• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, June 24, 2024

Microsoft Advertising has extended its partnership with Netflix to support connected television (CTV) ads in its advertising platform, the company announced Monday.

The change gives advertisers the ability to reach Netflix viewers through the Microsoft Advertising network. The streaming company has made its inventory available to advertisers running CTV campaigns in the United States, as well as Canada, Brazil, Mexico, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Australia.

Netflix had approximately 269.6 million paid subscribers worldwide as of the first quarter of 2024, up from about nine million in the previous quarter, according to Statista data published in May.

Advertisers must accept the Netflix inventory policy in their ad group settings by editing an existing campaign or when setting up a new CTV campaign in Microsoft Advertising.

In May, Netflix said it would build its own advertising platform by the end of 2025 to provide new ways for advertisers to buy space and measure the impact of campaigns.

It also announced in May a global programmatic partnership with Magnite after saying that in the summer, it would begin working with demand-side platforms (DSPs) that Google  originally had relied solely on Microsoft for its ad-technology platform.

Netflix originally had relied solely on Microsoft for its ad-technology platform. The announcement came at during its upfront presentation after launching an ad-supported subscription plan in November 2022, as part of a broader effort to drive revenue. At the time it reportedly had 270 million subscribers. 

Microsoft said in the most recent announcement that the video creative must meet certain quality requirements — Netflix video specifications — for a “chance” to have the ads serve on Netflix, but “delivery is not guaranteed.”

A Website URL publisher report is available in the Microsoft Advertising Platform to track where ads are served.