Netflix Will Now Interrupt Series Binges With Video Ads For Its Other Series (arstechnica.com) 184
Netflix has confirmed that it will start airing video ads for other Netflix series between episodes. These ads will reportedly only be for Netflix content, not outside products or content, and will, at least for now, only appear for a "segment" of Netflix's user base. Ars Technica reports: The news emerged via user reports, particularly on the primary Netflix Reddit community, in which users claimed that ads for entirely different series would play between episodes of a given show's binging. One initial claim said that "unskippable" ads for the AMC series Better Call Saul appeared between episodes of Rick & Morty, and that this ad appeared while using Netflix's smart TV app on an LG set in the UK. Replies to that thread included an allegation that a video ad for I Am A Killer (a Netflix-produced true-crime series) appeared between episodes of the animated comedy Bob's Burgers.
In a statement given to Ars Technica, Netflix described the change as follows: "We are testing whether surfacing recommendations between episodes helps members discover stories they will enjoy faster." The reasoning, Netflix's statement says, comes from its last controversial decision: to add auto-playing videos, complete with unmuteable audio, while browsing through Netflix content. Netflix offered one major rebuttal to at least one Reddit claim, pointing out that the ads for Netflix content are entirely skippable.
In a statement given to Ars Technica, Netflix described the change as follows: "We are testing whether surfacing recommendations between episodes helps members discover stories they will enjoy faster." The reasoning, Netflix's statement says, comes from its last controversial decision: to add auto-playing videos, complete with unmuteable audio, while browsing through Netflix content. Netflix offered one major rebuttal to at least one Reddit claim, pointing out that the ads for Netflix content are entirely skippable.
Yuck (Score:5, Insightful)
If actually skippable, I guess I am OK with it, though do not like it... but I can see why they want to do this as they have a lot of original content, and they have a point as to how people would find out about it otherwise.
On the other hand Amazon Prime Video does this at the start of watching anything as far as I can tell and I just skip so fast I don't think I've ever learned anything from it.
I think the Netflix featured show that appears when you enter the app (on the Apple TV anyway) is probably the best way to get exposure for something without seeming to interrupt whatever the user was doing.
Re:Yuck (Score:5, Insightful)
If actually skippable, I guess I am OK with it, though do not like it... but I can see why they want to do this as they have a lot of original content, and they have a point as to how people would find out about it otherwise.
On the other hand Amazon Prime Video does this at the start of watching anything as far as I can tell and I just skip so fast I don't think I've ever learned anything from it.
I think the Netflix featured show that appears when you enter the app (on the Apple TV anyway) is probably the best way to get exposure for something without seeming to interrupt whatever the user was doing.
If they were skippable, like the intro's to shows, I'd be irked. If they are not skippable, I may as well go back to streaming from "other sources"
It could be worse, like unskippable ads (every 9 minutes) in the middle of a show or movie.
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"It could be worse, like unskippable ads (every 9 minutes) in the middle of a show or movie."
Don't worry, the pot still has another 10C or so to boil before we get to that point. All I know is that I'm using netflix because I can't stand advertisements in cable TV. If netflix starts heading that way, I'll be cutting off my subscription and not looking back.
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No it won't. You will still watch. Netflix owns you. Remember when they stopped shipping DVDs but had almost no streamable content? No one left. Remember when they jacked their prices up (again, and again, and again) - you didn't leave. Remember when they launched a God-awful interface that auto-streamed clips everytime you hovered over something? You didn't leave.
You won't leave when they force this upon you either.
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I got rid of Netflix a little over two years ago after they started dropping all the good classic TV shows and started shrinking closing credits without a way to turn that "feature" OFF by default.
So, people DO leave Netflix. I currently only subscribe to the ad-free Hulu, CBS All Access, and Britbox.
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They never had that much of a lull (Score:4, Insightful)
Remember when they stopped shipping DVDs but had almost no streamable content?
A) I still get DVD's to this day (BluRay, but still).
B) I always thought the streaming content was decent, even when they had to get rid of a lot of movies. It's not like movies made in the past decade are general that much of prize anyway.
I'll stay with them not because they own me, but because I really like the content. Netflix for whatever reason seems to have an HBO level eye to quality, but with much more diversity of content. HBO didn't bring back Voltron, Netflix did... and Netflix is breathing new life into all sorts of TV categories.
That said if they went too far with internal ads I would still drop it, just like any attempt to watch Hulu has been met with instant horror.
Re:Yuck (Score:5, Insightful)
If they start showing me unskippable ads, I'll immediately cancel my subscription simply to send them a message. Maybe even skippable ones. I don't want them to think they can crack the door open on this crap at all. It's just a tiny slide from there to a few "relevant sponsored messages" here and there.
I unsubscribed from Hulu because of those annoying bugs they pasted in the corners. I unsubscribed immediately from Prime's anime channel because their subtitles were terrible. Maybe I'm more picky than most, but I'm not going to pay for something that's actively annoying me. I'd rather do without. There are plenty of other things vying for my entertainment time and money.
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If they start showing me unskippable ads, I'll immediately cancel my subscription simply to send them a message
It's what some people said after Netflix started to block VPNs...
Re: Yuck (Score:2)
Yep, that's what I did.
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How is Windows actively annoying you, particularly if you 'paid' for a copy and aren't using it?
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You got stuck buying a copy to get the hardware you wanted and still run a dual boot for convenient game play. So there are times when you use it and are annoyed by it and times when you are not using it and are annoyed by still owning. This especially when you do not give one crap about it and are only interested in the games you can play on it, and consider the interface so shit, you use a free alternate, so annoying as an OS can be and really only a toy operating system barely fit for gaming.
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I've been watching Hulu for months and I don't know what "annoying bugs they pasted in the corners" you are talking about. I pay for the commercial-free Hulu.
I paid for the commercial-free version myself. Before that, there was no way I'd pay for a service that also showed me ads. Hulu would often display the logo of a local affiliate station, like the local Fox station when I was watching the X-Files, or they'd display the distributor (Viz Media) when I was watching some anime. I cancelled a few years ago, so maybe they're not doing it as often. Or maybe just not on the shows you've watched. It apparently doesn't bother many people, but I tend to find it e
Re:Yuck (Score:5, Insightful)
This is how it starts. "I guess I'm OK with it"
Then it gets worse, but why did it get worse? Because you were OK with it.
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Yeap but if you kick them in the head just enough so that they're easier to persuade to consume more services but not enough so that they have motor control issues and can't reach for their wallets, it's all good.
Pretty sure this is the model bars/pubs use when they serve alcohol.
Re:Yuck (Score:5, Insightful)
but I can see why they want to do this as they have a lot of original content, and they have a point as to how people would find out about it otherwise.
How would we otherwise find out about the crap they’re already constantly shoving in the face of us Netflix subscribers?
You’re joking, right?
Re:Yuck (Score:4, Insightful)
but I can see why they want to do this as they have a lot of original content
No, no excuse here. They already added series trailers that start automatically at the home page, annoying enough already. When people binge watch series, they don't want to be interrupted with something different.
Re:Yuck (Score:5, Interesting)
When one streaming service goes downhill you can bet another will show up to steal its crown. I recently subbed to Stan (australia), and I've been deciding which to keep. This sort of thing makes it easier to choose.
As for Netflix content, they already show giant thumbnails for their own shows in between most of the browse lists. Most don't interest me, and showing me a trailer in the midst of something that DOES interest me won't make me want to try 'em.
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When one streaming service goes downhill you can bet another will show up to steal its crown.
Netflix has been going downhill for the past 5 years, both in terms of quality, and content. It still has the crown.
My pet-peeve right now is their suggestions when you search:
Me: Searches for ${movie}
Netflix: "Here are some related suggestions: ${Hollywood blockbuster, sequel to movie I searched}"
Me: Clicks on one of their suggestions.
Netflix: "hahahah f-u we don't actually have that in our library, we just wanted you to get your hopes up, allow me to return search results that look identical to what you h
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That "related search" that comes up ALWAYS means they don't have it, but they'll give you things close to that show. Sometimes it's like the list you're already seeing, but it can be significantly different. If you specifically want the one thing and only that thing, related search won't help, but if you're in the mood for a genre or topic, it might.
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That "related search" that comes up ALWAYS means they don't have it, but they'll give you things close to that show.
No the other way around. I know that if you search for something specific it will show "Suggestions" if they don't have it. What I'm saying is that they often don't have the Suggestions that they come up with as an alternative. Easy to do by example:
Search for: "Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol" > No suggestions, the directy library result comes up.
but search for something ambiguous: "Mission Impossible" > Suggestions come up including:
"Mission: Impossible" - Part of the library and also shown in the
Re:Yuck (Score:5, Interesting)
If actually skippable, I guess I am OK with it
I'm not.
As a paying customer looking to relax, I don't want to be interrupted by someone trying to sell me something. First time I experience it, I will write a complaint to their customer service (which I did when HBO tried similar shenanigans). If they keep at it for a month, I will cancel my subscription.
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I was pretty agitated the first time I saw it, until I realized it doesn't actually change what I do. On my PS3, when one episode ends there's always a "next episode starts in 20 seconds" box, and I can press X to go ahead and start. Now the ad shows up instead, but if I press X it skips and goes ahead and starts. So, zero difference other than the splash screen.
If I had to press multiple buttons or arrow over or do more work, I'd be giving them a piece of my mind, but I can live with this for now.
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It's the same for me on Prime as well. Worse for Amazon, they conditioned me to dismiss the ads immediately because:
* When I'm in the middle of a series and between two episodes, I am absolutely not interested in a different series.
* They keep showing me the same ads that I already dismissed a hundred times because I am not interested in them (and if their algorithm believes that I am then it did not pay attention)
So now what happens is that I always immediately click the dismiss button and an not even seei
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their algorithm is paying attention, and knows if it has shown you the ad 99 times, on the 100th time you will accidently click on it.
I still won't watch a series I am not interested in. Showing me stuff that is relevant surely would increase Amazon's chances of me watching it
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the Netflix featured show that appears when you enter the app (on the Apple TV anyway) is probably the best way to get exposure for something
I'd think so to. And it's something that I have actually "interacted with" as they put it. But ads between episodes will just get skipped. If they can't be skipped... I will vote with my feet. If the ads are solely for my benefit and only to discover other shows, how about adding a setting that lets me turn off these ads in case I prefer to discover new shows another way?
I get so little exposure to ads these days that every one that slips through feels like a personal insult (the content of those ads
Re: Yuck (Score:1)
Yup, gross. If Netflix starts forcing ads on its customers, I will stop being one of those customers.
I watch only a little, but I've been a Netflix subscriber for years. Netflix gets my business because the price is low and the user experience is good. Change either of those, and it's just not worth it for me.
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Similarly with YouTube videos with a 'you may skip this ad after five seconds'. If people are committed to skipping ads, why keep showing them?
Monitor skipping - if someone never watches an ad, they are clearly not interested. By continuing to show them you're:
* Wasting bandwidth / other computing resources
* Wasting advertisers money targeting someone who's clearly not interested
Surely advertising is supposed to be about ma
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Agreed that ultimately it's about maximising profit.
Selling eyes and ears implies that those eyes and ears are open. I just feel that despite all the monitoring, the middleman had zero clue of the end-users' interests. And so they are misleading their paying customers.
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but I can see why they want to do this as they have a lot of original content, and they have a point as to how people would find out about it otherwise.
As it is they do a terrible job of recommending me the same 5 shows I have no interest in watching, now they want to annoy with again with shows I have no interest in watching.
Re:Yuck (Score:5, Interesting)
>"but I can see why they want to do this as they have a lot of original content, and they have a point as to how people would find out about it otherwise.""
If their interface weren't so HORRIBLE, it would be easy to find and explore new things. Their stupid, massive collection of horizontal scrolling lists is completely non-functional; horribly show, endlessly frustrating, with irrelevant topics and groupings to me.
1) I want to know what is new TO ME. It still shows things as "new" even if I have known about it or even watched it several months ago.
2) I want to filter out things I have already seen
3) I want to have filtered searches
4) I want to know what is a film from what is a series
5) I want to be able to mark seasons as complete
6) I want to TURN OFF DAMN AUTOPLAY so when I fall asleep, I don't have to fight going back and "rewatching" things it thinks I watched
7) I want to be able to rate things with 1-5 stars so I know HOW MUCH I liked or disliked something
8) I don't want the screen to "dim" and "overlay" when I pause video to look at something
9) I want to turn on/off captioning with a single key while watching
10) I want to "subscribe" to series so I am immediately informed of new episodes
11) I want to optionally jump through lists a page at a time not just one miserably slow scrolling item at a time
12) I want an easy-to-read history list of what I have watched, with dates, ratings, etc
13) I want to be able to sort things by category, recommendation, type, last seen, ratings, etc
The list could go on and on. It is one of the worst user interfaces ever (especially after using TiVo forever). And if they introduce unskippable or "painfully" skippable "ads" of any type, I will immediately cancel my subscription, write them a scathing letter, and give them a bad word-of-mouth from that point forward.
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Basically the Streaming Video Bill of Rights, and absolutely it should be the law on any streaming video service.
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Compared to HBO the interface is actually quite workable. One would think it would be possible for a big business to make a decent interface, but apparently not.
Regarding new stuff, I ended up bookmarking Recently Added [netflix.com] (which, sadly, is not where the link on the front page points) ... which is now mostly out of date compared to the Just Added [netflix.com] ... sigh ...
Adding to your list, it would also be really neat if each TV show would include a synopsis of each season, so that when the next season comes along, you
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You can disable autoplay. You just have to do it on their website. Under "Playback Settings".
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>"You can disable autoplay. You just have to do it on their website. Under "Playback Settings"."
+1 Informative
I had no idea it was there. It appears the be the ONLY setting other than default quality. I immediately changed it. Thanks!
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Man screw that, there's far bigger problems:
1) Stop making search suggestions for things that are not actually in your library.
That gives me the shits more than anything else.
Me: Searches for something.
Netflix: "Check out this amazing related search {blockbuster movie}"
Me: Clicks on related search.
Netflix: Here's a list of search results none of which include the thing we recommended to you because LOL we don't have that.
By the way:
7) I want to be able to rate things with 1-5 stars so I know HOW MUCH I liked or disliked something
Why would *you* want to know how much *you* liked something? Don't you remem
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>"By the way: Why would *you* want to know how much *you* liked something? Don't you remember?"
Hell no! I can't hardly remember last week, much less which of the many THOUSANDS of programs and movies I have watched!!
Besides, it isn't just about ME knowing how much I liked/hated something, but letting Netflix know, so it can better offer suggestions. Lots of stuff I saw I neither liked nor disliked, so neither + nor - make any sense; and leaving it unrated could me "don't know" or "forgot" or "haven't s
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What an empty life you must live, mindlessly consuming so much content that you can't even remember what it is you've spent so much of your life (not) paying attention to.
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Yeah, sad, isn't it?
I do remember the important and good stuff. Unfortunately, it seems like so little available to watch is worth remembering. Hey- at least I follow Slashdot!
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>"What player are you using?"
Samsung and TiVo. Both look the same or nearly so.
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14) You want to pirate
You couldn't be more wrong about that if you tried. I'd easily pay 2x Netflix's current subscription rate if all of those items were addressed.
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On the other hand Amazon Prime Video does this at the start of watching anything as far as I can tell and I just skip so fast I don't think I've ever learned anything from it.
Hmm; I haven't seen this on Amazon Prime video. Maybe they only do it to certain content?
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They've got piles of advertising for their shows on the main screen. It's not hard to find out about new content on Netflix.
Once you've chosen something, showing ads is just a good way to piss off your customers.
Hold on, there (Score:2)
There's plenty of room on the home display where the various content is arranged to select from. And of course there is the very effective viral "have you seen X?" effect when something of broad interest comes out.
Don't make the error of thinking they have no way to let you know about new content without taking this step. They do.
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but I can see why they want to do this as they have a lot of original content
If only Netflix had a landing page where they could suggest all this content for you...
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Yeah, I mean, I'm paying for the service and I'm paying for network access. Don't see why I should be forced to watch their ads.
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Cable started out dipping a toe in the water too. NMext thing you know, the science channels are all talking about Alien Nazi Bigfoot clones and the music video channels have no music.
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Yeap but as usual, the principled stands of the few will be overshadow by the inertia of the majority so NetFlix won't get the message. Or will they?
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If enough people just skip the ads and don't visit those related shows, Netflix will get the message that the technique is useless and stop doing it (or more realistically iterate on the concept for a while until they see traction).
defeating the point of binge watching!! (Score:1)
Yet another first class decision from netflix?
If I had painted a target their shoe it wouldn't have made it any easier for them to shoot themselves in the foot!
Another paid service that goes down the drain. (Score:5, Insightful)
This is very likely just the beginning. You, as a company, cannot suddenly start filling everything with ads. You start with skippable ads for own content. And, you know, skippable ads are a pain in the neck. They get you out of the mood, they return you to reality and your problems. They break the viewing experience.
Then you broadcast skippable ads for other companies, but make your own content ads non-skippable. And you go on, and on, and on, only thinking of the next quarter profits to look good, giving you (the Netflix executive) time to jump to another company. You have seen it in cable companies, you have seen it in cinemas, and you are now seeing it in Netflix.
There is apparently a structural rule in the paid broadcasting business that says that, once you get enough people, you start degrading the service to get more money. I suppose that comes from marketing people not wanting to raise prices directly, as that's a trigger for the clients to quit. So they start giving less quality, putting ads, etc. Just slowly killing the reasons why you were successful in the first place. I see a business opportunity there.
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There is apparently a structural rule in the paid broadcasting business that says that, once you get enough people, you start degrading the service to get more money. I suppose that comes from marketing people not wanting to raise prices directly, as that's a trigger for the clients to quit. So they start giving less quality, putting ads, etc. Just slowly killing the reasons why you were successful in the first place. I see a business opportunity there.
Well straight up price hikes are a bad idea for business in general, that's not something marketing invented it's pretty much established fact. Smart marketing will however sell you on a new product/service tier while the old degrades so you have the impression you're paying more to get more. Very often do this by making like half-tiers, before you had tiers 1, 2, 3 now you have 0.5, 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 and you like either get some feature from the tier up, or you save a bit of money going down for a lesser se
hbo has it's own ad's been that way for years (Score:2)
hbo has it's own ad's been that way for years
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Why would they insert other ads? This isn't a revenue grab. It's defensive against the Disney/Fox/Marvel streaming service about to start up (or the super-beefed up Hulu.) They need to have IP up and running that people want.
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I was meaning things like diapers, cars, Pepsi...
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Right, but what I'm saying is that this move, and ads for other products, are completely different beasts. One is to make you further invested in the Netflix ecosystem. The other is to make more cash. On is defensive, the other greedy. And ads for products will drive people away. So there's no reason to think that they'll go there (based on this).
The evolution of TV (Score:1)
No ads -> only ads for other shows -> only ads between shows -> ads -> competitor with no ads
Have a (Score:4, Insightful)
Have a deep and wide suggestion part of the GUI thats full of news and different series.
Make it part of the GUI that a user has to select. For competitor services, this will make users like your brands more.
Users controlling their own experience (Score:5, Insightful)
I guess we all knew the honeymoon would end one day :-(
Netflix moves in small steps (Score:2)
I guess we all knew the honeymoon would end one day :-(
Actually, it does so at turtle like pace. There was the VPN blocking policy, that affected many users. Netflix did it and waited... no noticeable subscription impact.
So they keep going. Next is showing ads for their own series. There will be no impact either, plus subscribers will get used to it.
In a year or so, ads for other stuff, then between episodes, then, ultimately, within episodes, like the good old tv ; maybe at that level, people will want to see what competition is doing.
Same as cable (Score:5, Insightful)
It will "work", so next step will be to apply Netflix ads to all users.
Next, it will be included before (not between) any video.
Next, it will be unskippable.
Next, it will include other recommendations outside Netflix relevant to their users, such as Coca-Cola, Apple or Nike.
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Yes, this is exactly how SkyTV in my country went from no ads, to ads for similar content, to occasional external ads, and now to basically being an ad-supported platform that you pay for.
fuck sake (Score:5, Insightful)
I see Netfllix is starting to whip out the cable company bullshit.
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"surfacing" (Score:1)
Is that what they call it nowadays... marketing people should be banned to the moon!
just cancelled my membership and let them know why (Score:3)
will resubscribe if/when they roll back this change
It seems netflix does not get the point why ... (Score:5, Insightful)
... they have customers at all, it because there is no commercials in between anything. I see people will go downloading more again.
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... they have customers at all, it because there is no commercials in between anything. I see people will go downloading more again.
I doubt that is why most people have Netflix. Netflix has a large catalogue of content, that appeals to a wide audience. You don't have to go out and buy or rent a DVD to watch a movie. They have original content as well. All of this for a very low price. If commercials keep prices down and /or add more original content then many users, IMHO, won't care. Look at Spotify, they have 180 million users, of which 97 million use the free service and put up with ads. That indicates a lot of consumers will trade t
Re: It seems netflix does not get the point why .. (Score:2)
Great! (Score:2)
To hell with ads... (Score:2)
Remember when you got cable TV because no ads? (Score:4, Funny)
I member.
Re:Remember when you got cable TV because no ads? (Score:5, Interesting)
I remember.
I used to love watching American Movie Classics, back in the day. They’d show these great old movies, with no ads. Before the movie, Bob Dorian would give a couple-minute introduction telling us some little-known story about the plot or the movie production... I loved those days...
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Man, I'm so old I remember when MTV only played music videos.
Nooooooo!!! (Score:1)
This is the thing I hate about HBO-- they play commercials for HBO before episodes. I am already buying HBO-- what does that accomplish other than annoying me?
There used to be the idea, that if you paid... (Score:2)
... your data would not be collected and you wouldn't have ads.
Netflix is one of the best examples that this is not true. They get money from their viewers, but gladly take more money through targeted product placement, in part enabled by detailed user data.
""unskippable" ads? NO, just like DVD/BRs. (Score:2)
Perhaps a very short skippable ad for a related show AT THE END of a season, especially at the end of an entire series. Yeah, that, maybe. "You liked this? Here's something similar." NOT random, similar.
If you start acting like cable TV, you'll end up just LIKE cable TV.
"That's a nice business I've got here, shame if something were to happen to it." I never realized the owner could do it to themselves. Dr Strangelove's hand at the end, I guess.
Bye Bye Netflix (Score:1)
Avoidance of ads is the main reason to watch Netflix. Pay and receive ads? Anyone at Netflix heard the term 'user experience' ? Are they positioning themselves for a premium subscription?
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Already canceled (Score:2)
Been making every bad decsion for a while now (Score:2)
I recently unsubbed and it's for good this time. Their legacy content (non-Netflix movies and shows) is almost completely gone now, or so obscured as to be impossible to find under their awful UI that only pimps their own original content. Those autoplay trailers when you're just trying to browse are so far beyond annoying that I don't think there's a word in the English language to express my feelings on them (Hyper-mega-grating? Super-high-annoying? Still doesn't capture it).
Netflix streaming is a shadow
Netflix (Score:2)
I go to the website.
I look for something to watch.
I watch it.
I turn it off.
Interfering with that workflow is gonna be detrimental to our business relationship, Netflix.
And, let's be honest, you don't show anything I can't get elsewhere. The reasons I use you are:
- People generally know what's available on Netflix and will point you to what's available that you might have missed (P.S. your recommendations are shite).
- I don't have proper Internet, only mobile Internet, because it was cheaper and easier than
Just like cable TV (Score:2)
Remember when some channels on Cable TV didn't have ads?
Here we go folks. First a few Netflix only ads, then we'll get feminine hygiene ads.
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then we'll get feminine hygiene ads.
One man's ad is another man's porn. -_-
And so it begins - Netflix starts showing ads (Score:4, Informative)
.
And so it begins...
I cancelled NetFlix once before... (Score:2)
Then I came back about a year later. The first time I felt like I had seen everything they had to offer. I would scroll and scroll and not find anything of interest to me so I finally canceled it. Then I came back and I'm finding the same urge again. Putting ads in will probably push me to cancel again.
Its bad enough already (Score:2)
that you can't set a n option to no auto play previews. I pay, I choose what I see and how I see it, now get off my lawn...
auto-playing videos, complete with unmuteable audi (Score:2)
I've actually turned off my android-tv and did something else because of that one.
When I'm trying to browse and read and decide what I'm going to watch, if anything, having anything I'm looking at suddenly start playing is the quickest way to get me to browse to something else or to turn the whole thing off in disgust.
And so the circle continues (Score:2)
Step 1. Some visionary people build a new, great service which instantly finds a market.
Step 2. Management gets to pat themselves on the shoulders as the business rapidly grows, becoming a global brand - with the main challenge being how to scale up the company fast enough.
Step 3. There are only so many people who want/need the product on Earth, and competitors also start to appear. The fantastic growth stagnates.
Step 4. Enter crisis mode. How do we maintain our revenue growth (failing to recognize the very
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Re: Foot. Load. Aim. (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, he is. He's paying for media content and the media being shown is an advert.
That someone else may have paid for that advert to be shown to him would merely mean Netflix are getting paid twice.
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While technically my TV is a computer it's also not worth the time and effort to hack to skip adverts on its built-in netflix client.
Much easier to just skip giving netflix any money.
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Physical action? You mean: "in" your computer? With no way to automate it? And you put up with *that*?
Correct. Many people buy game consoles, set-top streaming boxes, smartphones, and tablet computers running smartphone operating systems, and they just put up with annoyances because they perceive that the platform is cheaper, more convenient, or both than buying a desktop computer to leave connected to a television-sized monitor.
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I was told at one time that cable (when it was started) was supposed to not have commercials as you paid for it. I guess this seems to be the natural flow of things, unfortunately.
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If you could turn them off they would not be 'recommendations'. They would not be, to you, anything.
And 'they' want to dominate your attention, any way they can. For instance, making damn sure you know about the other magnificence they have for you to see^H^H^H spend your time on...