Netflix says it will not offer ad-supported option in order to keep independence from Big Tech and Telcos

Netflix is resisting the siren song of advertising, both because it wants to keep its independence and because it is convinced that ads are not a viable alternative to the subscription model. Reed Hastings said this in a new interview for the content media Vulture, a publication that specializes in entertainment, culture and television.<br><br>Netflix co-founder and CEO said that if advertising is added to the platform, it would mean that Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Comcast would have even more control over the company’s advertising revenue, which could affect the company’s growth and independence. It would be something like what is happening with the media, which are increasingly dependent on Google and Facebook to attract audiences.<br><br>He also said that if Netflix were to add advertising, it would be forced to collect more data about its subscribers, which would likely lead to a loss of trust in the brand. In addition, Hastings said that advertising could disrupt the user experience, which is now free from interruption and clutter.<br><br>Netflix is definitely not going in the direction of traditional television. “We will never have ads, we will never sell our customers’ data,” Hastings declared. The platform’s management is convinced that the advertising model is not a viable model for the future of television, and that the only model is the subscription-based one.<br><br>When asked about Disney, which also resisted advertising, Hastings replied that Disney+ is a fantastic service that has done a great job in growing its subscriber base, but that the ad model is a “19th century model” that doesn’t work anymore because it isn’t designed to work with algorithms.<br><br>“Our goal is to offer the best service possible to our customers and we think that with ads we wouldn’t be able to do it,” Hastings concluded.