A new ad-based Netflix plan was unveiled last month in an effort to increase subscriber numbers, which was a bit less expensive than other tiers.
The cheapest ad-free plan has been removed from the company's website, indicating a strong desire to make users watch ads or pay more to get rid of them.
Netflix Pushes Users To Subscribing To More Expensive Plans
Netflix appears to be trying to discourage customers from purchasing the cheapest ad-free plan by keeping it a secret from them.
According to Technoblog, since the introduction of a new tier, some users who attempt to sign up for Netflix no longer see the basic ad-free plan on the Netflix website.
With this, the only plans available for users to purchase on the streaming service's website are the Basic with ads, Standard, and Premium packages.
Additionally, 9to5 Mac confirms that Netflix is indeed removing the cheapest ad-free plan from its website, but this doesn't mean that the basic ad-free plan is no longer available.
However, the option to select that tier is still there, but it's now tucked away in a very tiny link on the Netflix subscription page.
It is possible that the company is conducting an A/B test to see which of the four plans is best for its users because some users can still see the plans without clicking any links.
Because of this, users have expressed concern that hiding these ad-fee options from them could be a dangerous dark pattern practice.
It is important to note that in the US, the monthly cost of the Basic plan with ads is $6.99, while the same plan without ads is $9.99.
The Standard plan, on the other hand, is $8.50 more expensive per month at $15.49 than the least expensive plan currently offered.
Additionally, the Premium plan is another option, costing $19.99 per month, moving subscribers into a tier that is $13 more expensive than the least expensive.
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What Do These Netflix Tiers Support
The Standard plan supports two devices running at 1080p simultaneously, while the Premium plan supports up to four devices running at 4K resolution.
At the moment, there is no information available regarding the future of Netflix's ad-free basic tier, which only permits 720p streaming on a single device.
According to Tech Times, however, the cheaper ad-based Netflix option is not available to Apple TV subscribers, so they have not been able to benefit from this plan.
This means that if users want to watch on their Apple TV devices, they must subscribe to one of the more expensive plans, like the Standard or Premium.
As of writing, the reason the new ad-based plan is not available in Netflix's tvOS app has not been addressed by the company yet.
It is important to note that the Basic plan with ads is currently offered in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and South Korea.
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