tvOS. . But given the current situation where Netflix may be dropping the basic ad-free plan, Apple TV users may be forced to subscribe to more expensive plans if they still want to watch Netflix on the device.
This’ is worth noting that the Ads-enabled Netflix Basic plan is currently available in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and South Korea.
