On 15 May 2024, during Netflix’s second Upfront presentation to the advertising industry, the company announced it would be dipping its toes into the AdTech market with its very own in-house advertising technology.
Amy Reinhard, Netflix’s President of Advertising, shared the news: Netflix is planning to launch this exciting new platform by the end of 2025. Its AdTech platform aims to give advertisers better insights, measurement, and buying capabilities than Netflix currently provides.
This move comes after a year of continued ad growth on the platform. Netflix’s ad-supported plan created momentum in 2023, with a total of 40 million subscribers as of May 2024. This has grown from just 5 million users a year ago. Additionally, 40% of all new signups in ad-inclusive regions are on the ad-supported plan.
Reinhard says: “Bringing our AdTech in-house will allow us to power the ads plan with the same level of excellence that’s made Netflix the leader in streaming technology today.”
Until now, Microsoft was Netflix’s main programmatic partner. This is changing too as the company expands its buying capabilities to include Google’s Display and Video 360, Magnite, and others. These partnerships should lessen Netflix’s reliance on Microsoft while it builds its new in-house platform.
In terms of improving measurement, the company also unveiled new partnerships. It is now working with iSpot and TVision in addition to the partnerships it announced last month with Kantar, Cint, and NCSolutions.
Netflix is working hard to compete in a growing OTT market, improving its features to attract more clients. According to Reinhard, the company is “incredibly strategic about how [it] presents ads because we want our members to have a phenomenal experience. We conduct deep consumer research to make sure we stay ahead of the competition, bringing opportunities that are better for members and better for brands.”
Rumor becomes reality
Netflix previously alluded to launching in-house AdTech, but has never provided more than sparse details. This time the company was clear and set itself a deadline. Netflix’s proprietary AdTech platform will launch by next year.
The streaming giant is pushing forward, testing its new platform in Canada in 2024 with plans to launch in the US by Q2 2025. Rumors have solidified into concrete goals.
This platform will give Netflix more control over ad buying and measurement on its platform, giving it as much control over its AdTech as it has over its streaming tech. If successful, this will provide media buyers and agencies with more transparency into what they’re purchasing and better insights so that they can fully take advantage of the reach Netflix’s growing streaming audience provides.
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