Netflix, once a pioneer of ad-free viewing that offered a break from traditional TV norms, is now contemplating launching free ad-supported versions of its service in markets like Europe and Asia, Bloomberg reported.

The plans to offer a free ad-supported tier, albeit in select markets, suggests that pivot towards monetizing user data, in other words — making users and not the extensive library of award-winning shows a product, might be well in the pipeline.

  • efstajas@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    This is a bit unnecessarily tough on independent content creators… what exactly do you expect them to do? Make no money from their content? How would they be able to make a living?

      • efstajas@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Sure, Patreon is great, but Patreon alone is not enough for most creators to make a living, considering how hard it is to get people to commit to monthly subscriptions.

        • Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          But why do they need to make a living creating content.

          We should go back to hobbyist sharing videos of their hobby and interest for the love of it instead of a guy trying to make money by jumping into trendy hobbies and creating bland generic content until the algorithm picks them.

          It would reduce so much noise online and the stuff we would be left with would be people who have the best content. It would eliminate the drama and toxic crap for views.

          • lightnsfw@reddthat.com
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            2 days ago

            There are certainly hobbyists making good content. Most of the great content is from people making a living off it. They have time and resources to devote to doing deep dives into subjects that hobbyists just generally don’t. The bigger problem as far as filling the internet with crap goes is all the react content and people making clips of other people’s stuff that adds nothing to it and whatever YouTube shorts are supposed to be.

    • Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Would you put blame on doctors for contributing to the opioid?

      I see it the same. Every one bares responsibility. And even though a big chunk is on the pharma and media companies. There is still the pusher

      • efstajas@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Would you put blame on doctors for contributing to the opioid?

        I’m gonna assume by “contributing to the opioid” you mean over-prescribing pain medication for the commission? If so, that comparison is so far-fetched that it’s completely meaningless. You’re really going to compare that with independent creators having skippable ad reads that have to be clearly marked as such on content you get for free?

        • Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          Mind explains what is far fetched about it?

          Like can you explain what the original argument was and why the comparison I made would be far fetched in that context?

      • TheDarksteel94@sopuli.xyz
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        2 days ago

        For me, it depends on what they’re promoting. If it’s some crappy mobile game or crypto, I’m out. But I’m fine with the usual shit like energy drinks or VPNs. Like, those things usually have a serious business behind them, even if they might be useless for the vast majority of viewers.

        • Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          If Netflix ads were just energy drinks and VPN then you’re cool with them adding these tiers?

          Honest to god question. How many hours a day are you OK being spent on being sold something. What is your ratio of content to ads.

          • TheDarksteel94@sopuli.xyz
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            2 days ago

            It’s a little different with Netflix, because of what they started out as. With Youtube, I expected to be advertised to from the beginning, you know? I pay for Youtube Premium and use Sponsor Block to support the creators I watch while having a mostly ad free experience. Also, I just trust most of the creators that I watch to have my best interest in mind in terms of what they advertise.

            But for Netflix, their whole thing from the beginning was that they were better TV. That’s how they sold it to me. Now they’re slowly losing their point. So I’d definitely not be alright with it if they started showing me ads on top of my subscription fee. Same with Prime Video, because I know they’re experimenting with that.

        • Iheartcheese@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          Yep. I don’t hate youtubers for doing ads. Everyone needs to make money. Just skip the ads.

          Except for Ryan George because he actually makes his funny as fuck.