Netflix to launch in-house ad tech platform

The streamer announced the move at its second Upfront presentation to advertisers this week, saying it will give advertisers new ways to buy, new insights to leverage, and new ways to measure impact.

“Bringing our ad tech 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,” said Amy Reinhard, Netflix’s President of Advertising. The company originally partnered with Microsoft for its ad-tech offer.

Netflix’s ad-supported plan now has 40 million global monthly active users — up from five million a year ago. Over 40% of all signups in the countries where Netflix has an ad tier now come from the ads plan. The company has 270 million subscribers in total.

Netflix also featured new partners that advertisers can use to measure and verify the impact of their campaigns, including Affinity Solutions, DoubleVerify, EDO Inc, Integral Ad Science, iSpotTV, Kantar, Lucid, NCSolutions, Nielsen and TVision.

This summer, Netflix will also expand its buying capabilities to include The Trade Desk, Google’s Display & Video 360, and Magnite who will join Microsoft as the main programmatic partners for advertisers.

“We’re being incredibly strategic about how we present 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,” said Reinhard.

During the presentation, Netflix also announced that it will be the global home of the NFL’s two Christmas Day games this year, furthering its push into live sports. It will also offer at least one NFL game in 2025 and 2026.