What's Missing From Netflix's Data Dump for Advertisers

Is Netflix's data dump leaving advertisers in the dumps? What's happening: Recently, Netflix released its first-ever What We Watched engagement report, a comprehensive look at hours viewed of Netflix titles. The report will happen twice a year, with the initial entry covering a six-month period from January to June 2023, representing 99% of viewing on Netflix and showcasing nearly 100 billion hours of viewership. The What We Watched report has generated numerous headlines praising the streamer's transparency, but when it comes to advertisers, industry experts tell Adweek it's a mixed bag. Geico’s Gecko and Netflix’s Leo Star in Streamer’s First Co-Branded Ad Tier Campaign The Pros: During a conference call with the press after the report's release, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos noted that this is the company's own raw, internal data, making the report an unprecedented look at viewership in the age of streaming. "Netflix's recent viewership data marks a positive development for advertisers, providing a solid starting point for understanding consumer preferences and the popularity of various shows and content types," Tony Marlow, CMO at LG Ad Solutions, told Adweek. The report showcases several impressive highlights, including The Night Agent Season 1 earning 812,100,000 hours as the most-viewed title and Ginny & Georgia Season 2 coming in second at 665,100,000 hours. However, if marketers are willing to put in some effort, Netflix's released Excel file can also reveal broader categories, such as genres that perform well and engagement across foreign licensed content. "It does give an advertiser a little bit clearer data for media planning," Ross Benes, eMarketer senior analyst at Insider Intelligence, said. "We had some third-party estimates on Netflix consumption before, but you didn't get it straight from them." And with more than 18,000 titles included in the report, marketers can go deep into Netflix programming. In fact, according to Erin Schmidt, chief product placement officer at BEN, the data provides a "wealth of information" to content creators, marketers and product placement strategists. "This comprehensive data set is a gold mine for understanding viewer preferences and behaviors," Schmidt said. "For marketers and brands, this means a more targeted approach to product placements.” The data could also have positive effects throughout the industry, with Britt Augenfeld, vp of advanced TV and video at Captify, noting that the move could push other streamers to release more data down the line. Netflix’s Ad Tier Hits 15 Million Monthly Active Users Ahead of 1-Year Anniversary The Cons: On the conference call, Sarandos acknowledged that streaming advertising deals needed third-party verification, which this report doesn't have. For Benes, the lack of third parties makes the data like "Netflix graded their own homework." Additionally, the report provides no real-time data. "An advertiser who's making immediate plans for the next quarter, it doesn't do them a lot of good to know Wednesday was really popular in February and March," Benes said. "They would want to have a little bit more recent data rather than a big dump twice a year." Other concerns include the viewership for TV shows and movies being treated the same, a lack of granularity and no audience information. "While it’s great to see hours viewed by title, advertisers will want intel on the demographics on who’s watching, specifically for Netflix’s ad tier," Mike Proulx, vp and research director at Forrester, said. "For brands, it’s all about reaching their target audience at scale." The What We Watched report has no breakdown of gender, income, race, psychographic or behavioral information, which advertisers might find on Facebook and Google. "Advertisers will undoubtedly want more granular information to support their investment decisions," Jon Watts, managing director, Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement, said. "Data about the split between ad-free and ad-funded viewing, demographic information, share of total viewing across different audience segments and so on." The split between ad-free and ad-supported viewing will become increasingly important as Netflix continues pushing viewers to its ad tier through a password crackdown and price increases. "Are Stranger Things viewers more likely or less likely to have ads for an average Netflix viewer? Are there some shows that are only watched by ad-free viewers or some shows on the ad-supported plan doing crazy numbers?" Benes said. "Getting some breakouts on ad-supported viewing versus ad-free viewing would be another thing that's in shortage." Though there are positives for marketers, Benes said the selective data serves as a "flex" for Netflix, with other streamers looking on in envy. "No one else in streaming can touch this," Benes said. Exclusive: Netflix Names Amy Reinhard President of Advertising, Jeremi Gorman Exits What's next: Regarding the information, it is "still TBD on how valuable" Netflix's data dump will be, one ad buyer told us on the condition of anonymity. "But we are excited to have any information." And more interesting info could be coming in the future, especially as Netflix's ad tier continues to scale. In November, Netflix revealed that its ad tier has 15 million monthly active users, but that doesn't reveal the streamer's actual ad tier subscriber total, which is a fraction of its 247 million paid memberships. "The biggest thing that they need to do is just grow," a second anonymous buyer told Adweek about the streamer's ad tier. "There's nothing holding advertisers back from being on Netflix. Everyone would want to be there, except for the fact that it just doesn't have scale yet." Until then, marketers are still watching. "This is a good start," Marlow said. "And at the same time, the best is yet to come."

Streaming & OTT

Here's What's Missing From Netflix's Data Dump, According to Ad Experts

The streamer's sudden transparency has several pros and cons for the advertising industry

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