With Netflix raising its ad-free tier pricing to nearly $20 this year, I finally pulled the trigger and made a change to my Netflix subscription. I was fine with ads on my account, and thus far, I haven't had much to complain about the change in experience. That is, until recently, when I was met with the words "Unavailable on an ad-supported plan due to licensing restrictions."
Apparently, if you have an ad-supported Netflix account, you do not have access to everything in the Netflix library. I only discovered that because the streamer continues to recommend these movies and shows to me, only to tell me that I can't watch them, which is about as annoying to me as when Amazon Prime does it. I'm over it, and would love for the streamer to hear me out on changing it.
Why Netflix Is Blocking Some Movies And Shows On Its Platform
Netflix admits on its own site that some of its titles are unavailable due to licensing restrictions, meaning it's not allowed to put ads in the content it's agreed to show. Users will notice a locked icon on titles to signify this, which is usually meant to give a heads-up that it can't be viewed.
The problem is this wasn't the case earlier in the week, when I tried to watch 2025's panned Anaconda movie. There was no lock on the movie, and it was constantly being promoted to me. I finally relented and gave it a click, only to be told I need to change my plan to watch!
Fortunately, it does seem like Netflix recently made some changes to fix this. A lot of the locked movies (including Anaconda) I couldn't formerly watch have now been unlocked, with the fix being that ads are no longer in the movies. That said, there are still plenty of shows on the platform that remain inaccessible, including acclaimed originals like House of Cards.
Seeing Movies And Shows I Can't Watch On The Platform Just Makes Me Angry
I really hope that the incident was a one-off, because showing me movies and shows I can't watch with my subscription is one of the reasons I don't find myself using my Prime subscription more. Prime Video is notorious for having a layout that mixes movies available to stream with a subscription, along with ones people can rent for an additional price.
I've Been Waiting To Watch Glenn Howerton's Latest Movie, And It's Finally On Netflix
While I appreciate that Netflix has quietly made the call to remove ads from some of its movies for now, I don't like the idea of being shown content that I can't watch. I especially don't like it when the platform is specifically pushing it to me for no other reason than to tell me I can't watch and offer me a chance to upgrade my subscription.
Would I have noticed Netflix isn't giving me a number of shows and movies it's offering subscribers a tier above me if it wasn't thrown in my face? Probably not, but doing that doesn't make me want to upgrade my subscription. In fact, it makes me want to stick to my plan out of principle, so please, Netflix, can we stop with that?
Overall, I enjoy Netflix with ads, and can't wait to see upcoming movies and shows planned for 2026 and beyond. Provided I don't get hit with any more promotions for things I can't watch, I'll gladly be using the service a lot over the next few months.
