DON'T PANIC: Netflix Is Running Ads Right Now, But It's Gonna Be Okay

2 June 2015, 17:15 | Updated: 8 May 2017, 17:09

By Liam Dryden

@LiamDrydenEtc

"HOW DARE THEY I PAID FOR THE THING RAH RAH CRY"

Netflix users have started to notice this week that pre-roll ads are running before their content plays.

Netflix has ads now. I'm not mentally stable enough to handle this.

— Floyd (@TarynGraceBC) May 29, 2015

HEY when did @netflix start putting ads for their shows when you want to watch something? Don't be like @HuluPlus. No ads.

— Alanna Burke (@aburke626) May 29, 2015

Predictably, they're not overly happy about it.

Oh COME ON. Welcome to the future, where our only option is to watch shows illegally or pay to watch them with ads. http://t.co/j8v9RAVCgI

— Paige (@paigeronimo) June 1, 2015

http://t.co/WhnlNmoyJs If @netflix actually starts doing this, I’m out.

— Tyler Britten (@vmtyler) June 1, 2015

Netflix starts testing pre-roll ads, because everything is terrible. http://t.co/jdy79sIUkK

— Lauren O'Neil (@laurenonizzle) June 2, 2015

And some are letting their inner entitlement about the service run free.

@verge if I see one god damned ad on my paid netflix service I'll quit immediately. @netflix

— Freddy Rivero (@Geek_Tips) June 1, 2015

An ad-free experience is intrinsic to the value of the @netflix service for me. Add ads without an ad-free option and watch me go. #netflix

— Ryan (@Plaguefox) June 1, 2015

if i see a SINGLE ad on @netflix im so, so out

— Julio Capote (@capotej) June 1, 2015

But while many a Reddit thread and tech outlet has been dedicated to reporting on this terrible, apocalyptic capitalist hell, Netflix kinda just wants everyone to calm down.

"Don't freak out: Netflix is not running ads" http://t.co/CEnaS5Z0Yg

— Netflix US (@netflix) June 1, 2015

The reality is that Netflix has quietly been beta-testing pre-roll ads for their own home-grown content, and that's basically it. Working in sync with the splash bar when you log in, and the suggested content when you finish another series, the pre-rolls are a very tentative test at promoting native series like Daredevil, House Of Cards, and Orange Is The New Black. Which, unless you're a nerd wasting your monthly subscription fee on bingeing series that you already have on DVD, should actually be good news.

If ads are being tested right now then there's definitely room for the service to sell some pre-roll space to third parties. But if Netflix's CEO's chill response to the backlash is anything to go by, that could still be a very long way away. 

SO CALM DOWN, YA BABIES.