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Netflix now makes money in two linked ways: members pay monthly subscription fees, and advertisers pay to appear around Netflix programming for people who choose an ad-supported plan. The ads business is designed to make a lower consumer price possible while adding a second revenue and profit stream. It does not replace subscriptions; Netflix says membership fees remained its primary revenue source and that revenue other than membership fees was not a material component of total revenue in 2023–2025.
The basic Netflix advertising model
Netflix operates a hybrid model. A member can select a lower-priced plan that includes advertising, while brands purchase access to advertising inventory around Netflix series, films, games and live events. Netflix earns the subscription fee from the member and an advertising payment from the marketer.
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That arrangement gives Netflix two economic levers. A cheaper plan can attract households that would not choose a higher-priced ad-free tier, and the ads shown to those members create incremental revenue from the same viewing relationship. Netflix has described those as the two strategic purposes of advertising: offering consumers a lower price and creating an additional revenue and profit stream.
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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Netflix’s filings still describe monthly membership fees as its primary source of revenue. The company also reports advertising revenue from its streaming service, consumer products, live events and other sources. Its 2024 Form 10-K listed paid-plan prices from the U.S.-dollar equivalent of $1 to $32 per month on December 31, 2024. The 2025 filing listed a $1-to-$37 range on December 31, 2025. Those are worldwide filing ranges converted to U.S. dollars, not a single price available in every country. The 2025 filing also said revenue other than membership fees was not a material component of total revenue in 2023, 2024 or 2025.
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- Unlimited movies, TV shows, and more. Watch anywhere. Cancel anytime.
- Give the gift of entertainment so your friends and family can stream unlimited films and Netflix original series. Whether your loved one already has a Netflix account or they will be creating a new account, they can use a Netflix gift card toward their membership.
- No credit card is required to redeem a gift code.
- Codes are applied to your account as a gift balance
- Redemption: Online
Building the second stream requires sales, technology and measurement investment. Netflix’s 2024 filing recorded a $131 million increase in advertising-sales headcount within the increase in sales-and-marketing expense. That figure is a company-wide expense change, not an amount paid to any one advertising vendor.
How the ad-supported plan works for members
A member in an eligible market chooses an ad-supported subscription tier instead of an ad-free tier. Netflix then inserts advertising into the viewing experience while the member continues to use the Netflix catalog. The available price, catalog and plan terms depend on the country and can change; Netflix does not publish one universal global price or one universal ad load.
- Member payment: the household pays its recurring plan fee to Netflix.
- Advertising: marketers buy placements that can appear around Netflix programming.
- Programming context: inventory can surround premium series, films, games and live events.
- Netflix’s objective: balance a lower entry price with advertising revenue without abandoning subscription economics.
Audience figures show why Netflix treats the plan as a separate growth channel. However, the company has changed the metric it uses, so the numbers cannot be compared as if they measured exactly the same population.
How large is Netflix’s advertising audience?
Netflix has reported the following milestones. “Monthly active users” and “monthly active viewers” are different labels, and the later viewer figures should not be treated as a direct continuation of the earlier user series.
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- Unlimited movies, TV shows, and more. Watch anywhere. Cancel anytime.
- Give the gift of entertainment so your friends and family can stream unlimited films and Netflix original series. Whether your loved one already has a Netflix account or they will be creating a new account, they can use a Netflix gift card toward their membership.
- No credit card is required to redeem a gift code.
- Redemption: Online
- No Returns and Refunds on Gift Cards
| Date and announcement | Metric reported | What Netflix said |
|---|---|---|
| May 2024 Upfront | Global monthly active users on the ads plan | 40 million, up from 5 million one year earlier; more than 40% of sign-ups in ads countries came from the ads plan. |
| November 2024 | Global monthly active users | 70 million; more than 50% of new sign-ups in ads countries were for the ads plan. |
| May 2025 Upfront | Global monthly active users | More than 94 million. Netflix also said U.S. ads members watched an average of 41 hours per month. |
| November 2025 | Global monthly active viewers reached by ads | More than 190 million. Netflix said its Ads Suite was live in all 12 ad-supported countries. |
| May 2026 Upfront | Global monthly active viewers | More than 250 million, with more than 80% of ads members watching each week. |
The practical lesson for advertisers is to read the date and metric label attached to every reach claim. A member, user and viewer can represent different counting rules, and a monthly figure is not the same as a weekly-active figure or a guaranteed number of impressions.
Who can buy Netflix advertising?
Netflix sells campaigns through direct relationships with its advertising organization and through programmatic buying. Direct sales can cover custom planning, sponsorship-style ideas or negotiated inventory. Programmatic buying lets an advertiser or agency use a demand-side platform (DSP) to select audiences, budget and delivery rules.
At its 2024 Upfront, Netflix identified Microsoft as its existing programmatic partner and announced expansion to The Trade Desk, Google Display & Video 360 and Magnite. Later announcements list Amazon, AJA, Google Display & Video 360, The Trade Desk and Yahoo DSP among its programmatic partners.
Amazon DSP access
On September 10, 2025, Netflix and Amazon Ads announced direct access to Netflix premium ad inventory for Amazon DSP customers. The initial announcement covered the United States, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Mexico, Canada, Japan, Brazil, Italy, Germany and Australia, with availability beginning in the fourth quarter of 2025. This is a marketer-facing buying connection, not a consumer Amazon streaming or shopping product.
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- Unlimited movies, TV shows, and more. Watch anywhere. Cancel anytime.
- Give the gift of entertainment so your friends and family can stream unlimited films and Netflix original series. Whether your loved one already has a Netflix account or they will be creating a new account, they can use a Netflix gift card toward their membership.
- No credit card is required to redeem a gift code.
- Codes are applied to your account as a gift balance. Gift codes can be added to any plan, regardless of the amount.
- Redemption: Online
Availability, eligible formats and deal types can vary by market and account. An advertiser should confirm current inventory and targeting options with its sales contact or DSP before committing a budget.
What the Netflix Ads Suite does
Netflix announced an in-house advertising technology platform in 2024. Amy Reinhard, Netflix’s president of advertising, said, “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.”
The Netflix Ads Suite became live in the United States and Canada in 2025 and was scheduled to reach all 12 ad-supported countries by June 2025. Netflix says the suite covers ad serving, audience activation, measurement and creative capabilities rather than being only a sales interface.
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Audience targeting
- More than 100 interests organized across 17 categories.
- First-party data matching through LiveRamp or direct integrations.
- Access to third-party data where available and permitted.
- Clean-room collaboration for controlled analysis between parties.
- Expanded programmatic deal types.
In March 2026, Netflix announced additional targeting capabilities through Amazon DSP and Yahoo DSP. Amazon Audiences can use Amazon shopping, streaming and browsing signals to help advertisers reach Netflix members based on lifestyles, interests and products they are actively shopping for. Those signals are audience inputs for advertising; they do not mean Netflix members are buying a separate Amazon product through Netflix.
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- Unlimited movies, TV shows, and more. Watch anywhere. Cancel anytime.
- Give the gift of entertainment so your friends and family can stream unlimited films and Netflix original series. Whether your loved one already has a Netflix account or they will be creating a new account, they can use a Netflix gift card toward their membership.
- No credit card is required to redeem a gift code.
- Codes are applied to your account as a gift balance. Gift codes can be added to any plan, regardless of the amount.
- Redemption: Online
Data controls and clean rooms
Netflix has described LiveRamp activation and clean-room integrations with Snowflake and Amazon Web Services. A clean room allows participating companies to compare or analyze approved data without freely exchanging their underlying customer-level datasets. The exact fields, match rates and reporting available to a campaign depend on the integration and the parties’ permissions.
Advertisers should distinguish between Netflix’s own viewing and account signals, a DSP’s external signals and modeled audiences. A segment label such as an interest is not a promise that every person in the segment has expressed that interest directly.
Where Netflix ads appear and which formats are available
Netflix positions advertising beside premium entertainment rather than in a general web-video feed. Its product announcements describe inventory across series, films, games and live events. The placement and frequency of a campaign depend on the market, program, plan and negotiated or programmatic deal.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute| Format | How it can appear | What to clarify before buying |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-roll | An ad break during longer programming. | Eligible titles, break rules and expected delivery by country. |
| Pause ads | An ad shown when a viewer pauses playback. | Creative dimensions, interaction rules and frequency controls. |
| Interactive ads | Video units that can invite an on-screen action. | Supported devices, call-to-action destination and measurement. |
| Modular ads | Creative assembled from components for different messages or contexts. | Approved modules, localization and trafficking requirements. |
| Overlay ads | Messaging layered over the viewing interface. | Visibility, safe areas and whether the unit is available in the target market. |
| Call-to-action and second-screen formats | Units designed to prompt an action on the TV or another device. | Supported phones, QR or response mechanics and attribution window. |
Netflix said in 2025 that it was testing interactive video ads in the United States and Canada, with a broader rollout planned for 2026. “Planned” is not the same as universal availability, so campaigns should be checked for the current status of the specific market and format.
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- Unlimited movies, TV shows, and more. Watch anywhere. Cancel anytime.
- Give the gift of entertainment so your friends and family can stream unlimited films and Netflix original series. Whether your loved one already has a Netflix account or they will be creating a new account, they can use a Netflix gift card toward their membership.
- No credit card is required to redeem a gift code.
- Codes are applied to your account as a gift balance. Gift codes can be added to any plan, regardless of the amount.
- Redemption: Online
How Netflix measures and verifies campaigns
Netflix has named a broad group of measurement and verification partners, including Integral Ad Science, DoubleVerify, EDO, Nielsen, Kantar, TVision, Lucid, NCSolutions and Affinity Solutions. These relationships address different questions: whether an ad was viewable, whether it reached the intended audience, whether the surrounding content was suitable, whether exposure affected brand outcomes and whether sales or other actions changed.
Netflix also describes brand-lift measurement, LiveRamp activation and clean-room integrations. No single partner or study automatically supplies every metric. A campaign brief should specify the primary outcome, the geographic scope, the control or comparison method and the reporting cadence.
Questions a buyer should ask
- Is the number a served impression, a completed view, a reach estimate or a unique household count?
- Which provider defines viewability, invalid traffic and brand safety?
- Are results reported by country, device, program type and audience segment?
- Can the campaign use a brand-lift study, sales measurement or a clean-room analysis?
- What privacy, consent and minimum-audience rules limit the report?
Which countries have Netflix advertising?
The Ads Suite rollout covered 12 ad-supported countries by June 2025, and Netflix said in November 2025 that the suite was live in all 12. Netflix’s announcements do not make every plan, price or format identical across those markets, so a global campaign still requires country-level confirmation.
Netflix’s May 2026 Upfront announced an expansion planned for 2027 to Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Indonesia, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and Thailand. These are announced plans, not proof that the ad-supported plan or every advertising product is already live there. Launch status should be rechecked before a campaign or consumer comparison is published.
How an advertiser runs a Netflix campaign
- Set the business objective. Decide whether the priority is reach, completed viewing, brand consideration, site visits, app activity or a sales outcome.
- Choose the buying route. Work directly with Netflix for a managed proposal, or use an eligible DSP such as Amazon DSP, The Trade Desk, Google Display & Video 360 or Yahoo DSP.
- Define countries and eligibility. Confirm that the ads plan, inventory, device support and desired format exist in each target market.
- Build the audience. Select Netflix interest categories, approved first-party matches, third-party segments or DSP audiences. Document the data source behind each segment.
- Select the creative. Match the asset to mid-roll, pause, interactive, modular, overlay, call-to-action or second-screen requirements. Obtain technical specifications before production.
- Agree on measurement. Choose the verification and outcome partners, reporting definitions, geographic cuts and any lift or clean-room study before launch.
- Traffic and monitor. Submit assets, check delivery, watch frequency and completion metrics, and resolve rejected creative or under-delivery through the sales or DSP support channel.
- Evaluate incrementality. Compare the agreed outcome with an appropriate baseline or control instead of treating impressions alone as proof of effectiveness.
The central trade-offs in Netflix’s ad business
For Netflix
Advertising can widen the addressable subscription base and monetize viewing time beyond the membership fee. It also adds sales, technology, measurement and content-suitability work. Because Netflix continues to describe membership fees as its main revenue source, advertising is best understood as a supplement whose long-term value depends on both plan adoption and ad yield.
For members
The benefit is access to a lower-priced option. The cost is accepting commercial interruptions or other ad formats, with the exact experience varying by market and product design. A member deciding between plans should compare the local recurring prices and the value of uninterrupted viewing rather than assuming that every country has the same tiers.
For advertisers
Netflix offers professionally produced programming, substantial reported reach and growing programmatic access. The trade-off is that inventory, audience definitions, formats and measurement are still market-specific and evolving. A large monthly audience number does not by itself guarantee a particular number of impressions, completed views or conversions.
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What to remember
- Netflix earns from subscriptions and advertising; the lower-priced ads plan is intended to support both consumer choice and incremental monetization.
- Audience growth is substantial, but the company moved from user metrics to viewer-reach metrics, so every figure needs its date and definition.
- Advertisers can buy directly or through several DSPs, including Amazon DSP, The Trade Desk, Google Display & Video 360 and Yahoo DSP.
- The Netflix Ads Suite brings serving, targeting, measurement and creative tools closer to Netflix while retaining outside data and verification partners.
- Formats, countries and announced expansion dates are not universal; confirm current availability before planning a campaign or quoting a price.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
