Netflix and Amazon Join Forces for Programmatic Advertising

Netflix and Amazon are aligning in the advertising space, prompting brands to rethink how they allocate marketing budgets as competition within the streaming industry is not going away anytime soon.

Starting later this year, Netflix will open the doors for its ad inventory to buy through Amazon’s programmatic buying platform the Amazon DSP in 12 markets. This partnership marks the completion of Netflix’s programmatic integration, which now spans all major buying platforms, including Google DV360, The Trade Desk, Yahoo, and Microsoft.

However, not all demand-side platforms (DSPs) offer the same capabilities. Unlike its counterparts, Amazon provides a unique advantage through its commerce data, which delivers advertisers insights that go beyond traditional reach metrics. This data enables more precise targeting and optimization, giving brands the ability to run Netflix campaigns informed by actual purchase intent rather than just audience exposure.

Marketers acknowledge that the Netflix and Amazon DSP deal represents a step forward in efficiency, giving brands streamlined programmatic access to Netflix’s ad inventory. At the same time, some raise concerns that the growing reliance on automation and consolidation could erode the cultural nuance that often determines whether audiences truly engage with advertising.

Elise Stieferman, VP of Marketing & Business Strategy at Coegi, said the timing of the Netflix and Amazon partnership aligns with peak Q4 ad spend. By pairing Netflix’s premium inventory with Amazon’s shopper data, the deal lowers entry barriers and expands Netflix’s presence in the connected TV marketplace. Stieferman added that while programmatic automation delivers scale, it cannot replicate the cultural context that drives real attention.

“Real engagement comes when creative resonates with the audience and the content itself  when ads feel relevant rather than interruptive. Scale guarantees presence; relevance earns attention,” said Stieferman. “Brands that [confuse the two] risk shouting louder without actually being heard.”

The Netflix and Amazon Ads partnership shows how platforms are moving toward automation and scale, giving advertisers easier access to premium inventory while lowering costs. Programmatic buying makes campaigns efficient, but it can’t capture culture, nuance, or community the way humans do. 

Many brands focus on metrics like CPMs and CTRs, which can make campaigns feel disconnected despite reaching many people. For real impact, marketers suggest that advertisers need to combine efficiency with culturally meaningful storytelling.

Dustin Engel, co-founder and CEO of Elegant Disruption, warned that many advertisers fail to recognize what they are missing. In pursuit of cheaper, abundant inventory, programmatic buying often reduces campaign concepts to sheer volume, even with AI generated ads. While some brands equate report rows with performance, Engel cautioned that scale is not the same as attention, and attention does not guarantee impact.

“The brands that confuse them end up measuring delivery, not outcomes,” said Engel. “And the blunt truth is: some advertisers don’t care, they’ve let AI take the wheel, and they’re happy with cost efficiency over cultural connection.”

Netflix has made it a priority this year to expand access to its advertising inventory, building upon its previous integration with Yahoo’s Demand-Side Platform. This collaboration, announced in June 2025, allows advertisers to purchase Netflix ads programmatically through Yahoo DSP, enhancing the accessibility of Netflix’s ad-supported tier.

Jonathan Gualotuña, Ad Ops and Media Buying Executive Advisor at Relevant+, notes that partnerships like Netflix’s integration with Amazon Ads, which prioritize platform scale and efficiency, risk sidelining the cultural connections that make advertising meaningful. Gualotuña added while automation and programmatic buying can improve reach and precision, they cannot replicate the human understanding of identity, culture, and lived experience essential for authentic engagement, especially with multicultural audiences. Chasing scale alone may deliver impressions, but without cultural depth, ads fail to capture meaningful attention or build loyalty.

“Brands that lean too heavily on platform deals may see CPM efficiency rise, but long-term [cultural] equity weaken, because they’ve deprioritized the creative and cultural craft that keeps audiences leaning in,” said Gualotuña.