Blog

Netflix Will Soon Crack Down On Password Sharing

May 14, 2022 | Blog

Netflix has been talking about cracking down on password sharing for years.  So far, it’s been just talk. Recently, the company suffered its first decrease in subscribers in recent memory. They lost more than 200,000 in the first quarter of 2022. That is a fact which sent their stock price reeling.

According to the company’s estimates, some 100 million households are currently sharing their passwords. It’s a safe bet that now the company is serious about it, so you can expect the crackdown to begin pretty much any time.

It was great while it lasted but Netflix is understandably eager to monetize those accounts and it’s under increasing pressure to do so.  With industry giants like Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube, Disney+, Hulu, and others nipping at their heels, the company almost has to take decisive action.

Here’s what the company had to say on the matter:

“Our relatively high household penetration – when including the large number of households sharing accounts – combined with competition, is creating revenue growth headwinds. The big COVID boost to streaming obscured the picture until recently.

Account sharing as a percentage of our paying membership hasn’t changed much over the years, but coupled with the first factor, means it’s harder to grow membership in many markets – an issue that was obscured by our COVID growth.

While we work to reaccelerate our revenue growth – through improvements to our service and more effective monetization of multi-household sharing – we’ll be holding our operating margin at around 20 percent.”

Interestingly, the company’s lax policy with regards to account sharing likely contributed to its earlier growth.  Now the equation has changed, and the company is studying a few different approaches to help them recapture revenue lost to account sharing.

The most popular idea to date was “Paid Account Sharing.”  They charged a nominal fee that’s still less than a full monthly membership, so that at least they’re getting something from it.

That approach is likely so sufficiently light handed that the company’s massive user base won’t rebel, and it may prove to be an acceptable middle ground for everyone.  Time will tell.

FBI Program Tasked with Infrastructure Security Compromised

FBI Program Tasked with Infrastructure Security Compromised

The FBI program tasked with ensuring critical infrastructure security has been compromised by hackers, who now offer access to the program's data on the dark web. The breach was initially disclosed by Brian Krebs of Krebs on Security, who claims that the data was for...

Streamline Your Business with the Latest Smart Home Technology

Streamline Your Business with the Latest Smart Home Technology

Are you a business owner looking to get the most out of your Google smart home devices? If so, you're in luck! Google has enabled its Nest products and Android OS with the initial rollout of the Matter smart home standard. This means that businesses now have the...

Data Breach at Sequoia One Exposes Sensitive Customer Information

Data Breach at Sequoia One Exposes Sensitive Customer Information

What do you do when your most personal information has been compromised? This is likely the question that customers of Sequoia One asked themselves earlier this month as they were informed that the company had been hacked. Sequoia One specializes in the management of...

Cisco Reports Critical IP Phone Vulnerability

Cisco Reports Critical IP Phone Vulnerability

As a business owner, it's important to stay informed about potential vulnerabilities that could impact your organization. Recently, Cisco reported a critical vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2022-20968, affecting its IP Phone 7800 and 8800 Series. This new vulnerability...

Google Chrome Releases Two New Features

Google Chrome Releases Two New Features

Google Chrome is one of the more commonly used web browsers. Over the years, though, Chrome has gained a reputation for utilizing a large portion of a computer's memory. This can be a problem if you're running other resource-intensive tasks and don't want to slow...

Get a Free Consultation

 

Fill out the form below to receive a free consultation and learn how we can make your technology worry-free!

 

Contact Information

  • 39301 Badger Street, Suite 500
    Palm Desert, CA 9221
  • (760) 333-8523
  • info@icn.tech