Big tech and adtech don’t always gel

When Netflix first said it was partnering with Microsoft on advertising technology in 2022, it raised some eyebrows in the industry for not being the obvious adtech choice.

But dabbling in the convoluted world of adtech is not always fruitful.

Apple shut down its programmatic ad network in 2016 and AT&T never fully integrated Xandr before it sold it to Microsoft.

Netflix is playing catch up with other streamers in terms of ad revenue and audience: It’s projected to generate less than $1 billion from ad sales this year, trailing Peacock, Roku, Hulu and Amazon, per figures from Emarketer.

But Netflix has been a master at the pivot, from DVD subscription service to pure-play subscription TV provider to a company that shows live sports and cracks down on password sharing.

“They’re constantly doing things they said they never would do,” Benes said.