Netflix, a newcomer to the advertising business, said it plans to launch an in-house advertising technology platform.
During this week’s upfront presentations, media and technology companies have boasted about their advanced advertising capabilities. After initially relying on Microsoft as its ad tech platform, Netflix says the platform it will build will give advertisers new ways to buy, new insights and new ways to measure the impact of campaigns.
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“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, who was named president of advertising at Netflix in October.
Microsoft will continue as one of the platforms handling programmatic advertising for Netflix, but the streaming giant will also be making its ads available for programmatic buyers via The Trade Desk, Google’s Display & Video 360 and Magnite.
Netflix said it is also working with other companies to measure and verify the impact of campaigns, including Affinity Solutions, DoubleVerify, EDO, Integral Ad Science, iSpot.TV, Kantar, Lucid, NCSolutions, Nielsen and TVision.
"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.
Reinhard said Netflix’s ad-supported plan now has 40 million global monthly active users, up from 5 million a year ago. Over 40% of all signups in the ads countries now come from the ads plan.
“Our audiences are highly engaged — and by engaged I mean that they are choosing to spend their time watching Netflix,” added Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s chief content officer.
“That’s important because engagement is the key to success in streaming. When people watch our shows and movies, they get more value from Netflix, they stick around longer, and they’re more likely to recommend us to their friends,“ Bajaria told ad buyers. ”And this matters to all of you because you want to be where the audiences are, too.“
Citing data from Nielsen, Netflix said that over 70% of Netflix’s ad-supported members watch for more than 10 hours a month, which is 15 percentage points higher than the nearest competitor.
Netflix members also pay even more attention three hours into watching than they do when they first start. And because they do, they’re around twice as likely to respond to an ad compared to other streaming services and linear TV, Netflix said.
Netflix also announced tons of new series. Comedies include Golf, starring Will Ferrell and executive produced by Ramy Youseff and Rian Johnson; and Running Point starring Kate Hudson and executive produced by Mindy Kaling.
Dramas include The Waterfront from Kevin Williamson and a modern cowboy saga starring Tim McGraw.
Bajaria also announced that 3 Body Problem will be back for another season.
After landing NFL games on Christmas Day, Netflix continued to push into sports with a documentary on the 1990s Dallas Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones, and three series working with the International Olympic Committee. One is about Simone Biles, a second is about men’s basketball teams from around the world and the last follows 100-meter sprinters.
Netflix is also making Happy Gilmore 2 with Adam Sandler.
“There’s a lot to be excited about over the next year. But the story of ads on Netflix this year is pretty simple: It’s about growth and momentum,” said Peter Naylor, VP of advertising sales at Netflix.
