Netflix did not fare well last year. The streaming giant lost subscribers in two consecutive quarters for the first time in its recent history. So they decided to look for ways to get and force people to subscribe. Because many share access for cost reasons.
No wonder: the premium subscription now costs 18 euros a month, but at the same time the content isn’t getting any better or better. On the contrary: For cost reasons, Netflix is increasingly cutting back on the complex productions, while cheaply produced reality content is becoming more and more popular. It’s no wonder that some people think that it’s not worth 18 euros a month or that they can’t afford a subscription in times of recession.
Netflix 2017: “Password sharing is love”
At this point it should be mentioned that years ago Netflix itself more or less directly promoted the sharing of the password, because in 2017 they wrote: “Love means sharing a password.” Be that as it may, it doesn’t matter from a purely legal point of view or with regard to the terms and conditions, external account sharing is not allowed.
But the solution presented this week was a shot in the foot: Netflix published an FAQ that made account sharing significantly more difficult, but also made legal use extremely inconvenient and cumbersome. So you should only be able to use Netflix when traveling on external or third-party devices such as the hotel TV with a one-time code, which should be valid for just seven days (and should also be used if you are blocked).
In addition, you had to verify your own network or WLAN once a month. The consequence of violations was the blocking of the account – however, it was not clear whether the account should be blocked completely or only access from outside.
But apparently Netflix quickly realized that this was a more than stupid idea: Because today the FAQ is no longer formulated so harshly, the new strict measures have been removed again. No wonder, because such a restrictive measure would only have scared customers away. It would probably have lost more subscribers to the threat of inconvenience than it would have gained from the sharing ban. Because it is completely unclear how many people would have been motivated to subscribe – probably not many.
Think first, block later
And one could and should have known all this beforehand. One can probably rule out that an intern wrote a new FAQ here, “mouse slipped” and activated it without the knowledge of management.
Netflix was once a beacon of hope for a one-stop shop for all content that series and movie hearts desire. But today you’re just a shadow of yourself. You can’t do anything about that, because fragmentation and competition are undoubtedly having a huge impact on the streaming pioneer. Now, however, the sympathy of many customers is being lost with ill-considered, even simply stupid actions. So don’t be surprised if they run away at some point.
- Netflix tried to restrict account sharing: solution quickly removed.
- Costs are rising, content worse: many share access.
- One-time code only valid for 7 days, account blocked in case of violation.
- Netflix used to promote account sharing itself.
- Unconsidered, stupid actions lose customer sympathy.
- Netflix is just a shadow of its former self.
- Customers will run away if you scare them.
See also:
