Netflix is celebrating the second anniversary of the launch of its advertising business, releasing new data showing its ad-supported tier now reaches 70 million monthly active users worldwide and more than 50% of new Netflix signups are for the ads plan in countries where it is available.
In a blog post, Netflix president of advertising Amy Reinhard also laid out the platform’s future ad tech plans and said it has sold out all available inventory for the two NFL games it will live-stream on Christmas Day.
Reinhard also said FanDuel will be Netflix’s exclusive pregame sportsbook betting partner with a sponsored in-show feature. This custom segment will include “Netflix Christmas Gameday” talent, offering analysis and predictions aligned to FanDuel’s wagering odds for the games.
Verizon will be the Netflix Christmas kickoff sponsor and the official partner for the pre-kick segment. All partners will also run traditional ad commercials throughout the games.
“For the upcoming season of ‘Squid Game,’ we’ve partnered with multiple advertisers across our 12 ad-supported countries, including Kia in Korea,” the blog post noted. “As Netflix’s first single-title sponsorship in Korea, the partnership is timed to the launch of Kia’s new crossover SUV, The New Sportage. Netflix and Kia collaborated on a storytelling three-part custom ad creative and will host an experiential pop-up at Kia Unplugged Ground, the motor company’s cultural complex in Seoul.”
Netflix has been working with several companies to improve its ad tech and measurement capabilities, Reinhard said.
“We’ve partnered with VideoAmp in the U.S. to deliver advertisers cross-screen and live viewership measurement, both of which will start with WWE’s launch in January,” Reinhard reported. (‘WWE Monday Night Raw’ will move from USA Network to Netflix in the U.S. next year.) “VideoAmp will leverage its Snowflake clean-room partnership to deliver measurement results with the highest level of privacy and security.”
Netflix also struck a ratings partnership with Nielsen for the Christmas Day games. To ensure better accuracy, Netflix will collaborate on first-party streaming data, per the newly accredited methodology.
These efforts have already produced successful results on a number of campaigns. In one case, a U.S. auto advertiser generated more engagement (search and web visits) after running its campaign on Netflix. Netflix’s ad-supported members were more than 3.2 times more likely to engage with the ad compared to other CTV services and 4.5 times more likely to engage compared to linear, Reinhard wrote.
Notably, Netflix has also launched new ad tech, Reinhard said. “Canada is officially our first country operating solely on Netflix’s ad tech, which offers our clients increased flexibility and control with their buys,” she wrote. “As we continue developing our ad tech, we look forward to introducing enhanced forecasting capabilities and new targeting, reporting, measurement and insights. Netflix’s in-house advertising technology will roll out globally throughout 2025.”
In addition, after launching its programmatic offering in August, Netflix has enabled programmatic guaranteed buying in the U.S., Brazil, Canada and Mexico. These capabilities will expand to Europe in February 2025 and to Australia, Japan and Korea later in the year, she said.
