Overview
- Netflix, which briefed advertisers Wednesday at its New York upfront, said its ad-supported plans now reach 250 million monthly active viewers, with about 60% of sign-ups in ad markets choosing the cheaper tier and more than 80% of ad members watching each week.
- The company will place ads in more parts of its product, adding spots to its new vertical Clips feed and to podcasts starting next year, and it plans to launch the ad tier in 15 more countries in 2027 including Ireland, the Philippines and Sweden.
- Netflix is testing AI agents that help brands buy and manage campaigns and tools that adapt creative for formats like vertical video and pause ads, plus personalized ad loads that adjust frequency based on each member’s viewing.
- Executives outlined a path to roughly $3 billion in ad revenue in 2026 and pointed to more than 4,000 active advertisers as evidence that its ad business is scaling.
- The audience figure uses a company-defined metric that counts anyone who watched at least one minute of ad-supported content multiplied by estimated household size, which some researchers contest, and the growth push comes as Texas’ attorney general sues over ad-related data practices.