Netflix to start culling inactive accounts

Netflix has announced that it will shut down the accounts of inactive users.

In a move to “help members who haven’t been watching,” the company has said that it will start closing the accounts of users who haven’t watched anything for a year since they’ve joined. Netflix will also make the same move for anyone who hasn’t used the service in two years.

Rather than just doing this straight away, Netflix said that it will send these inactive subscribers notifications via app and email prompting them to keep their accounts alive if they want.

In a blog post, product innovation head Eddy Wu, drew upon familiar experiences: “You know that sinking feeling when you realise you signed up for something but haven’t used it in ages? At Netflix, the last thing we want is people paying for something they’re not using.”

He goes on to note that while this is an important move for the company to take, only a small amount of subscribers are classified by Netflix as inactive.

Wu said: “These inactive accounts represent less than half of one percent of our overall member base, only a few hundred thousand, and are already factored into our financial guidance.”

This ‘few hundred thousand’ is a part of a global total of 183 million subscribers so losing their monthly subscription payments would be a drop in the ocean for Netflix.

For inactive users who want to keep their accounts alive, they will be given 10 months to reuse the service.