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Netflix to charge people who use their account in more than one place
The days of freeloading off of one account could soon be over…
Netflix is to trial charging users extra if they share their account across numerous households as its revenue continues to fall.
Next month, the streaming service will be rolling out the trial across five different countries in central and South America, where users will be required to pay an extra $2.99 (£2.50) to add a ‘second home’ to their accounts.
In order to find out which users have been slyly sharing their accounts, Netflix says it will scan users’ devices and their account activity in an attempt to find out when their logins are being used in more than one location.
It will try and find shared accounts by using ‘information such as IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity’, and encourages people to keep all devices in one home on the same internet connection.
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In its announcement, Netflix said that sharing of accounts between different homes ‘undermines our long term ability to invest in and improve our service’.
If the trial is successful, the new feature will be rolled out worldwide.
Read More: Netflix announces price increase for all UK customers
While Netflix has been famously lax about people sharing accounts across multiple households, it has been clamping down on the act as it struggles to claw back revenue in the midst of a cost of living crisis and growing competition.
Netflix lost around 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022, and is expected to lose even more in the coming months as people cut back on their monthly outgoings.
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Last month, the streaming giant announced it would be introducing a new and cheaper package with adverts to attract people back to its platform.
Netflix co-founder Ted Sarandos confirmed at the Cannes Lions advertising festival that the streaming service had already started talks with potential advertisers.
He explained: “We’ve left a big customer segment off the table, which is people who say: ‘Hey, Netflix is too expensive for me and I don’t mind advertising’.
“We’re adding an ad tier; we’re not adding ads to Netflix as you know it today. We’re adding an ad tier for folks who say, ‘Hey, I want a lower price and I’ll watch ads’.”