Netflix’s advertising business more than doubled in 2025, generating over $1.5 billion, according to the company’s Q4 earnings results. This is the first time the company has disclosed absolute ad revenue. Netflix had previously said it expected to “roughly double” its ad revenue in 2025, but the Q4 shareholder letter noted that growth exceeded its target, rising about 2.5 times.

Netflix’s ad-supported plan continues to grow significantly. The $7.99 per month subscription plan now has more than 190 million monthly viewers, according to a November report. This is up from the 94 million it reported in May 2025.

Netflix’s ad revenue projections

Netflix highlighted that 2025 was its third full year of selling advertising and said the company had made great progress in its ad efforts. According to its report, the revenue target for ad sales in 2026 is estimated to reach $3 billion. This could be part of a broader plan to generate $9 billion in annual advertising revenue by 2030, according to a leaked projection.

The company links these projections to several key actions. According to the company, “As we mentioned previously, the most immediate benefits we’ve seen from rolling out our own stack have been making it easier for advertisers to buy on our service. We hear that directly in advertiser feedback, and we see it in sales performance. In 2026, we are making more Netflix first-party data accessible, in a privacy- and data-secure way, for assessing media investments.”

Netflix has shifted to a fully in-house ad suite, which it says allows more places to buy and gives advertisers access to first-party data in a privacy-safe way to assess media investments. 

Part of its scale plan includes introducing new ad formats. “We’re offering advertisers a wider array of ad formats, more ad products, and enhanced interactivity, which should improve outcomes,” the streamer said. Netflix has begun testing interactive video ads and other modular formats, with a global rollout planned for Q2 2026. 

The company has also expanded how advertisers can reach audiences through partnerships. In September, Netflix integrated with Amazon’s demand-side platform, allowing marketers to purchase Netflix ad inventory through Amazon’s system.

In the report, Netflix noted that while there is still “a gap between ad-tier ARPU and ARPU for standard plans without ads,” improvements in ad technology and formats are helping to narrow it. “Because there’s a gap, it means we are underrealizing revenue growth in the near term. That also represents an opportunity. As we improve our ad capabilities, we can close that gap over time and drive more revenue. We’ve seen that ability over the last year,” the platform said.

Paid subscriptions and content viewing trends

Netflix also reported 325 million paid subscribers globally in Q4 2025, a new high. Total viewing hours increased by 2% compared with the same period in 2024, with a 9% jump in viewing of branded original series in the second half of the year. These figures suggest that ad-supported subscriptions are driving engagement.

Revenue and company outlook

Overall, Netflix revenue in 2025 rose 18% year-over-year to $12.05 billion, driven by subscription growth, pricing increases, and advertising revenue. The company expects total revenue in 2026 to range between $50 billion and $51 billion.

Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the company will continue focusing on improving the core business through content and ad technology, including evolving the mobile interface and adding two more live operations centers in various countries, including the U.K. and Asia.

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