Whenever I think of Netflix lately, the first thing that comes to mind isn’t the content, it’s the price. Just two months ago, Netflix announced another round of price hikes, raising its ad-supported tier to $9/month, its Standard plan to $20/month, and its Premium plan to $27/month.

However, despite those increases, Netflix’s subscriber count still appears to be growing, particularly in its ad-supported tier.

At its recent Upfront presentation, Netflix revealed that more than 250 million people worldwide are now subscribed to its $9 ad-supported plan, a major jump from the 190 million it reported back in November 2025 (via Variety).

In 2025, Netflix reported earning $1.5 billion from ads alone, and with the number of ad-tier subscribers continuing to climb, that figure will likely grow even more in 2026. And it won’t just be because of more subscribers, but because Netflix plans to pack even more ads into its app very soon, which, to me, seems like it will only make Netflix worse.

Subscription with ads

$9

Premium Subscription

$20 or $26 options

Simultaneous streams

2-4

# of profiles

5

More ads are coming to Netflix

Surprise, surprise

According to The Verge, Netflix plans to expand the number of ads in its app, and, totally unsurprisingly, the first way it’s doing that is by bringing ads to its new vertical video feed called “Clips,” which it launched in its mobile app just last month.

If you’re unfamiliar with Netflix’s new vertical video feed, it’s essentially the TikTok-ification of the Netflix app. It adds a feed of short videos users can swipe through, featuring clips from shows and movies on Netflix, and if you see something you like, you can jump straight into streaming it.

Basically, Netflix has created a way for users to doomscroll in its app and, as part of its ad strategy, it now plans to include ads in that feed starting next year, similar to how Instagram and TikTok handle ads in their apps.

The second place where Netflix plans to expand its ad presence next year is its podcast section. Earlier this year, in response to the growing popularity of podcasts, Netflix brought podcasts into its app, adding some of the biggest shows from platforms like Spotify, Barstool Sports, and iHeartMedia, including podcasts like The Bill Simmons Podcast and Pardon My Take, alongside its own original productions.

So if you’re subscribed to Netflix’s ad-supported tier, you can expect to see a lot more ads in the app starting next year. On top of that, Netflix is reportedly testing new personalization tools that tailor the ads users see based on their viewing habits. So if you regularly watch a certain genre of shows or movies, Netflix could start serving you ads more closely tied to those interests to better grab your attention.

Additionally, Netflix announced at Upfront that it’s bringing its ad-supported tier to 15 more countries, including Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Indonesia, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Thailand.

Overall, it’s clear that Netflix wants to grow its ad revenue as much as possible, and with plans to add even more ads to the app next year, alongside the continued global expansion of its ad-supported tier, it probably will. I just hope all this ad revenue growth means Netflix eases up on price hikes for a while, especially since the ad-supported tier now costs $9/month after originally launching at $7/month, and since 4K ad-free streaming now costs $27/month, which I find ridiculous.