What you need to know
- Netflix announced that it plans to introduce even more ads on its service, such as in its Clips feed and podcasts.
- During its Upfront event, it stated that its ads now reach “250M global monthly active users,” but it looks like it wants to put the pedal to the metal.
- Netflix’s Q4 2025 saw a notably 16% YoY increase, but it also reported a major revenue increase, thanks to ads; however, price hikes still happened in March.
Netflix highlighted what’s coming up from the service this week, and to the dismay of viewers, more ads are on the way.
A post by The Verge put a spotlight on what Netflix discussed during its Upfront event, stating that the service is preparing to roll out even more ads. The streaming platform announced that it will bring ads to users in its “Clips” feed, while also rolling out a selection for its podcasts. On a related note, Netflix credited its use of AI as a driving force behind making advertising easier for companies.
The company mentioned using AI to help refine how its vertical ads look (likely in preparation for its Clips feed addition) and “pause ads.”
On the flip side, Netflix paraded around how well its ads have performed as of late. According to its post, its ads now reach “250M global monthly active viewers. These viewers are deeply engaged: over 80% of ads members are actively watching every week.” Of course, this comes off the back of its ad-supported tier. Netflix says that this positive performance has led it to roll out this ad tier to 15 more countries worldwide, including Colombia, Ireland, Peru, Norway, and the Philippines.
Where things get interesting is when you factor in just how well Netflix performed at the end of 2025.
Major revenue, but price hikes still happened
Netflix achieved a major, record-breaking Q4 in 2025, reporting a 16% YoY growth. The company’s ads were briefly discussed, with a comment reading, “Scaling our ads business represents an opportunity to tap into significant new revenue and profit pools over the medium to longer term.” However, as The Verge points out, Netflix posted $1.5 billion in earned revenue off ads alone at the end of 2025.
Now, we’re preparing for more. This narrative gets even more curious when you remember (how could we forget?) that it just raised prices. At the end of March, the Standard with Ads plan went up from $7.99 to $8.99. Elsewhere, the Standard Ad-Free plan jumped $2 to $19.99, while the Premium (4K, Spatial Audio) leapt by $2, as well to $26.99. Netflix is already starting to feel a bit overpriced, leading consumers to more money-conscious alternatives.
Android Central’s Take
From a consumer perspective, I find it strange that we keep getting all of these price hikes if the platform is… doing well? There was $1.5 billion posted in ad revenue at the end of 2025, yet it’s the viewers that are stuck with higher prices. It does make one wonder why. Sure, they’ve said higher prices help it to deliver better quality content and the like. Is that still the case? Is that something that consumers will sit by and say, “you know, that makes sense.” I’m not so sure. I feel like we’re approaching a point where it’s just too much (I mean, $27 for 4K, or even $20 for regular/no-ads is a bit much, no?).