Attribution and Granular Targeting Top Buyers' Wish List for Netflix's Adtech

With Netflix announcing that it is in-housing its adtech, buyers have a chance to get some of their programmatic wishes fulfilled. There have been ads on Netflix for around a year-and-a-half, but the streamer still lacks technical capabilities that are table stakes for most of its competitors, like measurement, advanced targeting and the ability to buy inventory in biddable programmatic contexts, five ad buyers told ADWEEK. “Buying ads on Netflix is like buying ads on a website circa 2005,” said Mike McCarver, senior vice president of data solutions at Horizon Media. Netflix will build and release its own ad server globally by 2025—it is relying on Microsoft's technology for marketers to buy ads direct—and add The Trade Desk, Google and Magnite as demand-side platforms and supply-side platforms. Critically, connected TV adtech is filled with many endemic challenges, like frequency capping, content transparency, fragmentation and even ads playing when TVs are shut off. But Netflix has a reputation for innovating the technology of TV. “Almost all of adtech was built for digital video," said Dave Morgan, chairman of media buying firm Simulmedia. "If I’m Netflix, I have no reason to support that. No one thinks the status quo of adtech is good.” Netflix did not respond to a request for comment. Here's what buyers want from Netflix’s new, bespoke adtech. The Ad Strategy Behind Netflix's NFL Games, According to Ad Sales VP Peter Naylor Cracking attribution A frequent complaint about Netflix’s current adtech is that attribution is lacking. For the most part, Netflix shares with brands if their ads have been delivered. What's lacking is data to link that ad viewership with business outcomes. Rain the Growth Agency has so far been a Netflix holdout due to its high cost. But it would be more likely to buy Netflix inventory for its clients if measurement improved, said Ryan Gilbert, vp of digital media. “Having visibility into conversion metrics would be a [solution] for us,” Gilbert said. He added that conversations with the streamer indicate that more granular measurement capabilities are coming within the next two years, partly thanks to its newly announced partnership with iSpot. Clients also want the ability to target by content, even though contextual information is still limited in the bidstream for many CTV publishers, said Gilbert. Apples to apples Brands want attribution data to compare their Netflix buy to other media, said Shasta Cafarelli, senior vp of media investment at Tinuiti. “A lot of our clients are expecting outcome-based measurement that can be deduplicated,” she said. “We would leverage in-house Tinuiti measurement solutions to pull the data we need to do attribution.” Also on buyers’ wish lists, which has been a hurdle for other streamers, is being able to marry brand and performance signals. “Performance marketing has gotten a lot harder than it was with the deprecation of third-party data,” said Eric Perko, CEO of independent media agency Apollo Partners. "[We want] something that is closed-loop in nature that shows how brand and performance work together, which I think Netflix is really well positioned to give to us." More ways to buy More Netflix inventory will likely be made available, and made available programmatically, given that the platform is partnering with more players to facilitate trading, starting with programmatic guaranteed and private marketplace deals. The streamer now has 40 million monthly active users globally, adding to the supply. If more of Netflix’s inventory is biddable, meaning that it is available in auctions, brands could buy more, McCarver said. “We overspend on partners that both do programmatic guaranteed and biddable private marketplaces,” he said, noting that there is more audience to reach. Trading in true programmatic auctions Others, like Jay Friedman, CEO of Goodway Group, hope Netflix will trade in a true programmatic auction. Other broadcasters typically haven't made the most premium content available programmatically so that they can maintain higher prices. The result is that auction dynamics and prices do not always reflect quality. “Netflix will have the talent and the intelligence to not put their thumb on the scale,” Friedman said. “The best inventory will by default be based on the best bid.” Still, buyers are remaining realistic. While making more inventory available programmatically is a solid first step, valuable data such as signals for attribution will not automatically be included. “[The DSPs] open [Netflix] up in terms of getting access,” Gilbert said. “It will make it easier to consolidate with one dashboard. It doesn’t necessarily solve for measurement hurdles.”

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Attribution and Granular Targeting Top Buyers' Wish List for Netflix's Adtech

CTV adtech is filled with many endemic challenges, but Netflix has a history of innovating

Catherine Perloff

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Catherine Perloff