Netflix CEO: Trailers, Not Ads, Are Coming To Netflix

Netflix CEO: Trailers, Not Ads, Are Coming To Netflix

Don’t look for Geico commercials to interrupt your Netflix binge-watching session any time soon.

In a brief Facebook post Monday night, CEO Reed Hastings declared that the streaming site has no intention of adding advertisements. Or anyway, it won't be advertising things that aren't Netflix.

“No advertising coming onto Netflix,” wrote Hastings above a picture of a large, green dollar sign. “Period.”

Still, he said the company would begin featuring trailers for its original shows and movies at the beginning of its streams.

“Just adding relevant cool trailers for other Netflix content you are likely to love,” Hastings wrote.

Netflix appears to be taking the same approach as its chief competitor, HBO. The cable-based service, which last month launched a streaming service called HBO Now, prides itself on its lack of ads, but plays previews of its other offerings at the start of some shows.

Netflix, which charges for subscriptions, has long insisted it will remain ad-free. But some fear the pre-roll trailers could disrupt the seamless binge-watching experience for which the site has become known.

Most viewers prefer to avoid or mute ads on streaming sites like Hulu that have them, according to a poll conducted last year by Slate and SurveyMonkey.

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