Netflix Hides Cheapest ad-free plan

Netflix introduced a new ad plan for attracting more subscribers since the current plan was a bit expensive and not everyone could afford it. It is simple: either one opts for watching ads or gives more money to get rid of them. However, right now the cheapest ad-free plan is hidden from its website. With this move, it’s clearly evident that the streaming service wants users to subscribe to more expensive plans instead of cheap plans.

So the basic ad-free plan is hidden now and the only options left are  Basic with ads, Standard, and Premium plans. However, we are not sure whether Netflix has discontinued the basic ad-free plan. It might be possible that it would have been hidden on the Netflix subscription page. Since some of the users can see all four plans in the list. It means the company is running some A/B tests.

This can be considered a dark pattern, the name given to the practice of luring the user into less interesting or advantageous options. Apparently, the intention is to push those who don’t want a plan with advertises to a much more expensive plan.

When Netflix introduced Basic Plan with ads, the company revealed that the new cheaper plan will not be available for Apple TV users. However, one month has passed and the situation is still the same. It means that users who want to watch Netflix on Apple TV will have to subscribe to one of the expensive plans without ads.

The company has not even explained why the ad-based plan is not available in Netflix’s tvOS app. However, since Netflix has apparently discontinued the Basic plan without ads, Apple TV users will e forced to subscribe to other plans if they want to watch the streaming service on their devices.

Also Read: Microsoft May Acquire Netflix in 2023