Netflix password sharing rules lost the company subscribers in a major market

Netflix became a dramatically worse user experience and Australians responded accordingly.

Months after the streaming giant introduced new restrictions to curtail password sharing, Netflix subscriber numbers took a dip down under, per a study by the Australian research firm Telsyte. However, it wasn't a massive drop, with Netflix's numbers in Australia dipping by 3 percent year-over-year while still remaining by far the most popular streamer in the country with 6.1 million users. Still, it's the first decline in user numbers Netflix has seen in Australia since 2015, according to Australian Financial Review.

Telsyte's study cited concerns over password sharing crackdowns and the introduction of ads to the service as chief reasons why the subscriber numbers took a tumble. Interestingly, Australia appears to be something of an outlier in this regard; Netflix saw a big spike in subscriber numbers after implementing the password restrictions in the U.S., which was obviously the goal all along.