Let’s set the scene for you: it’s Friday night, you’re curled up on the couch ready to watch the latest episode of your Orange Is The New Black binge on Netflix when suddenly it happens; you get an ad. “But wait,” you interject. “Don’t I pay for this service so I can avoid ads?” Well, yes, and that’s precisely what countless Netflix users around the world are saying as well.

Over the last week, some Netflix users have been noticing that they’re being served with ads during their viewing sessions, and have been taking to social media to vent their frustrations.

Now, by all accounts these ads aren’t for products you’ll never show any interest in, but rather previews for other shows that Netflix has to offer. Regardless of its motive, these ads have not been sitting well with users of the service.

One Reddit thread, titled ‘Netflix, the day I see an ad while watching a movie or TV, I will unsubscribe’, currently has over 56,ooo upvotes, and over 3,000 comments featuring users sharing their collective distaste at the idea.

“I already pay over $200 a year and watch only a few shows here and there,” explains user smandroid. “If you jam ads down my throat for what little time each day I have to watch a movie or TV series, I’ll just unsubscribe.

Another user described their experience on a different Reddit thread. “I’m watching Shameless and after the episode ended I got a screen saying ‘More Shameless up next…’,” they explained. “Then the title card slid off screen and it continued with “but first check out Insatiable” and started playing the trailer.”

As many other users are stating, this is just another initiative that Netflix have undertaken which has resonated poorly with its audience. Over the last couple of years, Netflix removed its program descriptions (meaning people have to either know what it is they want to watch, or start Googling very quickly), and have also introduced auto-playing trailers on the menu screens.

In a statement given to Ars Technica, a spokesperson for Netflix described this decision. “We are testing whether surfacing recommendations between episodes helps members discover stories they will enjoy faster,” they explained.

“A couple of years ago, we introduced video previews to the TV experience, because we saw that it significantly cut the time members spend browsing and helped them find something they would enjoy watching even faster,” they continued.

Of course, at this stage, Netflix stresses that this new ad campaign is only a test, but they haven’t explained how long it will last. If you’ve already seen these ads, maybe count yourself lucky that Netflix decided to choose you to be part of the test group, and if you haven’t, well, maybe just hope that this is another one of those ideas that doesn’t make it out of the testing phase.

Check out what’s new on Netflix this September:

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