Netflix Launches New Version of Password Sharing Test in Multiple Countries, Leading to Protests, Cancellations
Earlier this year, Netflix began rolling out tests designed to curb password sharing as the streaming giant reported that 100 million people use the service via an account paid for by someone outside of their home. These experiments were initially launched in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru, but early reports were that they were not successful, and many onlookers were concerned that they could lead to massive subscriber churn.
Originally, the tests prompted account holders to add “sub-accounts” for $2.99 USD to their accounts in order to allow people outside of their homes to continue using the service. However, Rest Of World is now reporting that the world’s largest streamer recently launched a new round of experiments with a slightly different approach. According to the report, in late August, Netflix began its password-sharing experiments in Argentina, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic. However, unlike in the original tests, the users outside the account holder’s home were the ones targeted with the tests. These users were automatically logged out of the streamer and, when they signed back in, were prompted to create and pay for a sub-account.
The move led to widespread social media complaints, especially in Argentina, which — at 4.5 million subscribers — is Netflix’s fourth largest market behind only the United States, Canada, and Australia. The country is currently dealing with economic upheaval, which the streamer appears to have taken into consideration. The median monthly income in the country is $250 USD, and the government charges exorbitant taxes for foreign transactions, including Netflix.
While the streamer is charging the additional fees in U.S. dollars — making exchange rate fluctuations especially concerning — the sub-account rate in Argentina was lower than in the other countries included. Instead of the standard $2.99, Argentine users were charged just $1.50.
The streaming giant did not provide insight into the specific economic circumstances at play in Argentina, but the streamer’s director of global product and technology communication Kumiko Hidaka did tell Rest of World, “We want to get it right.”
The new fees have prompted a number of users to cancel their subscriptions, leading to a trending hashtag #ChauNetflix (“Bye Netflix”). Despite the response in Argentina, a report this summer found that nearly two-thirds of Netflix users who do not pay for the account that they use to stream would be willing to in order to maintain access to the streaming platform.
Netflix has indicated in recent public statements that it intends to eventually roll out some sort of password-sharing plan around the world, but only after the company has determined the best way to do so. Whichever version of its tests (or potentially something different altogether) the streamer decides to launch wide, it is clear that turning as many password-sharing users into paid users as possible is an important initiative for the company as it looks to counter a loss of 1.17 million subscribers over the past two quarters.
Netflix
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