By India McCarty
It looks like Netflix’s shift to ad-supported plans is paying off — the platform just reported their ad revenue for 2025 topped $1.5 billion.
“We’re making good progress and the opportunity ahead of us is massive,” the streamer’s co-CEO Greg Peters said on a recent call with investors.
Netflix’s 2025 advertising revenue hit about 3% of total full-year revenue for the streamer and is expected to double this year.
Peters acknowledged that there is a “gap” between average revenue per standard, no-ads membership plans versus the ad-supported plans but said “that gap is narrowing.
“And while, because there’s a gap, it means we’re under-realizing revenue growth in the near time, it also, therefore, represents an opportunity for us,” Peters added.
The platform’s overall revenue increased almost 16% for 2025, with net income rising by 26%.
Related: Do You Want to See More Netflix Movies in Theaters? You Might Soon
Netflix said that its ad revenue grew to over $1.5 billion last year. Now, it plans to build on its AI innovations and offer more ad formats: https://t.co/zXOO8DjZBY
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It looks like the streamer plans to keep this upward momentum going in 2026. In a letter to shareholders, Netflix executives wrote that their priorities for the year include “improving our core business with an increasing variety and quality of series and films, enhancing our product experience, and further growing our ads business.”
They also shared plans to expand into new content categories, such as video podcasts, as well as feature more live events.
“Full-year revenue is projected to grow by 12% to 14% to around $51 billion,” Deadline reported.
Netflix launched cheaper, ad-supported plans in 2022, offering subscribers a lower per-month cost in exchange for commercial breaks. While some expressed doubt that this kind of subscription tier would pay off, by the end of 2025, Netflix reported their total subscriber number had risen to 190 million Monthly Active Users globally.
“The ads plan allows us to offer a lower-priced option while still delivering an amazing entertainment experience for our members,” a press release from Netflix stated.
The streamer shared that they have enhanced “targeting capabilities and tools” to make it easier for advertisers to find relevant audiences, including “advanced demographic targeting,” “in-market audiences,” and a “planning API,” or Application Programming Interface.
The press release stated, “The API will seamlessly work with in-house planning tools and use real-time forecasting to provide insights for marketers to plan across key demographics and geographies.”
“We know we still have more to do, but we’re energized by the consistent growth and advancements we continue to deliver for our advertisers and members,” the release continued. “We can’t wait to see what’s in store for our next season.”
Netflix’s major revenue growth shows that the big swings the streamer has taken have paid off in the end.
Read Next: Where Netflix’s Ad Tier Ranks Compared to Other Streamers
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