Products

EMARKETER delivers leading-edge research to clients in a variety of forms, including full-length reports and data visualizations to equip you with actionable takeaways for better business decisions.
PRO+
New data sets, deeper insights, and flexible data visualizations.
Learn More
Reports
In-depth analysis, benchmarks and shorter spotlights on digital trends.
Learn More
Forecasts
Interactive projections with 10k+ metrics on market trends, & consumer behavior.
Learn More
Charts
Proprietary data and over 3,000 third-party sources about the most important topics.
Learn More
Industry KPIs
Industry benchmarks for the most important KPIs in digital marketing, advertising, retail and ecommerce.
Learn More
Briefings
Client-only email newsletters with analysis and takeaways from the daily news.
Learn More
Analyst Access Program
Exclusive time with the thought leaders who craft our research.
Learn More

About EMARKETER

Our goal is to unlock digital opportunities for our clients with the world’s most trusted forecasts, analysis, and benchmarks. Spanning five core coverage areas and dozens of industries, our research on digital transformation is exhaustive.
Our Story
Learn more about our mission and how EMARKETER came to be.
Learn More
Methodology
Rigorous proprietary data vetting strips biases and produces superior insights.
Learn More
Our People
Take a look into our corporate culture and view our open roles.
Join the Team
Contact Us
Speak to a member of our team to learn more about EMARKETER.
Contact Us
Newsroom
See our latest press releases, news articles or download our press kit.
Learn More
Advertising & Sponsorship Opportunities
Reach an engaged audience of decision-makers.
Learn More
Events
Browse our upcoming and past events, recent podcasts, and other featured resources.
Learn More
Podcasts
Tune in to EMARKETER's daily, weekly, and monthly podcasts.
Learn More

Everything you need to know about Netflix and Microsoft’s ad partnership

The news: After months of speculation, Netflix announced that it has chosen Microsoft as its technology and sales partner for the streaming service’s upcoming ad-supported subscription tier.

  • The news is the second major streaming advertising announcement this week, coming just one day after Disney announced a partnership with The Trade Desk to build an ad platform for its various video services.

What this means: Netflix’s advertising initiative started off on the back foot, but partnering with an established firm like Microsoft will help ease concerns about the effectiveness of its ad offerings.

  • Despite years of anticipation, Netflix’s advertising announcement felt more like a rushed consolation for news that it had lost subscribers for the first time in a decade.
  • While Netflix had been historically resistant to advertising, younger streaming competitors had a significant head start over the streaming pioneer, having spent months or years fleshing out ad-supported tiers and partnering with measurement firms to bolster their ad businesses.
  • Netflix CEO Reed Hastings initially said an ad-supported tier could take “years” to implement, but the company quickly pivoted to a much more aggressive Q4 launch target after anxiety and criticism from advertisers and competitors mounted.
  • All that unease made Microsoft, with its broad advertising capabilities and solid reputation, an attractive partner to help the streamer get off shaky ground.

Privacy is king: The ad-supported video gold rush is reaching a fever pitch at the same time that the advertising industry faces a privacy and addressability crisis. Both Disney and Netflix’s announcements directly confront those needs.

  • Privacy was the primary theme of Disney’s announcement, which focused on the combination of Disney’s privacy-oriented user data from Clean Room and The Trade Desk’s Unified ID 2.0 initiative to create a replacement for third-party cookies and other identifiers of old.
  • Netflix and Microsoft’’s announcements, though brief, both make mention of Microsoft’s “strong privacy protections for our members.”
  • But while Disney is entering the ad-supported streaming race well-prepared with data from Clean Room, Netflix’s data collection and targeting capabilities are less well known.

Microsoft’s adtech rise: Microsoft has invested heavily in its advertising business over the last year, and a partnership with a platform as prominent as Netflix could help it eat up a larger share of the digital ad market.

  • In December 2021, Microsoft acquired programmatic advertising company Xandr from AT&T in the hopes of creating a post-cookie ad marketplace that could address the conflicting needs of privacy and targetability.
  • The company’s Q1 earnings revealed that search and news ad revenues grew 23% to $544 million. Ads have started appearing in Windows 10 search and toolbars, and Microsoft is also looking to introduce ads to cloud gaming and free-to-play games across computers and Xbox consoles.
  • Those gaming efforts offer another overlap with Netflix’s interests. The streaming service has been fleshing out a gaming business that’s primarily focused on mobile games, but could find a comfortable partner in Microsoft should it attempt to make the jump to other platforms.

The big takeaway: After months of criticism, Netflix’s choice in Microsoft will go a long way to steady the waters around its ad-supported subscription tier while helping Microsoft solidify its position as a major player in digital advertising.