Netflix made the decision after a disappointing first quarter, where it lost subscribers for the first time in a decade, and after years of resisting the very idea of ​​running ads.

"Clearly it works for Hulu," Netflix boss Reed Hastings remarked, referring to a competing service, during a conference call with analysts.

"If you want the ad-free option, it will always be possible. If you prefer to pay less and are tolerant of ads, there will be an offer for you too," he added.

This subscription will be added to the three options already available (“Essential”, “Standard” and “Premium”), the cheapest being ten dollars per month in the United States.

Microsoft will be responsible for designing and managing the platform for advertisers wishing to serve ads to Netflix users.

"Microsoft has the proven ability to meet all of our advertising needs by building a new ad-based subscription offering with us," Netflix chief operating officer Greg Peters said in Wednesday's statement.

Data Privacy

According to the American specialized press, Netflix had considered other partners, such as Google, the world leader in advertising and owner of YouTube, and Comcast, an internet provider which owns Peacock, the NBCUniversal platform.

Unlike these companies, Microsoft does not have a video streaming service, but the IT group does have services such as the LinkedIn social network and XBox video games.

"Microsoft gives us the ability to innovate flexibly in the future, both on the technology side and in sales techniques, and provides strong protections for the privacy of our subscribers," said Greg Peters.

Introducing advertising means exposing yourself to the questions that have been debated for years around the personal data of consumers, collected on a large scale to target them with personalized, more lucrative ads.

"We are at the very beginning, but our long-term objective is clear: more choice for consumers and a premium tool for brands, better than in linear television", detailed the director.

After years of conquering users at high speed, Netflix lost 200,000 subscribers worldwide in the first quarter compared to the end of 2021, news that had its stock plunged 25% at the time.

The Californian group reacted by announcing the arrival of advertising on the service, which should help it finance the investments necessary to maintain its leading position in the industry that it has launched.

He had also indicated that he was going to tighten the screw on the side of the sharing of identifiers and passwords, which allow many people not to pay to access the content of the platform.

© 2022 AFP